Returning to your Passion with Steph Newman
Kate Butcher
Hello and welcome to the podcast today. Today I am interviewing Stephanie Newman, Steph Newman, Stephanie Newman which do you prefer?
Steph Newman
Steph, yep, Steph’s fine.
Kate Butcher
Fantastic. So Steph, I know through the school run more than anything, our children are at school together. And I have seen over the years that she’s launched her business and got it up and running. So it’s really nice to now sit down and have a conversation and do an interview and find out a little bit more about what you do Steph. So please go first of all ask you to tell everybody a little bit about yourself and about your business.
Steph Newman
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I’m Steph, I’m from Buckinghamshire. I’m 36 and a mum to a beautiful little girl called Ava who is nine years old. So I’m actually a qualified beauty therapist by trade, 18 years ago, but my business is called Facials by Stephanie, so I’m a skin therapist, and I focus on skincare I specialise in giving skin treatments, you know, and also work alongside people with, that suffer with skin condition so and problem skin so things like acne, rosacea, sensitive skin issues, skin barrier repair, you know and I also have people that come to me that kind of want to work on things like ageing, teenage skin, just general skin care. So anything skin related, really, you know, I kind of work with, you know, I’m not medically trained so I can’t ever diagnose skin conditions, you know, that’s completely out of my remit. And that’s kind of more dermatology and obviously medical which is obviously completely different but from a skin therapist point of view and from you know, from my side of things, I can definitely help clients sort of, just take better care of their skin and you know, look at ways in which I can introduce new products into their skincare routine. You know, what, if they don’t have a skincare routine or when they have, I have a lot of clients to me, have never really started with skincare, just don’t know where to start and you know, I kind of see myself and my business as almost like a back to basic skincare, which is quite unheard of really but you know in the world of skincare it’s so overwhelming, you know, it’s so confusing.
There’s so much out there. And you know, there’s a lot more advanced skin treatments available now, which is great, but if you don’t even know the basics of your skin and where to start and how to look after it and you know, or having you know, an understanding of your skin and it’s very easy to get caught up in that sort of hype and that you know, that mass marketing and you know, by buying products that are just not suitable when we’re up against so many influencers now on Instagram that you know, are being paid to promote and sell skincare products and you know, and they know nothing about your skin, you know, they don’t have your skincare at heart you know, they don’t care, but this is kind of what we’re up against. So I that’s where I kind of come in and just sort of bring basic skincare back to health again and then obviously these advanced treatments have their place definitely but then I kind of teach my clients almost to you know, like I say to care for their skin in a you know, in a way that then allows them to, once once their skin barrier, I mean that’s a whole nother discussion –
Kate Butcher
Discussion of it’s own.
Steph Newman
– that’s a whole new podcast episode on its own but, you know, once once their skins back to health then I can then say to them, you know, like your skin is in good health, it’s full of hydration, you know, your sebum levels are right, you’re not getting that dryness, you know that that lipid dryness in the skin and things like that, but we can allow clients to then go on and have these more advanced treatments. I mean, that’s kind of where I’m at the point I want to get to eventually I do want to offer more advanced treatments, but at the moment, you know, I don’t do that. So yeah, that’s kind of where I, you know, my clients come to me for that and then you know, I can then sort of refer them on or that, they’re quite happy to just to stick with me and just, you know, follow their skin journey. You know, it does take a long time. It’s you know, it’s skin isn’t such a big you know, skins are, you know, it’s a living organ, it’s intuitive, and, you know, it’s attached to the, to the person so, you know, that brings a lot of problems on in itself. So yeah, it’s it’s it is a long way is a long process and I do you know, I have my you know, I have my regular clients that sort of come to me for sort of their four to six weekly treatments. So yeah, you know, I just Yeah, so I kind of attract a vast array of people. See, that’s kind of what what my business is about. So yeah, it’s quite it’s quite niche. I think, it’s a bit different.
Kate Butcher
I mean, that’s a bit, I’ve already learned quite a bit from just what you’ve said there because I have to confess I’ve never really known anything about my skin. My mum taught me, you know, cleanse, tone and moisturise, and that’s it when I was young and I’ve kind of I found a skincare brand that I quite liked, and I stuck with it and I don’t know if it’s right for my skin or not. And actually, a couple of recent conversations have got me thinking that, and I’m sure you can shed a bit more light on this, but your skin changes over time. So you potentially –
Steph Newman
Yeah.
Kate Butcher
– just a skincare regime has worked for you long term, doesn’t mean that it’s going to continue as your skin gets older.
Steph Newman
No absolutely not. You know, and our skin does change it changes with age, you know, it changes with even even with the weather, you know, and I kind of that’s kind of what I definitely teach teach my clients that you know your skin, you know and your skin can, you know, like I say because it is attached to us as a person. You know, we do influence our skin and how our skin reacts to the environment and things like that. So you know, and I have a lot of clients that you know that that I think it is it’s getting to know your clients on a on a personal level as well. You know, I have a lot of clients that you know that they spend a lot of time outdoors. So it’s kind of looking at how, you know, what skincare can we incorporate to protect your skin you know, and it’s kind of like putting a almost like putting a winter coat on your skin to protect it while it’s outside and then you know and again not in the summer months as well you know your skincare doesn’t need to be, your skin, I always like to have my skincare quite light, you know and not a lot of you know heavy heavy products and, and I think again, it does come back to this whole mass marketing again, of just jumping into the latest trend or, it’s just it’s just not required, like your skins, your skins really really clever in that it knows what it needs to do. It knows how it needs to function it completely by itself if you’ve got those basic things in place and your skin’s getting the nutrients and the ingredients that it requires, there’s ceramides in there and you know that kind of things, and you know your your skin will function accordingly to, you know, to how it needs to and what, you know, we do with destroy us in ourselves, you know, we do so much to it, we strip it and just put all these evasive you know these actives on the skin it’s just it’s not always it’s required at all.
