Energise Wealth

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Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s episode of Feminine Wealth TV! This week’s guest is the very savvy Sia Hendry. Sia is a Paramedical Aesthetician & Founder of You by Sia Clinics and Cosmeceutical Skincare, a leading chain of Sydney laser cosmetic clinics.

One of Sia’s unique customer propositions is her focus on going more than skin deep to enhance the efficacy of her treatments. In this interview, she talks more on the topic of being customer-centric and how she deals with competition in a highly competitive industry. One of the things I love is that Sia doesn’t allow herself to focus too much on competition, instead focusing on what her customers want as a central part of her business. Check out the full interview above to find out more about her journey!

Prefer to read? See full transcription below!

Barbara Turley: Hi there, I am Barbara Turley and you’re watching another episode of Feminine Wealth TV. This show uncovers the Diamond Tips on creating truly conscious wealth from change makers, world shakers and wealth creators. I am currently sitting in the most amazing cosmetic and laser clinic. I am joined today on the show by a woman who has basically launched five of these amazing clinics. Sia Hendry. Sia, welcome to the show.

Sia Hendry: Thank you.

Barbara Turley: To kick off, first of all, I absolutely love your name, Sia. Where does that come from? What is the origin of your name?

Sia Hendry: That’s an interesting question.

Barbara Turley: Yeah, I have never heard that name before.

Sia Hendry: Yeah, it is derived from the Russian name I believe, Old Greek name Anastasia.

Barbara Turley: Oh wow.

Sia Hendry: My parents … Because I was born on my grandmother’s birthday, they said she could name me. She loved the name Anastasia or Nastasia and they wanted something a little bit more modern so they actually took the name broke it up into Ana,Stacy or Sia and said to pick one and she picked Sia.

Barbara Turley: Sia, isn’t that a lovely name? When I first say your name, I though I’ve never seen that name before and I’ve just absolutely loved it. I would love to start with the genesis of your entrepreneurial career. You have had your own business now for 12, 13 or 14 years. Where did it all start? Did you start out being an entrepreneur?

Sia Hendry: I have always been driven even as a child, I was always looking at ways to make money. Very independent while I was a child, so on school holidays or going on a vacation, I would be sitting in a beach [inaudible 00:01:43] or finding ways to make money, to be self-sufficient, very very independent, I was always driven, always wanting to do something.

Barbara Turley: Whydo you think that was? Did you have any brothers in your family or something like that?

Sia Hendry: No. [inaudible 00:02:02] completely driven just very very independent. I knew what I wanted from a young age, from our clothing to what I was wearing, to what are we doing on holidays. So somehow I was always heading in … Some way I wanted to just always be successful.

Barbara Turley: You are very lucky I think because I think one of the things with having spoken to so many women on the show, one thing that always comes through is that sense of self belief or sense of being driven in a magnificent way that you know you’ve got a secret, you know that you can go out and make money, so you do. I think that’s something that a lot of people out there would really love to learn. When was your first business then? When did you come to the point of saying your first real business, not like as a kid?

Sia Hendry: Yes, it was … Certainly, I suppose career wise, I always get into the industry first. I always had a love for my skin, taking care of it, although I was very tomboyish growing up.

Barbara Turley: Oh really?

Sia Hendry: Yes. I was always very much looking into, knowing that I had to take care of my skin but never wore the make up, never plucked the eyebrows but always took care of my skin. I knew that I had to do that. I love the children as well, so I did have two career choices in my mind set growing up. Did work with kids on [inaudible 00:03:26] childhood, did that for seven years and then [inaudible 00:03:29] till I had my own kids, possibly best to take a break. Didn’t want to correlate my children with work.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. I think a lot of teachers out there. It’d probably resonate with them.

Sia Hendry: [inaudible 00:03:41] might as well do the other one that I had always been interested in, so obviously study for that, got into the industry, worked for a doctor, because got into the industry back … that would be 11 years ago.

Barbara Turley: What did you study? You got into the industry, did you study the whole laser?

Sia Hendry: No. 11 years ago, there was nowhere you could study. There was nowhere you study, you literally got trained up by the company that obviously supplied the laser.

Barbara Turley: Oh yeah. Right. By a sales person, yeah.

