Not So Small
Running a small business is anything but small. In each episode our host, Sam Bauman, asks small business owners about their challenges, triumphs, and the passion that keeps them going. Through this, Not So Small seeks to spotlight and strengthen the small businesses that are dedicated to their community and care about more than the bottom line.
Not So Small
Nail Ninja: Andrea Storlie
In this episode of Not So Small, host Sam Bauman sits down with Andrea Storlie, owner of Nail Ninja, a nail salon in northeast Minneapolis that continues to revolutionize the local nail industry. Andrea shares her journey from being a high school dropout to becoming a business owner who not only provides exceptional nail services but also trains other nail technicians through her apprenticeship program. After 13 years of working for someone else, Andrea decided to become her own boss and create a space where she could set boundaries and do things her way. What started as a small solo suite unexpectedly grew into a thriving business. Andrea discusses the challenges of business ownership, the importance of self discipline, and her recent decision to let go of a lease on her other location to refocus on what truly brings her joy, doing nails and training others. Her refreshing perspective on growth reminds us that sometimes scaling back is the best way to move forward.
Guest Info
Community Shoutout(s)
- Little Luxuries: Website • Instagram
- The Coffee Shop NE: Website • Instagram
- The Get Down Coffee Co: Website • Instagram
Host & Show Info
- Host Name: Sam Bauman (she/her)
- About the Host: Sam is the President of Mellowlark Labs, a Twin Cities-based small business consulting agency. She has a masters degree in counseling psychology, a field she worked in for several years before applying her skills in business, and is certified in Organization Development.
Podcast Website
Sound Editing By: Adam Rondeau
Podcast Art By: Andy Bauman (website)
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to not so Small, the podcast where we ask small businesses the big questions. I'm your host, Sam Bauman, and this week, I sat down with Andrea Storley, owner of Nail Ninja. Nail Ninja is a nail salon located in northeast Minneapolis. And in addition to providing amazing nail services, Andrea trains other nail technicians looking to better their craft. Before opening Nail Ninja, Andrea spent years as a nail technician working for someone else. Eventually, she realized that she wanted to be her own boss and make her own rules. And that trend has carried her through her entire career. When she thinks about what decisions she wants to make for her own business, she is firmly rooted in what matters to her, and she never lets herself drift too far from doing what she loves. I hope you enjoy our conversation. So thinking back to when you decided to start Nail Ninja, what was the problem that you were looking to solve when you began on this journey?
Andrea Strolie:Yeah, I don't. You know what? Honestly, I guess the problem for me was working for other people. At that point. I'd been doing nails for 13 years, and I was working in Edina, which I didn't grow up in Minnesota. I grew up in the South. And so moving to Minnesota was really just a really big culture shock for me. It's just very different. And working in Edina, you know, I think obviously everyone kind of, like, notoriously knows Edina, the cake eaters, you know, And I just really. I didn't vibe, but I kind of. I felt like I sort of got pigeonholed into continuing to do nails. And I used to always joke, like, if I'm still doing nails in five years, just shoot me. I didn't really enjoy. I enjoyed doing the job of nails, but I had a really hard time with the people facing part of it, because customer service historically is, you know, just whatever the client says, just do that. And I was like, and sometimes people are kind of mean to us, and I don't like that, you know? So I think after 13 years, I actually. I started going to school for something else, and I got most of the way done with a degree for sonography, like ultrasound. And I was like, I don't really want to do that either, you know? So I was like, all right, if I'm going to keep doing this, then I'm going to do what I want to do. So I actually started Nail Ninja just as a suite by myself and had absolutely no intention of having employees or opening a business. I kind of just wanted to be left to my own devices to do whatever I wanted to do. And so I did that and a couple of people started approaching me for training. And then at one point I had like four people working in my 100 square feet space face of my suite. And so that's, you know, I'm at the behest of a couple people I know who are business consultants were like, hey, you should probably open a storefront. And so I was like, okay, you know, all right, I guess. Yeah. So I, I opened the St. Louis park location in 2019 and it's kind of just naturally snowballed, honestly on its own. I, like I said I really had no intention of doing it, but people have kind of latched onto it and it's, it's been a great, really growth, big growth experiment for me because obviously without having intended to do it's sort of taken on a life of its own, which has been pretty cool to watch.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, yeah. So you started at the St. Louis park location and then the northeast location.