So it is, it’s just teaching my clients to completely stripped back but their skincare sometimes and and just work on what problem what the problem is at that particular time. And then once mastered that problem, great, you know, then there’s something else arises again, then we look at the skin again and then we sort of treat it and target it accordingly. So, yeah, and I think you know, it’s obviously you do need to have a basic skincare in place you know, like you’re definitely cleansing you know, but it does depend on what your skin is, what your skin type and what what we’re dealing with as to what kind of I can recommend. So you know, I always Yeah, it is fascinating. It is and it’s you know, I’m constantly learning, but it’s you can never stop learning with skin so yeah, it’s it’s fascinating that and I just get so passionate about it and you know –
Kate Butcher
I can tell.
Steph Newman
– I was, I was literally, that was gonna be my next thing.
Kate Butcher
I was gonna say, was that you talk about it with such passion, it’s really lovely to hear.
Steph Newman
Yeah, no, absolutely. And that’s kind of like you know, kind of why set the business up really because, you know, I, when I qualified in beauty therapy, you know, I didn’t actually I didn’t pursue my career in beauty therapy at all, I did something completely different. I went into social care and then various roles within that. And I did that for a good sort of 11 to 12 years and sort of in that time I then had, had my daughter and things like that but I was very focused all my jobs was kind of focused around her, you know, to fit around her and her needs, but I always knew in the back of my mind, you know, I kind of always knew that I wanted to get back into into beauty therapy. You know, it’s something that I loved it was I didn’t just want to be I didn’t just want to have the job role of being a mum, you know, I wanted to pursue something that I did enjoy and skincare was was that you know, I was more drawn, drawn to the facials and you know, facial electricals and that kind of thing, you know, so yeah, that’s that’s kind of what led me into getting back into this again and, like I say from skincare has always been something I’ve been interested in but I knew that you know, I had an audience of people that didn’t, that needed help with skincare, just like I did, you know, I didn’t really have a clue where to start with my skincare but it’s only just from from researching and I think when you’ve got a passion in something and you come across these, you know, there’s good platforms and good, other skin educators out there, and you know, and I was like actually, you know, I really resonate with what they’re saying and, you know, you know, I love their work and you just then it sort of leads you down that sort of path. And you know, and I’ve learned so much from that side of things and yeah, it’s so that’s kind of why I started up what I did, and you know, like I say, skincare was was definitely my area and I’m still you know, still definitely building building up on that. But it’s kind of, I sometimes feel that it’s the part of the business this setting up the business was was definitely what I found most difficult you know, and knowing that you know what my next steps were and you know, I kind of knew that I needed to, being out of, being out of beauty for so long and not actually having taken the career in beauty therapy. You know, I kind of felt well you know, what, what do I need to do like, and I knew that I knew I had to get the basics right again, I knew I had to go back to, you know, refreshing my training.
So yeah, that’s kind of what I did. I sort of looked around and researched to where I could go to re study again. And I come across Champneys just purely because, not because they were Champneys, but because they were offering a course that was more sort of weekends and it was for sort of older mature students so I went to that and yeah, that kind of gave me my confidence back, and I just spent, I took a year out and re studied that and you know did that whole side of thing again, and yes, I qualified from that, got my certificate. Then I was like right what now? Like where do I go from here? Like I’ve got this certificate, I’ve refreshed my skills. What do I do now? You know, and that was a big stumbling block for me then and, you know, I remember sitting down with a bit of paper in a pen and thinking like what do I need, what equipment what tools do I need to set myself up you know is, and I just got to a point I just I did get a bit stuck. And I was like, you know, do I want to work in a salon environment, you know, and learn from their expertise. But that was quite difficult to get into because there isn’t really I mean, there is now, there’s definitely more of that now but at the time when I was looking I wasn’t really skin clinics. It wasn’t really a thing it was it was just within a beauty salon and you know, I didn’t want to go and do nails and waxing and you know, I just wanted to focus on the on the skin. So trying to find somewhere that would take me on being completely new again, I suppose, was was really really difficult. You know, they weren’t really interested you know, they wanted me to come from experience and, which I completely understand, so I knew that from that point of view that obviously wasn’t going to be an option for me either. So, you know, I knew that I had to set something up on my own and kind of do it from home and you know, I had the room to do that. So that’s kind of where I sort of started really, so yeah. A bit of a journey. Definitely.
Kate Butcher
It certainly has. I totally relate to what you say there about how you sort of set up and then you go “what now?” and I did exactly the same thing, with my previous business. I had a hospitality consultancy, and I just remember exactly that we set up, we set up the website, we set up the social media channels, and then we went and how did the customers come to us? –
Steph Newman
Yeah.
Kate Butcher
– people that, are people just gonna find us online or what are we doing? How do we go about this? And I think we just kind of both, both myself and my business partner at the time. I think we just kind of froze for about four months just not knowing what to do or where to go. And I was quite lucky at that point. I stumbled across a business course and, and that really sort of pushed, pushed me in the right direction. But yeah, sometimes it can be just that that overwhelm of everything you need to do to get going is –
Steph Newman
Yes.
Kate Butcher
– so overwhelming that you just don’t know where to start sometimes, isn’t it?
Steph Newman
Yes, no, absolutely. And I was quite lucky that I had obviously met people on the course that had already set up, or had your treatment rooms already set up from home. So that was really, really helpful, you know, because I’ve sort of bounced off them really and so they sort of gave me ideas and you know, you need this, you need that. So yeah, I started with the very basics. And then I just remember you know, having, doing it, you know, obviously you started off from home and I just had family as a family and friends coming around and I was sort of practising my treatments on them and engage in my confidence. And that did take me a long time, you know, and I didn’t feel ready then to know how to then step out of that and I was doing that for ages just the constant practicing, which isn’t a bad thing because you do need to practice those skills obviously before then you have paying clients coming to you. But yeah, I did that for a very long time. And that’s the only thing they don’t teach you at college. You know, they don’t teach you how to run a business or how to set up freelance and do it you know, and so yeah, I built up my business from the ground really, I built up from nothing. So I do look back at that and I do feel you know, incredibly proud that, from there to then here, you know, and it just kind of shows really that you don’t really need to feel that you have to have everything worked out right from the beginning.
