Episode 474: How Two Nurses Built a Thriving Med Spa Business in Brooklyn w/ Wendy Jules & Carla Nelson

Jamila Souffrant 0:02

Having conversations and knowing that people are the one that makes your move, but be pure and honest with what you really need and what you can do, and people will meet you where you gotta go. Don't be a jerk. Yeah, minus 10 seconds. Well, welcome to the journey to launch podcast with your host Jamila Souffrant as a money expert who walks her talk she helps brave journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest and build real wealth. Join her on the journey to launch to financial freedom in 543, begin, 54321,

Jamila Souffrant 0:49

if you want the episode show notes for this episode, go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode in the show notes, You'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned, and so much more also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free jumpstart guide to help you on your financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to, stages to go through to reach financial freedom, resources and so much more you can go to journey to launch.com/jumpstart

Jamila Souffrant 1:31

Hey, hey, hey, journeyers, welcome to the journey to launch podcast today I have on Wendy Jules and Carla Nelson. They are the sisters behind fleur de lis beauty and esthetics, a luxury medical spa based in Brooklyn, New York. Both are registered nurses and medical estheticians who have spent over a decade in healthcare, combining their clinical expertise with passion for skin care. After recognizing a lack of inclusivity and representation in the luxury skin care space. They set out to create something different. That's what they're doing with Flora de Liz. I also met Wendy in person at an event, and it was she was so lovely and said she listened to the podcast and was a journeyer. And when I was like, thinking about, okay, I need to talk to new people and to guests, I was like, you know, I want to go back to the basics of what journey to launch was, which was actually talking to journeyers and people in the journey and just discovering how they did things to hopefully inspire other people listening. So Wendy, you were like, I was like, I gotta reach out. And so that's me reaching out, and I'm so glad you and Carla are here today to talk about your journey. So welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having us. Yeah. So Wendy Carla, please let me know more about your background. I know you guys have a story to tell about getting to where you are to open up a brick and mortar business, but let's go back a little bit to kind of like where you started, what you studied in school, how you began your journey. So obviously, I've been a nurse for over a decade. I work approaching what 15 years now, it's been I won't date myself, just know that I'm 25 plus shipping and handling.

Wendy Jules 3:15

So in school, I was work a lot in administration. So right after college, I got into my first admin job in terms of nurse management. Then it progressed to more nurse management opportunities, and then I went into corporate compliance for some organizations. Then I did some bedside and then I also dabbled in dermatology and skincare, which is where I think the flame started for me, because I saw like we were not getting the amount of attention and love that everybody else was getting. So so it kind of like put a pin in there, and then I did some travel nursing. I worked in Haiti for the earthquake. I worked abroad in different areas, just helping in crisis management. And then circle back to my career again, back into administration. I always had a love for just interacting and connecting with people from a caring standpoint, because when you think about it, you know they're in a very vulnerable state, experiencing tragedy or even just not knowing what to do. They got bad news. So you need someone who has that personable touch and the clinical knowledge that helped them through and also on the other side of administration, how does the thing work? Like, how do we make life easier for our nurses? So it was a lot of fights behind the scenes, making sure our nurses got what they needed, but encompassing everything, I think just the love of people is why I'm in this now right, being able to connect, being able to help people when they feel the most vulnerable. They're not the feeling the best about their skin, or they want to improve what they currently have. So it's been a very up and down, interesting. Oh, also, I forgot to add, I worked during covid. I was one of the frontline nurses.

Wendy Jules 5:00

During covid, which is a very Wow. I kind of blocked that one out because it was a very intense period in my nursing career. So I've been all over the place. Let's just put it right, right. Yeah, all right. Thank you, Wendy for sharing that. What about you? Carla same,

Carla Nelson 5:15

as far as nursing goes, I started nursing at a pretty young age. I want to say I was 22 years old when I started my career in nursing. I'm now 25

Carla Nelson 5:32

so I started nursing because, you know, I just wanted to get in the field, especially as a Caribbean person, I always tell you, push you into nursing. But I found that nursing is a multi faceted field, and it allows you so much autonomy and to start different and go into different ways. So I started off in community health nursing at working for visiting nurse Services of New York, and then I went into dermatology, but I combined those two because, you know, a lot of in the community, you hear so many things, you know, how many can you help me with my skin? Can you give me a dermatologist? Can you do this? Can you do that? And then combining my dermatological skill working with voice certified dermatologist, you know, she kind of pushed me and said, I think you would be great in esthetics, right? And I said, Now, that's crazy. And this is way before esthetics was as big as it is now. So I left working for her, and I went straight to aesthetician school at Atelier a statique in the city, in New York City. And I gained my esthetic knowledge because in nursing school, they don't really touch much based on the integumentary system. That means your skin care and stuff like that. So to put the seal, I wanted to make sure I was like solid. I went invested in my education at a Tellier aesthetique, and I got my esthetics license. And that kind of pushed us forward to start flirting beauty and esthetics, which is named after my mom, Elise.

Jamila Souffrant 7:01

So you guys are Haitian. Yes, we are yes, yes. Love it. I love it. So, like my husband is Haitian, and I shamefully don't know that much Creole, last name, Souffrant,

Jamila Souffrant 7:19

I love but I don't know much Grail, but I want to go back so you both are nurses. How far apart have you in age three years? She's older.

Jamila Souffrant 7:30

So you guys picked the same general field of nursing. Carla, were you inspired by Wendy? Was she already doing that at the time? Or what advice? Or how did you learn from each other, what to go into?

Carla Nelson 7:42

Well, I went first.

Jamila Souffrant 7:46

I originally started as a bio major, yeah, she was going to medical school, yeah. And then I did, like a pivot, and that's how we ended up in the same field.