Andrea Strolie:Opened a couple years ago, December of 22.
Sam Bauman:Okay. And now the St. Louis park location is closed.
Andrea Strolie:Closed that one. Yeah. So our five year lease came up and you know, with a couple of years of having the two stores, I started really seeing that it had become a lot more business administration versus being able to really focus on training people the way that I wanted to. Because the entire groundwork for Nail Ninja was that I wanted to be able to take people from square one and make them much more successful in a shorter period of time. Cause essentially, you know, people go to nail school and then they're kind of just like kicked out into the world without. And they, you don't really learn a whole lot of tangible skills in nail school. They kind of just teach you what you need to pass the test and then you're sort of left for years and years like, oh, I don't really know how to get better because a lot of people don't do hands on training. So it was built with that in mind. Like, I just want to drastically reduce the time that you're sort of floundering on your own until you've feel really successful. So two years of having two stores became a lot more about just managing the business versus really focusing on my full time client load because I still do clients full time in addition to training everybody. And I'm like, you know, this is kind of a lot and I don't really need this. Like, it doesn't mean something about me. That's not what I enjoy doing. So when our lease came up Yeah, I was like, I think I'm just gonna go back down to one. So Northeast is a bigger location and obviously was brand new. So natural segue to just kind of consolidate.
Sam Bauman:So the problem that you started off trying to solve, which funny enough, it's not the first time we've heard that like, you know, somebody who owns their own business started it because they wanted to, you know, have control of their own schedule or do things differently than the work experience they were having. And then it sounds like there's also another problem that you are solving, whether it was what you originally started off, you know, trying to solve, which is providing that hands on training and.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah.
Sam Bauman:And support to people doing the work that you're doing.
Andrea Strolie:It sort of found me, I guess I didn't seek it out, but that's. Yeah, that's sort of took that route on its own.
Sam Bauman:What do you think it is about you that brought that to you?
Andrea Strolie:You know what? I don't know because I don't really know that my first employee who came on asked me a few times, you know, like, hey, will you train me? And I'm like, I don't know how to train any. Like, I know how to do the job, but I don't know how to tell you how to do it. So it sort of just started with her observing me and watching and I'd kind of explained to her what I was doing. And then, you know, over time, of course, it's. I've developed an apprenticeship program that's, you know, very pointed into like week by week lessons. But I really don't know what it is about me because I don't feel like I. It's definitely not something I was putting out there, but I think as time has gone on and obviously people are watching it and seeing like, oh, hey, they have this program now. I think it's just naturally pulling people in.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, they're seeing the output of that program too, I would imagine.
Andrea Strolie:Exactly. Yeah. You're seeing people come in that are brand new and then, you know, a few months later you're like, wow, that's pretty solid. Yeah, it's kind of just formed itself and I just, I feel like I just happen to be here. You know what I mean? Like, it's kind of taken on its own little life form. And I'm like, I'm honored that it's mine, but I, Yeah, I didn't intend it and I have no idea what it is about me that yeah. Or if that is. I think maybe it has to be.
Sam Bauman:Some part of it.
Andrea Strolie:Me, I don't feel like I selected.
Sam Bauman:It sometimes, but I feel like part of being a business owner is just seeing those opportunities when they arise, for sure, and being open to them for sure. It takes a certain kind of person.
Andrea Strolie:Taking the road where it leads you.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. Yeah. That's very cool.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah.
Sam Bauman:So tell me about a time you took a risk with your business, and what was it and what did you learn from that experience?
Andrea Strolie:I opened a second location. You know, I think when I had just the first store, it's. It's kind of easy. You know, you're like, oh, this is going really nicely and whatever. You know, like, taking on a second store was a very big risk because, you know, obviously you have a. A good size loan you got to take out, and you don't really know if it's. We're doing manicures, you know what I mean? So it's not like it's something that people need, quote, unquote. So you're sort of being held at the whims of, like, the economy or, you know, if people like you. I mean, if people like your product and what you're doing, you know. So definitely that was a risk. I do feel like it has paid off in a number of ways. I don't think that necessary. I think we're making pretty much the same amount of money, really. When you consider bottom line and the size difference, it's probably about the same. But I think really what the benefit for me personally has been is I think it's developed me a lot as a person. I mean, it really puts you in a position where you're sort of forced to evolve, you know, and change the way that you deal with people, deal with circumstances, deal with any obstacle, really, that comes up. So I think it's. It has paid off in a number of ways. And honestly, I would say more, it's. It's been a big character development for me.