Kate Butcher
Yes, exactly.
Steph Newman
Yeah.
Kate Butcher
And I think sometimes a lot of people worry when they start a business, they do need to have it all worked out. But so much of business is just taking the next leap and doing something different and trying something new and –
Steph Newman
Yeah, no, 100, 100% Yeah, no, absolutely. You know, and I’ve definitely discovered that one myself, I’m still, started, you know, like I said, I’m still building from from a very, I wouldn’t say, I mean I have advanced, of course I have, and like I say, especially with skin like you do constantly have to advance your treatments with it. Building that that skill and the knowledge and but I feel that’s kind of, I guess what’s made me a little bit different, and, you know, a bit more appealing because, I mean, there’s so many of you know, these sorts of skin therapists and these sort of environments popping up now and then skin therapist is getting quite a known, you know, industry now, when you can you do have to be you do have to be different. And that kind of always worried me in the beginning because I was kind of like you know, I’m not you know, I don’t offer all these advanced treatments. I don’t I don’t I don’t offer this I don’t offer that. But actually, it’s I think it’s, I think it’s amazing that I do what I do now because it just goes to show that you don’t need to have all the have all the resources available right at the start, just to work with what you have now and get good. Get good at what you have now. You know and work with what you’ve got because obviously you know that’s, you need to build up that trust and that rapport with clients, and I feel I have that already. You know, I feel my clients come to me because, you know, they trust me, you know, they can see where I’m going with my business. They know I’ve got them and then their skin, you know that sort of top priority you know, I’m not just there to just you know, make money and have the next client you know, I’m you know, I’m there and I’m working with my clients. It’s it’s a journey, you know, and that’s, that’s definitely kind of where I’m where I’m going with my business. So, yeah, it’s it’ll be interesting to kind of see where it where it takes me and, you know, I have a goal in mind. I kind of think I know where I’m going with it. Yeah, it’s just it’s just interesting to see how you know what comes along the way I think.
Kate Butcher
Yeah, and absolutely, that exactly what you were talking about there about how you sort of look after your clients and you take them on that journey and it’s a personalised experience from for them. That’s very much how, I suppose that’s your, that’s your reputation locally. That’s how I’ve always seen how you know what you do because you’ve got that good reputation locally amongst certainly the other mums that I know locally and some of the ladies I know locally who use you. You do have that positive reputation for being, you know, for really caring about what you do and having that passion for for skin. Exactly. So yeah, that’s fantastic.
Steph Newman
As I said, you know, yeah, that’s that’s definitely what you need. I think to make it in this kind of industry. You definitely need to, you know, have that client trust, you know, and and I just you know, I’d I’d like to think that when I do advance in my treatments, that those clients that I’ve got will will follow me through with that, definitely. So, you know, I’m not I’m not worried, you know, I’m kind of, I know I know the direction I’m going, it’s slow but, and I think if you can get yourself in that right mindset, and feel confident in knowing kind of where where your business is going to go, and have the goals in place, and I know what I’m working towards, then that’s that’s all that matters really. That’s all you need to have, I think. –
Kate Butcher
Absolutely.
Steph Newman
– have that mindset.
Kate Butcher
And in terms of the work that you do with your clients as well and that sort of personalised approach that you take, do you, do you work with clients as well on looking at their sort of lifestyle things that they can change, because of course skincare is impacted by what goes into your body and your lifestyle and how much you you exercise and the food and the alcohol and all that kind of stuff that that you put into your body that feeds into your skin very much doesn’t it? So do you do you offer clients advice around that kind of stuff as well?
Steph Newman
I do. I absolutely do. And like I say it all comes down to you know how intuitive the skin is. So yeah, I do. I do advise, I say advise, I do definitely take that into consideration when I’m treating my clients we do look at holistic approach with with their skincare, what they eat, their diet, exercise, things like that. And I’ve always, you know, almost say to my clients as well when they come in to me, it’s almost like, you know, I can only work with so much, you know, and I made a point of saying, you know, they’re you know, there’s 730 hours in in a month, and I only see you for one.
Kate Butcher
Wow.
Steph Newman
Yeah, exactly.
Kate Butcher
See, that’s a statistic I never knew.
Steph Newman
Yeah.
Kate Butcher
That’s a lot of hours.
Steph Newman
Yeah, exactly. You know, and I, they come to me for an hour an hour and a half treatment and then that’s it they go, so it’s kind of like you know, I can only do so much with you. You know this this is about you. You you need to put the work in you know when it comes to your skin, you know, I can advise you, I can advise you I can help you but this is down to you. We’re a partnership, we’re a team work, you know, if you’re going to then go home and undo all the work that we’ve done together, or what we discussed, you know you’re not going to commit to it or you know, then you’re not going to get you’re not going to progress on your journey with your skin as much as you want to. So yeah, I do definitely take that, take that into consideration when, you know, when working with my clients just just just factoring everything in and I think it’s setting expectations for clients as well definitely is a big factor. But it’s getting them to understand they’ve got it we’ve got clients that come in with problems skin, but yet they’re, they’re in quite a stressful environment or there’s things going on that’s causing the anxiety, that anxiety and stress, you know, that’s going to, of course it’s gonna affect everything, isn’t it? It’s gonna affect how they eat, how they sleep, how they function, so of course that’s going to affect their skin 100%. So it’s, it is, it’s setting expectations that you can’t come to me I think I’m gonna work miracles on you. If you know if your lifestyle and things like this in your life are happening behind the scenes like we need to work together and figure it all out. So yeah, it’s, it’s busy.