Carla Nelson 7:55

Yes, I had a child when I was in college, and I met my husband in college as well. And you know, my mom was like, what are you gonna do? So she said, You know, I think it's best that you both go into nursing. So my husband is a nurse as well. So we graduated together, and I started, and then when Wendy decided, she was like, You know what, I want to go into nursing. And maybe the pre med thing is not her thing, because she's very like, funny. You know, her personality is really big. So she was like, I really like to connect with people. So she went into nursing, but I went first, and then she followed me.

Jamila Souffrant 8:30

No, I love it because I think it's interesting, and maybe you can talk about it because, like you said, your husband is a nurse, and you you decided earlier, but I also know people who decide to be nurses later in life, and so I'd love to hear your perspective on just like the career path, or the time it takes, the different options for people. Because maybe there's someone listening that they're young and they're like, you know, I don't know what I want to do, but maybe nursing is it, and they can start earlier. And what the career paths look like, the general ones, and then what it looks like for an older person to go back to school to do this. Nursing is one of the careers where it is so vast, like we literally carved on our own lane, and that's great for us, but you can be in any sector. There's aviation nursing, there's legal, legal nursing, esthetic nursing. There's so many different you can add on to it. So whether you're just coming in, because I know a lot of people love the esthetics, because it seems very glamorous, but then also there's, if you're coming in as an older person, there's a medical, medical record review, you know, sales, there's so many different ways. This is why we love it, and we're able to pivot so much. Because prior to Fleur de libre beauty, we were fleur de lis maternity. Yes, we thought we wanted to do doula services, and then we realized, nah, that's not, you know,

Carla Nelson 9:53

we really love beauty. You know, I will say, I, you know, I'm also a doula. So. I love midwifery. And when we started fleetly, it was maternity, because I love dueling. I love midwifery. And I decided, You know what? I really love beauty. I love Think of me as your cheerleader friend, right? That person that's gonna like you look great. Okay, girl, let's, let's beef you up. And I found that, matching that with my dermatological skill, it made women feel amazing, you know, and when you feel amazing, you look amazing. It gives a different touch on your personality. So that's why we went. I went into esthetics, but to touch base back on your question, in regards to nursing, I started off with my two year degree at Morrisville State College with my adn associates degree in nursing, and then I went into my Bachelor's that's your BSN, your bachelor's degree in nursing. So usually people start off. Some people go straight into, like younger people, like my daughter. I have a 20 year old daughter who goes to University of Southern California, and she, you know she's not doing nursing, but she would go straight into a nursing program because she's young, if you're starting off really young, but if you're older, some people go opt in for the two year program, and then they go ahead and do their BSN online or at another university, just to get their BSN, and then go on to their NP, or like their nurse practitioner's license and DNP, your doctorate in nursing. So it adn, BSN, NP, or a master's in nursing, and then your doctorate, right?

Wendy Jules 11:28

And there, I mean, I'm assuming there are levels to this, just like this community college and private school. And so there are ways to to not have these expenses be so high education wise. Would you say? Like, you have to be smart about it, yeah. So the best route would be to do your ADM Yes, then get hired. And a lot of times, when you get hired with a facility, a hospital, whatever, they give you money to go back to school, so and then you would just probably work for the institution for about a year or so, and then you're covered that way. So most, and for the older folks, I would say, to start with your adn, just because sometimes you'll go through and realize I don't really like this, but even and so you're not invested four years into something that you don't even love. So when you're done, you can go ahead and work while going to school, because a lot of programs are flexible enough to allow you to work and then still go to school, and then you can do your clinicals and all that stuff

Carla Nelson 12:27

while you're working. And all the technical knowledge that you need to be a registered nurse is through your adn. A lot of the BSN is more theory, but the skill that you need in order to be a registered nurse, meaning IVs, insulin, medication administration, wound care, things like that. You can learn in the ADN program. You don't need the BSN because, like I said, the BSN is more theory program, right?

Jamila Souffrant 12:54

And I'm assuming, though I have a sister in law who just went through nursing school herself, and I know that she was studying a lot like, I feel like the amount of information you guys have to know and pass the test like, I just feel like it's very broad, it's very detailed. So I do think it does take a certain kind of mind, and you have to apply yourself in this field, right?

Carla Nelson 13:15

Absolutely. I always say, during my time in nursing school, we had one young gentleman that came in from medical school to nursing school, right? And he was like, This is too hard. I'm going back to medical school. And I tell you, it's, it's a, it's a determination that you have to have, because it's almost like a mental boot camp that you're going through to see if you can, you know, graduate with the people that you came in with. Because usually you'll start, and sometimes you start with these 40 people, 50 people, and the graduating class is 10, yeah, because it's a survival of fittest, right?

Wendy Jules 13:53

And so, and then, you know, just to, just given, like, the plan of that, it takes work. But then at the other end of it, there is, like, it's, it's a lucrative career with a lot of flexibility, right? Yeah. So this is, I always say nursing is one of the one, probably only career where you can get a two year degree and come out and start making $80,000 your first job, yeah, right? Minimally, my first my straight out of school, wet behind the ears, was $85,000 that's a little that's, I wouldn't call it luck. I would say I prayed a lot for that. But typically, those are the set what the salaries look like. Like 75 $80,000 straight out of school. And then as you add on to your degree, you get your certification, then the money is even more, I think, standardly, now with your BSN, you're making at least 110 starters, starting 90 to 110 in New York. That doesn't feel like much, but it's still up there, as opposed to people who go to law school, you know or different. They're not, they're not pulling it in that way and flexibility. You're working three twelves a week. So 312 hours. Shifts, or 410, hour shifts you're working. Some people do concierge nursing so you could, there's a lot of way to move around in the industry. And it's so

Carla Nelson 15:10

funny to piggyback on what Wendy's saying when you starting out historically, nursing wasn't a glorified career. You know, nursing was a career that they used to push a lot of black women into grunt work, because it was, you know, not sought out to be like this, you know, beautiful, fabulous career. It was more cosmetology. They would push women to do cosmetology because you'd get money, you would see all the famous people, and so on and so forth. And now nursing for black women has become the pathway to financial freedom. Yeah, you know, a lot of women are going into nursing because you're coming out, you're able to feed your family, you don't need a cap on your income. People go into CRNAs. I have a client who's a CRNA, who's a nurse, anesthetist. So if she does an anesthesia and she's making like, 300 $400,000 a year, which is beautiful as a nurse and working four or five days a month and four, four days a month she's working, yeah? So nursing really has become the pathway of freedom, freedom, financial freedom, for a lot of women of color, and I'm loving it.

