Beyond The Mirror
Welcome to "Beyond the Mirror," your go-to podcast for business insights in the hair, skin, beauty, and wellness industry. Hosted by Adrienne Varga and Jodie Fielden, we're your guides on a deep dive into these dynamic sectors.
Discover industry secrets, actionable strategies, and inspiring success stories that drive business growth. From essential business tips and effective marketing hacks to crafting exceptional client experiences and staying updated on industry trends, we leave no topic unexplored.
Join us to unlock your business potential, elevate your brand, and embrace limitless opportunities beyond the mirror. Tune in for a transformative journey you won't want to miss!
Beyond The Mirror
From Old Wartburgs to New Beginnings: A Candid Conversation with Adri and Jodie
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Imagine growing up behind the Iron Curtain with limited exposure to the outside world and turning those constraints into the fuel for your dreams. In this episode, Adri Varga and Jodie Fielden take you through a vivid journey of overcoming odds, starting with Audrey's unique upbringing in communist Hungary. Discover how community ties and artistic passions shaped her early aspirations despite the restrictions of the era. Through a candid and personal interview format, we reveal the defining moments of our lives, both personal and professional, that have led us to become the entrepreneurs we are today.
Ever wondered how family dynamics can shape your career choices? We delve into the powerful influence of family on our life paths, contrasting the strength of a resilient mother against the rigidity of a grandfather's expectations. From experiencing the loss of a father at a young age to transitioning careers from IT to hairdressing, this chapter is rich with life lessons and emotional resilience. Listen as we discuss the importance of maintaining good relationships with ex-partners and how witnessing amicable post-divorce family gatherings instilled valuable values, guiding us through the labyrinth of personal growth and professional evolution.
Relocating across continents isn't an easy feat, but resilience and adaptability make it possible. Travel with us from the snowy streets of Hungary in an old Wartburg to the sunny shores of Australia, recounting the challenges and humorous moments along the way. Explore our entrepreneurial ventures that sprouted both in Hungary and Australia, and learn how a long-distance relationship led to a life-altering decision to stay Down Under. We also share how the birth of Bryn shifted management responsibilities, highlighting the collaborative effort required to balance family and business. This episode is a testament to perseverance, adaptability, and the pursuit of a better life through entrepreneurship.
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Introduction and Background
Speaker 1, adri Varga and Jodie Field In this podcast . Adri and Jodie take you on an intriguing journey beyond the surface , deep diving into the world of business in the hair , skin , beauty and wellness industries . From business success tips and marketing hacks to industry insights and trends , it's all here . They leave no stone unturned . So get ready to unlock your full potential , evaluate your business , leave behind the limitations and embrace the endless possibilities's great to be back .
Speaker 2I'm Jodie Fielden and I'm joined by my work wife , bestie and business partner , audrey Varga . During these podcasts , we share how you can leverage your passion into profit . Whether you're a budding entrepreneur , a seasoned business owner or someone who's just thinking about starting out , you're in the right place . We've just about done it all , and we're here to share with you that you can too , because it's time to believe your business can be everything you ever wanted .
Why We Love What We Do
Speaker 3It's so true , isn't it ? And hi everyone , welcome back . It's actually very great to be here with you , and I think this is going to be a very , very special episode , because today we are going to be sharing the raw insights into who we are and how we become the woman we are today .
Speaker 2That's right , not only are we going to flip the script a little bit , we're actually streaming live for the first time ever , so you really are going to get the raw insights into how we do this . So Audrey and I are both here , we podcast from home , we've got fur babies , I've got the real cute . My husband's working . So if anything goes wrong , you're going to see it all today . If anything goes wrong , you're going to see it all today . Um , okay , so I thought it would be fun to . We thought it would be fun to interview each other and share with you a little bit more about ourselves and our journey as women in business , um , and our transition into the world of entrepreneurship . Really , yeah , we'll explore not only I forgot to mention something else that we're going to explore the highs and lows of our professional careers , but also our journey , our personal journeys too .
Speaker 3Yes , absolutely . And what we are planning to do . We want to share with you the moments that shaped our path , and today we will not just show you the highs and lows of our professional careers , but also the personal journeys through some of the biggest challenges the universe put in our way .
Speaker 2Yeah , there's been a few , so I'm going to start off interviewing Adri . So , adri is Adrián Varga . I say your first name different , like 13 years , and I still say your first name different every time . I say it . All right , so question number one if everyone doesn't already know that you grew up in Hungary , they do now . Um , can you tell us what life was like as a kid growing up there ?
