Transforming People’s Lives Through Beauty As Vehicle With Gina Bianca

Nothing says transformation more than the beauty industry. But beyond the physical, it’s how it makes people feel good about themselves, be more confident, and learn to embrace themselves that true transformation happens. Someone who is helping so many people achieve this transformation with beauty as a vehicle is life and business coach, mentor, and salon owner of The Network Salon, Gina Bianca. Here, she joins Ryan Weeden to talk about her journey towards becoming one of the most influential people in the business and how she is working on her goal to elevate the beauty industry. She also shares some of the challenges she encountered along the way, particularly with the way the COVID pandemic turned the world upside down. Expanding her platform, Gina then talks about her podcast, Gina Bianca Podcast, where she helps entrepreneurs grow their life in business, be more confident, and become happier.

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Listen to the podcast here:

Transforming People’s Lives Through Beauty As Vehicle With Gina Bianca

We have got somebody that is awesome. I'm excited to talk to her. The first time I met her was at the Behind The Chair Award Show in some resort place in Texas. It was a lot of fun. In this episode, we have a life and business coach, mentor, salon owner of The Network Salon and an incredible hairpreneur in the business. Let's welcome to the show, Gina Bianca.

Thanks for having me.

I'm excited for you to be here. This is awesome.

I’ve been reading your blog. I have my own show. When you asked me to be on yours, I hadn't even known you to start one so I was like, “I have to go binge it.” I knew it was going to be good. I've been reading it and it's great.

It's cool to see you being a forerunner or forefront person in the hair industry. You're like me. We're always trying to see, “What's next? Where can we take this?” For the readers, I have my guests fill out this questionnaire so that we have a direction of what's happening in their lives so that I can ask and prepare questions on my end. I already knew that you were doing a membership site, but you're using Kajabi. Kajabi is this incredible hosting platform that I've been using for many years. Whenever I meet another Kajabi, I'm super excited to speak to them about their experiences and how they are taking their training, coaching and mentoring to the next level. Let's jump right into there. What is your site all about?

I didn't know you used Kajabi. You and I are cut from the same cloth. Coming on your show, I'm like, “I need to learn everything I can about Ryan,” because I had met you once before. I know Masters of Balayage. I wanted to be prepared, do my research and get to know you even more. The fact that you use Kajabi too, I texted you, and I was like, “Where did you go to school?” I feel like we're cut from the same freaking cloth. We're so similar. We're both entrepreneurs. The fact that you use Kajabi now, I'm like, “That's another thing. That's great.”

I've been using Kajabi in 2020. I started my mastermind group on Facebook in 2018. I was like, “I want to sell hair videos but I don't know how.” I started a Facebook group and charge $20 a month through Shopify. I was posting long tutorial hair videos. My group grew crazy and I could not host it on Facebook anymore. I ended up moving over to Kajabi in 2020 because my tour got canceled. I put all my education online like stress level midnight. I tried to get everything online as quickly as possible. I was like, “I'm going to use Kajabi. Tony Robbins uses Kajabi.” He's my idol and mentor, which I know you love Tony too.

Tony and Brendon Burchard have been using Kajabi for years too.

I was like, “I'm going to go for it.” That's what I did. I helped people with Kajabi now. I learned it quickly. It's an easy platform to use. I moved my whole membership site over there. I have a mastermind group. It's $30 a month. It's hair, business and marketing videos, all of that. You want to take even more than what you see on my Instagram. If you want to get to know me, join my network of people and special pricing on my courses. In 2021, I'm doing bi-weekly coaching. It'll be group coaching in my group. That's the biggest value of anything.

There's going to be my hair stuff. Everything is going to be in there for my people. I want to grow like a master's program for people so they can come in and learn everything. More importantly, my goal is to elevate the beauty industry. I grew up with mentors like Robert Cromeans and Tabatha Coffey. I'm following in their footsteps every day, taking everything I've learned from them, like all of my mentors. My goal is to leave the industry better than it was when I got here.

I can see a lot of Tabatha in you. I know that she's one of your mentors because she's great because she's no bullshit.

I love her. I was watching her at sixteen with my mom. We would lay in my bed and watched Tabatha's Salon Takeover. This is before the hair was even a thought. I always had my hair in different colors. I was always getting extensions when I was younger. I was bullied a lot in high school. I went through a lot in my life. When I was in high school, what I would do to cope with trauma is change my hair. I was bullied and had a lot of crazy shit happen but what I would do is I would completely reinvent myself. I would show up and be like, “New phone, new look, new everything.”