Sia Hendry: Yeah, you had to get trained up through them, so I made sure that I actually got certified through the company so that I obviously knew what I was doing. Then yeah, eventually knew that.

Barbara Turley: Was it always with you about starting your own business, did you still think I am going to get this training and then morph into my thing, or was it just at that stage, you were thinking I am going to try this see what it takes me sort of thing.

Sia Hendry: I think at back of my mind, I always knew I would possibly one day have my own clinic. For me it was just a matter of doing what I loved. Being successful at it whether it was working for somebody or doing it on my own, it didn’t really matter but I found out that it didn’t have the growth that I wanted. I didn’t have the support that I wanted in the way I wanted to do certain things. It is a very cutthroat industry but it’s also there is a lot of things that are not done correctly which eventually I thought I can’t carry on practicing like this. I need to study on my own.

Barbara Turley: It is a kind of challenge then … Actually a lot of women are leaving the industries at the moment, because of that. I know even in the financial industry and in the tech industry, all sorts of things, women are leaving their corporate roles of working for someone else, because their values have been challenged, because of the way things are being done so you found that even in the cosmetic laser industry?

Sia Hendry: Oh yeah.

Barbara Turley: Launching your own, out on your own, did you … ? Tell me about the beginnings of that. Was it just open the doors of the salon and off we go?

Sia Hendry: In perfect world, yes. I think it came down to having a very god support group, people that believed in me, knowing how to do it, having the financial backing as well, that obviously I needed.

Barbara Turley: Yeah, because this is an expensive business to run. Yeah. I know that about these kinds of businesses are not, it is not like a lot of people are now opening online businesses or businesses that cost five or six thousand to actually start. This would be a much bigger business than that. When you said financial backing and support and everything, if you don’t mind talking about this, how did you get to the point of deciding you were going to take that leap? And then who was the biggest support to you? Did you save up your own money to do it or did you get a backer? How did that happen?

Sia Hendry: Financially, I can’t say that I have had a plane to my name, pretty much.

Barbara Turley: Lot of people are asking, hence the question

Sia Hendry: Yes. [inaudible 00:06:38] the name that I had built for myself in the industry, I was pretty in high demand as far ask trying to get appointments with me and I had to somebody was able see that, and obviously, said, one day, if you are interested in your own practice come and talk to me. Yeah, I thought I got nothing to lose

Barbara Turley: Yeah. What’s interesting about that actually is this whole thing. A lot of people let the “I’ve got no money thing” get in the way of their dreams and they decide I can’t launch my business, I don’t have enough money, or I don’t have … I can’t save enough I can never do what I want to do but what I love about your story is this and I have been trying to say this to people, it is about developing the value within. We all have this value inherent in us and if we focus more on developing that, the money will show up. The money in your case did show up. I love that story. It showed up in the form of somebody recognizing what you had to offer and look at you today.

Sia Hendry: Yeah. They couldn’t get an appointment with me for eight weeks. I was completely booked up that when he realized.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. Was that a woman?

Sia Hendry: No. It was a man.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. I know. Do you think, I am also interested, it is usually men who step in in this particular scenario, and I wonder is it because there are not enough women with the capacity to do it, or there are not enough women who see the opportunity? Is this kind of thing between men and women? Not sure of the men women thing.

Sia Hendry: I think it is clearly being in the right place at the right place and being open. You are still taking a leap off faith. You are taking a risk, so whether or not men are more risk takers than a woman perhaps, women perhaps tend to be a little bit more conservative in the decisions that they make. Whereas I think men, if they have the experience and possibly if they are looking to invest in something, being able to see that opportunity to come, I think women have that as well, but it takes some time, they might be a little bit more conservative in how they make those choices.

Barbara Turley: Yeah, well I think it is the way you are brought up, to be honest. I think it is an unconscious bias in society that exists around women and money and girls and money, that … Actually girls grow up slightly differently in relation to money. I had this conversation show with, actually another South African woman, Passalaris, who runs a company called Beautiful Minds and she trains teenage girls. She has just introduced this concept of money into the course. And it is quite fascinating to talk to her about how girls react to money and how the parents react to them being taught about money. It does make me wonder where this, the inability to take risk, the shunning of risk and money and stuff comes from much earlier on in life. Obviously you didn’t have that experience when you were being brought up and I don’t think I did either but it seems to be fairly prevalent in society, yeah.

