Biggest Best Life

Started a Business at 21: How Annalisa Imburgia Turned Fear into Fuel

• Lauren Chapnick • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Twenty-two-year-old salon owner Annalisa Imburgia shares her inspiring journey from employee to entrepreneur, demonstrating how she overcame fears and obstacles to establish her own successful business at the remarkably young age of 21.

• Annalisa felt unfulfilled working in salon environments and knew she needed a change
• Despite fears about client retention and her capabilities, she took the leap to open her own studio
• She prepared by taking business courses from established stylists and creating a detailed business plan
• Her supportive network of family and friends provided crucial encouragement
• The experience taught her to become "comfortable with being uncomfortable"
• She prioritizes creating a safe, welcoming environment where clients can come as they are
• Annalisa emphasizes that age shouldn't limit ambition and that anyone can learn the skills they need
• She encourages others not to get discouraged by bad experiences in any industry

Text BESTLIFE to 833-681-6463 for Lauren's weekly dose of motivation straight to your phone. Visit laurenchapnick.com or biggestbestlife.com for more from Lauren!

Connect with Annalisa! We LOVE this woman.

Instagram handle: @thevanitystudioo 

Website: https://thevanitystudio.glossgenius.com/


Announcer:

Welcome to Biggest, Best Life, the podcast that dares you to dream big, live louder and step fully into the rockstar life you are made for. You're not too late, You're right on time and we're just getting started. Here's your host, Lauren Chapnick. Lauren.

Lauren Chapnick:

Chapnick. Hey friend, welcome back. This is Biggest, Best Life. I'm your host, Lauren Chapnick. If you would like a weekly dose of inspiration, motivation, something that keeps you in the zone of taking action to make big, bold changes in your life, please text the word BESTLIFE that's one word to 833-681-6463. And we can also message back and forth there. I hope to see you there Today.

Lauren Chapnick:

I would like to introduce you to an incredible young woman. Her name is Annalisa Embergia. She is an entrepreneur, the owner of the Vanity Studio in Mayopac, New York, and her story is one of courage and bravery and having the right and just doing the darn thing, and I'm so excited to welcome her. I know she will inspire so many of you. I'm going to link her website, all of her socials and any of the resources that she talks about in the show notes in the description, so you don't have to worry about writing anything down. Everything will be there. If you're interested in following her, which I think you will be. I would like to introduce you now to analisa. Thank you so much for inviting me into your salon. It is so beautiful and I was in love with this space from the moment I walked in. It's just so peaceful and I love it so much.

Lauren Chapnick:

So take us back. Okay, been your own boss, a business owner, for what? About a year now? Yeah, about a year. So take us back to a year ago. What was happening?

Annalisa Imburgia:

So about a year ago I was working for somebody another hair salon and I was definitely like in a pivotal point in my career where I really felt like I wanted something to happen. I want to change. I wanted more for myself.

Lauren Chapnick:

Had you always like was there something whispering to you inside that said you wanted to work for yourself, or did you just know that you wanted something to change?

Annalisa Imburgia:

I think, honestly, both. I think as soon as I graduated cosmetology school in 2021, I always knew that I wanted to own my own hair salon of some sort. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I always had that in the back of my head, but I feel like a lot of the places that I worked for almost made it seem like it was impossible and that it was like, not like as easy as it looks and of course it probably isn't at times, but definitely scarier and a bigger deal than what it is.

Lauren Chapnick:

They probably want you to stay yeah, yeah, yeah, their business, yeah, of course, yeah, yeah. So I mean, what fears did you have? What was it that was holding you back? Are my clients gonna come? Are they gonna follow me? Um, no matter what, even if you move to a it that was holding you back.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Are my clients gonna come?

Lauren Chapnick:

are they gonna?

Annalisa Imburgia:

follow me. Um, no matter what, even if you move to a salon down the street, you're always going to lose a little bit of your clients. That's just like the way it is. That was a big thing. Am I capable like?

Announcer:

can.

Annalisa Imburgia:

I do this? Am I smart enough?

Lauren Chapnick:

am I capable enough.

Annalisa Imburgia:

But my biggest fear was, like are my clients gonna come with me? Are they gonna follow? Are they gonna be able to find me?

Lauren Chapnick:

that was like the biggest part for me yes, and did any of those prove to be?

Annalisa Imburgia:

true, yeah, honestly, some did and some don't. Like in in my head I was always like rambling and you know, freaking myself out like is this gonna work? Is this gonna work? Are the clients gonna come? Is you know? There's so many scary things that are going on in your head and some of them did happen. You know what I mean. You do lose a little bit of your clientele, um, when you do move anywhere. So that definitely did happen. But then you make new friends, you make new guests and stuff like that.

Lauren Chapnick:

So yeah, so yes and no okay was there a moment, was there one moment where you said, okay, it's now, I have to do this. Now, did something happen like what caused you to say I am going to leave the security of my job and I'm going to take this bold risk and do this very scary thing? Yeah, was it a series of things? Was it one moment?

Annalisa Imburgia:

I think through that. I think it's a series of things I you know had been doing hair for three years at the time and I felt like each salon environment that I've ever been in just wasn't for me and that's not for everybody.

Annalisa Imburgia:

I'm not saying that that's the way it's going to be for everyone, but for me that just didn't work. So I did not feel comfortable in these environments. So that's when I was like this is this, is not it, this is not going to be the way I'm going to spend the rest of my career, and I knew, kind of I needed to change and I needed to switch it up. When I was like, is this what I want to do? Like when I was questioning, like is this still what I want to do? Do I need to pick another career? Do I have to go back to school?

Annalisa Imburgia:

and that's something that I never wanted. So in that moment, when I started like questioning that, I was like something's wrong. Enough is enough, we have to. We have to switch it up.

Lauren Chapnick:

I think that's amazing because it has to be said and I don't usually just come out to how old are you? Yeah, but how old are you? 22? I just turned 22. Okay, annalisa, you're 22, yes, and in the intro of my show I say you're not too late, you're right on time. Because I want my audience to know it's never too late, yeah, to make a decision, to make a bold move. You're never too time because I want my audience to know it's never too late to make a decision, to make a bold move. You're never too old. But in your case, you were the flip side of the gun. You were super young. Did you ever? Were you afraid that your age was going to work against you? Or were you afraid that maybe you weren't going to be taken seriously? Like what were your fears?

Annalisa Imburgia:

oh, 100% and I feel like, with that being said, I just when I opened this, I literally just fresh.

Lauren Chapnick:

I was six days into being 21 oh, my gosh six days okay, I just turned 22, yes so we all know what we were most of us were doing exactly like when I first opened this, like I was literally just turning the drinking age yes, do you know what I mean.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Yes, so I. So I think 100%.

Lauren Chapnick:

It's very unique to be that young and to be making this big.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Yes, being that young comes with those little cons of it. Like just because I'm 21 doesn't mean I'm not capable. No, you know what I mean.

Lauren Chapnick:

Yes.

Annalisa Imburgia:

But I don't regret it.

Lauren Chapnick:

That's what impressed me so much about you. I was like there's, you're not 22, you know, I didn't realize that until the end of our one of our first conversations and I was like, oh my gosh, you're very impressive. So what was it like? I mean, what was the process like of leaving the security of a job? How did you do it? Like what did you? How does one even start?

Annalisa Imburgia:

that's the thing is like how to start right like it. That was in my head. It's like okay, but where do we even, what do we even do now? Like okay, now I know I want to do this what was the first thing you did? The first thing I did was I actually subscribed to a course, right um, of a hairdresser. She was selling these courses on how to become your salon owner, independent stylist, booth, renter what you need, what's the best how to do it. So I did subscribe to her her name is Gina Bianca.

