“Rebecca, you need some boundaries”

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I’m so excited to bring you another episode of The Anxious Creative with special guest, an RYB Alumni and Mastermind member, Rebecca Anthony. 

I’ve seriously been waiting for this episode for SO long. 

Rebecca’s been a fan of the show since its inception 2 years ago. (For those OG listeners, you might recall that my show hasn’t always been called The Anxious Creative).

This episode is near and dear to both of our hearts as it’s sort of a full-circle moment. One of Rebecca’s first interactions with me was telling me that she loved listening to the podcast (but that she preferred YouTube videos, she’s a self-confessed “YouTube addict”). She’s actually the inspiration behind me posting the podcast onto YouTube. 

(So, go say thank you to her if you’ve enjoyed watching the latest episodes!) 

It’s an understatement to say I’m pretty stoked to have her as a special guest on this episode. 

STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF

Rebecca’s been doing hair for about 12 years and she’s been owning her own business for 3 of them. It’s actually a bit of a funny story how she ended up owning her gorgeous, 2-chair salon. 

It all started with a Social Media Policy, that wasn’t exactly a policy, and she was asked to sign it. Her mom’s a legal assistant and has always told her to “never sign something you don’t know”. So when she was handed a piece of paper without a written policy on it she told her employer that she wouldn’t be able to sign it without knowing what the policy was. 

Needless to say, they were less than enthused about that. 

She went down to do her next client and while the client was processing she went to the washroom to check the rest of her schedule. That’s when she realized they had revoked her access to the schedule and she knew something big was going down. 

Nervous sweats immediately ensued and Rebecca stripped down in the bathroom for a quick breather. (Yeah, she really did that). After several deep exhales she went back to her chair and her client and finished up the service.  

After the client left, her boss called her back into the office where she was suspended without pay. She packed up all her tools in a garbage bag and then the very next day she signed a lease on a salon suite. 

The original salon even tried to call her back and tell her they made a mistake, but, as Rebecca puts it:

“When I’m done. I’m done.”

There was no turning back now. She came home from a weekend hair class and started setting up her salon suite and hit the ground running. 

She admits that she has her passion again for doing hair and she feels a deep pride in her work. Instead of getting anxious in the mornings before work, she now wakes up looking forward to the day.

GOING OUT ON YOUR OWN

Rebecca’s story of courage to go out and do her own thing reminded me of when I went out on my own. I had given my two weeks’ notice, but my boss took me aside that same day to let me know that I wouldn’t be working the rest of my two weeks. 

She paid me out, watched me pack up my stuff and escorted me out of the salon. 

It wasn’t the ending I expected at all. Especially since other stylists had left and had worked their two weeks. I wasn’t sure what I had done to be seen as a threat to the business. 

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to go exactly as we planned for it to work out. Rebecca and I aren’t some magical creatures who got lucky. We didn’t get things handed to us. It was scary for us to go out on our own too!

Ya know, sometimes they say the universe works in mysterious ways and I gotta say that there’s a lot of truth behind that statement. 

“YOU NEED SOME BOUNDARIES”

Rebecca and I first met at Ember Retreat in 2018 in Palm Springs, California. I was super nervous about being in such a huge social setting that I was anxiously posting to my IG stories that I was at the event and if anyone else was here we should get together. (This was my attempt to get a retreat-buddy). 

Rebecca was chilling on the bed in her hotel room when she watched the stories and fangirled about me being there. Sadly, she didn’t reply to my buddy-call, or else we would’ve become friends a lot sooner!

She finally got up the courage to chat with me during the event and it was so great to connect with her. Some of my first words to her were:

“Rebecca, you need some boundaries.”

This sentence is what motivated her to join my program Rock Your Business. (Her boundaries are a lot better now.)

After that we ended up staying in touch over IG and reunited at the following Ember Retreat in May of 2019. 

IT’S ALL ABOUT VALUE

Rebecca shared her weird obsession with luxurious hotel rooms. She will spend as much money as it takes for a hotel room (while taking the cheapest airline to get there). 

She values the experience of a luxurious hotel. The room service, the cozy bed, the fancy toilet that talks to you. 

What I love about this is that it reminds us to not have expectations on what sort of people will pay for a “luxury” item. 

Rebecca herself will say that she’s not a fancy person, she’ll roll up with her tattoos out, sweatpants on and hair in a messy bun into the fanciest hotel and hope they go:

“Who is she?”

I know I’ve been guilty of assuming what a client will pay based on a snap judgement. 

But it’s not about the money they have, it’s about what they value.

Rebecca’s journey hasn’t been an easy one. She’s had her ups and downs just like you and me.

Since being forced to leave her first salon, she’s gained confidence and validation that she deserves what she’s created for herself. 

One day, we’ll get a penthouse suite together and eat chicken nuggets in those fancy robes. 

If you’ve enjoyed listening to Rebecca you’ll definitely want to check out her podcast Thanks For Noticing, where her and her good friend sit down and chat about life. (I’m a huge fan and this podcast always makes me laugh). You really feel like you’re sitting down and hanging out with Rebecca. 

And if she inspired you or gave you some aha moments, go and send her a DM over on the ‘gram. I know she’d love to hear from ya. 

Until next time!

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