The most rewarding feeling is to not question who you are as a person.

I loved how beauty would transform me as a person. I was obsessed with that aspect. I'm a transformation addict. For me, it was like, “I love this.” That's how I was introduced to Tabatha because I loved hair at that point. It's crazy that I became a hairstylist because it was never something. I was like, “I'm going to do this.” I was in high school and I couldn't get accepted anywhere to college because I didn't go to school.

What do you mean? You were a bad kid? Are you one of the people that would hang out in between classes, one of the rebels in school and you decided to cut classes?

I was a rebel. I've had problems with drugs and stuff my whole life. I got clean. I hit my 90 days. I went to treatment in 2020.

You talk about a transformation, you look great and healthy. I've been watching your transformation online because you've been so kind to share it, which is important to help others that might be struggling as well to watch somebody that's going through it, but getting through it and how there are so much positivity and health on the other side of it.

I used to have this crazy anxiety. I met you at the show and then totally picked apart everything I said or did. I would have these anxiety attacks over who I am as a person. If I would say something stupid or say too much. Since I went to treatment, I have never had that feeling. It is the most rewarding feeling to not question who I am as a person. That's been the biggest gift for me. It opens up so much space for me to be myself. This is something I realized like, “I can't believe that I haven't had that feeling.”

We were watching some show and it triggered a thought and I was like, “I've never felt like that since.” It was a huge victory. In high school, I was cutting class doing all kinds of crazy stuff. If I didn't want to do it, I'm not going to do it. There are two things I did in high school that were valuable to me. The first thing was I did a fundraiser. I had an independent study in my senior year. I did a fundraiser, and I collected prom dresses from everyone in the state. I organize this whole event so girls could go to prom, get dresses, and makeup. I had this whole fundraiser. That is the one thing from high school. I was like, “l was giving back to people.”

It’s something you can be proud of.

One of the biggest values in my life is making an impact. That is my calling. I want to make a difference. The other thing is I did an independent project in my business marketing class and it was Create Your Own Business. I created a salon called Beauty and The Beast. You walk in and it's like Kat Von D and a Barbie doll. You go, “This way to get tattooed and this way to get your hair done.” Those are the two things that I did in high school that have anything to do with what I do now. I keep bringing up high school.

That’s where you had a big epiphany almost. That’s where you didn't have any direction. You did have those accomplishments. I don't even know if you were soul searching at that point. You were lost.

That's how I found Tabatha. That's why I started talking about high school because all of this is going on and I found my mentors on Bravo TV. She taught at The Network in 2019 and she completely validated me. She said to me, “You're doing it and you're doing it with value.” I had a breakdown. I was like, “She validated everything I've been trying to do for many years.” It was a huge moment. I'm grateful to be in this industry and I'll do anything I can to give back to it. Mastermind is one piece of everything. The podcast is another piece. I'm grateful that I even have a leg to stand on and something that people want to hear.

You went to school, you were watching Tabatha, you were reinspired and you wanted to transform people's lives through beauty as your vehicle. How soon after that did you decide to go to beauty school?

I couldn't get accepted to any colleges because I was bad. I was into fights. I started doing Jiu-Jitsu. There is nothing like that kind of workout. I was applying for colleges. I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. Have you done any of Tony's events?

I haven't done some of his short courses but I haven't been to any like Date With Destiny or anything like that. It looks amazing.

Steve and I went to Date with Destiny. One of the things he guides you through is, “What did you want to be when you were five years old? What did you want to be when you were ten years old?” He guides you through it. All of the things that I wanted to be have led me to where I am now. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. I'm obsessed with transformation but I'm not going to go to school for ten years. I can't even go to school for ten minutes. I love to cook. That's something that gives me so much joy. I love to cook a meal for a group of ten people. Nothing makes me happier than serving it up for ten people. I'm good at it.

A lot of people like to eat especially if somebody else is making it and serving it too. You always have a full table.

My brother came home for Christmas and I made this whole crazy thing. I was like, “This is how I say I love you.” I was looking at schools and I was like, “I'm not getting in anywhere.” My hairstylist, Colored by Caitlin, she was my hairstylist at the salon I went to. She was like, “You need to go to hair school.” I was like, “I'll go check it out.” She went to Paul Mitchell and I went to Paul Mitchell. I signed up that day. I was like, “These are my people. This is what I want to do. It's something to fall back on.” A lot of people go to hair school as it's something to fall back on but they don't realize that if you have the passion and the drive, you can do anything that you want to do. Having a license is like opening the door.