Adri's Childhood in Hungary
Speaker 3yeah , so I think life wasn't really too much different from your life , guys . It's just basically you grew up in a . You grew up in a nicer place . Yeah , because Hungary is right in the middle of of Europe , which gives us a lot of opportunity to travel and everything . But when I grew up , hungary still was a communist country . So it was very , very interesting because we had two different passports . We had a blue passport which allowed us only to travel to communist countries , so we couldn't see , you know , like the other countries that , yeah , I know it's very interesting , isn't it ? We couldn't see the other countries , which you know had better lives , so we didn't have any idea about , you know , like , how other countries or people are living . And if you were extremely lucky , then you could get the red passport and with the red passport you could go to Austria or to you know , like other countries . But basically , when I grew up , it was all about communism .
Speaker 3What was good about it is the community Like people had . Literally everyone was on the same level . The country is basically provided job for everyone , so it was pretty easy to get a job , but you didn't get paid too much and in the same time , you know like there were lots of people hanging around in workplaces and not much to do lots of people hanging around in workplaces and not much to do so but the community was great because , you know like , basically the people like , because we had not much , we shared everything . So we lived in our like we lived in a place where it was , you know , lots of lots of houses and and like high rise , higher rise buildings . You know like 10 levels , 10 stories buildings , and yeah , we've got really good friends and we weren't really suffering like , we weren't poor , poor , like we had food on the table and the good thing is that we weren't influenced with the , the outsider .
Speaker 3I'm meaning you know like we didn't even have mcdonald's until I was 18 . So all the food and everything what we had , it was all grown in my grandparents yard , like backyard , and we , like our mom , always cooked . So you know like , the morning meals , like the breakfast table , proper breakfast . You know dinner , it was proper dinner . So , in a way , looking at back , you know like I think we actually grown up in a really , really good environment but we didn't know too much about anything else .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , so all right . Well , if that was your childhood and it was pretty , you know , sheltered and everything what was it that you wanted to be when you grew up ? Like what choices ?
Dreams and Realities: From Artist to Entrepreneur
Speaker 3So it's actually very interesting . I was extremely artistic , so I had a exhibition as a artist , like I liked paintings and you know , like I had this exhibition and I was thinking , you know , like it would be really great to you know , to become an artist , but you know like .
Speaker 3Then I realized you know like you're never going to make money as an artist unless you die . You know to become an artist , but you know like . Then I realized you know , like you're never going to make money as an artist unless you die , you know . So I thought that's not really a good good way , you know , to make money like . I needed money while I was alive . So then I I really , really liked the idea to become a hairdresser .
Speaker 3But , my grandfather didn't like the idea because my father's side of our family they were quite high up . My grandfather was head of the police and he had an idea for us , you know , like what kind of schools we should go , and I really liked the idea to become a hairdresser , but we had to put it on hold because he just would not let me not to finish high school . And you know like , he wanted me to go to university , which I really didn't want to , because I just wasn't interested to learning and studying to , because I just wasn't interested to learning and studying . I wanted to get out there and do something and earn money because obviously , you know , like our parents , they couldn't , they actually couldn't afford to get a lot for us .
Speaker 3So for me it was if I wanted something for myself , I had to find a way to actually make money and get it for myself . Or if I wanted something for myself , I had to find a way to actually make money and get it for myself . Or if I wanted something , the deal always was all right . So we're going to put together half and the other half . How are you going to make the other half ? What are you going to do ? You know like are you going to wash the dishes and be going to give you some money for it .
Speaker 3Or are you going to do this and that and be going to give you money for it ?
Speaker 2so this is how I grew up , so I actually pretty quickly had to learn , uh , how to how to earn money so when you um one of the questions here , I've got so and I think you may have slightly answered it what is the biggest lesson you were able to take from your childhood ?
Speaker 3oh , resilience , really like I , yeah it was . It was a lot going on . So one thing what I like to share and I'm not ashamed of you know , like our family wasn't really the perfect family . My father become an alcoholic and he was quite abusive , so my mom ended up divorcing after , like when I was around 14 . And it happened because I just had enough and one day I had a conversation with my mom when I was around 14 , that you either going to divorce or I going to move out , because it was very stressful .