Kate Butcher
Amazing. And right near the beginning when we started talking, you touched on very briefly about the kind of, the kind of different products that are out there and not really knowing what’s in those products. So is there a particular ethos that you have or behind the products that you use or you recommend with your clients?
Steph Newman
Yeah, so again, I mean, I’m you know, I’m not from a cosmetic background, you know, I don’t have an in depth knowledge into skincare ingredients at all, but I know that there is a lot of rubbish out there. You know, and just stuff that, again, it’s quite a hype, and it’s buzzwords and you know that and again –
Kate Butcher
Known brands. Yeah.
Steph Newman
– Yeah, And you know, and a lot of you know, it does come down to marketing again and I think it’s just it’s just getting your clients to understand what it is that their, their skin needs, which is why a skin therapist is so important and why they’re needed. I mean I work with a brand, and they’re not even a well known brand at all, but they are absolutely incredible. And they do work with, they do work with clients holistically. You know, so it’s not just I mean, it’s not just what we put on our skin, you know, they do, they do sort of teach me everything. So but, you know, their company ethos is our products are completely paraben free, you know they don’t contain emulsifiers, fragrances, perfumes and there is a big difference between cosmeceutical medical grade skincare products as opposed to over the counter skincare you know, in the local high street. I do stumble across that a lot you know, I do get clients that come to me that are so used to using a certain product and they use it from, you know, and again, it does come down to cost again.
You know, it’s just, I think it’s just making your clients understand the difference and why more advanced medical grade skincare is required, you know, it’s just it again, it’s just it’s just how it’s made, you know, their delivery system and sort of how, how, you know, how deep we can penetrate into the skin and what you know, it can change the skin at a cellular level like it just, you know, just makes a massive, massive difference, but again, it’s and I, and I’m awful it you know, I don’t want to be this I don’t want to come across as if I’m selling. You know, I don’t want to sell my, you know, I want my clients to invest in me and in turn, you know, I will give them in in, you know, I know that, what I, the products that I use on their skin is going to completely transform their skin and helped that I know that, I’m so confident in that and as a skin therapist, you know, the brand that you use is so important. You really got to believe in that brand. But I 100% do, you know, I believe in the brand that I use and I know that it’s going to transform and help people’s skin, you know, but they also they need education on that you know they need to, they need to know, and that comes from me, you know, they need to trust me and then, you know, I can then go on and recommend products to them. But and again you know I do take things like cost and that into consideration and, you know, I’ve never, you know, sort of pressure anyone into into buying skincare products. I just sort of guide them in the right direction as to what they need and I work within you know, the skincare that I work, that I use, you know we can, I can work within clients budgets as well and things like that and it’s completely bespoke as well as bespokely made skincare, which is just you know, it’s not off the shelf skincare it’s bespokely made, I make it on the day of treatment, which is just –
Kate Butcher
Wow.
Steph Newman
– incredible. Yeah. So I have my client in front of me, you know, analyse their skin, look at their skin, we talk and then I’ve just got a vast array of ingredients sat on the shelf and I can just pick out, they can watch me do it, I talk them through what ingredients are going into their skin. And then at the end, if they’re interested in purchasing the products then you know I can then write them up a skincare plan, you know, and then they can take trial sizes away.So yeah, it’s amazing. It’s so good.
Kate Butcher
It sounds it.
Steph Newman
Yes. Yes.
Kate Butcher
Gosh, I mean skin is something, like I said, I really, I’ve always just followed the same routine and not really paid much attention, but you’re inspiring me to get on the case and book in and get my skin sorted out definitely and find out whether what I’m doing is the right thing or not.
Steph Newman
That’s it, you know. And this is the thing that you don’t need a lot of products you really don’t, you know, and it can be as simple as just changing your cleanser. Simple as that. You know, and it’s, you know, I like to see, I’d like to sort of again, educate my clients that start off slow. Start slow and just change something in your skincare routine that’s not working or that’s not right, change it. And then then we can go and look on adding something in so that’s definitely where, that’s what I’m about though. I love it because obviously it’s just, I just learned so much from different skin, different skin types and like I say it’s just, you’re forever learning, it’s you know, no two skins are ever the same. I get so many so many different clients, I mean, obviously you do see the sort of same sort of issues and problems. But yeah, it’s, I like that. And I think right at the beginning it kind of did. I did worry about what people kind of thought of me, again, you know, and I was always sort of told this that, you know not to worry about what people think of you because I didn’t want to come across as too arrogant or too boastful in the content and the posts that I was creating on Instagram. But in the end I thought you know what I’m not, I’m not I’m not being like that at all. You know, I want my clients to know that I’m well educated and I’m knowledgeable about skin. I want them to see that I’m progressing in my career and –
Kate Butcher
Absolutely.
Steph Newman
– upscaling myself and I want my clients to see that but yeah, I remember the beginning that was quite a big thing for me. I was really worried about what clients thought, you know, but yeah.
Kate Butcher
A bit of impostor syndrome going on there.
Steph Newman
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 100% Definitely. But no, it’s, like I say, I’ve learned I’ve learned so much. I mean just from you know, working with this particular brand, I mean, their education is just incredible. And that’s kind of what I what I feel that I’m investing my time in, I’m investing time in upskilling myself first before I progress on to advanced treatments and you know, so I do get asked that a lot. You know, I do get asked if I, you know, I do like needling and sort of all these other advanced sort of skin treatments out there and, but no, I, at the moment I’m fine where I am, there’s so much there’s so much I can still do and teach people. So that’s kind of where I am with it at the moment.
Kate Butcher
And actually I love the way that you introduced yourself at the beginning you said you’re a real sort of back to basics.
Steph Newman
Yes.