It's like you and me and other people that are thought leaders in the industry are now able to show that you can make a lot of money and you can impact a lot of people doing it by giving value and creating a more beautiful world, you can have so much more than has ever been possible as a hairstylist. You don't have to be a TV star to make a huge impact.

I opened my first place at 23. I was looking around every freaking day for an adult and I was the adult at 23. I had an employee team-based pay salon in which I was doing cashflow plans, QuickBooks, and everything. It wasn't like, “Let's show up and do hair.” It was a find two oiled machine business.

When you're talking about Tabatha, I was thinking about when I had got started in hair. I got started in my mid-twenties going to school. It was watching like Jonathan because he was on TV at the same time. Jonathan Salon and Beverly Hills and how he was a dick. I didn't want to be him but that's when those TVs were popular about watching these hairstylists, have these amazing salons, and show the celebrity of it. I was wondering if it was about the same time and about that. I'm older than you. I wish I knew what I know now and was 29.

The fact that we have social media now, I'm old enough to know what it's like to build with no social media. That's a lot of things that people who are younger than us, that is such a crazy gift

Knowing how to do it without social media, is that what you’re saying?

People younger than us who have social media to build their business off of. We didn't have that from the beginning. I remember when I first was starting out, I started on Groupon. My first salon put me on Groupon for a full highlight gloss haircut for $45. The reason I'm known for pricing is because I could build a ticket from a $45 ticket, sell it and tell them why. It was difficult. As Tony says, “Life is not happening to you. It's happening for you.” All of my struggles and difficulties have taught me everything I need. My first salon was a nightmare and a dream. I closed it in 2019 to focus on education. I have a rental salon which is easy.

Your new place is like a Behemoth. The thing is huge. How many square feet is it?

It’s 5,000 square feet.

You could change somebody's life just by telling your story.

You have 400 chairs.

Sixteen chairs and we're fully rented too.

You have that giant education space because 5,000 square feet is huge.

I had 30 chairs when I first opened and then COVID happened.

That's why you've cut it back.

I sold eight stations like 877-cash. I needed money. Like every other small business I know, people look up to people in the industry but they think that we're rich.

Salon owners making all this money. If you run it well, you can do well. You can make a lot of money if you do it well but 99.9% of salon owners are squeaking by.

Not even that, with COVID and this whole crazy 2020, everybody is struggling. Everybody is going through their own thing. Some people are doing great and have no issues. As a salon owner in 2020, if you're struggling, you are not the only one. These people online make it look easy. I know I'm over here spreading all positivity all the time but it is hard. I sold a bunch of chairs. I rethought my whole place, I'm adding value and a smaller staff. It’s more valuable to them. They don't want to be crammed in there with that many people. When the customers come in, 16 chairs, 16 stylists, 16 clients, the place still feels huge. If there were five more people, it would get to an uncomfortable point.

You opened this giant place, which is beautiful. It looks like you didn't spare any expenses in creating this incredible experience for clients. Once COVID hit, did you have any regrets on having this big space?

No, the opposite. I was like, “Thank God,” because if I had a smaller space, a lot of the people who came to rent, my chairs filled up when COVID happened. I had five chairs rented before COVID and now we're rented out. I talked to somebody. They're awesome. I hope they join us. God gives me the right people. The right people come to me and the people who aren't meant to be with me leave. I've got one chair left and I hope that it gets filled by this person but we'll see what happens. When COVID happened, because salons were at 50% or 25% capacity, and a lot of salon owners are going paycheck-to-paycheck, me included sometimes.

I'm an adrenaline junkie. I reinvest in my business all day long. I paid off a huge business loan before COVID happened and ended up on my fucking ass. It's been crazy. A lot of salons closed. The stylists couldn't book their appointments so they moved to a place that they could work freely. It's bigger and safer. Their clients feel safer. I didn't regret anything. I was happy about it but it's expensive. We have to get you to The Network to do a class. Education is 90% of my income and that stopped.

That was 90% of your physical space from the classes.

My classes and travel classes. In my travel classes in 2019, I was gone every weekend.

That was a lot of money traveling around. I've got a team that I sent around and I could never make as much off of my team that I can if I do my own classes but then it's required my time. It's nice to be able to send people out, do that and spread the mob of love. You don't have to go anywhere for your particular salon and The Network. I love the whole philosophy of it and the space that you had. It’s jam-packed with people pre-COVID. Getting superstars in there, people traveling in and it's amazing what you've created there. I feel like that's a great model for people that want to have a physical space, but also want to educate and have the freedom to not have to travel.