Speaker 3Like my father was a very , very interesting person . He was a really good man when he didn't drink and he had like a good two or three months when he didn't , but then when he did , he neglected everything . But then when he did , he neglected everything . Like one of the story , what we are still keep mentioning . You know , like my mom asked him to go to the shops which was five minutes walk to grab a milk and he didn't come home for two days because he met with one of his mate and they ended up in the pub and he , you know , like he came home two days later or he was , you know , promising to me to meet uh front of a shop because I wanted to get I think it was a skateboard or something like that , and he did let me down like four or
Overcoming Challenges and Building Resilience
Speaker 3five times .
Speaker 3You know , like we went there with my mom , he never showed up . So this is when I had a choice . You know , if I'm going to feeling hurt all the time , or I just accepted it that he's who he is and I never really had any expectations towards anyone ever in my life , because I knew I only can trust in myself and no expectations . So if you promise me something , then if you come it's really great , but if you don't , it's not going to hurt me because it's just going to be a reflection of who you are . So that belongs to the story .
Speaker 2Sorry , my computer just went crazy . That's actually a really powerful lesson to learn quite early , you know like none of my lessons were like that . Mine were more angsty teenager lessons and yours is more like . I'm not going to let you hurt me . Yeah yeah , that's why you're so good at what you do , because you don't take any of his personal ideas , you know .
Speaker 3But the thing is , the way I see my father now . He was one of my biggest teacher because he shaped my life . So , without him showing me the way he was , obviously it was my choice . I made a decision what I'm going to do with this , a decision what I'm going to do with this .
Speaker 3But yeah , you know , like without him , if I , if I would have grown up in a idyllic family , I never would become so resilient , because then you know when you have everything and you never have to figure out anything in your life , because everything is , you know , handed over to you and you have this whole nice and rosy and magical environment to grow up . When you go out , oh , there is a big jungle , yeah , can you say there is a jungle out there . So you know , for me I came from the jungle , I was very well prepared to actually go outside to the jungle , and I think this is why I become so confident and also so conscious about a lot of things and I have a quite high awareness about environment . And also I learned how can I protect myself without you know how can I protect myself ? And in the same time , you know , like , still stay normal .
Speaker 2As normal as you can be . Yeah , exactly , okay . Well then , so do you think it was your dad , or is there another person that was really influential in your life ?
Speaker 3Well , my dad was the negative side , if we can , if we want to put label on on it yeah , because I see it as a positive right now , like when he passed away . He passed away young , he was only 48 . When he passed away , I was extremely angry at him because I was angry at him not being able to create a good life for himself . Like he just wasted his life in my eye , but obviously it's not . But now what I can see that was a positive , but really a very , very positive influence in my life is my mom .
Speaker 3Without her strength . Without her strength , we wouldn't be me and my sister , we wouldn't be where we are . Like she was always so strong for us and you know like we were struggling , we didn't have a lot of money . I remember her and this is a story which is still hurting my heart that she was wearing the same coat in winter for like 10 years because she had to buy a coat for my sister , for me , and you know , like all those little bits and pieces , but she never said a bad word about my father . Like we like once they divorced both of them , they had partners and we celebrated Christmas name day in Hungary we have name days or birthdays , we celebrated together . So my father brought his partner and his her two girls , and my mom had a partner and he has two girls , so suddenly it was six girls in the family and we all got together really well , like it was just amazing six teenage girls yeah , and and for me , you know like , that was a really great example .
Speaker 3When you separate from someone , you are still on good terms . So I brought that into my own life . When only one boyfriend in my life I'm not in bad term , but if I can avoid , you know like I don't want to talk to him or I don't want to see him , but all the other boyfriends and my long-term partner , we are still very good friends . So that was something . But my mom is amazing . She's so strong and she was always so understanding , so she's a strong woman . You know like , we left her in hungary . Um , me and my sister will live here in australia , but she never put a blame on us or she never blackmailing us . You know like , oh , you left me here and look at you know , look at you guys . You know like , yeah , it is just , she's just amazing . So she's very independent also . So she built her own life and she doesn't want to come to live in australia because she has her friends and she has an amazing life over there .
Speaker 2So yeah , she's happy . Yeah , your mum is a pretty special lady . I love Mama V . Mama V doesn't speak English and I don't speak Hungarian , other than swear words and bad phrases that Adria and our friend Sylvie have taught me um , but I love mama b . We can't speak to each other , but we love each other . Yeah , um , all right . So what was your first job if you wanted to be a hairdresser ? But what was your first job ?