Sia Hendry: Yeah, I think growing up though I was always aware that I would never rely financially on a male.

Barbara Turley: I have that too.

Sia Hendry: [crosstalk 00:09:44] in knowing that I would always be financially dependent. I always thought to myself I would be.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. I think it is actually important to be, even if you do have a man in your life, that is, able to support you financially, but it is always good for a woman to have their own money. Yeah. Tell me the first years in business, couple of years can always be quite hard.

Sia Hendry: The first three.

Barbara Turley: The first three really. Tell me what was the greatest learning in those first, let’s say in the first year, what was the greatest obstacle or learning that you had during that time?

Sia Hendry: Probably staying true to myself and just constantly staop because when you open up, obviously you don’t have numbers coming through the door. Some days can be a little bit despondent, and you say you know, did we make the right decision?

Barbara Turley: Money going out the door, money coming in.

Sia Hendry: Just obviously so having that faith in yourself that yes, you will succeed, you will eventually achieve your goals, setting goals to make sure that you stick to them, not being deterred, even you can have good days, you have good weeks, you have bad days, and not letting the bad days pull you down.

Barbara Turley: Because it can pull people down to the point of failure where they give up just before they reach the tipping point of success. Was there anything that you did in those days to get through that? Was it just a strong self-belief that you just say, tomorrow it is…? I mean for example, when I feel like that I always say to myself, that’s today, tomorrow is going to be better, tomorrow is another day, so I always just try and get through those days. What about you? What do you do? Would you recommend?

Sia Hendry: I think my business partner is very supportive. I think him having that constant belief in me as well. He took all the risks. Obviously I came with a name and I came with a clientele following and …

Barbara Turley: Would you ever [crosstalk 00:11:41]? You have that sense of him having the financial … All this money. He owed you the money I guess

Sia Hendry: No matter what but if I did have days where I was like no I think [inaudible 00:11:55] I think it helped that he was also positive staying positive and saying no I know what you are capable of, you’ll make it, you’ve opened up this company Sia, it is going to be fantastic, it is going to take time, all the things take time, so it was quite … He also brings another part to the company, so I bring all the skills and everybody that he sees in me, he has got the other side of it, so we merge the two. We knew that together we had a really strong business partnership you can say.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. Is he involved in the business or is it more of a mentorship?

Sia Hendry: He started off pretty much silent. He used to work elsewhere so then he set out to … Obviously, because I wanted to have children so he realized that you need to at some stage step out from his job role and step into here just to take over for a while.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. For just a little bit. You have got a really good business partner there.

Sia Hendry: I have. Unbelievable.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. What I love about that is I think for businesses to be really successful, and actually most women I have spoken to have gotten this right as well. If this sort of thing there are … What I call the culmination of masculine and feminine energies, you bring different strengths to the table and actually you need both to be super successful. If there is masculine energies of pushing striving and actually taking the books, and doing things that way, and then the feminine energies of creating community and connection and creation I guess and all of those things. You’ve managed to really get those two things.

Sia Hendry: Yes, I’ve been really lucky to have merged those both sides together which I think makes it more grounded and more stable. What one is lacking the other one can compensate for.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. So I want to talk a little bit now that obviously in this industry there is a lot of compensation, it is pretty cut throat still, isn’t it?

Sia Hendry: Very cut throat.

Barbara Turley: How do you stay true to yourself but driving forward and you are even opening new clinics, you are growing like mad, how do you stay true to yourself? Stay in your feminine energy and stay ahead of competition without getting competitive? How do you do that?

Sia Hendry: I don’t focus on the competition.

Barbara Turley: I like this yeah. Yeah. I think that is a man’s game actually.

Sia Hendry: That’s it. If I take the focus away from my own business and start focusing on what everyone else is doing, I won’t move forward because I will keep looking to … I won’t be a leader, I will be a follower. I am aware of what they are doing but I don’t focus on it. Because whether they do or whether they don’t, I don’t really going to affect me, naïve as that might sound …

Barbara Turley: Oh no. I actually like that approach. Because I think we can get too caught up in watching each other and just no, as you said, not being leaders, trying to sort of go with the herd, not thinking of your own brand and your own.