You should franchise my space.

I closed my salon. I'm like, “I'm done with the physical space.”

If you ever want to open another one, open it at The Network. I want to have it in every state one day.

That's a good goal.

That's what I'm working on right now. The average millionaire has seven streams of income. I'm trying to make The Network have more than that so that people want to open it and make income. I'll have a place to teach everywhere in the state or everyone in the country.

Maybe even international, you’ll never know.

It's a good model and owning an employee-based salon for five years, being an educator, a beauty influencer, all the things that take up so much time, owning a rental salon is much easier than having to be responsible for your employees and their clients. That was the hardest part for me. It’s being responsible for not only my employee and their success but also the satisfaction of their clients and then the reflection of the brand. It was so much like having renters and have their own business. All I have to do is make sure that the salon is clean, beautiful, stocked with everything that they need and that there's value.

Do you feel like you lose control in a sense? I don't know how it is exactly in your state. I know every state is a little bit different on how they treat booth renters. In California, they can bring in their own product lines and set up their station how their brand fits. I feel that as an owner, you have a lot less control. How is it in your state?

In our state, I coach to leaving your renters alone. They should be able to do whatever they want. They have their own business, this is their brand and you should leave them alone. The thing is you have to find the right people and not everybody is right for my brand. I'm willing to wait and say no than take every single person that comes at me. In my salon, they all decorate their station the way they want. They all dress differently. I show up to work in a T-shirt, sweat pants and sneakers. I don't dress up. I have not worn makeup in months except for when I'm on camera. If we're shooting for Joico or if I'm doing stuff like that, I show up as completely myself however that is that day.

I don't expect them to be anybody other than themselves. I give them all a huge kitchen cabinet pantry for all their stuff. They can buy everything from me. We have all the colors they need, they could buy, but I leave it up to them. The Network brand is to be yourself. You belong no matter who you are and what you do. If you work here, you be yourself and you belong here. The same for my students that come in. I want you to come here and be yourself and have this be your safe space where you can meet people and make new friends. The classes that we've had and the people that roll through there, they leave as best friends. I see them hanging out and they all live in different states.

Unresolved fear is just anxiety that eats you alive 24/7.

That's where mastermind came from. It's a culture. It's crazy because they'll meet at a class, one lives in Chicago, the other one lives in Idaho, and then you see them together at another class in New York and you’re like, “That happened at my space.” That is making an impact. That makes me crazy passionate. That's the kind of stuff that drives me. The Network, mastermind and all of that stuff are all intertwined. I’m not being able to do it in 2020. It has been devastating. When the entertainment industry comes back, it's going to come back strong.

There is nothing like being part of a live event. We can have as much fun doing podcasts, listening to podcasts and doing our online membership sites, but the energy of people that are excited to be in a group with other people and watching talented people on stage. It’s the concerts and that vibe. I miss that.

I don't care from my education. If I could be honest, I know it's the future. I'll partake in it. I don't care for it. I don't think it has an impact. I think it does have an impact, but I can teach all of my techniques online. If you come to my space, I look you in the eye, I help you hold the comb, I answer that question, and you can be in that state like you're talking about, that's what I live for. I'm an in-person type of chick. This online stuff is cool. Podcast is cool, but when it comes to the real deal, I cannot wait to get back in person. I know there are others who feel like that like, “This is crazy.”

Why did you start podcasting?

When I first started podcasting, it was because I needed a podcast. I listened to you on Shop Talk because I'm going to be doing a podcast. You inspired me. You're like, “Will you come on my podcast?” I'm like, “Why am I not on other people's podcasts?” I message twenty people. I'm like, “Can I be on your podcast?” They're like, “Sure.” I was listening to Shop Talk and your interview on there. I like how you said, “Build your own stage.” I relate to that 1000%. You said podcasting is the future. I'm obsessed with Joe Rogan. Instead of watching TV, Steve and I will watch Joe Rogan on TV for three hours. Long-form podcasting is the future. If someone can listen to me on their way to work with my intention of helping them grow their life in business, be more confident, and be happier then why not provide that content.

It's a way for us to even be more almost behind the scenes relatable. We can get more personal and more intimate. We can share stories that we might not necessarily want the world to see on an Instagram post. They can listen to us.