Speaker 3so , because I couldn't study hairdressing straight away because my grandfather had a path in mind , so I had to finish high school . And after high school I was very resilient , I didn't want to study anymore , you know , and this is when he helped me to get a job . You know , just a couple of phone calls and here we are . You know like Audrey has a job . So I ended up in a quite big company in an IT department , and they didn't need anyone . But , you know , let's put her there .
Speaker 3So I was there , you know , fluffing around , doing not much really . And then you know like this is when computers started to become popular . So then I started to work in that part with computers and that was my first job , which it was interesting . I had quite good money , I worked with really nice people , so that was good . You know like I worked with really good people . It was because , you know , it was no pressure on anyone . You know , like , if , like , if you finished your job , you finished . If you didn't , like , who cares ? You know , like we really didn't have any boundaries or anything . But the good thing is it started me on a journey for computers which later on I actually ended up to become a software developer , but that was far , far , far ahead , you know . So the first job was a job that I've got because of my grandfather .
Speaker 2So my next question is what led you to go against your grandfather and go into hairdressing ? How did that come about ?
Speaker 3Well , I think after a while he softened and you know like yeah so he had because it was a communist country .
Speaker 3You know , like , even for me to be interested in , say , buddhism or any other or any religions , like he , just like when I started to be interested in Bible , not because I wanted to be , you know , like praying or being religious , it's just curiosity yeah , that made him really , really he didn't like it . So he actually ended up saying , and as much as he loved us and he's , actually he was a really really good grandfather , he loved us so much , but he had these little boxes around you know , like what we should have been . So when I started to do that , when I started to get interested in you know religions or whatever , he basically told to me , if I don't stop it , he is actually I'm not going to be to his granddaughter anymore . So slowly , slowly , you know like I started to , you know , like you know Chip away at it .
Speaker 3Yeah , just chip away out of it . And yeah so , and then I ended up doing hairdressing anyway .
Speaker 2I think it would have been really hard for him , coming from a communist country and being raised that way and knowing he has to follow the rules and especially in his influential position , that having a granddaughter , that's not towing the line , the party line would have been mind-blowing for him .
Speaker 3Yeah , I went absolutely against his programming . You know , like all the programming , what was happening in school .
The Leap from Hungary to Australia
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , all right , so I love this story . What was your first car ?
Speaker 3Oh , our first car .
Speaker 2Adriana and I were driving along one day and I can't remember we were talking cars and she told me this story about her car and the way they used to do things there , and it cracks me up . All right so tell me about this first car .
Speaker 3So it's a car , but most of you probably wouldn't even know it existed . It's called Wartburg . It was a German car , wartburg . I can't even type that it's called warburg . It was a german car , warburg I can't even type that yeah , it was a car , look . You know like , for us it looked amazing , it was really good .
Speaker 3But you know , like I told you the , story that you know , like in hungary we have snow and obviously we have , you know , winter tire and summer tire . But you know like when you were driving this car or most of the crappy cars , yeah , what we had in hungary , sometimes the car couldn't go up here . So we actually one person was driving and two was sitting on the front so pushing the , the weight down to the , to the , to the front wheel , so the car could go up the hill . So , and many times we had to push it and also it was just a common thing . You know like , uh , in in winter , you know like it was black guys and you know car were sliding here and there . You know , and you know we , we basically bumped into each other but it wasn't such a big there . You know , and you know we basically bumped into each other but it wasn't such a big deal , because you know , like it happened to everyone .
Speaker 3So you know , but yeah , so Warburg was our first car , and then we leveled up , so the next car was actually a Volkswagen Golf , which was very posh at that time .
Speaker 2So all right . So you ended up in the posh car . So what ended up um bringing you to leave hungary ?
Speaker 3well , it's very interesting because I never liked hungary , so I never felt connected to hungary . And yeah , some of my friends , they started to move overseas . Some of them they moved to Australia , some of them they moved to America . But we started to leave Hungary and our town because we wanted to have a better life . And I must say , you know , like , for me , I had a good job then . I actually worked in software development , I was testing software , so I had really good money and good jobs , but I didn't like Hungary , I didn't like the mentality , the negativity . And I remember one of our friends moved to Australia and she told to us , you know , like , oh , come over , girls , but it was so difficult to get visas . So my friend who I wanted to come over to Australia , she ended up in America and I applied to a visa in America but I couldn't get it . And I started to date with my ex when I was applying for all these visas and I kept applying for Australia visa and while I was waiting he applied for an Australian visa and he actually got a visa . So he told to me well , you know like , I go and you come after me , and this is how we ended up . So we came to Australia . We loved it so much .