Sia Hendry: I know I’m the leader in the industry, I know because I experience a lot of competitors coming to my clinics trying to find out what we do, how we do it. From copying things. I know because I experience a lot of my competitors coming to my clinic, you know try to know what we do, how we do it, from copying things, [inaudible 00:15:05] It can be upsetting to see copying some of the works you’ve done and he says Sia it is a complement.

Barbara Turley: Yeah but it is annoying though. But it means you are ahead of the curve.

Sia Hendry: We are always ahead. We are always one step ahead.

Barbara Turley: Well I suppose being a leader it is important to be one step ahead, but how important is it in this industry to always be one step ahead do you think?

Sia Hendry: I wouldn’t say it’s being one step ahead. I would say it’s delivering what you promised your clients, it’s being having a well trained and educated staff, making sure that what you provide is what your clients were expecting, not so staying one step ahead but making sure that you are delivering on what you are promising.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. You know what I love about it is that’s a very client centric approach, so rather than, am actually getting back to this masculine, feminine energy again. Masculine energy is all about competition and looking at your competition try to win. I love the approach that you have which is this whole, it’s a community vibe. You focus on what your customers are actually looking for and deliver on that based on customer experience and that’s, is that the secret to what you think is to your success?

Sia Hendry: Possibly.

Barbara Turley: Possibly. I know you have two sons, five years old and …

Sia Hendry: Six month old

Barbara Turley: Cooper is six month old. Cooper is so cute yeah. In the five years, you have had two children and in these five years you have been opening up the clinics, driving the business forward. As a woman talk to me about how do we manage that because I know it myself that I don’t, I haven’t had children yet I am hoping to have them soon and I do get this asked a lot, how are you going to manage driving a big business and having children? So I love asking women who have done it. What do we have ahead of us and how do we cope?

Sia Hendry: I think it’s acceptable today for women to be working and be a mother. I think it’s lot easier that there are companies support that today. How I go about it is, I always saw that I’ve made sacrifice having kids for work so I made sure that no matter what I did somehow I was there to merge the two together and have a balance at both. How to juggle the kids? To be honest with you, there will never be a good time.

Barbara Turley: [crosstalk 00:17:22]

Sia Hendry: Maybe you know, it will get quieter, it will get easier. It’s a matter of putting sticks in into play, putting people, taking on additional staff having this support of your family, having the support of your work colleagues in the ability to do that as well and then having steps that can bring you upto pace that you are able to do that. You know that you can juggle it and you can have the children and you can do the work. It’s tough in the beginning you know you are not sleeping sometimes, it’s difficult. I love what I do, I love what I do. I don’t, feel it’s work, that’s all it is. You know I actually love coming to work if I can make sure that I do not actually sacrifice my kids to do that, sometimes you have to make sacrifices but being confident that you are doing it for the right reason and you are doing it so that you can find a better life for your children, it’s very achievable. It’s very achievable for a woman to do it.

The difficult thing is in realizing that there will never be a good time. It is gonna be hard but you have got a lot of support from your partner, your husband, then the business partner if you have one, be supportive that you have the right team of staff to assist so that you can sit back, put someone into the play to do that for you as well makes a huge difference.

Barbara Turley: I love actually the thing that you resonate with me there about having the right team in place because I think a lot of women particularly women running their own businesses, there is a huge amount of solopreneurs who are doing everything themselves and believing that they can’t grow because it’s not the right time. So they think that I don’t want to get bigger, I haven’t got enough money to hire the staff to get bigger and they end up in this vicious cycle of being overwhelmed, overworked, underpaid and getting resentful and angry so I love that you stepped out of that and realised that you need the right staff sometimes you need to spend money to make money as you hire other people and you know I am always trying to encourage women to look at their … If you’re too busy working in the business then you can’t work on the business so you got to get that balance obviously right as well.

