A Skincare Temple of Worship.

By Louise May

Rene Herald has a beautiful Day Spa and Medi-Spa in Sydney, Temple Skincare & Spa. Rene works on her client list as a therapist, one week a month, as after 29 years as a therapist her passion is still strong for her craft.

Rene loves caring for her clients, and she loves that they trust her with their skin and body results, so she doesn’t think she will ever give it up. Rene then spends the remainder of time in this wonderful industry between working in the office on Temple’s growth, marketing, and team development, and also working with her mentoring clients in Business Beyond Beauty to help grow their businesses to be profitable successful machines.

Beauty Biz Editor, Louise May, recently caught up with Rene to chat about her industry journey and success…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and when did your love for Beauty begin?

Well, I wish it was an inspiring story like when I was young, I suffered immensely with a skin condition, but it’s not. When I finished high school, in those days you either went to University or had a huge TAFE book given to you to look through at the different trades. I didn’t even know what a Beauty Therapist really did but my Mum thought it would be a great industry… probably so I could wax her chin in her old age in years to come lol.

I have never looked back, I started with an apprenticeship and learnt what hard work for no money meant… kids these days would never survive scrubbing the skirting boards every day for $3.25 per hour even though you did them the day before hahaha.

I worked in the city and had a really hard boss who taught me a lot in self-worth at least. I remember working for 3 months for no wage at one stage because she asked me to so she could renovate her salon. I then moved in my 3rd Year apprenticeship to an awesome salon where I stayed for about 5 years, I think. She was also a hard boss; she was kind whilst being firm but fair. Leanne, my boss, valued education.

I was so blessed that she sent me to every post graduate course she could find and she consistently empowered me with training. That’s where I really began my passion to be an absolute expert at what I had chosen to do as a career. This is where I truly fell in love with our awesome industry. I then went on to work for a chain of salons as the area manager and trainer before I was offered an opportunity to take a lease and Temple Skincare & Spa was born.

You are celebrating 21 years with you multi award winning Temple Skincare & Spa. What’s given your business strength over the years?

Education is everything to a growing business. Don’t let yourself become complacent or stagnant in what you do as we are in an ever changing and evolving industry. I hold over 30 different certifications and qualifications ranging everything from aromatherapy and oriental face diagnosis, to accredited laser technician and TAE Training and Assessment certified.

Not to mention many marketing and business courses. After 29 years in the industry, I still complete a minimum of 1 post graduate curse a year. I believe it’s imperative to have a green and growing mindset not a ripe and rotting one.

Consistency is key to our success. We have little sprinkles of WOW that we offer at Temple during an experience with us and we call these our Signatures. These are non-negotiables and they are little things we do to ensure our clients ‘feel’ our values of Family, Love & Kindness, Honesty & Integrity and of course Education.

These Signatures have become something that all clients expect when they book a Temple experience so it’s vital to our success to ensure that they are consistent. Our clients know that they trust in the experience they are about to get at the Temple because its consistent.

Be a leader not a follower. We stay in our own lane and do what we do. We research the newest and greatest technology to bring to our clients, we don’t follow trends we set them.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in business so far? How did you overcome this?

I would say definitely surviving the GFC and then COVID a close second. Wowzas, gives me the chills just thinking about these again lol. The GFC was really rough! I felt so alone and nervous all the time, feeling like you are always late in paying bills and watching them pile up, working ridiculous hours for almost no wage, having to let go of almost all my team, husband made redundant twice, morgage on hardship, and my accountant telling me to give up and go get a job… sheesh, lucky I am stubborn.

Looking back, I am blessed as it prepared me for COVID. To overcome the GFC I had to micro manage every dollar we made to not only pay fixed overheads, but to re-distribute back to replacing the products used or sold, paying GST, super and taxes immediately, opening a million bank accounts (which drove my book keeper mad) to enable me to manage every cent to keep the business afloat. This set me up great for COVID because we had money in our savings and vault accounts, we could use to support the team and the business overheads whilst shutdown for the extended periods.

The next thing I did to overcome this challenge was to pivot my mindset and get back to basics. I realised that no one would want to visit my spa while I was feeling so stressed overwhelmed and on rock bottom, that energy is thick and sticky and had to go.

My Mindset had to be faked until I believed it and I made a conscious effort every morning to show up and give 100% again to each and every client experience. I went back to basics in exceeding the expectations of each client that could still afford to come by offering little extra touch therapies to WOW them and make them feel great about spending their hardearned money with us. A lot of their households had also lost 1 income so this was an honour.

I remembered why we had such a great reputation and why many of our clients has been coming, and in fact still after 21 years still come to this day. That was because we always focused on the little things that made an exceptional experience and we went back to these intentions. Slowly slowly things began to change. It still took years to recover, but look at me now, stronger than ever… ( I changed accountants after that hehe)

What would you say are the core values or philosophies which define your business and leadership style?

The way that I lead my team, the way I run my business and everything that I do in life and in business, oozes my core values.

Love and Kindness - Family is everything – Education is key – Honesty and IntegrityGenerosity

I believe it’s important to have clear values for your team to follow, and with those values, comes expected behaviours for the team to represent your brand. Our clients should feel our values when they have an experience with us at Temple. It is who we are and it runs through all we do in spa.

For example, selling products to simply make targets is a below the line behaviour, all recommendations and prescriptions must come from a place of integrity for the clients need. The way we treat our clients oozes our values and the way the team treat their job and each other also oozes these values. That’s why I normally hire off personality not simply skill set. I can teach you the sills to master your craft but I can’t teach you to be kind or considerate.