Speaker 3We thought like , well , let's start a new life here in Australia . Literally , we thought about that . We couldn't even speak English and we didn't know how to find a job or what to do . You know like we were very delusional . We had money in the beginning , so that money paid for , you know , the student visa and for education , what we had to go through . But , yeah , the most important things like speaking , and you know speaking english , or all the others . So I always think you know , like when people are saying , you know , like you must have been so brave and I'm just like I'm not sure if I was brave or stupid . So you know , you know . But then we made a decision that we're actually not going to keep in touch with Hungarian people because then we're never going to learn the language and then we're always going to depend on , like a Hungarian community . And it was a rough , rough , rough road . It was very difficult , but we never looked back . We always thought that was the right and best decision for us .
Speaker 2So , yeah , and what had you owned businesses before ? Like our part of the story .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2Or you had how many ? What businesses had you owed before , and were they here or there or both ?
Speaker 3so in hungary . In hungary , I owned a together with my then boyfriend . We had like a branding business , so we created flyers , you you know logos , business cards and all those things . This is how I met with my long term ex , like Janos , who we came actually together from Australia .
Speaker 3So , that was a business , what I , what I had . But here in Australia then , you know , like , we had multiple businesses , because János was already a businessman , like a very established businessman in Hungary . He had at one time we laughed but he had seven businesses together and he's a very smart guy . So he was managing all these things . I don't know like , honestly , I don't think he's human , you know , like his brain is so fast and he's so smart , you know . But I learned a lot from him . So when we moved to Australia after a while he started his own business and I helped him with that business and then together we had an export and import company . Together we had an export and import company and then he started , he moved to Australia , he moved to China and he started a factory over there in China .
Speaker 3So this is how we actually ended up being separated , because first we did the long distance for a while and then I didn't want to move to China . Then I didn't want to move to China , I didn't want to move to Hong Kong , so we just decided that . Well , from now on , of that , I don't know , it was like 18 years or 15 years . I'm really bad with numbers . So when someone asks you know like when did you broke up ? I don't even know the day , the year , so we just decided that we go , we both go . You know like when did you broke up ? I don't even know the day , the year , so we just decided that we go , we both go , you know separate ways . So I stayed in Australia and he stayed in China .
Speaker 3so yeah , and then and then I ended up with a hair salon , but I never wanted .
Speaker 2The next question was can you tell your version of how we met and how you ended up owning a ?
Speaker 3salon .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 3So that was a very stressful situation for me , because I used to work in a hair salon . And basically what happened ? They decided from one day to the other to shut the salon . So obviously , you know , like we didn't know that they either had financial problems or I don't even have any idea , but basically two weeks before Christmas they did let us know that after Christmas they're going to close the shop and off we go , you know . So that was it .
Unexpected Paths: How Adri Ended Up Owning a Salon
Speaker 3And this is when I started to think about , you know , like Janos is already started to do business in China . I had to look after myself because he had to look after himself . You know , we invested money and I'm just like like , well , this salon is closed , so clients are going to find us anyway , and I just didn't want to take all those clients to another business . And this is when I said , well , I'm looking , I'm going to , I'm going to look for rent a chair , because then I'm going to work for myself . I will , because then I'm going to work for myself , I will have my own hours . And you know , like everything else and little I know about that , you know , 10 years ago or I don't know how many years ago , probably 10 , 11 , 12 years ago . Oh no , we met 13 years ago , Half of it 14 .
Speaker 2No , it's 14 now . Half of it is 14 . Yeah .
Speaker 3So that time rent a chair was almost non-existent here in Australia . In Hungary it was normal . So I was walking around with my little you know resume looking for rent a chair and no one wanted to rent a chair for me . So then I was really upset about it and I said , like so what am I supposed to do ? I didn't want to go to work for someone else and I decided that that time it was gumtree , a big thing where you could put advertisements . So I actually did put an advertisement that I'm looking for a rent-a-chair .
Speaker 3I was writing down who I am , what kind of environment I'm looking for , and then I put an answer like five minutes later , and I said , oh , my God , you know , like this is something which you know I supposed to do , and the funny thing was about it that your salon was five minutes walk from where I used to live , but for some reason I never even thought about it to go to your salon to ask for rent a chair . It was just that salon for me . It was , like you know , in a little funny spot where I never got off the bus . You know , like I never , like I just never really recognized that a salon was there . So then I answered right away and then I went to see you . You were like yeah , yeah , just come anytime .