Kate Butcher
With people and I mean that’s that’s exactly what people like me need. I need back to basics because I’ve never learned this stuff. And so many of us just don’t learn about how to look after our skin and we just do the same, well, I mean, I say so many of us, I’m speaking from personal experience, but I’m sure there are other people around, you know who are out there like me who just don’t know if they’re looking after their skin in the right way. And that back to basics approach is, is really quite reassuring because I think if if what you were doing was very advanced, I probably wouldn’t even think twice about using you because it would be but that’s way beyond me. That’s far too complex. Yeah.
Steph Newman
Yes, it’s overwhelming isn’t it, that overwhelming feeling Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And that’s what I didn’t want because you even you know, even, even for me, like you know, obviously I’ve you know, I’m a bit more more knowledgeable in my skincare now than we ever was, but even for me like I look at these treatments, and I just think I’ve never had that on my face. You know? So um, I can see, and even with my own skin and I’ve never really had problems skin as such, but, you know, obviously I, you know, I am getting older now, and you know, you know I do need think about obviously, you know ageing skin and things like that, but I even for me now like I can see just how taking simple approach to how I look after, how much has changed, just I have not even really done anything special to it. You know, I’ve just cared for it. And I’ve just made sure I’ve used the right, the right ingredients, the right products and make it, you know, having a good skincare routine in place, you know, how, you know, cleanse in the morning, and wear my SPF and I think it’s getting to understand your skin, is the most important thing, once you understand it and know why it’s doing you know why I get these breakouts certain times of the month, course you know that sort of thing, like then you know then once you’ve got once you’ve got that knowledge the world’s your oyster really when it when it comes to skin, you know, you’ve nailed on the head really and that’s definitely what I, what I try and empower my clients. And again, to obviously make them also realise that even if I do have a problem skin or a condition you know that’s it’s completely normal like, you know, that doesn’t define who you are. It’s perfectly you know, this is skin, skins real it’s, you know, especially on Instagram at the moment and everything so filtered and fake isn’t it, and it’s just that’s just not real. You know, it’s this is our skin it’s, you know, it has open pores and it has, you know, breakouts and scarring and lines and wrinkles. And this is all completely normal. It doesn’t you know, doesn’t doesn’t make it a problem or an issue, obviously to some people it does but you know?
Kate Butcher
Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, fantastic. And actually, one final question about skin before we move on to the rest of the interview. We’ve both got children of a similar age. And at what sort of stage should girls, or boys I suppose, be starting to think about the skincare routine. I mean, I’ve started to notice changes in my daughter’s skin now that she’s nine and actually just had the conversation with her this week about we need to start thinking about a skincare routine for you but part of me is thinking she’s far too young at the age of nine. I’m sure I didn’t start a skincare routine until I was about 15, but I’m definitely noticing those those changes in her skin What sort of age is it worth starting to think about?
Steph Newman
You know what actually, funny you should say this, from birth actually.
Kate Butcher
Really?
Steph Newman
Absolutely. Yeah, you can never, yes from I would say from birth, you can very much you can do to look after after your skin. I mean even now, so again, I don’t want to waffle on too much about it obviously cuz like I said he made a whole separate podcast about skin. But even –
Kate Butcher
You should start one.
Steph Newman
I know. But yeah, so, also, so to answer your question obviously being you know, having a child same age so even Ava now, and obviously, Ava is watching me and observing how I look after my skincare and I can see now that she is obviously taking advantage, she’s implementing that herself. She’s, you know, she’s cleansing her skin. And and again I because I, because the products I use are just amazing, and not you know, I use them on myself as well as my clients like, I know they’re perfectly safe to use on her. You know, so I’ll give her a little cleanser. She’s got little cleanser bottle, she cleanses in the mornings and things like that, you know, and she even does a little massage on their face and things like that, so, which is really sweet, but yeah, she does do those sorts of things. But I would say, it’s never too late to start with skincare. You know, and I say from birth because obviously from you know from from a young baby obviously, there’s so many things like, you know, we’re, we’re, you know, we’re cleansing our baby in the bath we’re putting on creams, nappy creams, you know, again, the skin is so delicate, from a baby.
So it’s just again, it’s just knowing kind of what you’re looking at what you are putting on young skins, things like that and like I say even when you’re you know when you’re when you’re bathing a young baby obviously every time you know your skin is exposed to water, does I mean we have this natural skin microbiome system. It has its own ecosystem on the skin. And that’s obviously our first line of defence and obviously protects us from the outside world from the elements from pollution, germs, everything like that. And it’s all about and this is why I think I mentioned like the beginning about skin barrier repair, because obviously over the years we’ve long term, incorrect use of products, not protecting our skin from the sun and things like that it does contribute to having this impaired skin barrier. So you can protect that from a very, very young age. And then obviously as, you know, as as they progress and then obviously become I mean obviously, you know, I know obviously Ava being nine that, I know that she’s not hit puberty yet but obviously, once children do start hitting puberty, their skin is gonna change again, you know, their hormones fluctuate, you know, they can produce more oil, you know, they are gonna get you know, these outbreaks again, which is completely normal, you know that that’s what our skin is, it’s doing its, you know, it’s designed to to do that sort of thing. So I think that if you can then have a really good skincare from a young age, from a teen, from a teenager and just have that concept of caring and looking after your skin that will definitely follow you through into into adulthood. So no it’s this is, you can never start and never start too young. And that so.
Kate Butcher
Thank you. Well, that’s certainly given me some ideas going forward. That’s brilliant. And you talked a little bit about how you progressed and you went into the world of work and social care and then decided to come back to your skincare business. What was that sort of? What was the deciding factor for you? What was the thing that made you take that leap?
