Pivoting in a Pandemic: What I Learned While Taking My Salon Mobile

The inside scoop behind Resilience Part 2

In 2020 I turned a camper to a mobile salon. I was so excited and ready to go. That november I was hit with an unwanted surprise. Life happens for you or to you, this quote is so powerful and relevant. After having getting sick with covid in November 2020, I started losing motion and strength on my left hand. After not being able to even brush out my own hair I made the heartbreaking decision to close my salon business in January 2021. Now, let’s get a cup of coffee and get started because this is not a sob story.

Yes, I was a mess. I mean if tomorrow you could no longer work in your business and put all your identity in it, how would it feel? But I knew life happens for me. So I knew there was a greater plan in store. Luna the mobile vintage camper turned to a salon was repurposed. She is now a mobile lounge attention has been used for photo shoots, elopements. This idea was initially what sparked the mobile renovation and my video coach Tiffany said “Celeste why don’t you offer it to wineries for events?”.

At first my fear kicked in like who am I to do that, I am a beauty professional how can I pivot to this? Will it work? All of the sudden I started getting emails and calls from local businesses to help them with their social media marketing. This has been the new revenue stream in my business.

After my sister pushed me to organize her daughters quinceañera and Luna made the debut as a mobile event lounge and bookings started to come in. This is probably not the ending of the story that you imagined, is it? Me neither but resilience and innovation in business is what leads to success not just monetarily but also in keeping moving forward. How many successful women and businesses do you know of that had everything go perfect and face zero obstacles? None, is resilience and innovation that has created some of the most amazing companies we know about today.

You may be going through a different obstacle right now in your business or life. Mija, please give yourself the grace and opportunity to not be defined by our work “titles” but dare to dream, dare to try. I love Gary Vee. He swears like me.. Oh hell yeah! But he always talks about loving the process and patience in your business and life. My new 2 businesses that are away from helping beauty pros find their unique brand voice and marketing to grow on social media are new. Patience and resilience is the name of the game, and we are allowed to evolve and pursue our passions even if it looks different than we had planned.

Life happens for you, not too you and yes you can be frustrated, sad, but this is the story behind my now mobile lounge and growth in my business. Allow your inner greatness to shine and don’t stop yourself based on others limiting beliefs or opinions. Helping other businesses thrive in their unique way is not a slogan but my way of life.

Originally published on August 19, 2021