Speaker 3You know like I will be there . I have a very young baby and you know like , yeah , yeah , just come anytime . You know like I will be there . I have a very young baby and you know like we will be around . So I went there and I think we clicked from the beginning like you were so lovely it's .
Speaker 2Uh , you know we had a really good time me , honestly yeah , I don't know .
Speaker 3I think it's because it was a different relationship . You know like when you offer for someone , you know like a space and they're going to pay for you for that . You know like it's very different from an employee or employment kind of thing . You probably got me on a good day yeah , I don't know , we clicked and yeah , you told me , you know , like , all right , so I'm going to , you know , have a agreement for you , and you know you wanted to . I think it was two weeks ahead , like it was the bond and then two weeks ran .
Speaker 3I think yeah yeah , yeah , and and also what you felt for me it was another girl too , who was renting a chair .
Speaker 3It was the flexibility and that was really really good for us . And also the fairness , what it was . You know , like if you ask us to look after one of the clients because you couldn't , we actually had an agreement about it the share , what we're going to get . So you never took advantage of us , we never took advantage of us , we never took advantage of you , and everyone knew that place . So , and you know like , then then really we started to bond and then it's so funny because we had our initial meeting one week later I moved , uh , to the salon and when I moved there with my you know , all , all my stuff and everything , then you came to me and you said , oh , guess what ? And I said what , I'm pregnant again , the baby is like hardly doing anything .
Speaker 2You know , she was only four months old .
Speaker 3She was only four months old , yeah , yeah and then you asked me if I would manage the salon for you and I said like , oh my God , you know like I actually I was just kicked out from you know like a position , you know like I went through all these things and I said I can't even think about it to managing the business for you . So actually we were leaving that subject for a little while and I think a couple of months later I told you , you know like , yeah .
Speaker 2And I think a couple of months later I told you , you know , like , yeah , if you want me , I can manage the . Yeah , I think , because it was so early in the pregnancy , I had that sort of knee-jerk reaction of , oh my God , what can I do ? And then you were my plan , and so I'm like , all right , I'll plant the seed and then I'll work on it . You know , take the pressure off , ease her into a false sense of security that there's no expectations .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah yeah .
Speaker 2It was ? Yeah , because it must have been . When did you I think you took over once Bryn was born , didn't you ? I'm trying to remember you started managing because I couldn't be there with Bryn anymore .
Speaker 3I think yes , yes , yes , exactly when Bryn was born . Yeah , this is when I took over . I took over . Well , you know like I helped you to manage .
Speaker 2Oh , you started managing . Yeah , yeah , you started managing . You started taking little jobs off my hand and then we came to an arrangement that I'm like , okay , well , if you can do this portion of it , because I think by that stage I'd moved away from the salon a bit to be closer to family , because I didn't have any support back then .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2So yeah , no , it was okay . And then what happened ? And then what happened ? How did you end up with the salon ?
The Power of Ethical Business Practices
Speaker 3The salon I never wanted .
Speaker 2Yes , it was the salon I never wanted either .
Speaker 3Well , you suggested a couple of times that I should take over the salon because it's become too much for you and you know it was hard for you to manage . Plus , you know , like you had life challenges also . But we will talk about it when I'm going to interview you because I really want people to understand that what you , what you are doing , it's absolutely amazing and people can can balance work , business and also family and children . So we will talk about that . But basically , you know , like I was suggested a couple of times to take over the business and I kept resisting it because I had this idea in my mind that I'm making so much money . You know like I'm looking , looking . I just wanted to go back to rent a chair , like I promised you three years and I said , once that finish , you know like I just want to go back , rent a chair and just , you know , look after myself little .
Speaker 3I understand about it that , being a sole operator , it was actually quite insecure because wherever I wanted to go for a holiday , I you know I didn't make money . I had to think twice to take time for being sick , because then you don't make money and obviously , when you have a business and when you have a team , all those luxury is going to come with . Once you're running a business properly , then you can take time off . So I remember you know like we had a couple of meetings and then one day I said all right , I'm ready to take over the business . And this is when you came and you said you know what the business is ?
Speaker 3a start in my mind a little bit of extra money . So can I just have the business a little longer , so at least you know like I can enjoy to take some money . And I said yeah , yeah , yeah , just whatever it is . You know like for me it wasn't urgent and I really didn't really want it to take the business over . But yeah , eventually we ended up . So I took over the business .
