035 Building your business around your values.

What this episode covers

The only part of these podcasts that I script is the introduction. Sometimes they are easy to write; other times, you don’t know where to start, and that’s what it is like with my guest today. I think that the expression “wears his heart on his sleeve” was invented for this man. He is passionate and driven about everything he does. He leads with an open heart, a sense of honesty, and generosity, and humility that you don’t often come across. I have known him for the best part of thirty years through good times and bad, and I always enjoy talking with him. His name is Emiliano Vitale from e’Salon in Sydney, and I spoke with him briefly on an earlier podcast where we discussed the Coronavirus, but today I really want to get him to talk about his business and the journey he’s had and the lessons he’s learned along the way. I know you will enjoy his passion and enthusiasm for life, but there is also an awful lot of hard-earned business experience to benefit from as well. In today’s podcast, we will discuss: The importance of building your business around your values. Managing salon finances. The importance of community and… Some of the life lessons he has learned along the way. The ‘thank you’ project. In This Episode: [02:40] Welcome to the show, Emiliano! [03:52] Emiliano shares a little about his background. [07:47] Emiliano tells us a story about buying flowers for all the businesses in his village. [11:20] He says what he wanted to happen was to bring a little joy into their lives with the beginning of the Coronavirus in Australia. [13:06] Emiliano says that the generosity that the people in his village showed was astounding. [16:05] Antony speaks about values and how important it is for your values to define your culture. [18:19] Emiliano chats about taking his team away for a weekend to define their values fourteen years ago. [20:36] He speaks about knowing the values of Emiliano and how that reflects in the salon. [22:29] Emiliano believes that with salons closed, people need to take this time to reimagine what they want their salons to be. [25:49] How have your values changed over the years? [27:20] Emiliano shares how everything shifted with the birth of his first daughter. [30:03] He speaks about being a workaholic when he was younger, running from the man in the mirror. [32:36] Emiliano says what is important to him is to know that he could have his salon closed for six months and still pay his staff a full salary and come back stronger. [36:40] Emiliano shares the lessons he learned from closing a salon with a huge debt. [38:22] Emiliano says you can only have a plan A and put all of your eggs in that basket. [42:24] What are a few vital financial lessons that you tell people? [45:15] Antony shares that salons need a financial buffer of three months, don’t live week to week. [48:00] Emiliano says that the first 15% gets put away, and he runs his business on 85% of what he brings in. [50:24] Emiliano speaks about what the ‘thank you’ project is. [54:06] The attention of the ‘thank you’ project is connection. [56:23] Emiliano has 140 plus individuals from 32 countries holding up signs that say thank you. [59:04] If you want to participate, write thank you on a piece of paper and send a picture via Facebook message to Emiliano Vitale. [1:00:54] If you liked this episode, please share and write a review. [1:01:39] Thank you so much for being on the podcast today.   Links and Resources Grow My Salon Business  Find Emiliano e’ Salon Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn