Hi gang, THIS is Alyson Hoag’s amazing success story. Alyson is the CEO of Authentic Beauty, one of the rockin’ clients I mentor through my Business Growth Blueprint program.  Aly’s letter was so powerful that I decided not to change a word of it.  I know it’s longer than my usual blogs, but stick with it guys, it’s totally worth the four minutes.  To learn more about my BGB program, go to: http://bit.ly/7gZW41

Christine, I know you haven’t heard from me lately but I am still out here listening and engaging and rocking! I have been implementing my plan and I think this month is the month I deserve to be your success story.  I know this isn’t going to be in the format you’d like. I would be here writing all day if you wanted me to name the hurdles I have had to overcome. There are too many to name. In the story below the major ones are mentioned. As for the most important module – it was Business Essentials. I have hung onto my end game throughout all of this.

I want to back up to when we first met. It was at Guerilla Business School, March of 2007. If you don’t remember I ran after you delivered your presentation to introduce myself. I didn’t have enough money to pay for your course but I called my mother and said, “If you believe in me, you’ll lend me the money. I have to work with this woman”. 
I think I was your first round of Groundbreakers and that time was invaluable to me. It was in the “formulation” days when the idea was being born into reality. I hung onto every word you said and I listened to the replays over and over.  And then the rubber hit the road. The week I sent out my investor packages the market disintegrated and key people I knew lost millions. The following month we found out the building we leased wasn’t going to be permitted and then slowly one by one all the people who were part of my team disappeared. It looked as though I was going to crash and burn.  And through it all I kept listening to everything you had to say over and over. I was really scared. I didn’t know how I was going to make it. I had two kids to take care of.  I knew somehow I was going to get out of this. Despite the creditors calling I just kept moving forward.

When you sent the email and said just get here in June 08 for your Summit in CA, I begged for a buddy pass from my ex-husband, my sister took my kids and I got on the plane. It was the best thing I could have ever done. I left refocused, recharged and taking action.

Miracles began happening.  One after another.

A big part of my business model is to create mobile events inside of hair salons. Well, since I didn’t have a “home”, I decided to put the model to the test and I spent 9 months in 3 different salons, building the model on my own and learning. The most important thing I kept looking for was what I was going to learn from each situation.

In the meantime I had several key breaks. I became the lead makeup team for a local magazine and they did a story on me and I had a radio personality name me as “the brow guru of Atlanta”.

It turned out that one of those salons I was working with asked me if I wanted to take the front of his space. The owner wanted to downsize and if I didn’t want to take it he said he would shut the doors. At this point I had NO money. I worked it out with the salon owner and I went for it. It also just happens to be in one of the most central locations in Atlanta.

We opened the doors late November 2008. I was actually interviewed on tv by our local Fox affiliate about opening during a down turned economy. However, I believed in the lipstick effect. If you don’t know, in a bad economy makeup sales go up. Leonard Lauder coined the phrase.

We opened the doors and last month marked our one year anniversary. (We had a BIG party and nearly 100 people showed up to show their support.)

So what we accomplished this past year:

• We grossed nearly $160k this year ending with a 20k month in December!!!!!! 
• Hired our first employee.
• We have 10 freelancers
• We have over 850 active clients
• Authentic Beauty was written up in our local Fashion Mag as What’s Hot this year for 2009
• I write my own monthly beauty column in a local magazine.
• Have developed relationships with several PR companies who use me regularly in their promotions of other companies in which I benefit.
• Developed relationships with all local tv affiliates and this week had my first in studio appearance with the CBS Atlanta affiliate for their morning show.
• Developed relationship with the most popular morning radio show in Atlanta and do the makeup for a video weekly for one of the DJ’s AND as a result she featured me the week of Christmas as one of her favorite things.
• Authentic Beauty was written up in at least 7 magazines and our work was featured in at least 10 publications with at least 4 covers.
• We have been told by Jean Chatzky’s people that in the next week or 2 I will be featured as one of their entrepreneurs of the week on her blog
• I was featured as one of the top 100 entreprenness’ in the CRAVE Atlanta book
• We are in the middle of developing a new mobile tester unit that I will be able to resell to the artist community
• We are developing our own makeup line (I finally stopped resisting) and the plan is to get it on QVC and fund the whole business with it.
• We  just closed 2 deals with 2 MAJOR plastic surgeons who are going to carry my makeup line and bring our makeup artists in.
• I have a meeting on January 15^th with the hottest salon in the Atlanta area to bring our artists in and do events
• We have an investor presentation on January 14^th with someone who is VERY interested in what we are up to. He is coming to Atlanta to see us.
• I am fully in the REVENUE, REVENUE, REVENUE mode. This month was a huge breakthrough. We doubled our sales from what we started out with in January, reaching the over 20k mark in December. The goal is 40k per month and I am clear it won’t take that long. All the seeds are planted.

When you said to me on the last call I was on, “You need to come up with revenue generating ideas,” I went for it! That’s why you haven’t heard from me. I took a step back, looked at what needed to happen and I think I haven’t come up for air since. LOL

I am planning in all the structures to make sure I am taken care of…In fact a huge breakthrough is that I got sick this week and I had a whole team to cover for me. I couldn’t be there on New Year’s Eve and they handled it all!!!

My goals for this year are to clean up all the messes left from the first go round, get myself financially stable, get the salon/mobile model implemented, build our wedding work, develop the makeup line, QVC launch of our eco, gel based 3in 1 foundations, get the website revamped and get all the social media working in synch, begin the national PR campaign which includes MORE MAGAZINE and get my makeup artists booked solid, Have Project Authentic Beauty (our non-profit initiative) fully structured. AND TAKE AN UNBELIEVABLE VACATION WITH MY FAMILY.

I want to say thank you for all your support, encouragement and guidelines. I am far from being perfect but I launched!  I have taken everything you have said (or nearly everything) and have but it into practice. I am certainly not at the mastering level YET but I am moving in that direction!

I am grateful for your commitment to others and to me. Thank you for everything! Without you the beauty industry would have had to wait for someone else to come along to transform it.

I look forward to being one of your million dollar companies. I don’t think it will be long now! 

With All the Love in the World, Ayson Hoag
CEO, Authentic Beauty

 Note from Christine: Aly, it’s NO surprise to me that you’ve turned my Business Growth Blueprint formula and teachings into a REAL success story.  You definitely had the chops AND the know how to implement implement implement!  I totally enjoy working with you and look forward to your amazing 7 Figure Business Success. 

Christine Comaford, The 7 Figure Business Builder
CEO of Mighty Ventures
NY Times Best Selling Author

PS:  To learn more about my BGB program, go to: http://bit.ly/7gZW41