Jamila Souffrant 16:15

Yeah? Shout out. Shout out to Nasima from financially intentional, who has been just a longtime friend, and it has a personal finance page and talks about it, but she's a nurse in on the West Coast, and she shares her numbers. She shows how much she makes, and she makes good money doing what she does. I believe she's in labor and delivery, and she did have a podcast called nurses on fire. I will link that in the show notes for anyone listening, but she also shares her numbers and like advocates, and talks about like nursing as a career. So I just wanted to highlight that for people who might be interested. And I guess the last thing on that is just about the job market. So with that, because I know that in New York, you know, I don't follow up with what's happening specifically, but I know there was like strikes and hospitals for nurses, right? So would you say that the job market ebbs and flows? And what does that look like? And how does that impact how people come out and can make money? So the door is ever evolving with nursing, because our boomers are retiring, they're letting new you know, the new students are coming in. The strike that happened from all of our friends who were part of the strike. It really wasn't about salary, per se. It was more about safety. Yeah, it was more about not having Cleveland, California, they're very strict with their workloads, like you're not going to have more than four patients. You know, that depends on the acuity. All of that mattered. So I think that the No, I know that the nurses were more focused on, you know, safety for themselves and the patients, and then salary also. You know, things are getting more expensive, so they wanted to tack that on as well. But there's always opportunity in the field. And most people, when they think of nursing, they only think of bedside. They don't think about all the other areas that they touch. Because, I mean, there's but so many hospitals in New York, you know, in clinics, so everybody wants to be, and there's fake scrubs, and they want to be, you know, at the bedside, but there's so many other areas that they can touch into, like rehab facilities, methadone clinics, so many different things, but there's always, always, always opportunity

Carla Nelson 18:25

in that field. I would say it's more flows than that. You know, it's continuous flow. As far as nursing goes for me, my career has only been wins. In regards to financially, the pay always increases, and the Opportunity always is available to you if you're willing to do the work. I know our running joke is that you always have a job in nursing. You don't buy ships.

Carla Nelson 18:50

You want a bag, you like. I need to work for shifts.

Carla Nelson 19:02

So I would say I will always even people who want to go into medicine, you know, that's the new wave. A lot of people are going into nursing first, which, honestly, I think should be the way to do it. Go into medicine, nursing and then understand the healthcare field from a bedside component and from a understanding personal component with bedside manners, and then go into medicine, you know, and do your and see that way. That's the hope for at least I'm having for my daughter. I wish to her to do it that way. But I say all that to say nursing has really been on the up and up. And if you do it right, yeah, you know, if you do it right, financially, it can literally open the door to generational wealth for you and speak to

Wendy Jules 19:49

people like you know, closed mouth doesn't get fed. That is tried and true. I can't imagine. I can't even count how much opportunity that I've received because I met Carla. At Mount Sinai, and she's like, girl, you didn't hear about flex, that they're hiring blah, blah. And then so, you know, you speak and you talk, or you meet, I could be your co worker today, and my next job, I'm the supervisor. Yeah, you know what I mean, like, I've been on, done travel assignments, and when I get there, I'm meeting my old supervisors, my old co workers, I'm meeting. So there's a that's why you have to be nice, yeah, because it might be attached to the butt. You have to kiss later. You have to be nice because the door, it's very it's a small community, yes, plenty of opportunity. I love being a nurse. I love connecting with people. Some of the parts, like, I hate, like sputum, like vomit and stuff, but I could deal with that. But other than that, just the career has afforded me so many opportunities, and still does, yeah. So I really love being, you know, a part of such an amazing, amazing community. I love it. Shout out to the nurses out there. So, okay, so now I want to get into you opening up your business and what that took, because I know that's not easy, and that leap. And Wendy, I believe when we met at the event, you were kind of talking about just like financially, putting that together. And so what made you guys say, All right, let's, like, start this business. And how did you fund it? Carla's the mastermind. She's the idea girl, okay, she's the idea girl, and I'm the logistics. Yeah, she would be like, let's fly a plane. Where do we get the plane? How much does it cost? How long we

Carla Nelson 21:38

gonna do? I mean, I will be honest. Lord Elise, beauty came from a love of just my mother. And she just loves everything beautiful, believe it or not, she always said, your face is your passport. I never understood that until I got older and people like, oh my gosh, you know, your skin or this or that, and so that led me to kind of knowing I love that field. When I was younger, I used to always put her makeup on and her skincare and all her things. And when I decided that I wanted to go into esthetics, everyone thought I was crazy, except for your sister, yeah, except for my sister, everyone was like, What do you mean? You're a registered nurse. Why would you want to leave this field to go wash people's faces, right? Because that's what they thought it was in the Caribbean mindset. And I was like, Well, no, I think it's a really up and coming field, and I think I want to explore it. And thank God I'm a praying woman, and I constantly put God first in a lot of the thing, in everything I do. And I said, God, if this is you, make it a green light, and it was green, green, green, green, green. And it never stopped, you know, because when I, you know, my mentor poured into me, the dermatologist. She was like, I think this is something that you would be great at. And I didn't believe her. But when I went into school, people kept on saying the same thing over and over and over, and I started to take it seriously. And when it came time to ask for the money to start the business, I had $0 $0 because, no, I have $0 Wendy had