Steph Newman
I think it was just more that I had, it kind of run its course and you know as much as I loved working in the job that I was doing and you know the various roles I had in social care, it just was never, I just knew that my passion lies somewhere completely different. And I think I’ve always been this sort of, I’m not saying I’m quite an indecisive person, I can be at times, but I just knew that, I didn’t know I just didn’t get that excitement with it. You know, and I think, you know, we spend a lot of our time working, don’t we? Yeah, this was definitely I just, I just had I just knew I just had that feeling that this was, you know, something that I really was passionate about and what I wanted to do and and then I think obviously again with Ava being at such a young age, like I said, obviously, my kind of work revolved around her. And you know, she got to a point where she got older and I was like right you know, this is this is my time to kind of move careers and try and progress into something different. And like I say, I knew it. I knew it had to be something to do with skin. I, you know, I knew that. Obviously it did, it did put me off and I did have those barriers in place of like, well, you know, it’s not a secure job. It did it was all these barriers that kind of stopped me from from doing it and I think you just have to, I think you just got to be your own sort of superhero really and cheer yourself on and, you know, be, you know, be your own, big yourself up really and just sort of push yourself to drive yourself to do something completely different. And I’m so glad I did you know I really am and it just goes to show that putting barriers in your way, and you know, not pushing yourself to what you want to do. You know, I think I would have regretted it if I just stayed and just done what I want to do just because it paid the bills or you know, it’s just yeah, I was kind of just I was stuck I think.
Kate Butcher
And I think we can be our own worst enemies sometimes can’t we, sort of holding ourselves back and making excuses about why now’s not the right time and, there will always be a reason why now is not the right time. Like you say you’ve just really got to just take that leap and, I like that, be your own superhero and, that’s a really good one.
Steph Newman
You know, that’s definitely something I’ve learned. I mean no one else is going to do it for you. You know, you do have to kind of you know, big yourself up and really, really push yourself, show up for yourself every day, you know, isn’t it, it’s quite a you know, especially when you’re, you know, working on your own, you know, I haven’t got, you know, I don’t have anyone to bounce off, I am completely, you know, on my own doing this. But when you’ve got when you’ve got that passion that drive in you, you know, and I can see, you know, what I’ve built up so far is resonating with a lot of people when you know I am getting interest, I am getting people wanting to booking with me. I think that then gives me enough motivation that I need to push through and be like, no, you know, this is, this is good, like, you know, I’ve, you know, I can work with this and, you know, I can build it into into something amazing, you know, I can definitely do that. And obviously again, you know, I’ve built kind of, you know, I’ve met people through through my work and I built a platform of you know, other skin therapists that I’ve met and, you know, engaged with, you know, during my, during my time we’ve kind of built up a little community really and, you know, I’ve got the, you know, the brand that I work with as well like that, you know, we have sort of online meetings and sessions together and so, I don’t feel as lonely now, you know, I do feel that I’ve definitely got that support and that, you know, that I need you know. And don’t get me wrong from a business side of view, I still don’t, haven’t got everything worked out, of course I haven’t, you know, I’m still, I’m still learning that but I guess that was that’s what makes it exciting, doesn’t it when you’re in business and, you know, and I’ve learned so much so much, you know that I’ve learned so far and setting goals and what I want to achieve in my business, how do I get there? You know, what tools have I got in place to help me and yeah, so it’s, it’s, it keeps me busy. It’s challenging, which is, you know, I like being busy.
Kate Butcher
Fantastic, that sounds amazing. And what would you say the best bit of advice is that you have been given since you started your business?
Steph Newman
I would definitely say, I think I’ve probably touched on a couple of points already, but just to not feel like you have to have everything worked out. Definitely. And then I’ve definitely seen that through my process, like I said, But you know, I’ve built myself up from the ground you know, I remember sitting down a bit of pen and a bit of paper and writing down what I needed to do, what equipment I needed. You know, I’ve had to outsource, you know, that myself and research myself. But you know, never let that stop you from progressing and never let that be a barrier, definitely not. And like I said definitely, you know, be your own supporter, show up for yourself, you know, make yourself appealing, definitely, you know, gauge your clients and you know, kind of know what you know what audience you’re working with. And also knowing again, what direction you’re going in with your business. You know, you know, I still see myself as quite a small fish really. But again, I know where I want to head to and I know where I want to get to like I say, I’m taking small steps but I know I’m in the right direction. And then, again, I’d probably say the best bit of advice I’ve been given is to probably stay focused on the small things. Again, not to feel like you have to have everything, you know, like there was one point where I felt like I needed to go on this training and that training I needed to offer this service and that, that service to my clients and that is definitely not the case at all. That’s such a myth. You know, just stay focused on what you’ve got now and what you can work with get really good at what you’ve what you’ve got now. Be really good at that particular you know, and again, that’s why I specialise in what I do, you know, because I spent that time getting as best as I can in what I know. And that and that’s enough. Really that’s like I said that’s given me confidence and that knowledge, you know, that I needed to know, to know that I am that I’m okay and, it works for me. So yeah, I’d definitely say that’s, you know, that’s definitely the best bits of advice I’ve I’ve kind of been given.
Kate Butcher
Fabulous, thank you. Do you have any particular business tools that you really like using that have been really useful to you? Really valuable?
Steph Newman
Yes, again, right at the beginning of when I started up my business, I mean, I spent ages researching different tools and apps and this that and the other and again, I remember setting up a little you know, we can have a little albums on your phone on you. And then it was full of like apps, this app and that app and I was just I was getting myself so overwhelmed with what, what it is I actually need but I think as I’ve progressed in my business and I, you know, my take my own pictures and things like that. I’ve come to know what tools work best for me. So I’ve kind of gone through my phone, I deleted all the stuff that I don’t even need anymore, but some really good ones that I use is definitely Canva you know, I pretty much use that for all my written posts and content and, I’ve kind of paid for the more advanced version because obviously you can do a lot more with it. I can add videos into it, make them interactive and things like that. So that’s definitely Canva. I use iMovie. I do like to film my treatments, and then I’ll go back in and edit them on iMovie, which, again, is a nightmare, because you know it’s yeah, it’s quite difficult to to work out but I do spend a long time, more than I should on on iMovie editing. I still haven’t quite got to grips of it. But I was actually recently introduced to an app called GoPro quick.