Sam Bauman:Tell me a little bit more about that. What are some of those obstacles that you've come across or ways that it's changed. Changed you?
Andrea Strolie:Oh, well, I think, you know, I think when I first started out, especially, you know, having worked in for someone else in a salon for a very long time, like I said, you're kind of forced into operating the way that they want you to operate, which at the place that I was working before, it was like, customer is always right, no matter what, even if they're mean to you. Just, you Know, do the thing and kind of like bend over backwards. And I sort of became a. A popular artist at that location because I was like, no, I'm not. No, I'm just gonna start telling women that they're nuts and see what happens, you know, And I would. And like, I would. I had very strong boundaries. And, you know, I'd kind of get in trouble a lot for that. Andrea, you can't say that to clients. And I'm like, I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna say it again just so we're. You know. But that worked for me, and that got me. I feel like that sort of became my calling card is like, they would give me all the difficult people because they knew I could handle it. So when I started Nail Ninja, it very much was that, you know, where I was like, if you come in here, you're mean. I'm gonna kick you out. And it is still that too. But I think having. It's not just me dealing with just my clients anymore. Right. It's. I have to deal with my clients and every client of every artist that's here. And we have 20 plus artists, you know, so that's. I'm getting a lot more volume of having to problem solve each individual. Like, what does this person need from this situation? What is it? Like, what circumstances do I need to consider on why they might be operating the way that they are?
Sam Bauman:You're different artists.
Andrea Strolie:I mean, both from a management perspective and also just from handling clients.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, yeah.
Andrea Strolie:You know, I've never. I didn't have to manage people before that. So having, you know. Yeah. 100%, like, having to manage people has been interesting. Cause everyone needs different things from you. You know what I mean? And everyone has a difference. Like, I couldn't say one statement that would fit every single person. They kind of all need to hear it in a different way. So I think that has been probably one of the biggest learning experiments. Like, I can't just come in with my bulldozer personality and be like, this is what I want, you know, like, that's not how it works. So I think it has forced me to kind of grow up in a way of figuring out what need, what people's needs are, and meeting them in a way that's going to be palatable. Like, how am I going to get this, the outcome that I want based on each individual person.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. So you aren't having to sacrifice the boundaries that you want to be able to set.
Andrea Strolie:No. Yeah.
Sam Bauman:But you're just learning better ways to ultimately get that thing that you're looking for.
Andrea Strolie:Adapting to each individual person, I think has been a very good. I think that's a good life skill for anyone to have, really. It's like, okay, here's what I want, but how do I need to say it to this person to make it palatable for them? You know, and that goes for clients and artists, you know, or managing employees.
Sam Bauman:What kind of conflicts come up with. With clients? I mean, what are the things that they come in and you're like, get out of here. I'm not going to do that.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah. The only time. The only time I've really ever been. The only time I'm willing to let a client go or say, like, hey, we're not a good fit for you, is if they are rude to the team members. And that comes from a variety of reasons. Sometimes people just want to be upset, you know, like. And sometimes you can see it right away. Like, it doesn't matter how I phrase this or whatever. Like, this person's just upset, and if I offer solutions and they're still kind of, like, combative about it, you know, then you're like, I don't. I don't really know what you want from. From me here. Like, we're. And at the end of the day, we're just doing nails. Like, this isn't that deep, you know? Yeah. Really, the only time I've. I will say we're not for a client is if there's a consistent process problem. Like, no matter what solution I try to come up with, it's not good enough. Or if they're. If they're rude to team members, even, like, I will always kind of send an initial, like, message like, hey, I heard about this. You know, could you maybe tell me about it from your point of view? Nine times out of 10, they're like, I'm sorry. I didn't. You know, like, I don't. I didn't realize how that came across, or I was having a bad day or. And there's always, you know, a little mending that goes on there, and that's fine because we're all human beings, right? Right. We're not always, like, on our aame or being, you know, the most pleasant for h. You know, outside circumstances. But every once in a while, someone will come back and they're like, still.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:You know, just like. You're like, okay, I don't. We're just painting nails. We. No one needs to get nasty about it. Like, you know, so that's really the only time that if something comes up, you know, if you're nice, I'll bend over backwards. If you're not nice. Okay, well, you can just. There's lots of other places you can go, but. But obviously we're not doing it for you if you feel the need to come with that kind of vibe.