You never know who's listening and watching. Someone from my past life like my high school or somebody who knows me who’s not from hair, they’re like, “I love your podcast.” I'm like, “You listen to my podcast. What did I say?” I automatically go through like, “What did I say that they're going to judge me on right now?” It’s weird but it is more intimate. I love it.

When I'm doing a solo podcast, when I'm not doing an interview, it's almost like therapy in a way. It's funny. I want to be very relatable. I want to make sure that I'm authentic with myself. I want other people to know that I got problems too. My life has not been perfect. It might look like the tip of the iceberg stuff when you see Instagram but you don't see everything that led up to this point. You don't see all the struggles and the challenges that I've faced along the way like you have in your life and we all have in our lives. I like to talk about those and what we've learned from those people that might be facing something similar and feel like they're all alone. I’m like, “You're not alone. We've all had our own share of difficulties but you can get past it and you can create something great.”

In 2021, being real is the new way. In the past few years, it's like, “Be perfect on Instagram. Your page should look like this. This should be like this. It should be perfect.” The new vibe is being real. Everyone has had enough. No one gives a shit if you look perfect. The more real you get, the more unreal it's going to get for you.

What are you sharing? Is it helping somebody in some ways? Is it entertaining them? Is it giving them value? Is it about the audience? It’s not about, “Look at me.” It's got to be something that's going to inspire others.

It’s making an impact.

It’s not like, “Look how cool I am, check out my new car. What do you think? It does this, that and the other.” While everybody else is broke and struggling from paycheck to paycheck, you're bragging.

I like what you said about it feels like therapy for you on your podcast. It’s because when you share and you're real, somebody who might be on the brink of a breakthrough like their challenge, they might be thinking about that all day long and then they hear you that you overcame it and how that could push them to a whole another level. You could change somebody's life by telling your story. That's powerful.

It's funny too because I was looking back at some old footage of me a few years ago. Seeing how I've grown from that point where I can see myself visibly nervous in a video. I'm not nervous or I don't always have zero anxiety when I get on stage even when I do a podcast. The transformation I can see looking back not even that far is also a good thing that I'm going to hopefully show people that I haven't been good at this forever. It's a skill. Anybody can become good at putting themselves out there by being more authentic and becoming more comfortable with who they are at a soul level and it's okay. You don't have to care what other people think. Put yourself out there, trust yourself and go relentlessly toward your dreams.

It's a muscle. It works if you work it. You’ve got to keep practicing. I remember in 2018, I'm teaching people in my Five Ways To Foil class. I was teaching people about social media. I would always do this three-minute skit. I was like in an improv class. I felt like Michael Scott in the office. I would snap into character and I'd be like, “3, 2, 1, you're live. Welcome, everybody. Here we are. This is my beautiful guest.” I would go through how to go live and people like seeing that. I remember how scared people were to hit the live button. The thing is that you have to start and everybody starts somewhere. The important thing is that you start. If not, it's going to be two years later and you're going to be like, “I should have done that.”

At that point, you need the momentum of having been practicing for these years so that when that perfect time opens up like for instance, podcasting. It is going to be the future. I don't want to wait until everybody has a podcast. I want to already be experienced enough to be like, “He's had a podcast for years. He's great. Gina has been doing it for free.”

Leaders don’t wait for someone else to do it and show them how. Leaders do it. They screw up and they fail. Joico gave the title Global Salon Business Expert. This is a big title, but I laughed at it because an expert in my dictionary means you fucked up a lot and you learned. You're not an expert from reading a book. You're an expert from doing it. When you're a leader, you have to decide, start and you see what happens. You have to have the guts to do it. When you're afraid and you have that fear, all up in your face, fear can be overcome by taking action. The anxiety eats your soul. Anxiety will be there forever. Fear jumps over it.

I was talking to a friend of mine and he has this book called Return on Courage and he has a brand called Courageous. We were talking about how most of the world is driven by fear. Ninety-five percent of it and only 5% of us have the courage to do something about it. It's the same energy. It's redirected either in a negative way or a positive way. It's like, “Are you going to take what's happening and be courageous about it or are you going to let it affect you and let fear guide you?”

Unresolved fear is anxiety that eats you alive 24/7. I still have anxiety and I have fear. We all have this. It's like, “What are you going to do with it? Are you going to let it eat you alive or are you going to freaking conquer it like a lion?” I have this lion tattooed on me. People are like, “Are you a Leo?” I'm like, “No, it means king of the jungle.”