Sia Hendry: Yes and it’s also taking that leap of faith and knowing that it’s a good problem to have that you are growing in such a way that you got to sit, think, perhaps I need to take somebody on and more of that if you are doing that then your business is growing, and the finances will come but you have to be a … You cant be a one man show and grow. It’s not gonna happen. You have to get your straight way, you are going to have to possibly take a loan or find a way that you can take on additional staff even though the finances might be an issue at the beginning it’s a good thing to have because you are growing and the only way to grow is by expanding, you are growing and expanding. Expanding yourself, you know, makes job if you can clone me that will be wonderful.

Barbara Turley: Oh I know.

Sia Hendry: Definitely. In a pocket world but.

Barbara Turley: [inaudible 00:20:12] leadership in the industry, leadership with your client, then leadership inside your business that you have to inspire your team to want to be the biggest support to you and to be on the same vision as you I guess.

Sia Hendry: I think another thing is womEn are very much , sometimes more than men, they are control freaks. Oh yeah yeah. I am , I can do it and it’s just that you have to realize that no one can do it exactly the same way you can. It doesn’t mean that they won’t be right with what they do and it’s not that they can’t learn and you can’t teach them. You know sometimes you’d be lucky. We don’t have a clinic manager who teaches me things, you know you can teach many thing. It can also bring more to the podium, may be open up door that you may not realize but their ideas sometimes it hit’s in such a way that that’s one

Barbara Turley: So stop letting go.

Sia Hendry: Yeah that control and that fear.

Barbara Turley: I was going to ask you about that fear. It feels that this fear for some reason is ingrained to us as women. I just feel that most of the man if it gets back to risk taking thing which goes at the beginning as well fear is inherent to loss.

Sia Hendry: I think that the fear has got to us, that men are fine in business got more statistics.

Barbara Turley: Because the numbers don’t lie and there is no emotion.

Sia Hendry: Absolutely. unfortunately, women we do have that instinct, that internal instinct and you know I am a huge believer in going with your gut and lot of times my partner will come and say that show me the numbers, I will say it’s just in here. Yeah and he has actually learnt you know he is so analytical, with the numbers and he will say what made you decide to do that and I will say that I don’t know, I just have something in here and he looks at me, doesn’t know how did you do it How you do it? And he is actually learning slowly to accept that as well.

Barbara Turley: You know there is this messenger, I had in the show last week from [inaudible 00:22:23] and she said, we were talking about getting investors on board and she said there were few ways to get investors right now but one of the things she said is that I make sure that the investors can cope with the way I do things and how I role and I don’t want them coming and telling to me that I cant do something because half of the time the stuff she does is from her gut and it’s based on gut and she is very successful. So I suppose it’s what we have to learn. We have to, maybe we have to trust in that more.

Sia Hendry: Yeah we have to. Animals have it, we have it, I think sometimes you know what might be the book might be, and you are reading a book and it’s telling do this and do that [inaudible 00:23:03]. It was a way, that you buy one book and done and dusted. You know sometimes it takes the instinct. Mother is like no I believe it this is happening and funk that. Same is with the business, you know.

Barbara Turley: Business is like your baby. It’s a baby.

Sia Hendry: Absolutely you know, I have got to protect it, go with my gut and …

Barbara Turley: You trust in your intuition and you have to tap into your intuition to understand something is fear because it’s a danger coming or fear that you are not just listening to your intuition closely enough. How do you develop it?

Sia Hendry: The fear is what we call as the obstacles, you putting obstacles up or are they actually there?

Barbara Turley: Are they actually there? If you look at worst case scenario, what are those ways where you are going to do what should have happen? Then you risk mitigate for those things.

Sia Hendry: Worst case scenario.

Barbara Turley: Tell me Sia, you have got 5 clinics already, amazing business here what does the future hold for Sia and You by Sia which is your brand. Whats the big vision for the brand?

Sia Hendry: Well. I feel that I have delivered so much of my goals and my dreams already, you know 5 clinics, you know I have built my equipment, concert research and being on top of things and this recently in the past 2 years, launched my own clinical range.

Barbara Turley: Is this here? This is the range. I love the purple. I just love the whole branding, the packaging, it’s beautiful.

Sia Hendry: Thank you.

Barbara Turley: When did you launch these?

Sia Hendry: That got launched about a year ago Possibly I have had it for 2 years now, that’s me in a jar.

Barbara Turley: It’s your experience .