Sam Bauman:So I think handling those situations is such a sort of hidden part of owning a business. It's like always there, no matter what industry you're in, whether you're just painting nails or saving lives. And it's challenging to manage all of that.
Andrea Strolie:It's very challenging. And particularly, you know, and like, I'm a person too, you know, so it's hard to always feel like you're in the position where you have to take the high road because it's not just you. Right. It's how it reflects on your business and how that could impact your. The whole team, really. So it's because again, if it were just me and my suite, I'd be like, get lost. You know, like, don't come here. I don't care. But I can't do that to everybody because then you wouldn't. You know, you have to be willing to find a middle ground for the sake of. You obviously want to keep 20 plus people busy. So it's interesting what have been some.
Sam Bauman:Of the hardest parts about running this business?
Andrea Strolie:I think, really I didn't. So I didn't grow up with any kind of business knowledge. I mean, I. I'm a high school dropout, actually, so I didn't go to school for this. You know, it's really just been every day I've had to figure something out on my own, you know, so it's been. I mean, honestly, I just think managing a business as a whole is a challenge. I don't know that I would say one thing or the other has been more challenging. But yeah, I kind of. I'm like. I went to nail school because I didn't really want to do anything crazy, you know, Like, I just wanted to, like, hang out and, you know, paint nails and talk shit all day. I don't come up, you know, I don't want to have to do anything too serious, but it's obviously put me in the position where there's something happening. There's always a fire to put out.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:So I don't know that I would say one thing more than the other as just like, overall, as a whole. Managing a business, I think, is a lot more challenging than people realize. And I Could rattle off a list of, like, you know, here's all the things that I do, but I don't think anyone can really quantify the weight.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:Of those things, like, you could explain it, but, like, you'll never feel what that feels like until it's on your plate.
Sam Bauman:And yet there's something keeping you here. Right. Because you don't get to just sit around and paint nails and tell people to.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah. I mean, it's satisfying to do. I mean, it's. It's. I'm a problem solver, so I. I do think that even when it's. I mean, there have definitely been times where it's very overwhelming, you know, and you're like, oh, my God, you know, like, again. Yeah, I just paint nails. Like, I'm just. I'm just. I want to have a good time, you know, and there are times where it's like, it's not a good time and there's something to figure out. But I. I. As a problem solver, I think it's really gratifying to be like, oh, my God, like, here's this obstacle, and I have no idea how we're going to get through it. And then you do, and then you're like, oh, that wasn't that bad. You know, like, that was fine. So I think getting through each one of those obstacles is satisfying enough to the point where you're like, I can do. Like, I got this. I can do this. You know, kind of gives you courage to tackle the next one or the confidence to tackle the next one because you're like, all right, I've made it through all these other things. This is going to be fine. Whatever it is, you know, that's such.
Sam Bauman:A good reminder in life, every challenge that we face, it's like, you made it this far.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah.
Sam Bauman:You've accomplished all of the other things that you had.
Andrea Strolie:Nothing's killed you yet. You're doing fine. Everything's fine. You're going to make it.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:For sure.
Sam Bauman:What keeps you motivated when you're in those hard moments where you feel like, you know, this is a bigger problem than I've ever had to face, or the clients really being.
Andrea Strolie:I don't know that I would say motivated is a term I would use, I think, like, discipline. Like, you're not always. There's plenty of. Oh, I think I'm sure you've heard from plenty of other business owners are like, dude, I don't want to do this shit. This is crazy. Why am I doing that? Like, I could just go Live in the woods and have no one bother me. You know, I think discipline has gotten me through a lot of things. It's like. Like, yeah, I don't. I don't necessarily want to do it. I have to do it, and also, like, I get to do it. There's a lot of people that would love to be in my position, and what a. What an honor it is to be presented with these challenges. You know, I don't think. Yeah, there's plenty of times you're definitely not motivated to do it, but it's like, all right, well, alarm clock went up. Get. Went off. Get up and do the things that you have to do. And. And I enjoy a challenge.
Sam Bauman:Maybe that's part of the motivation. Yeah. And you're. You know, I would imagine there's like, a bigger motivation happening too, you know, some amount of enjoying having the business. You know, you could go back to just owning your own studio on your own, but there must be something there that also feels exciting, you know, I.
Andrea Strolie:Think I was talking to someone about this the other day. I think when I first. I think when any business owner first starts out, you have kind of a drive to prove something, you know, Like, I have something to prove here. And I think over time, I think my attachment to that idea has changed in a way where I'm like, I don't really feel like I have something to prove to anybody. Like, I've done more than I set out to do or more than I really thought. I never thought I would be doing any of this. So I don't. I feel like I'm kind of doing it now. First of all, I love doing nails. Like, I still really enjoy my job. I still really enjoy dealing with my clients one one. And I really enjoy teaching people how to not just do nails, but how to really be successful in this job. Because part of my apprenticeship program isn't just teaching them how to do the technical skill. It's teaching. Teaching them how to manage, dealing with people and professionalism and just how to operate in that, in this industry, and I really enjoy that. I enjoy having the business just. It's an accomplishment, you know, But I don't necessarily know that. I feel like it. I need it in a way of, like, it means something about me. My kid loves it. You know, my kid's proud of me, so that's cool. Like, I like that, you know, that she's like, yeah, my mom owns this strap, and everyone's like, oh, my God. You know, I just enjoy it. I enjoy the actual job. I really enjoy the nail industry. I feel like it's come such a long way in such a short time because of places like Nail Ninja. I think we have really changed the way that nails are viewed. The way that nails are done. You know, five or six years ago, before it was started, it was complete. It was a completely different industry. And I feel like it's just nails in Minneapolis has changed a lot. And I think that we've made a pretty good footprint on the industry in that way. And that's really satisfying to me. I'm super proud of that.
Sam Bauman:Can you tell me a little bit more about how you feel like the landscape has changed in the last few years?
Andrea Strolie:For sure. I mean, if you just. If you were to go back on Instagram and five years ago and just look at my feed alone there. Before I started doing nail art, there really wasn't a whole lot of nail art in Minneapolis. You know, like I said, I was working for someone else for 13 years and we just did single color manicures. There was no art. Like art was like, I want a French manicure. You know, like, that was it. There wasn't a lot going on and there was stuff definitely happening in other cities, but Minneapolis kind of was not really. We hadn't dipped our toes into that quite yet. So when I started my suite, I just started. I didn't. I had no idea that I was any kind of artistic because I had never tried anything and I didn't. I didn't grow up in an artistic family. I never tried drawing. I had no clue. So I just started out doing glitter and chrome and things like that. And if you watch the timeline, just over a couple of years, I started doing some stuff and then I got some of the team, we started doing stuff and then you could see it really start branching out. And I. I mean, I'm not trying to take sole credit for that. That's just the way the industry started going. But there really wasn't a whole lot of that happening in Minnesota. I feel like before Nail Ninja. And then there's, you know, there's some other companies in town that have done a really great job of being on the cutting edge of that too. Little Luxuries is a. Another really great nail salon. If you ever want to speak to Amy too, she's a great business owner. Owner. And they specialize more in like, acrylic art and things like that. And they're really fantastic. But yeah, I think that we sort of managed to be on the front side of Minneapolis really branching off into doing some really cool art stuff with nails.
Sam Bauman:And I also am, you know, realizing that one of the things that I think you've done for yourself is make sure that you can keep doing the work that you really like, love. And I think that sometimes is hard when you own a business. Like you said, there's so much other stuff to manage. And you know, often what happens with business owners is they start doing the thing that they love and they end up doing all of the paperwork and none of the thing that they love and then they get burnt out from it. And you've really like held space for continuing to do that work.