I was thinking about tattoos too. I have one, an owl. It's got some scissors and eye sockets. I have a wolf and I was thinking, “Why did I get these two?” I was coming up with like, “Why did I get these?” This represents wisdom, the owl and the wolf represent courage. I’m like, “That's where the magic happens when you get the wisdom and the courage together.” That's what I started telling people. That's why I did it. When you have the wisdom and you get wisdom from doing, experience and learning from that, you get wisdom.

When I was in treatment, one of the ladies that taught Tai Chi said, “Open hand as knowledge, closed hand as wisdom. Together we make harmony.” Courage and wisdom are exactly what you have, and together that makes harmony. It was a cool thing. It triggered that thought for me.

Was that from your treatment? That’s where you learned that.

I learned so much. Everybody does. I wish everybody could have the experience that I had.

Can I ask what the treatment was for specifically?

I was addicted to cannabis. I'm a crazy workaholic. I was promoting weed online all the time. I was high for two years straight, never sober one day.

The magic happens when you get the wisdom and courage together.

Was it like wake and bake all day, all night?

I was taking THC pills. I would be taking a 10-milligram edible is what you would get from the store. That's a street legal. I was taking of 180 milligrams pills. It's like eighteen regular edibles. I was crushing those.

You're like in a cloud all day.

I was a high-functioning addict and nobody checks up on you because you're high-functioning. No one knows you have a problem. When COVID happened and my education business exploded, I had a crazy time with all of that. Financially, everything came crashing down. I was completely stressed out with trying to get everything online and trying to make my customers happy. I was numbing. It was getting me through the day. I love weed because it helped me survive and numb out the intense feelings.

It almost served its purpose but then it became controlling.

I had to write letters saying goodbye. It's a grieving process. It's like, “You helped me survive. I love you, but now I have to move on.” I've never loved myself more than I do sober. I don't think I'll go back to drugs and alcohol.

You quit everything. You don't drink. Is that part of the treatment?

I went to rehab.

It sounds like you were addicted to marijuana and that was the reason you were there?

I needed a break. When I got there, I had no intention of stopping drugs and alcohol. I'm not going to say I was suicidal but I was not wanting to be alive. I didn't make any plans. It was not like that because I would never do that to my family. I would never do that to myself. I would never glorify that. Lady Gaga is my idol and inspiration. She said something that changed my life. She said, “When you're feeling like this, don't show me, tell me.” She was talking about cutting. I don't cut, endorse that or glorify that. She was talking about that and I was like, “I've been asking for help since I was nine years old. I don't know how to ask for help.” I'm working for 90 hours. I am overdoing it. I'm saying yes to everything. I don't want to make anybody upset. I'm giving even though it's not good for the business. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I'm smoking with all these people who are great but they don't care.

I'm out drinking with people and then I get in my car. It got to the point where there was so much wrong and I've never talked about this publicly. I needed help. I told my therapist and my fiancé, “I need help.” My fiancé was like, “I'm glad that you said something because I'm not to push you into a corner and be that person. I can't help you.” I always had the biggest problems. He couldn't help me and that sucks for him. Imagine being with someone who has this issue and you can't help them.

If I could say anything, my fiancé has always come to me with love, care and concern. That is what helped me ask for help. If he had come to me and been like, “You have a problem, you need to do this. You're not doing this,” I would have got more fucked up. He has always been there for me with love, care, and concern. If you have an addict in your life who you want to help, the best thing you can do is be there with love, care, and concern because that's what we need. I went there and I had no intention of getting sober. I was going for a break. The place I went to was for trauma because I have a lot of unresolved childhood and teenage trauma.

I was bullied a lot. I've been assaulted sexually. I was raped when I was in high school and I was dealing with all of that by covering it up with work, alcohol, partying, drugs, sex, everything. I never dealt with that ever. I was like, “I need help.” The place I went, they were like, “You need to go into this program.” They put me in the program and then halfway through, I watched a PowerPoint presentation about drugs and alcohol. The guy teaching it was so cool. That was the moment.

I was like, “I can't do this anymore. I'm done. I'm not going to beat myself up if I relapse because I'm not going to be perfect in this.” My life has changed forever from being clear and taking care of myself. That's one of the biggest reasons that I believe I'll be able to serve my purpose even more. My purpose is to make an impact and elevate this beauty industry and to help others. That's my mission. I got paid in different ways in 2020. I always bitch and moan about how much money I lost in 2020, but I got paid in crazy different ways.