Kate Butcher
Okay, I know about GoPro but GoPro quick I haven’t come across.
Steph Newman
It’s been an absolute godsend because what it does is it allows you to upload a video, and you kind of choose the template of that video and it kind of does it for you, you can choose your own music to it but it kind of does it for you –
Kate Butcher
Yeah.
Steph Newman
– you know, makes it quite quirky and interactive. And yeah, you can, you can edit it in there as well. But that’s helped me a lot. Like I think I did a video recently on it. I went to a skin aesthetic show a couple of weeks ago in London, and I took a load of pictures obviously while I was there and videos and things and I knew I wanted to put it into a video patch on my Instagram page and my social media. And I just thought to myself for me to sit for hours and go through that on, on iMovie, I’m gonna lose the plot. So I’ve been introduced to this quick app and I used it and it was, it was it was amazing. It was really really good. So I actually really love that. So I definitely recommend that.
Kate Butcher
I’m gonna have to try that, because I use iMovie quite a lot, not only for my own stuff, but also for the work that I do with clients. And yeah, I mean, I have to say I don’t find that iMovie to be the most intuitive app out there, but I do, I do end up spending quite a lot of time having, you know, on Google looking for YouTube tutorials on how to do certain little things that need doing. So yeah, that’s definitely one I’m gonna have to try, add that to my list.
Steph Newman
Kind of having trouble with what else I use. I use, another good tool, is Splitstory.
Kate Butcher
I’ve heard of that, I have not used it.
Steph Newman
Yeah. So I mean, because I, I mean, I again, I need to do I do need to add more content onto my page, that’s another issue that I’m trying to deal with. Getting better at doing that, but with split stories so if I’m uploading a, you know, a discussion of I’m talking about say a product for instance. You know you can waffle on for quite a long time and I’ve done it before I’ve just uploaded it straight to Instagram on my stories and it’s come, cut things out, it’s cut me out, it doesn’t flow very well. Where as Splitstory you can upload it onto that and it will cut it down into 15 Second segments for you.
Kate Butcher
Fabulous. I’m going to need to introduce that one to my husband because he gets really frustrated with videos that are too long and having to cut them up on Instagram so yeah that’s, that’s a really good one.
Steph Newman
Yeah, no, definitely, it’s definitely a good one yes Splitstory. I think that’s about it. Really. Oh yeah, pic frame, so like to do before and afters.
Kate Butcher
Okay, yeah.
Steph Newman
That’s a good one, it allows me to do sort of before and after pictures, sort of, you know, so that you can clearly see and then I just edit on there. So I’ve used that. And again, I think just in general when it comes to organising the content on my page, I kind of look at Pinterest a lot of kind of look at how other therapists, or I just type in, you know, skin, facial facials and things that bring up her, you know, whole load of images of how people take their photos of skin. And if I’m doing if I’m doing a quite staged photo of somebody that with a mask on or an enzyme on or something like that, then I’ll it’s quite nice to have a, it looks a bit more professional. So I kind of go to there for kind of inspiration and ideas and again, you know, look at other other skin therapists and look at their sort of platforms, their Instagram, Instagram pages, and I kind of look to see what they’re doing and getting my inspiration from them as well. So there’s a lot out there but again, it’s just try not to be too overwhelmed with it and just again because you can you can just spend hours just working these apps out.
Kate Butcher
Yeah, that’s true.
Steph Newman
Just to know, you know, who’s got all you haven’t got all this time and and I would absolutely love for someone to just, I say I’d love for someone to come and do my editing for me. I actually, I would actually like that I like that, I’d love to just be to send somebody a video and be like, but here’s the video please can you edit it and upload it? And that would just be amazing for me. So I think again, you know, that’s another business goal for me is to actually have someone kind of helped me with that, because I, you know, and I’ve definitely found that I’m very good at putting written posts out on my on my Instagram page, but they’re not the ones that I find get the most engagement, it is videos people love to see facial video and the treatment that I’m doing on clients they love. They love to see that –
Kate Butcher
The behind the scenes stuff is what tends to get the most engagement, always.
Steph Newman
– and I’ve got loads of videos I can put up but it’s just it’s just finding the time, but I do, I do need to get better with it because that also gets my interest, I guess clients, you know, gets potential clients interested as well when they when they see that when they see the work and see what sort of treatment they’re coming in for, that definitely does engage people, and so I do definitely to make a point of you know, having that be a bit more of a priority is, you know, having them sort of videos a bit more on there and reels and that kind of thing. But yeah, I’m definitely, that’s definitely a weakness of mine, and I’m not that great at doing that and scheduling posts as well. Like that’s definitely something I need to practice on a bit more as well. So, but we’ll get there with it. I know it’s something I need to work on. So I just need to, I need to get that right. And –
Kate Butcher
It sounds like you’ve got a really good idea of exactly what it is that you want to, you know, you want to do to get you to the next level and to get you where you need to be which is great. Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you. And finally, do you have a favourite book recommendation for other mums in business?
Steph Newman
To be honest. I, I kind of spend my time more listening to podcasts on skin or reading books on skin.
Kate Butcher
Fantastic.
Steph Newman
And I, but I do know that there are I do know there are books out there that I can definitely be investing my time in. But there was one that I did read. I didn’t even finish it but it still sort of sat on my bedside table is it’s called The Miracle Morning.
Kate Butcher
Yes, yeah I’ve read that one. Elrod, Hal Elrod.