For me, I have always done business the same way as I do life, and that’s through my values. My leadership style is very values based and I expect my team to return the favour. I have an amazing manager in spa who manages the team and the spa’s operations amazingly, it is her job to execute things the way I would like whilst representing our values. I am more of a leader that guides the ship towards the directions of my vision if that makes sense whilst she manages the execution of all.

I have studied a lot of personality profiling (DISC Profiling in particular) and I find it super helpful to really be able to identify each and every team members personality and also their top 3 personal values in life to be able to lead them all well and in a manner that best suits their language and nurturing style.

Share with us your philosophies around staff selection and development.

As mentioned, I normally employ off personality and values. I incorporate a lot of personality profiling into my decision-making process around staff employment depending on what role we need to fill at the time. A nurturing day spa therapist is normally a different personality profile to a driven target-focused medi-spa therapist so it’s important to tailor your staff around the roles we need to fill and to fit the dynamic of the current team.

I believe it’s important to have a defined Induction process and onboarding process so new team members don’t get overwhelmed with the intense training that is needed for the role. It also ensures they bond with the team and have structure to what is expected of them and what they expect from us. Then there is also a structured and on-going training process that we have.

I find that all staff come on board wanting to grow as a therapist and thrive at the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skill set. Training is re-assessed every quarter as we don’t want team members to become stagnant or bored… Education is another of our core values so we employ team members who share this.

To keep your staff is easy, (except when COVID mindset became involved), they all simply want to be either seen, recognised, acknowledged and rewarded for the awesome work they do. We have tons of bonuses and incentives for them to earn more money when KPIs are reached, we have tons of games we play for motivation, we have team outings as rewards, Birthday bonuses, wellness bonuses and the list goes on… I want to come back as one of my staff next lifetime lol.

To ensure consistency with the teams’ performance and to contribute to their growth we have Weekly meeting, Quarterly Reviews, Mystery Shoppers and Yearly Planning Retreats. It’s an ever-moving machine.

What’s your advice to others who aspire to build an impactful brand?

Bring your Passion for what you do.

Know your Business Values and let them ooze through everything you do this will leave clients with a Feeling that represents who you are as a brand.

Training Training Training. That is not only training at your craft but also business training, marketing training, leadership training. These are all vital to your success.

Can you tell us about your mentoring business, what inspired you to create Business Beyond Beauty?

I love love love this industry that we are a part of and I as one of my values is education, and another is generosity, It feeds my soul to pay it forward and empower other woman in business with the business skills and know ledge that has taken me 29yrs in this industry to learn. I love to help other salons/ spas and even hair salons succeed with profitable and sustainable businesses so they too can live the life they dreamt of when they opened their business.

Speaking with many colleagues and owners in our industry over the years, it saddened me to know they are so far from their maximum potential and that with a little guidance and business knowledge, they could be enjoying the art of business alongside the art of their craft in beauty and hair.

Often, it can be lonely in business, and I see a large number of people struggling every day, or not tapping into their highest potential, while others are exhausted and completely spent from the demands of running a business in an ever-changing world. Feeling overwhelmed and of isolation is common and life balance and profits are scarce. No one goes into business wanting that right?

It’s a hard slog for most so I get so much love from helping my clients learn from me rather than their mistakes to help them get their business to that next level and most of all to get their mojo back! I love the difference I can make to their lives. https:// businessbeyondbeauty.com

Can you tell us about Temple Hearts Charity.

Temple Hearts is the charity arm of the Temple Skincare & Spa. Part of my ‘why’ and my ‘purpose’ of my business, is to provide for people who have less than us. Being successful in business means I have the ability to help more people. Its bigger than just beauty and its bigger than us, it’s about having the pathway to be able to help others in need.

We support many local charities and local schools. At the moment we are focusing on the Red Cross and all their missions and also the Woman’s Sanctuary which is a safe haven for woman and children who are homeless or trying to leave domestic violence environments.

We support these charities with their prize donations for their major fundraising events, and also by donating a percentage of our turnover

The support of our clients enables us to make a difference and touch some souls in need. It’s nice to be able to pay it forward and support others around you.

How to you juggle a work life balance?

Well, I was a little dramatic and moved away lol. I relocated the family to the Gold Coast while my business remains in Sydney, I fly in and out for working on clients one week a month. When I lived in Sydney, I tried many times over the years to control my work/ life balance, however things always seemed to get in the way… either a staff member was off sick, or clients were complaining they couldn’t get an appointment and I found I was constantly sucked back into the vortex of constant work.

I certainly wouldn’t suggest such drastic measures for anyone as it’s a little risky, however after being in business 21 years we are established enough and systemised enough for it to work. So now I work one week a month crazy hours in spa on clients, then the reminder of the month I only 9-3pm from my home working on the business. So, I am flexible and if I want to go for a walk on the beach during the day instead of 5am, I can.

What ways do you like to unwind and get out of “work mode”?

Walking outdoors and a good Aerial fit class or Pilates definitely feed my soul, however since relocating to for better work life balance, Spending time with the family while making up for lost time is a priority.

Are there any must haves that you love to start your day with?

COFFEE before anything! Then my prayers and affirmations to maintain gratitude and connection to my spirituality is next on the list , before I love to take either an Aerial Fit or Pilates class or a beach walk with the dogs after the kids leave for school.

What’s on the agenda for the future?

I am driven and entrepreneurial (even though I hate that word) by spirit, so I have promised myself that I will withstand the temptation to open another spa on the Gold Coast. Instead, I will enjoy the moments with my family that working ridiculous hours in the business has made me miss out on, I will enjoy the work / life balance that the relocation has allowed.

I will continue to enjoy my monthly visits to the spa where my clients and my team feed my soul. I will continue to work in my mentoring business, Business Beyond Beauty, which allows me to empower other amazing women in our industry to grow the successful , profitable, and sustainable beauty businesses that they deserve.