Let's dive into the world of podcasts— since starting mine, I had a bunch of you reach out and say you would love to start your own, but you don’t have the confidence. I want to share today, my 10 biggest tips for starting your own podcasting journey, so maybe it will give you confidence to start your own. My own podcast was the best thing I ever did, I wish I had done it sooner! It’s a huge learning curve, I won’t lie, but like anything you get better each time. There are a few things I wish I had known, so consider this your pocket guide to things that may help you!

As our year winds down, I always spend the last quarter really assessing my business, my year and what I want from the next year. It might seem early to make resolutions and goals, but you know me - I’m always scheduled ahead! At this moment in time, I’m thinking about the words, i want to associate with next year. This year was “free.” I wanted freedom from 2023, and I truly got it. I worked when I wanted, on my terms. I stepped away from sets, and early morning 7am call times, travelling across the country, and stepped into waking up at 7am on my terms, in my tiny East London flat. I drastically cut down the weddings and students I took on, and instead, allowed myself to be free in my business. It’s felt awesome. I prefer to attach vibes, words and feelings to my goals next year, rather than resolutions and today, I’m sharing the 5 “vibes” I want, from 2024.

When I started the process of getting my business set up for a month away, I was TERRIFIED. I’ve never been away for that long, from my emails, from my business, from my DOG!! And I’ll be honest, I’m not terribly sure I was prepared. I run 3 businesses, a podcast and an agency, it’s alot! So I knew, I had to be prepped and ready to go! I started preparing about 1 month before (in hindsight, I think I would have liked more) but, as I sit here, I did it! My business is ready, prepped and set up for me to go away for a month. So how did I do it?

OK. this is a fun one today! I went on Instagram and asked you guys “what are some things you wanted to know, or currently want to know, as a new makeup artist”. Today I’m answering some of those as a blog post! Let’s get into it!

For all of us in the world of business AND makeup, time is a treasure beyond measure. I've often said that "time is my currency," and I couldn't mean it more in all honesty. Everything I do is in the pursuit of more time. True success, to me, means working in a way that grants us the freedom to return to what truly matters in our lives. Running a business isn't just about profits; it's a means to explore the world, take leisurely weekends off, visit our loved ones, and spend time in the places that rejuvenate our souls. Today, I want to dive into the realm of passive income and share the basics with you, my fellow makeup artists.

Today, I'm delving into a topic that's near and dear to many of our hearts: gracefully saying no, especially if like me - you can tend to have people pleaser tendancies. As makeup artists and creative entrepreneurs, we often find ourselves saying "yes" to everything that comes our way, unpaid work, student test shoots, the client that pushes our boundaries, the extra bridesmaid when we are already over the limit. Today, I want to shed light on how we can confidently decline opportunities without any lingering guilt, as a recovering people pleaser myself! It's all about paving the way to our best "yeses" while empowering ourselves to decline graciously without guilt!

Now, I'm gonna say one thing that's gonna surprise you and that is I do believe there are times that businesses where we need to hustle. Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of hustle culture and I don't think your entire business life should be entirely hustle focused. But I do believe that there are seasons where we should hustle, but they're also seasons where we should stress less and work less. Today I want to share six ways that we can stress less and work less because I believe at By Kayleigh - there are 1 million resources on how to fill up your diary, but maybe not so many on how to work a little bit less in a business. Let's go!

As entrepreneurs and self proclaimed “one women shows”, we often embody the "do-it-all" attitude, driven to pursue our dreams and manage EVERY single aspect of our businesses. For me, this was something that took me a long time to learn, in fact, even to this day, I still very much like to have a finger in every single aspect of my business. It was only 2021 that I actually hired a VA to help take some things off my plate. But I doing this I have come to realise how important and effective it can be when you start outsourcing things that aren't perhaps your zone of genius to people where it is THEIR zone of genius. Today, consider this your blog post cheat sheet in the five ways that outsourcing will absolutely change your life. And I mean, not just your business but your life!

