Empathy at the Heart of Beauty Leadership with Kayla Bramlet

SPEAKER_1 (0:04)

The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

Tullio Siragusa (0:17)

Welcome back to the Bliss Business Podcast.

Beauty and wellness businesses are built on trust.

A guest walks in looking for service, but the experience is often more personal than that. They want to feel relaxed, they want to feel cared for, and they want to trust the space, the products, the team, and the person across from them. That makes leadership in the industry of wellness especially meaningful. Today, we're exploring the role of empathy in leadership through the lenses of Frenchies Modern Nail Care, which is part of the Head to Toe brand of families, excuse me, Head to Toe Brands family. We will talk about empathy, mindfulness, clean beauty, franchise leadership, guest care, team culture, and how leaders can build salon environments where people feel safe, supported, and seen. Our guest today is Kayla Bramlet. She's the brand president of Frenchies Modern Nail Care. Thank you for joining us, Kayla.

Kayla Bramlet (1:20)

Yes, I'm excited to be here.

Tullio Siragusa (1:23)

This is another special chapter in our Head to Toe Brands conversation. We hosted Meg Roberts, who's the CEO of Head to Toe Brands, and recently welcomed John Babcock, brand president of the Lash Lounge. With Kayla, we will have hosted two of the three Head to Toe Brand Presidents, and next Thursday, September 17th, we will welcome Alison Steimel, who's the brand president of Bishops Cut and Color. Kayla, your journey in the nail care industry began when she started working in salons at just 15 years old, and she quickly earned her nail technician license while still in high school. Over 10 years ago, she became a studio manager out of her local Frenchies, before investing in the brand as a multi-unit franchisee. She most recently served as director of training and operations before stepping into the role of brand president earlier this year. She also owns and operates two Frenchies in Minnesota.

Kayla, welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast.

Kayla Bramlet (2:23)

Thank you. Again, I'm really excited to be here.

Dive into it.

Tullio Siragusa (2:28)

Let's do it. Our topic today is the role of Empathy in Leadership, with a little bit of mindfulness in the workplace woven in as well.

From your perspective, why is empathy so important in a beauty and wellness brand like Frenchies?

Kayla Bramlet (2:45)

Well, to start off, it's a people business, literally, and so empathy has to be involved when we are having a people business. From every aspect of it, whether it's the franchisees or the team that's serving the guests or the front desk team, every part of our business is a people business. So for us to have empathy that allows our team to have trust with us, which gives them the confidence to deliver trusting services and carrying services to our guests. So team members need to feel respected in order to do that.

And in this industry, again, a people industry every day is a little different for the person in the chair performing the services, the person in the chair receiving the services, and the leaders up above that. So from every different chair, we need to understand that every day looks a little different for every person and having that empathy towards wellness experiences allows us to give people first experiences as well.

Tullio Siragusa (3:48)

Absolutely. I mean, if you really think about it, every business is a people business, right? Even if you're an AI or robotics, without people consuming what you have to offer, you'd have no business. It's all about people. Now you have experienced Frenchies from so many angles. You've been from a salon professional to a studio manager, franchisee, director of training and operation, and now brand president.

How has each role shaped the way you lead?

Kayla Bramlet (4:15)

I think sitting in each seat really gives me a different perspective of what it takes to be in that seat and have empathy for that person sitting in that seat. A quick story, an example is my neck this week is killing me. I don't know what it is, but I cannot turn my head that direction without screaming.

I think about when I was a nail technician, I could not imagine executing a pedicure. As a leader, I can have the empathy to say, hey, if somebody calls in sick because their neck is killing them, it's probably not an excuse. I cannot imagine sitting down and doing a pedicure right now, because I can barely turn my head that direction. A quick simple story of literally being in that seat shows me what it takes to be there, and that goes into every role that I play today as well.