Speaker 2I remember one of the conversations we had when I was convincing you to and convincing , let me just tell you , convincing Adriana to do anything she doesn't want to do is no easy feat , like you really need to show her why she would want to do this . If she's got it in her mind that she doesn't Like , there's no moving but you are quite resistant .
Speaker 2If you want to achieve something , you will come after me until until she gives you , until I find my way in and find the right motivation for adri , like what ? So I remember one of the biggest things , um , that got you to soften to the idea was that I said to you okay , so what's your retirement plan ? Yeah , what is it ? So you're working for yourself and you're doing this . What's your exit strategy ? You know , like , what do you know ? Like , are you paying yourself super ? Um , what's going to be your retirement plan ?
Speaker 2Because at this stage , um , janos was over in China , so it was completely different to like when we first met and stuff . So that was , um , I remember one of the big conversations that we had and you're like I don't know and like you know . And then I started pointing out the benefits of , you know , being able to have an asset , create the asset , sell the asset . When you finish with the asset , you know , um , and and . So we had that kind of conversation .
Speaker 2But , gosh , it took me a long time to until I found that little . And then , once I did have my in , I was like , oh , the salon's finally making money . I just need , let me just get some recoup , some of my because , when I say finally , because I'd stepped out of the salon and I wasn't there . It was and I had no capacity and we'll go into my side of it later , but it was , you know , just so that it covered everyone . It wasn't losing money , but finally it was like I could see you know some back into the coffers . But yeah , it took me . You are one hard egg to crack my love .
Speaker 2Yeah yes all right , let me see what other questions we've got here . Oh guys , I've got a new computer set up and do you think I can find where I've put anything now ? It's crazy . All right , so I'm just going to ask a couple of like one little question . I'm just going to ask a couple of like one little question what was the best decision you made out of all the choices that you ? Which was the defining moment ? Do you think in your journey up until the salon , which is the what's the moment , that kind of stands out the most ?
Speaker 3For until I go to the salon .
Speaker 2Mm-hmm .
Speaker 3Like us learning or , yeah , the biggest learning .
Speaker 2So sorry , I'll reword that what was your biggest learning ? Because I know we've had a lot of learning since that time I think we've had more learnings in the last three years , but so what was ? Your biggest learning , then yeah .
Speaker 3So my biggest learning was really if I think about how difficult it was to actually get a permanent residency and citizenship here in Australia , and I was told probably five or six times to go home because I'm never going to make it , I'm never going to get the visa , and that I never gave up and I always find the solution . I never backed off like I did not care whatever whoever was saying , because I wanted to stay so much here in Australia . I love the ocean , I love that people are so friendly and relaxed and , you know , positive minded compared to Hungary , absolutely . And I think the biggest learning for me was if you really want something , you will find the way around it . It's maybe not going to be easy , but you're going to get there at the end . So it's very important because this is what I'm implementing everywhere in my life .
Speaker 3I'm like a little foxy dog . Yeah , if I want something , I'm never going to let it go until I get it . So it's the same in the business , it's the same in my life . Obviously , you know like I'm not saying that I'm going to do anything harming other people , because I never do , but I want to say you know , like you always , there is always a solution , always a solution . And even with my visa , you know , like how many times I heard no and they cannot do it . And then I go back to the lawyer and I say how about if we try this ?
Speaker 2And then the lawyer is oh I didn't think about that , we can try that , so I just learned , you know , like there is always a solution for everything , yeah you know , like there is always a solution for everything , yeah , and it shows the resilience that you have being able to just keep coming back at it and back at it , and back at it at different angles .
Speaker 2But one thing that people that don't know you won't know this about you is that Adriana is one of the most ethical people I've ever met .
Speaker 2Hence why , um , I was able to sell the salon in the way that I sold the salon to Adriana . You know , like we've got so much trust because we did a thing back then called vendor finance , um , which is is you have to be , you have to really trust the um , the buyer , to go down the path of vendor finance and I could do that without any hesitation and then starting a business with you and all the things that we go through , is that honesty and trust and being so ethical . Is that honesty and trust and being so ethical ? Even when I've seen situations where people have done you wrong , like when they haven't done the ethical thing by you , you still remain on that high road . You never go down into the mud and do anything . So I think that is an amazing quality and so rare , um . So I'm very , I'm very glad to have you in my life because you keep me on the straight and narrow .