One of the absolute best things that came from By Kayleigh was the incredible community that came with it. When I first started By Kayleigh, I was selling forms and contracts on Etsy and I really didn't expect it to become where it has become. One of the best things I ever did was make the decision to become community focused and really create a space for people rather than a place for me. It's something that I get asked a lot about when I do my Q&A’s and in the level up club is how do you create a community, what are the benefits of creating a community and is it worth creating a community as a make-up artist. So today here are some tips and advice around creating a community as a makeup artist/

A question that I got asked a lot about in the last year was launching. I feel like make-up artists are expanding their horizons and their realms of what they offer and I love to see it. So a lot of the educational questions that I have been getting have surrounded launching and introducing new products. Launching is something that I don't think I'm an expert at (yet) but I have done a few times. I've launched a podcast. I have launched a signature program six times. I've launched a membership site. And with every single launch that I have done, I've always learnt something new or I have always looked back and thought “gosh I could've done something a lot differently.” So today I wanna give you my 10 quickest tips for if you are looking to launch… well just about anything.

Social media can be a tough nut to crack, especially for makeup artists. It seems as a make-up artist, there can sometimes be a sea of the same, and it can be hard to stand out! Figuring out what to post, how to say it, and what your audience wants can be a challenge. You might have noticed that some artists stick to just showing their work, their feed being a sea of beautiful makeup, but still struggling for bookings. To build a lasting brand and business, you need to do more. So today, here are my three tips, for posting on the gram!

OK, today I wanted to do a blog post on discounts. Hands up, who here has been asked for a discount. We've all been there – receiving emails asking for discounts during holidays, off-seasons, or even unconventional occasions. It can be really discouraging when you receive this and make us feel like our artistry and our job is undervalued.

I hear ya - email marketing is big, it’s scary and I’ll be honest, not a lot of makeup artists are doing it. I truly believe it is a totally untapped resource that can totally TRANSFORM your bookings, your affiliate marketing - or whatever your goals are. So today, I am answering my top 5 questions, I get asked about email marketing.

One thing I hear a lot from this community, is how much we hate promoting our services. Now I’m not gonna tell you that’s OK - because one thing we need to master in business is marketing. But one small thing that can help - utilising your incredible clients and their words to help you! Well, you give your clients an incredible experience and then you invite them to share about it… We all know the power of word-of-mouth marketing and as small businesses, it can be the driving generator for new clients. After all, trust is the biggest lead factor of all!

You guys seemed to really enjoy my previous blog post AND episode on my lessons! I love sharing what I have learnt along the way, it’s also super fun for me to go and read back! So here are some more lessons from 10 more episodes!

Wanna know a question I get asked on pretty much a weekly basis? “Kayleigh, how on earth do you have time?”. For me, I run 3 separate businesses, I have a podcast and a membership, and I’m just about to enter my next season of coaching. Time is an asset I realise is scarce. So consider me a master of time! I have learnt some tips and tricks along the way, to maximise my time management, so I get the most productivity out of my day. And today, I’m spilling!

I can hear the groaning from here - I know you guys don’t wanna do it. But here’s the thing - email lists can be SO valuable. Hands up, how many of us have seen an email ping into our inbox and bought something from it? Hands up, who has read an email and thought, actually - that was pretty valuable? If used correctly, emailing marketing can create some super customers of yours. But, let’s play that game again. Hands up - who has unsubscribed faster than the road runner, from spammy emails selling something you really don’t care about. Or hands up, who does a mass unsubscribe every Black Friday? my hand is up

By Kayleigh wouldn’t be able to run without a few key tools that I really really credit for its success. I am a true believer in paying for tools that overall benefit your business. I used to be like “NO WAY am I paying £60 a year for a scheduler” - but now I really fully realise how much easier these things make my business life. These are the tools I invest in to make By Kayleigh and KayleighKMUA the best they can be.

Last year, I started to take my own mentorship really seriously. I always give the advice, invest in yourself. Your business can’t grow unless you are growing. So both my partner and I invested into a course ran by Dean Graziozi, someone who I have been a fan of for a few years. I loved his books, I loved his podcasts, and more than anything I really liked his teachings. He ran a mastermind course, and genuinely, it was the best thing I ever did. Both my partner and I loved it, and I thought today, I would share 4 questions he asks, for when you are trying to figure out what makes you special, what your superpower is.

Today we getting PERSONAL. But I realised, it’s been a while since I’ve been quite real with you guys. And I think sometimes, there is a lot to be learnt from peoples stories (take it from me, someone who interviews women on their incredible stories for my podcast!). So, read on, here are 5 things, you might not know about me or mine!