Andrea Strolie:I mean, part of that is out of necessity. You know, a lot of people don't really realize is there's not money in a, owning a nail salon. You know, it's, you really are doing it for the love of the game. I don't, I don't really take money from the business. I still do full time services for my income. So number like some of that is out of necessity but obviously as the business has grown and like I said once I had two stores and I was like, dude, I'm doing a lot of stuff I don't really care about doing and I have less time to do the thing I'm actually interested in doing. And you know, I'm really proud of myself, I guess that I took the opportunity with the, the lease coming up on the first location to pivot back to what I actually want to do because I'm like, you know what, I think a lot of people view growth as, you know, being always going up and like, oh, it always has to get bigger and bigger. And I don't think that growth is always like that. I think, you know, I, I really am proud that I took the opportunity to be like, you know, this isn't, I don't actually want to do this. Like, that's not actually what I'm interested in. And I don't really care about how it looks or feels to other people. Like, this isn't what I want to do. So I'm going to take this opportunity to go back to being able to actually focus on the things that I want to do, which is, I want, I'm very passionate about teaching people and being able to actually do a good job on my services without being distracted by, you know, I don't want to think about payroll. Yeah, I don't want to think about, you know, what do the books look like. I don't care. I have an accountant for that. I don't want there. I always say there's a reason why I paint nails. It's. I don't want to look at numbers, you know, so I get no joy out of that. Then taking the time to kind of reposition myself back to what I want to do. For sure.
Sam Bauman:Well, and that speaks to, you know, kind of your confidence in yourself. You know, like you said, you're not doing this to prove anything to anybody. And I think that can be the risk when you get into that mindset of I need to grow, meaning I need to make more money and get bigger and bigger. Yeah. Sometimes that doesn't come from a, you know, a good place.
Andrea Strolie:No. Yeah. I think that's like a. More like an ego reaction of, like. Oh, you know, some. Yeah. One of my clients was like, oh, are you, like, worried about how it's going to be viewed if you closed one store? I'm like, I don't give a shit. Like, I'm the one who has to carry the weight of this, not anyone else. Like, I don't care how other people view it. Like, I care about how I feel when I go home at night. And at the end of the day, if I'm so stressed out over things that don't even really matter, like, what's the point if I'm not. If. Because if I'm not making some, like, landfall of money from it, then what I'm left with is the joy that I get from the actual function of the job. And if. If I'm not enjoying it, then what's the point?
Sam Bauman:Totally. Totally. So what does growth look like for you at this point in your business ownership career?
Andrea Strolie:You know, as long as I'm still getting joy out of showing up to work every day, Like, I don't know that I. I don't know that I think about growth. I think about making. Making sure that the team is really solid, making sure that they all feel very supported. You know, we. We still have plenty of room to grow in this store. We're open seven days a week, and there's 12 desks. You know, that's a lot of space. So, I mean, we definitely could still hire, but I don't. I don't really. At this point, I'm kind of taking on fewer apprentices at one time so that I can really focus on making sure that they feel like they're getting the best education possible. Yeah. So right now I'm kind of. I'm focusing on, I think, making sure the base is really stable.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, that's a kind of growth, I guess.
Andrea Strolie:Yeah. Versus I want to. I want everyone that's already here to feel like they're being enriched versus thinking about going upward, you know.
Sam Bauman:Very cool. So thinking about, you know, your whole business, and this could be your own work with your clients or, you know, broader operations. What is a tool or process that you have found particularly helpful?
Andrea Strolie:Hiring other people to do jobs that you don't want to do? I mean, really, especially after I had two stores, it was like, I'm doing payroll and I'm doing accounting, and I'm doing this and I'm doing it, and I'm like a overachiever in a not good way sometimes. So definitely, I think a tool that has been very good for me is like, you know, I don't need to do this. And I'm like, what? Why do I feel like I need to do this? And finding the right people to do the job that I'm. I not only am not interested in doing, but don't excel at has been probably the biggest game changer for me to free up actual headspace to be able to enjoy the job again.
Sam Bauman:And how did you get yourself to that point of, you know, feeling like you could pass up it on to somebody else?
Andrea Strolie:Oh, I don't know that I ever would feel like I want to pass anything on. It came from necessity, really. I think I got to a point where I was like, you know, you're burning the candle at both ends for five plus years, and you're like, I'm losing my mind. Like, this is it. I'm gonna lose it. I'm gonna go crazy. And luckily, having. I feel like I've been really fortunate to have just met the right people at the right times. You know, I feel like kind of the universe presented people to me at the time that I needed them, where I was like, you know what? Like, you're good at this and you enjoy this. Like, you should do it. And it's still hard for me to give things up because I'm. I'm very used to doing everything by myself. And it's like, oh, well, I can just work a little bit harder and do these things too. And I think I just finally, out of necessity, you know, just got to the point where I was like, no, I. Not only do I not want to, but, like, I don't. I really don't need to do this. And if I continue doing it, I'm probably gonna not be doing very great, you know? Mentally and physically, just stressing yourself out. So. Yeah, I. I don't know that I.