Unknown Speaker 23:15

the change. I had two

Carla Nelson 23:16

children already at the time, and so, you know, children in private school. I was married, we had bills, so I went to my husband and Wendy, and I said, I got a dream, right? And they said, oh boy, because I always have a dream, right? And I asked my my husband for $40,000 and he took the money out of his 401 k at the time. And then my sister, you know, she was working and had a lot of savings, and she gave another $20,000 which was able to purchase my first machine, which was the HydraFacial machine. And from then on, wait, I bought

Jamila Souffrant 23:55

one machine. One the

Carla Nelson 23:57

HydraFacial machine was $40,000 and supplies. And yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 24:03

but did you have a space?

Carla Nelson 24:04

Then it was in the basement of my house. One machine, a basement and $60,000 can you imagine, and believe it or not, the esthetics business when you're thinking about machinery, it's very expensive. A laser machine is about $250,000 you could either rent it or own it, but it's still a heavy uplift when you want to buy machinery. And at the time, you know quality product Exactly. And at the time, it was just so difficult, you know, to get a loan, because these black women who's gonna give you a loan at the bank, and they didn't want to hear it from me, because no one believed that esthetics would be as big as it is now. So I went to my husband and my sister, thank God, and they pull in shifts. She went into the ship. How many shifts do we need? Because again, I had to leave work to kind of focus and build a business. I just couldn't do both and raise my children at the same time. And so my husband and my sister kind of pulled up, and I was able to purchase machine. And then a lot of people at that time were not big on social media, right? And so I took at the time, and I started saying, new skin, who's this? So I use my own self. I had zero clients, and I just was working on me, and I'm like, new skin, who's this? And I would do chemical peels on myself, and people would see the transformation as a dark skinned girly on myself, and they wanted to buy in. They were like, Oh my gosh, I need this for myself. Where can I get it done? And I would invite them over to my house. And they were like, This is a basement. I'm like, Yeah, but I promise it's gonna be good. And so it was great. And, you know, we started our clientele that way, and now we're here Good morning, Miracle Wall Street Journal, Essence magazine, and we're doing okay, yes.

Jamila Souffrant 25:54

Okay. First of all, I love that. I love that just the beginning point of couple things stood out, like having a mentor, someone who believed in you and who saw something is like so important, and even that with then meeting and getting a confirmation and following the steps, I think sometimes we do get nudges and pushes, and we just don't, sometimes we don't follow them, right? And just having, like the just, even if you don't know the whole entire plan, just knowing the next step is sometimes all you need, and some faith, like you said, like having that faith in God and having something you really believe in was helpful. And thank god, this is why I think it's so important when we talk about wealth, like, you know you didn't, you didn't necessarily have to have millionaires around you, but you had people who were financially had something, and so they were able to help you. So I think that's also a big asset that we can then also be for our children or people who we believe in as they need something or have an idea. So with that, you have your machine, you have maybe a couple of clients here and there. How do you then turn it into what you have turned it into. What was the next step? How did you say I'm going to take this risk to go even bigger? So, so we were in the basement, and I, at the time, I wasn't performing any services. I was just more behind the scenes, making sure she had everything she needed. All she was a talent. I was doing everything else behind the scenes. And then we transitioned to a small because, because then it became clients coming to the house. The kids are in the house, so it was just getting too blurry. So then Carla said, You know what, let's move out of here. And then my dad was upstairs, and he come down like that working. You know, I want you to help me with my Facebook. I can't do that now. So we ended up moving to a small salon not too far from the house. It was a little itty bitty room, and it felt like a closet, but, but I told Carla, look at the space. We can do something with it. All we need is to go to home goods, buy some things make it cozy. They're not coming for the room. They're coming to see you. And we stayed in that space for about a year, a year and a half, and then, and then call it. Came home one day. She's like, Wendy, I'm done with the small space. The clients were booming. Everyone was coming. And we had a couple get we had a couple of celebrities come see us there. And we were like, what we're getting up there, and this is all word of mouth, like, or so through social media too.

Carla Nelson 28:27

We have not invested in marketing until this year.

Wendy Jules 28:31

Yeah, ever we've been our own PR, yes, our own thing. And just, and this is what I love about our community. Once they find something good, yeah, they're gonna tell everybody, right? And so because even that my best friend, she said, you know, how many people DM me and be like, are they really good? Are they? And she's like, Yeah, you have to go and try. So they're they're peaking interest. They want to see but they want to hear from someone else, yes. So then Carla came to me, and she's like, it's time to move. I'm like, No, we're not ready. She's like, we are moving. And so we put the word out that we were looking for a space. And I, at the time, was still working as a home care nurse, and so, which is part of my many, you know, jobs. And she called me. She's like, Wendy, I found a space, but, but, but it looks crazy. I need you to see past what you see. And I'm like, Oh, alright. So then I come in, and we walk in. I walk into the space that we're in. Now, it was a dungeon and and she could see in my face that I'm gonna be like, Oh hell no. But then she's like, just look and imagine. And we were able to do that. Even the realtor was like, and just look and imagine. And then I said, You know what? Let's pray about it. If God says yes, we'll move it and we'll make it work. Yeah. And so we did that. And then the next morning, we both woke up and like, God said yes, yes, because it was just like the strong feeling that said go. And all the

Carla Nelson 29:56

ducks were just aligned. We met the land. Lord. And he was, he's also Haitian, and he was like, I'm so I'm gonna give you the space. Because we, we search other places, and they denied us. And he, when we finally found this plate, this location that we're currently in, the landlord, he said, You guys could be my daughters, and I'm so proud that you're taking a leap of faith into the world of business, which isn't really something that our culture really pushes, pushes. They always push nursing, healthcare, they don't push business. So he looked at us and he says, I don't care if you don't have history in business, I don't care if you don't have enough money. I'm going to give you the space. Whatever you do with it, you got to fix it up. But I trust in You guys, and I believe you're going to win. And it's at that moment when he this is a man that we've never even met, like he just looked at us and said, You guys are what I wish my children would be as a business owner, and I want to give you the space, and we turned dust.