Thank you for sharing that. A lot of people need to know that. Especially too if some people might think like, “It's just weed.”

It's not. My inbox blew up because I had mentioned that I was sober and people are like, “You don't smoke weed anymore? You love weed.” I'm like, “I was addicted though.” My messages started coming in with people writing like, “I'm glad you said this because I think that weed is my problem. It's prescribed by my doctor, but I think it's the problem.” I'm like, “Can you stop?” I couldn't stop. I was powerless over marijuana and cannabis. It wasn't just smoking joints. I would wake up with five bong rips. I would take the CBD oil that was THC. I would take 60 milligrams to get out of bed.

I’d grip my pen all day long and then at night, I would take these 100 to 180-milligram pills. It depends on how fucked up my day was. I couldn't stop. I was taking it to not feel shitty. I wasn't even taking it to get high. I was never high. When I was working and stuff like that, I was never high. I was just medicating. It's like taking a pain pill or something. People who use it to numb their trauma, there are other ways you, have to heal your soul, stop numbing and be who you truly are.

How do you deal with it on a daily basis now? Weed use is getting more and more accepted. It's everywhere. Alcohol of course is everywhere. After you've been sober for a bit but it's still got to be challenging. If you get stressed out if that was your go-to like, “I need to take a pill or smoke a joint.” What do you do now? What do you do when your triggers come? How do you adjust?

It's incredibly important for me to maintain my routine. I get up at 4:00 in the morning. If you want to change your life, wake up at 4:00. I've gotten people to do this and it's changed their life forever. I know you think you can't. I used to wake up at 10:00. That’s a six-hour shift because I had no time to do anything for myself. Anytime I would plan to do something for myself, between 9:00 and 6:00, there's always a good reason to cancel. It's not going to happen, especially for busy people like us. If you're a hairstylist slang behind the chair, if the phone rings and money is on the other line, you're not going to say no to money and yes to yourself. You got to be mentally strong and I'm not. When it comes to money, I'm trying to make this bread like everybody else. I wake up at 4:00. I do my Chi machine.

You put your feet in it and it swings your body and you look like a fish but it gets all the blood to your organs. It helps with digestion and anxiety. I get out of bed at 4:00. I take my blanket and I go in there and for fifteen minutes, it swings. That's how I start my day. It's not like I wake up and get on the treadmill. Sometimes I do. I do that. I make a crazy breakfast like eggs, bacon, sausage and hashbrowns. I eat tater tots every single highlight of my morning in the air fryer. My fiancé and I have time together. I do drink a lot of coffee.

I do my workout. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do Jiu-Jitsu. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I do 4 or 5 miles on the treadmill and yoga every day. If I get my routine done, I'm good. Anxiety has to get out of you somehow. I believe exercise is the answer to that. For the people who don't want to exercise, I want you to know that there are people who wake up every day with no legs. If you have two legs, your feet are on the floor, and you have the ability to exercise, you need to get up and exercise.

Some of those times, when you want to exercise but you're tired, you're stressed out, and you know you need to get that blood moving and you’ve got to do something. Even if you walk briskly around the neighborhood, you are going to be so happy after. It might even happen during but I guarantee, it's going to help clear your mind, feel better and accomplished.

You have to put yourself in that positive state. It doesn't just happen. Unless you're doing this on a consistent basis, you're not going to wake up happy. You're not going to wake up one day and be like, “All my problems are solved.” Opportunity is dressed up like work boots and overalls. People miss it because you have to do the work or else it's not going to happen for you. Sorry to be blunt about it. People keep asking me like, “What do you do?” I'm like, “You have to exercise.” They are like, “What else?” There is no easy answer to that. The other benefits you get from exercise are next level. The number of breakthroughs I have, the ideas that I have, and then the passive time like put my podcast or Ryan's podcast and get us together.

I always listen to podcasts when I work out. I don't even listen to music anymore because it doesn't inspire me like listening to podcasts. I will sit there and listen to these inspiring podcasts and I'll be learning stuff. I call it Ryan Time where it's not I'm going to exercise. I do it in my garage or I have this whole gym set up now with I’m glad I did because I hate going to the gym. I work out in there almost daily. I've got a whiteboard in there too. I've got a notebook. In between sets, when things are coming to me, I'm writing it down or I listen to podcasts and I always feel like I need to be writing something down, but I'm not always able to so I got a whiteboard. I got my notebook. I come out of there and I'm supercharged.