Sia Hendry: I am always looking for the next thing, always staying on top , what was out, what are the latest treatments, you know I am always advancing , I am never stationary, I am not happy to be. I always want to get better. I always want to prove, I want to flow.

Barbara Turley: That’s your challenge, your challenge. You are not always the same, you are dynamic and moving.

Sia Hendry: Always moving, always looking at new things.

Barbara Turley: I think it’s a sign though. I think, for me I am like that too. Some people think it’s chaotic but for me, to be honest it just keeps me moving, alive, energetic and all that. Yeah. I can connect with that. So the product line is obviously the …

Sia Hendry: Perfumes out, makeup range

Barbara Turley: It’s coming or has it been out?

Sia Hendry: It’s been out for about three years now. I just opened up 2 new clinics recently. Obviously there will be more to come. New treatments and other things behind the scene as well. Very exciting. Things we are going into which will come currently

Barbara Turley: We are working on …

Sia Hendry: I just love that you are still growing as a brand. I still deal with my clients everyday.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. So you are still in it. It’s not like you are on the business but you are still in it.

Sia Hendry: I am still in it.

Barbara Turley: That’s your way of doing it. You like to be up. If the viewers want to get to know you by sia more. Where should they go if they want to buy the products. Is it online?

Sia Hendry: Yes. Youbysia.com.au, it’s a website, we have described a lot of treatments, which we have worked on a lot. Our philosophy is completely different. There is no other clinic out there which treats the skin the way we do. So everything that we do is from the inside out, not to outside in.

Barbara Turley: Oh, I did read about that. Just explain to me about it quickly then. So I am asking because I love that idea.

Sia Hendry: You know it’s always looking for ways to slow down, you know nothing is going to slow the aging process , it’s just we want to slow it down. And looking at what we do , for just years years and years, you know chemical peeling, rhodial surfaces and chloride, chloride on the surface so that everything looks great but you find that it’s a quick fix, it doesn’t last very long, because if you look at it you are doing the same treatment every day, same peel every day, there is nothing that you change long term. We don’t actually age on the surface of the skin. Everything happens at a deeper level, so unless you treat it at that deeper level.

Barbara Turley: Yeah of course it makes sense, you know what you put in you get out.

Sia Hendry: Correct. Exactly. So as long we can slow down and treat that lower level when it comes to aging and all conditions that happen there, then you have the change long term. So we do that.

Barbara Turley: It’s a foundational thing.

Sia Hendry: All our treatments work on the skin from inside out. So there is no downterm for this, there is no pain on the surface Inaudible at 22:49, infections or crazy things on the surfaces because we haven’t removed the epidermal barrier on the skin. So everything is literally the same. So we can peel you but we do it from inside out not the outside in. We don’t do chemical peels.

Barbara Turley: Oh ok. I didn’t know whats happening before.

Sia Hendry: That is our trademark as well.

Barbara Turley: That’s trademark.

Sia Hendry: Yes.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. Another clever business decision.

Sia Hendry: We take photos. Every client gets proper imaging photos, computerised analysis system that does it for us so I can actually show the change and I have clients that have treatment for 3 years and maintain some, some getting younger. So we create change long term not just short term.

Barbara Turley: Yeah. So you are leader in the industry?

Sia Hendry: Absolutely.

Barbara Turley: That’s amazing.

Sia Hendry: And I am not aware of any other clinic that follows this philosophy 100 percent, the way we do. Everything is natural. I think we don’t believe unless something is painful.

Barbara Turley: Yeah you know, no use if no pain.

Sia Hendry: Absolutely. You have to gutted, cut, sloshed to work. So not, absolutely not.

Barbara Turley: It’s like a new race here.

Sia Hendry: Yeah . and we have got hundreds of client before and after, on the website also if you go and see, that they were able to maintain or achieve long term results not just a quick fix. We are in the clinic in Sydney right now. So if you are coming to Sydney, go to youbysia.com book an appointment to see Sia. It’s fantastic. Thank you so much for being on the show with me today. It’s been a real pleasure, lovely atmosphere and for the viewers maybe you can catch me later this week online broadcast on archons and where I am going to be giving my key take on my meeting with Sia today and remember to come back next week where we will have more on feminine wealth tv