Speaker 3Oh , thank you . Look , you know like this is actually one of my philosophy of life , you know , just because something is doing wrong by you , uh it's , it's on them . So your choice is how you're going to respond and , uh , how you , how you're going to show up for that situation , and I always wanted to be different . So , if someone is doing wrong by me , I want to be different and I want to . I still want to honour everything , whatever I can honour in the situation and , yeah , I never wanted to go down to that rabbit hole .
Speaker 2No , you don't In every aspect . You never go down into and I think even when you have those and we are not here to say any of our journey has been smooth sailing . Most of it has been like a lot of it's been really rough and challenging and had to dig in . But Adriana never lets herself sort of sit in and stew about something either , like if it goes wrong you have that you already allow , explain that you only give yourself how long .
Speaker 2Oh , a weekend , so I only can take a weekend yeah , so when when I'm saying about that is , adriana only allows herself to feel upset or down or you know um , sorry for herself if that's the thing like , or for a certain amount of time , I think you . You usually only go a day , but there's been a couple of instances . Yeah , so the weekend is my box .
Speaker 3Yeah , when it's something really big hits me , I take a weekend when it's you know something big like . You know like when my visa was refused or when we decided to go apart with Janos , then two days what I allow for myself to ? If I want to cry , I cry . If I want to eat bad food , then I eat bad food . If I want to stay in my pyjamas , then I will stay in my pyjamas . But if just normal bad things , you know like when it's . You know sometimes things are , you know like escalating and yeah , sometimes I just say alright , so one day , yeah , but two days the maximum really yeah , and then she's back in it .
Speaker 2Rightio , what are we going to do to change this ? What do we need to do to move forward ? So that's always really inspiring and I think that's great having a partner or a business partner . This is why I call Adriana my work wife . Her and Graham are so similar , so I've got Adriana during the day , I've got Graham at night , and they both keep me um on the even heel .
Speaker 3I'm very , I'm very blessed , yeah we are very blessed , but that's going to be your turn next time , so we're going to put some shine on very , very positive things also .
Strategies for Business Growth During Quiet Times
Speaker 2I'm only positive because I have positive people around me . Don't worry , I know that I'm a succubus . Like I end up , I'm a reflection of the people I have around me . I ride other people's skirt tails . When it comes to being good , it's good by association . Oh here you go , Okay . Well , that comes to the end of our Q&A with Audrey today . We will be coming back with our next one . I think Audrey is going to interview me .
Speaker 3Yes , and I'm looking forward to it , because we are so different so you wouldn't even think two different people like us actually could work together . And we work together amazingly well . And we have very , very different life and we have extremely different personality and we are still working amazingly together . So I'm looking forward interviewing you because your story is just as fascinating and very , very interesting . So , yeah , I'm looking forward to that .
Speaker 2Oh , thank you , love . All right , well , we'll do a quick shout out . We've got our new quiz , um , so it's find your number one um game changer in your business . The link is in our , I'll just put it up here . Uh , there we go . So it's focusgdtcom , our links , and we've also got our masterclass coming up . Do you want to give that a little shout-out , adri ?
Speaker 3Yeah , so we call this masterclass Leverage the Law , which is a quite successful masterclass when we are addressing a couple of things what you can do in your business right now , even when it's very quiet , to grow your business . So really good Masterclass .
Speaker 2Some really good strategies to move the needle . We've used these strategies through quite a few different economies and it's proven each and every time . So hop in and catch that , guys . You'll also our podcast's . You'll be able to find it there at focusgbtcom , our backslash , our links . And adri , you're going to have to do the handles because I always ham it up yeah , and our handles for facebook , tikt and Instagram is at FocusGDT .
Speaker 2You'd think that I'd get that right , but I keep putting the other end on it . All right , guys . That's us for today , and we'll see you next week or next quarter I'm not sure .
Speaker 3See you next time . Thank you very much for staying with us . Bye for now .
Closing Thoughts and Invitation to Our Next Masterclass
Speaker 1Bye . Well , that was Beyond the Mirror mirror . Thank you for being a part of this exhilarating adventure . Join andrea jody next week as they continue to help you unlock the true potential of your business so you can leave your limitations behind and embrace the endless possibilities that lie beyond the mirror . And if you have a burning question that you'd like to feature as a guest on this podcast , just leave us a message at the podcast page at focusgdtcom . So until next time , keep pushing boundaries , keep thriving and always remember that your success is right here , right now , beyond the mirror .