Wendy Jules 31:06

It was crazy. But then once we did, once we signed everything off, and then covid, yeah, it was we signed in November, yeah, we went we went to

Carla Nelson 31:18

construction, yeah, we went to construction right when we were supposed to open covid happened? Yeah.

Jamila Souffrant 31:26

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Carla Nelson 33:12

Literally, we, like I said, we went to work my husband, thank God he has the opportunity. And when you're a nurse and that we're going to bring that financial freedom back to nursing, you're able to pick up shifts and pick up shifts and pick up shifts and almost to the point where you're like about to collapse, but the money shows up. And so I will say, we asked maybe two friends for each for $10,000 to add to it, and they gave totally. Had about $20,000 given to us. But other than that, it was works, yeah, so fun.

Wendy Jules 33:43

So with covid, I ended up working a contract, and they were paying nurses $130 an hour, yeah? So in a week, I could make 910, $1,000 yeah? And on top of that, I was working at Rikers correction, so I was working around the clock, because there was a goal, right? Yeah, I cry. I remember crying. I'm so tired. Meanwhile, I'm home with the kids, right? And so with all of that, we were able to pull in, and we must, we can't forget to add our contractor. So when we found our contractor, he was an older man, and he Jamaican man, Dennis. He's so amazing. He said, I see you guys don't have all the money up front, so here's what we're gonna do. We're just gonna work. We're gonna push we're gonna work. Figure it out when we're done. Yeah, so just as long as we can buy the material, don't worry about my payment. I will do the work. And he would come with his one word, yeah. I every time I think about Listen, first of all not to say that jamais. Won't do things for free.

Carla Nelson 34:56

Recommend Dennis and our electrician, Mikey. They two. Jamaican men, they saw that there was a possibility that we can make a lot of money in this business. And they said, You know what, we believe in you, when you got it, you will pay it. And we got it, and we paid him after we opened the business and had clients.

Jamila Souffrant 35:14

I love that. And you know, I gotta say, because, you know, men for good reason get a bad rap. But it sounds like, it sounds like you met some great also men and, you know, just elders who helped you along. And it's so encouraging. It's like, such a like, it's given me like hope, because I know that's not everyone's case. Like, you know, I just felt like you met a lot of angels along the way, willing to help. But I think also they met you where you were because of your energy and your passion Yes. And so I just think, if you're listening and you're just like, damn, where's my dentist or someone who can believe in me that, you know it's possible, it's like serendipitous a bit, and just, you know, godly, if that's where your faith is. But there is something, I think, bigger than us that guides us. And sometimes when things are clicking and people are helping, it helps. But then let's go to covid, because sometimes someone would see that as like a stop, like, Wait a second. We had all this going, and now covid. So let's, let's go through how you figured that out. So, so covid made us stop. So they had to put a stop order on construction. Yes, everyone had to pause. We're at home panicking because we still have to we're running out of concession time, yes, and we have to get this thing going, and we can't do anything. So our landlord, another angel, said we're going to pause. You pay on the back. Don't worry about that, because we don't even know what's going to come out of this, right? So at that point, I still, I'm picking up shifts, and I'm working, so whenever we get the Go ahead, we would just have all the money available for the things that we need. And I must say, you know, as tragic as covid was from a societal standpoint, it really helped us to take a pause to figure out exactly what we were going to do. Yeah, right, because I think we just needed that break, because Carla was at home, and she's thinking about ideas, and we're building our website, we're building cars. We're still acting like the world's going to open up. We just didn't know that. So when it did go, we were ready to go, and I was, you know, we were building funds as well to do that. So covid was a very uncertain time, but it was also a pause that was needed for us to really line ourselves up and collect and get in touch with people that were going to help us when we launched and open with our one client.

Carla Nelson 37:35

Also for anyone who's listening when they're in their financial struggle or trying to think about, how am I going to get this money, to start this project? And so on and so forth. I always tell people, I never think about money. There's money in the streets. There's money in these streets. You just got to know where to find it. Because money is energy. Currency is energy. It's a it's a frequency that you have to kind of tap into. That's my personal belief that you have to tap into, to just open up the floodgates. And when you really serious about your goal, money is always the last option, because the people will see, people will see, people will believe. And that's why you have these quote, unquote angel investors, because people will see the drive, people will see the goal, and maybe you'll win, maybe you won't, but the money is there, yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 38:27

I always say the true currency are people right? Because you can barter, just like Dennis bartered with us. You know, he said, Do this. He would negotiate. Because, you know, as a woman, you go into the cabinet, they know we don't know what's going on, so they would want to G us and be like, it's extra, and he already cut the deal for us from behind, and we're just coming. So having conversations and knowing that people are the one that makes drivers move, yeah, but be pure and honest with what you really need and what you can do, yeah, and people will meet you. Gotta go. Don't be a jerk. Yeah, yeah, right. I think meeting like you said, being honest about what's possible, not trying to scam people and over promise and but people see that honesty. And it seems so like, you know, I have kids too, and these are things that I'm just like, hoping that I'm teaching them and they learn as they get older. Because the thing that makes me smile the most when I see them, other than them just being them, is like, the relationships they're cultivating and like, how many people they meet that? I'm like, wow. Like, you seem to, like, really have some even at this young age, like people, parents willing to help and do these things for you. I'm like, just in life, yeah, where I am today is because of, yes, my work, but also someone, whether it was at my job or do my work. Here with journey to launch is those connections with people that see something in you and say, like, I like this person and I want to help them, or I want to work with them. Like, that's what it's all about.