It's the missing link for many people. You don't need a pill, smoke a joint, get fucked up after work and bitch about your life. You just need to wake up early and take care of yourself.

The gift is in your feelings because it's all happening for you.

You shouldn't listen to one of the podcasts I did. I talk about like, “You should smoke a joint every now and then it'll open your mind up.”

It does. I'm not against weed at all. It's an amazing and beautiful medicine for people who need it but it's highly abused for numbing trauma. All of us have trauma at different levels. All of us have been traumatized to different extents. For those of us who have severe trauma, which many of us have grown up in a family with domestic violence, have been sexually assaulted at some point, have been bullied, abused and experienced terrible trauma. Some people go to war, witness a parent dying or have extremely tragic losses in their lives. We need something. The answer doesn't have to be numbing it out. The gift is in your feelings because it's all happening for you. If you can overcome this, what else can you overcome? A lot of the time, we don't take the opportunity to get the gift. We numb it out.

You're an incredible person. You've had these transformations. Now you're transforming other people's lives. You are on fire now. What's next for you in 2021 and beyond?

In 2021, my goal is to have 50 podcasts and 50 YouTube videos, so 50 episodes each. I want to launch my YouTube channel because I've been meaning to do it forever. I've been focused on other things. In 2021, I'm going to be launching my YouTube channel with great content. It’s the stuff we're talking about. This is a lot but more of this is what I mean. I want to get my message out there. I want to help people with all of this stuff. It's important to me. I believe that a lot of people need help with it. My goal is to start my YouTube channel. I already have a few videos. You can follow me on YouTube at Gina Bianca.

My goal is to podcast every week. I started my coaching practice. It's mastermind members only because I want people to have context, support, peers and know people. I will do coaching clients at a higher rate but mastermind coaching so I have hours booked up for coaching one-on-one. I'd like to do group coaching. That would be great. I'm working with Joico as their Global Salon Business Expert. I have these great videos coming out from them. It's called Elevate Your Life in Business. It's all about the journey from student to beauty influencer. It's like all my best advice for anyone going through the journey. I'm doing all that. My classes are starting in 2021. I'm doing blond and business essentials, master stylist certification and strategic color placement at The Network. I've got other artists teaching at The Network. The salon is doing great. My goal is to try to reach as many people as possible and help them, tell my story, create cool content that you like and keep it going.

You've got some projects on your plate.

It never stops. It all goes together though. When I'm doing something, it all fits together.

The synergy. It's not like you're starting completely separate businesses, it's all similar topics. You're using different forms of media to reach a wider audience.

Instagram is the mind-numbing bingeing stuff. I love reels. I was like, “I'm not doing a reel. Get out of my face.” I said the same thing about Instagram Live and I said the same thing about Stories. I was like, “I'm not doing this.” YouTube is a whole different ballpark audience. Podcast is for those who want to consume this way and mastermind for those who want to get a little bit closer to me and who want to do my bi-weekly coaching. I have the one-on-one for those who want to work with me and who want to make shit happen. It starts out here and it hones in. I've met some of the most incredible people in the world this way for many years. I'm excited to broaden it even more.

I could talk to you a lot longer, but I want to bring you back for part 2 or 3 or 4.

I’ll come back anytime. I’m going to have you on my podcast. I'm doing guests in 2021.

Let's do it. How can all the readers find you? You've mentioned a lot of things but to sum it up like YouTube channel or website.

You can go to GinaBianca.com to find all my services and everything I offer. Everything you need to find is on my website. You can follow me on Instagram. Follow @TheNetworkSalon. We're amazing and we do all the education there. Be part of The Network. That's huge. @IAmGinaBianca and subscribe on YouTube. My podcast is The Gina Bianca Podcast. You can listen to it everywhere.

Gina, AKA The Hair Doctor, thank you for being here on the show. I can't wait until next time and to watch you explode in the future.

Thanks for having me. I appreciate you for letting me share.

 Important Links:

• Behind The Chair Award Show
• The Network Salon
• Kajabi
• Masters of Balayage
• Mastermind group
• Instagram - Kajabi
• Tabatha Coffey
• Return on Courage
• Gina Bianca – YouTube
• Elevate Your Life in Business
• @IAmGinaBianca - Instagram
• @TheNetworkSalon - Instagram
• The Gina Bianca Podcast
• www.GinaBianca.com

About Gina Bianca

Life and Business Coach, Owner of The Network Salon, Host of the Gina Bianca Podcast, Joico Global Salon Business Expert