Sam Bauman:Your hand was forced a little bit.
Andrea Strolie:It was like, all right, you're either gonna like lose your mind or you're gonna, you know, give these things up.
Sam Bauman:And gave them and you found people. It sounds like that you also trusted enough to pass those things off to, which I imagine made it also a.
Andrea Strolie:Learning experience, you know, because, I mean, obviously there are times where you hand things off to people and it doesn't go the way that you want it to go. But there's. I think there's beauty in learning to like, let go of that stuff too. Like, other people are going to make mistakes and. But I was making mistakes doing things too. I mean, you know, learning to let go and just everything's gonna be fine. It might not always go entirely smoothly or the way that you want it. It's gonna be fine. You know, I think that's like a keynote of business ownership, is like, it's fine, you're gonna be fine. Like, it really is gonna be fine. It all works itself out. It kind of does, you know.
Sam Bauman:So what advice do you have for people who are either running a business or thinking about opening their own business?
Andrea Strolie:Just. Just keep going. It's. It's not always pleasant and sometimes you'll go stretches of time where it's really unpleasant. Just keep going. Just trust that it's going to work out. Trust in your own ability to figure things out, lean on people around you that you know that you have at your disposal and, you know, just keep your eyes on the prize. Don't get distracted by any kinds of internal dialogue of like, oh, I can't do this, I don't want to do this. You know, just like, if you just keep your eyes on the prize and just keep chugging for it, like little by little, it all works out.
Sam Bauman:Yeah, Just keep showing up.
Andrea Strolie:Just keep showing up. Discipline, not motivation.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:Discipline, not motivate. You will never always be motivated.
Sam Bauman:Yeah.
Andrea Strolie:Leaning on motivation is a pretty sure fire way to get yourself discouraged because there's going to be a lot of days you don't give a shit or that you won't want to. And you're like, I'm exhausted. But having the discipline to keep showing up every day is.
Sam Bauman:You'll get there and you feel good about the core of this thing that you have in your building. And I'm sure that makes it so much easier in those moments where you are not motivated to say, I'm going to do it anyways. Because big picture. Is this something I care about?
Andrea Strolie:Absolutely, Yeah. I guess, you know, if you're. I'm very fortunate to really believe in the product that I'm putting out and the. The good that it's doing for other people, for sure.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. That's very cool. We always like to ask people to shout out another business that they feel is making a positive contribution to the community or. Or worthy of a little extra love. Because really what we're trying to do with this podcast is just build community between small businesses. So is there a business that you would like to share about?
Andrea Strolie:Well, as I mentioned, I think you guys totally should talk to Amy at Little Luxuries. I think she is also just a really incredible industry leader in the city and they do something that's kind of just completely different than what we do. So we. I like to, you know, I add her into my business stuff all the time. You know, I don't do acrylic nails. I'm like, oh, you want training from someone? You know, go to. Go to see Amy. They have a. Just a completely different niche than we do. And she's such a fantastic, warm, kind person. The coffee shop Northeast, right next door. I don't know if you guys have ever seen them there.
Sam Bauman:We haven't talked to them, but I go there all the time.
Andrea Strolie:They are such nice people, such a great business. Love them a whole lot. He already talked to Cody, Haley. Haley and Houston with the get down coffee. They are really great. I think Houston has some really fun perspectives on. On business ownership and has his hands in a lot of different, you know, areas of business, which I think is interesting and I'm sure he could provide you with some interesting stories. Yeah, those are who comes off the top of my head. Anyway.
Sam Bauman:Awesome. Cool. Well, it was really good talking to you.
Andrea Strolie:It was so nice to talk to you. Thank you.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. Excited to be here with you.
Andrea Strolie:I'm excited. Thank you for having me.
Sam Bauman:Yeah. That was Andrea Storley, owner of Nail Ninja. You can find Andrea on Instagram @nailninjampls or on her website @nailninja mpls. We'll put that info in the show notes as well. Thanks so much for listening. Please subscribe and radar podcast and tune in next week for our next episode.