Carla Nelson 39:56

It really is connecting with people is really the source, and it. Is going to always continue to be that source. God knows where we are, where we're heading, but connecting with people like Wendy said, people are the true currency that open the door

Wendy Jules 40:08

for you, and also nothing is wasted. No because even when I was working in compliance, those tools and protocols that I learned translated into the business. Right at the time, my friend was learning interior design, we pulled her in. She helped us design the space and read blueprints. Like everything that we were doing in our past lives was kind of mixed into even with myself

Carla Nelson 40:33

working in a community, community nursing, they always say I'm the personality hire here, because, you know, because those interpersonal skills are important. In order to have run a successful business, you can't be mean and, you know, nasty. And my community health experience opened the door for me to know how to talk to people, you know, make them and the non judgmental approach, because sometimes people will come like, Girl, I want to take my wig off. I'm like, you gotta take your wig off. So those interpersonal skills are really important. That's what community health nursing

Jamila Souffrant 41:08

taught me, right? So it sounds like, if you guys, have been open since covid, so like 20 towards the end of 2020? Yeah, 2020, right. Like when covid kind of things at the end of the year, when things started opening up? Yeah, July 1, 2020, yeah. You've been doing this now for years. So where are you guys now as a business? Can you talk to maybe some things like you that you know now, that you didn't know four years ago, that you're like, all right, like, we know to look out for this, just for people who are interested in, like, what does it take to run a brick and mortar and open something up. What does it take? It takes trust. Yes, it takes partnership. And I say this to Carla all the time in every lifetime, I would always choose her and do and work with her, right? She drives me nuts. She does. But we have a code, like we know when someone approaches us with an idea, even if we're not friends at the moment, there's an energy that says if we should go or not. Yeah, right. So having trust, financial trust, because a lot of people, family businesses, don't make it because somebody took the money, somebody did this, we're very transparent in how the money is spent things that need to be done. Let's say Carla says to me, Hey, when we have a big thing coming up, we need to take the funds and do this, or I move $10,000 to do this. I don't just wake up and see things gone. Yeah, right. So we have a very trusting relationship when it comes to the finances of the business. But what I will say to anybody who's opening, get you a CPA, okay, keep the government out your business.

Carla Nelson 42:53

And just to piggyback off what Wendy was saying, because I do a lot of the financial work behind the scenes. It's important as your business grows, your accounting should grow as well. You know, maybe start smart off with one person, and then you kind of get that bookkeeper, and then you, you know, get it, go to an agency or firm. Your accounting has to grow as you grow, when you start to see the numbers coming in, because the they will come fine. And it's important to also get a CPA who really understands your business. Because when we first started, we had a CPA who was great, but they didn't understand the Med Spa business, you know, or the sales taxes when it came to personal care services, where we're paying 4% and not 8.5% and so on and so forth, and you're not you don't want to be overpaying in taxes or underpaying in taxes. It's important to know that your CPA is well versed in your specific field and attorney, because we first, when we first started getting into social media, a lot of people wanted to come in and take our image and likeness, right? And they're like, Oh, come on, in we were before the influencer, boom. You know? They're like, we would like to use you for this campaign. And we're like, okay, cool, yeah, we're gonna pay you $15,000 but then we own your image and likeness, you know what I mean? And I'm like, wait a minute. So we invested early on in a lawyer to look over contracts, because we're not lawyers, we're nurses. You know, having a good team and keeping your word is very important.

Jamila Souffrant 44:31

I can imagine with that, thinking about what it took for you guys to get here, right? That was like a lot. Would you say that financially it was worth it. Like, financially it's worth it now. Like, how long it take to turn a profit to where you said, Okay, this is working. Year one, yeah,

Carla Nelson 44:52

say it was the best year of our lives. 2020, I think because everyone was on Zoom and they started to. See their wrinkles like I'm seeing mine now. And everyone was like, Oh my gosh, I need Botox. I need a facial. I need this. So we had an influx. We were We were tired because we were working so much. So I will say year one for us in the specific esthetics field, it was kind of like, just start and go and build, yeah.

Wendy Jules 45:28

Financially was our, was our top, top year. We're still up there. But year one, that's when we were like, we have bonuses, yeah, we have like, money to play with, yeah, like, so that's what we were able to retire. Our parents, yeah, also too, as women working in for ourselves, there's a lot of things that get neglected, like your home, yeah, like your children, like, so we were able to retire my mom. I don't have any children. I'm a dog mom, Oscar and Elliot. They actually had the groomers. She has kids, and so my mom was able to have to retire her so she can stay at home and help us with the children. When I say help us, because they're my kids. Yes, help us with the children. So we felt comfortable with knowing that we're here, but someone is with our kids, and

Carla Nelson 46:18

they're safe. And what I would say in reverse, for, you know, other businesses, it takes a little bit longer now, as things are starting to get stable, you're like, oh, because when you first come out with an idea and it's kind of fresh to a lot of people, they're like, oh my gosh, it's new. It's new. I gotta have it. And it's now starting to settle in, like, okay, we're make we're we're making it, and we're just stable. You understand where, where before it was just like, oh, everyone wants to start this new esthetics. They want to get into facials and so on, so forth. I feel like for us now, it's becoming stable where we're having a little bit of balance, work life balance along with it. Because before it was like, work, work, work. Take advantage. My mother likes to say, bot fan. Let us show for a lot of Haitians out there, beat the iron when it's hot, yeah. So that's what we were doing in the first two, three years. And I think that's why we were able to kind of like, okay, we're coasting now, and I kind of like the coast, and