Steph Newman
Yes, yeah, that’s it. Yes. And you know, how to transform the, Six habits to transform your morning before 8am wasn’t like that. It was called, wasn’t it? And yeah, absolutely. I, like I said, I’ve started to read it but I haven’t finished it. But I think that it’s, I think it’s so important to have a really good morning routine, when you’re running a business. You know, I do like to try it, well I, I have been good. Obviously, I have my moments, but I have been good at getting myself up early in the morning. You know, sometimes before even Ava wakes up, just so I can gather my thoughts, what my intentions are for the day, what my goals are, and just have that ready and so I know then how my day is going to pan out. So that’s definitely a good take that I took from that from from reading that book.
Kate Butcher
Yeah, it is a great book. And in fact, it was it was that book that got me into 5am starts and I now can’t sleep much beyond 10 past five. Very rarely if I really need it, I do, but yeah, it’s a fantastic book. And I don’t follow the routine that, that he recommends in there. I started off following it and then I’ve just slowly adapted it to my own routine, which is which actually changes with the seasons as well. But yeah, it’s it’s a really good, really good book to sort of get you motivated and like you say just to get a morning routine in place.
Steph Newman
Yeah, it sets you up, it just sets up for the day doesn’t it? Like you just feel so good? And there is so much you can achieve in the morning. You don’t realise, but then I suppose it hasn’t knock on effect as you’ve got to make sure you get a good sleep the night before.
Kate Butcher
That was the hardest thing for me in getting in the habit, into the habit of getting up early, was getting to bed early. That was the thing I found the hardest, especially coming from the background that I do, and that my husband is still in, working in hospitality, where quite often you’re not finishing work until 10 or 11 o’clock at night and then you need time to wind down and maybe even have some food at that time. And so I was very much in the habit of late nights. You know, when when we’d had our, we used to run a pub, my husband and I, and you know we would often finish work at 1, 2, 3am sometimes, and so it just became very habitual, but we would have late nights and late mornings. Turning that around was a real a real challenge. But now I love my early nights and my early mornings and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Steph Newman
No, no, that’s it, exactly, and it is not they say it isn’t it like, you know, it was take us takes a number set, a set number of days to for something to form a habit is, I think I’ve heard that somewhere.
Kate Butcher
Yeah, there’s different theories. 66 days is one that I’ve heard quite a few times. And I’ve heard other people saying it takes about about three weeks. So yeah, that’s it depends on which philosophy you follow. But yeah, consistency one way or another.
Steph Newman
Yeah.
Kate Butcher
It’s key, isn’t it?
Steph Newman
Yeah, I think, you know, and again, from a business side of view and, you know, being a mum and having a business like you do, things do need to be planned, they need to be planned in your diary. You know, I need to, you know, especially, you know, of course I’m very aware that I need to spend my time with Ava and you know and and you do get that mum guilt, of course you do but, you know, but again, someone told me actually this is going back to the business advice just quickly someone did say to me that you know, the first two years in business is going to consume your life. And it is, it is all you do. But it kind of has to be like that in a way, so that kind of stopped me from feeling that guilt so much that, you know, perhaps I was, my time was spent more on my business than you know, really sort of engaging and but, you know, I’m aware of it, and also you know, I will, I will, it sounds stupid but I will plan out at a time in my diary and I will be like my, you know, I’m going to take Ava, I’m not going to, you know, I’m going to take Ava out, we’re going to go for, you know, we’re gonna go grab a drink somewhere, a coffee in a cake somewhere and, you know, we’ll just have that one to one time. I do, I am quite conscious of making sure that I do make that happen. Otherwise I could just come in, I mean there’s so there’s so much I can be doing. When I do, I, you know, and I again, stay focused, you know, not complete a task then move on to the next one. Whereas sometimes, and it’s again, it’s something I need to still practice but, things going on in my head and I kind of rush from one to the other and I don’t complete one thing first and then it just becomes so overwhelming and that’s when it can become a problem. You know, keep focused and just have everything, have your intentions set out, tick that off as you go along and then move on to the next and you’ll slowly get to to where you want to be and build up what you want. And yeah, I’ve definitely seen, I’ve seen that already that it does work. You know, but yeah, setting that time in the morning to be able to achieve that is good. I just need to sometimes get to bed a little bit earlier, because sometimes I’ll lay in bed and do work and you just have to know when to switch off as well don’t you have to, you do.
Kate Butcher
Last night I was networking and I didn’t get home till nearly 11 o’clock which is way past the time I’m normally in bed but then it was this morning it was you know, gotta get up and get on and it was a bit of a feeling a bit bleary eyed first thing but yeah, it is sometimes hard to fit in the practicalities of the early nights but it’s the way it goes.
Steph Newman
I can teach you some good facial techniques, massage techniques that you can use in the morning to brighten your face up.
Kate Butcher
That sounds like a great idea. Oh, fantastic. So thank you very much for answering all the questions, before we totally wind up, could you please let us know how people can get in touch with you, how they can, where they can find you, where they can follow you?
Steph Newman
Yes, so I’m on both Instagram and Facebook, Facials by Stephanie. So that’s kind of where I’m pretty much am, so you can find me on there. I’m very active on my messages as well. You can message me directly through both Instagram and Facebook. All my details are on there. You can direct message me through any of those platforms. But yeah, that’s where I am Instagram or Facebook.
Kate Butcher
Fantastic. That’s absolutely brilliant. Thank you so very much for your time today. It’s been absolutely a huge wealth of knowledge that you shared with us today. It’s been brilliant.
Steph Newman
Thank you for having me. You know, it’s been great. Thank you.
Kate Butcher
Fantastic. Thank you very much.
Kate Butcher
And as a thank you to our listeners, Steph is offering a special discount for anybody who books within the next 30 days from when this podcast is published. The offer will be available until the 30th of June 2022. And that offer is that you can receive 10% off any facial treatment when you book online through the booking system, which is available through Steph’s Instagram and Facebook pages and to redeem the offer you need to put the code BFFM22. That’s B F F M, as in Business Foundations for Mums, 22. All bookings must not only be made but also redeemed during the month of June. I hope you enjoy.