Jamila Souffrant 47:17

also the coast is rooted in customer service, yes, right. The coast is rooted in because people can come to something and be like, Oh, this is cool, and never come back again. But we are at our clients, baby showers, wedding, funerals, funerals. We are very, very much involved in their lives, because being able to have someone come in and trust us at their lowest point where they're breaking out they don't feel their most beautiful. And to watch them transform, you kind of get embedded into their life. They're like Girl The kids are having a party and and this reason that, and we've done so many, we've been a part of so many things with our clients. So the coasting is the investment of the energy that we provide to them to keep us so even when things like now getting a little rough, where all these women are losing their jobs, you know, the tech, the tech bubble is bursting. Remember, there was a whole bunch of people going in tech and whatever, not with AI, a lot of that stuff is dwindling. So our clients are so windy, I lost my job, and we're like, okay, that doesn't mean you have to stop. We'll figure it out. We'll take that. We'll take that you invested in us when you had it. We're gonna invest in you when you don't. Right. And so important too, because I know I've seen ads for, like, I forgot the name of it, we have to say. But like, a spa Mets, like, it's like, a one monthly rate, and it's probably not as like, you know, detailed and services that you guys provide. But with the evolution of AI and technology, there's all things that are being like, systematized. And especially with you have big investors coming in and private equity that are able to, like, fund these businesses, and then like, Oh, I think the low monthly rate to do all the facials you want. And so you have to have the personal like the connections with your clientele that makes you stand out and different from the options that people may want to go for that is cheaper. Yeah, and we've had clients who cheated on us, and they will go somewhere else, right? And they'll come back like, can I just tell you I'm so sorry they didn't offer me a drink. They didn't care. I had to wash my own things. I had to hang up my own jacket. I was like, and that's what you get.

Carla Nelson 49:31

So, yeah, we do a lot of holding with our clients, lots of hand holding, because it's important for you to remember at the end of the day, I will say women of color are our biggest supporters, like biggest supporters, and that's why we're so niche. We are very niche. We don't not to say we don't want to open the doors, but they hold us down. Yeah, you know what I mean. So it's very important for us to reciprocate, ensure that they have everything that they need. So we're always.

Wendy Jules 50:00

Do you want skills? You want a franchise? Do you want to know?

Carla Nelson 50:02

No, we'll scale in a different way. We'll scale with skincare, we'll scale with tech, we'll scale with all types of different things. But when you come into the space, if you don't see us, you feel it, you know, you feel that we're not here because they're like, where's Carla, you know, or Where's winning. She's like, very, you know, that

Jamila Souffrant 50:22

person, right? Okay, I love this. I want to talk a bit about skincare in a bit. But something you just said to me, we want to bring something up. So what I'm hearing is you really love both of you, what you do, yes, and but it also sounds like, you know, coasting or just like, having more time to play is also good too, right? Because, you know, as dog mom and a mom of humans, like, it's you have to, like, also make sure you have taken time for you. And then, when I think about what I talk about, financial freedom, independence, a lot of people, they want to get to the point where they don't have to work. Like, they, even if they build a business, it's like, all right, I want to be able to build this and step away so that I can take more vacations travel. So how do you feel? Or how do you balancing that with loving what you do and knowing that it takes you guys, like being a face of the brand, right? Like, I don't always necessarily want to show up, but people are used to seeing me. So with you, do you feel like you're tying yourself to your business in this way? Won't allow you to step back and, like, retire early if that's what you want, or stop when you want without making money. So it's too late. We have, we have because we love what we're doing so much. We if I had to go back, I wouldn't tie myself so tight the way I have. But right now, because we're having and we've built the support that we have, even if, let's say, if I hire a person there, my client trust that the person that I hired is really good, and I'm also overseeing, making sure that they're comfortable, and then we can create some space. So we're working through that now, because, you know, Carla has a daughter in college. You know, things are feeling really comfortable, so we want to have more time for vacation and and relaxing, and we do that, but not as often as we like. We'd like to open up another business, hopefully, yeah, you know, so we have to create that buffer so we don't know what that looks like yet.

Carla Nelson 52:17

Yeah, we don't know what that looks like. Of course. I don't know if I mentioned my daughter wants to go into dermatology, so hopefully in a couple of years, she'll be able to take over the business. But as of right now, I don't see us leaving. I see us expanding into different markets, you know, but, um, I don't see us leaving and opening up 10 flirty beauties. That's just not my mission. To be honest with you, I love, I love deep relationships, you know. And I think that's my mission, is to form those relationships, and not only with my clients, but in my community, where we're located right now. I grew up here, and I went to high school around the corner, you know. So to grow up on. These are my stomping grounds, Flatbush, Brooklyn, and to now Middle High School. I started off at Middle High School, you know. And to now be in this area, I want. I went to PS, 152, around the corner, you know what I mean. So to now be a business owner in the area, it's personal for me, you know, people come by here and they're like, You guys are Haitian. It looks nice in here, you know, because, because they don't think that that's something that Haitian people, two young Haitian women, would have done. You know, we're changing the look, and that's the goal. So I don't know if we want 10/3 week.

Wendy Jules 53:39

And also, too, when people are thinking of business, I know a lot of times people think business in a big way, like, you're a million multi millionaire, and you don't have to have a huge, big building to make to be a millionaire. Like, I think it's deeper than money for us too. Because I think I bet my life if I call any one of my clients right now, if I needed something, there's been situations where I've been stuck in and I call a client, they're like, oh, yeah, I know somebody who knows, somebody who knows. So the true wealth, yes, the money is great, and we've created that for ourselves, but the true wealth, again, is because of what we built. And everybody seeing your face in the community. The kids can't get away with anything around here, because they will

Carla Nelson 54:25

get Yeah, you know. So it's like, or be your, you know, your barbershop, barbershop, or the congresswoman, or you're, you know, all these people, Councilwoman, it's a pillar in the community, you know. And it's important, because everyone's like, Oh my gosh. I want to build and leave. No, I want to build and change, you know, Flatbush, Brooklyn, and that's pretty much we always say it's the Fifth Avenue. We're becoming the fifth avenue of Brooklyn, you know, um, so we like it. Oh my gosh.

Jamila Souffrant 54:55

I love that. I love that I do. Okay, so I do want to get into little like skincare tips and things. It's. Funny, because I feel like I'm definitely a simple girl, as some will call. I'm very basic, very basic. But as I've gotten older, in my 40s, and I'm like, Ooh, girl, you're starting to see, like, the aging like, so I've taken more of, you know, time to, like, just take care of myself. But I'm like, Oh, I know I could do better, so I definitely need to stop by and then maybe get a consultation on what I can do. I told you, yeah, so, but for people, right? Because I'm thinking to as someone who's, like, not used to spending money in this way, what is the return on investment? What is the return in other ways? So, so right now, I think from the time of covid and ongoing, we're experiencing a wellness Renaissance, right? Women are their age, like 40. That 40 now doesn't look like when our mom was 40. Yeah, right, because I get mistaken for a 20 year old, and that's contributed to people picking their there's a lot more information available, and there's a lot more access available, right? So we're talking the return on investment is going to be you feeling like you don't look older, like you feeling better about yourself. Now there are there are different price points. Some people want to do basic like, they want to keep it simple, and they want to lean more nutrition. And then, as you if you want to slow down the aging, then you have to start getting into more advanced medical services, like micro needling, like getting your facial every six weeks. You want to make sure that you're using retinol. You want to make sure that you're lotioning your hands with like taking care of yourself, taking supplements to help slow things down and also get rid of, like, right now, brain fog. A lot of people are experiencing that. People who are perimenopausal, the girls are like, Oh, I have bags under my eyes. What am I going to do about that? Come let us help you slow it down. So that would be the return is saying, Jamila, did you do something different? Oh, my God. Girl, we you really? Girl, what's the secret? That's the return on the investment that you make. And it doesn't have to be a big investment. You can do it incrementally as you start getting more involved in your your care. For me,

Carla Nelson 57:16

I would say, just to piggyback on what Wendy's saying. It's longevity care. You know what I mean? It's when you start investing in your skin, which your skin is the largest organ in your body. I just want to say, you know, it's the largest organ. And by the time your skin starts to see what, you start to start to manifest, it's a little bit too late, you know what I mean. So you're like, Oh my gosh. What can I do? What I will say, looking at you that I love a good bowling ball forehead, honey. It looks really good. Very shiny collagen. So I will say that about you. But the investment is longevity, right? When you start investing in your skin, then you take a step back and you're like, oh my gosh, my skin looks great. Let me go to the doctor. Let me, you know, work out. Let me go to the gym. Let me get an IV. Let me drink more water, let me take these vitamins. It's kind of like a catalyst to a well, a well lived life, you know. And I think for our people, and I'm always going to speak in regards to people of color, we're always taught, but just put the Vaseline right, and don't worry about it. But then, you know, when time goes by, it you start to deteriorate, and now you look faceless. Now you need a facelift, you know, and you're not paying attention to the bones, and you're not taking your collagen. Now you have arthritis, and now we're going to get cortisone shots, and now you need a hip replacement, when you could have just got a facial. Could have just got a facial yes, that should be a tagline. So I feel that to say it's more longevity.

Jamila Souffrant 58:46

First of all, okay, I love all this. I'm gonna like, I'm gonna come in listen the journeyers. Gonna hold me to it out. Like we gotta. We're gonna get it together. But can you please tell everyone where you're located so they can come check it out if you're in New York, Brooklyn, and then your social media and your website, so they can check you guys out.

Carla Nelson 59:06

Okay, we are located at 1468, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Our phone number is 718-650-2659, and our social media handle on Instagram is flutterly's beauty and esthetics, and on Tiktok is FDL beauty.

Jamila Souffrant 59:26

I'm gonna link all of that in the episode show notes, so you guys can check it out and see their lovely space and what they offer. But I just want to say thank you so much Wendy and Carla, so glad that we were able to do this. It was such, so inspiring to hear your story. Thank you so much. It was an

Carla Nelson 59:45

absolute pleasure. And I will say Wendy is not the only person that listened to journey to launch. So she always wanted Jamila. I was like,

Jamila Souffrant 59:59

I. I love it. I love it. So I'm so glad we did this. Thank you so much. Bye, guys. Don't forget, you can get the episode show notes for this episode by going to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this. And you can still grab your jumpstart guide for free to help you on your journey to financial freedom by going to journey to launch.com/jumpstart

Jamila Souffrant 1:00:29

if you want to support me and the podcast and love the free content and information that you get here, here are four ways that you can support me in the show. One, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen, whether that's Apple podcasts, that purple app on your phone, your Android device, YouTube, Spotify, wherever it is that you happen to listen, just subscribe so you are not missing an episode. And if you're happening to listen to this in Apple podcasts, rate review and subscribe there. I appreciate and read every single review. Number two, follow me on my social media accounts. I'm at journey to launch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And I love, love, love interacting with journeyers. There three, support and check out the sponsors of this show. If you hear something that interests you. Sponsors are the main ways we keep the podcast lights on here. So show them some love for supporting your girl. Four, and last but not least, share this episode, this podcast, with a friend or family member or co worker so that we can spread the message of Journey to launch. All right, that's it until next week. Keep on journeying. Journeyers. You.

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