Annalisa Imburgia:

so I learned a lot from that and I just kind of, like you know, picked up the brain a little bit and I was just like writing things down, what I needed, what's the important things. That was one of the first things I did. I live with my family, so my sister lives with us and she's a financial advisor. I said let's sit down, let's go over numbers, let's go over um, you know, let's make a business plan. We made a business plan. We wrote it down on a little notebook and we said this is it, Is it?

Annalisa Imburgia:

enough. Is this going to be okay? Are we going to float Right Utilities, product rent, like all that stuff and like all the things to get it done, like illegal paperwork and all that stuff, like it's a lot more expensive than I even thought? Like I was like wow, I was thrown off when I heard all that. So you know we were, we were kind of cutting it tight. Maybe wasn't the best time to do it, but it was the only time. I can can't explain the time felt right it just in the moment, like it worked out. We didn't think about it and we were just like let's just do it. I was going to make it work, no matter what.

Lauren Chapnick:

I was going to make it work. It's all about your mindset, absolutely, and I think you didn't know all of the things.

Annalisa Imburgia:

So you sought resources to find the things.

Lauren Chapnick:

Yeah, and that's what you have to do. Okay, well, I'm going to learn. I don't know how to do the business side of it. Yeah, I know how to do hair very well. Yeah, that speaks for itself, like your Facebook reviews everything. So do you think that that decision to leave the security of a job, to take this bold move, do you think that that changed other aspects of your life or just?

Annalisa Imburgia:

who you are as a person oh, 100 percent. And why I feel like I was definitely super uncomfortable in this time, like I, I had to put myself out there, I had to do things that were super uncomfortable, and now I'm more, I'm more comfortable with being uncomfortable, right, like when things get scary, I'm like, oh, I felt that before I can do this because I've done that, yes, so that in a sense, like I got used to that, like okay, we have to do this, we don't have a choice. So when things are like, oh my god, that seems scary, but like that's a huge opportunity, I'm like okay, we can do this, because I've done this already, like I've done something like this.

Lauren Chapnick:

I'm used to this feeling yes, so yeah, 100. What would you say to somebody who is thinking about making some sort of change in their life? They're thinking about making a bold move whether it's something similar to what you did, starting their own hair salon yeah, or really anything yeah, what would you tell them?

Annalisa Imburgia:

I would say do not sell yourself short. We're only here for a small amount of time and we have to make use of it. Right, like, just do it now. If it doesn't work, you try again, you do something else and you'll figure it out as you go. Like, but don't sell yourself short. Remind yourself like you're capable of anything like, as cheesy as it sounds like, follow your dreams and you can do it. Like, if you can dream it, you can do it. You just have to work really hard and your mind is like your biggest, you know, like evil, like you can do everything that you want. You just have to like push yourself and just do it. Like, do it that's it.

Announcer:

I love you I think that's amazing that you learned this when you did, and I'm not that type of person. Most people haven't.

Lauren Chapnick:

Some people haven't learned that in their whole life.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Yeah, I am young and I can't do this now, and if it fails so be it.

Lauren Chapnick:

We'll do something else.

Annalisa Imburgia:

We'll figure it out. Yeah, so I don't know where I got that from. I think also, my support system was all everybody was talking in my ear like just do it, just do it, you're gonna be okay, we're here to fall back on, and that was it. I am super, super lucky that I have the family I do have, because the entire time they were like ride or die, we're back here if you need us. You're not gonna need us, but we're here. I do live at home, so I can you know. I do have that advantage where it's like I'm not paying for a mortgage and I don't have children, but the plan is to do it now.

Annalisa Imburgia:

So that was the perfect time for you to do it Right yeah, this way I can have children and I can get married later and I already have my established business and whatever. But, yeah, I do have a really good support system. I have an amazing boyfriend. My family, cousins, everybody, like everybody, plays a huge part in this, yeah, so what was it like the first few months?

Lauren Chapnick:

Like what was, what were your obstacles when you first started and how did you work through it and get to the point where you are? Because we're here in your studio now, but you're actually moving to a bigger studio right next door. How did it all unfold so?

Annalisa Imburgia:

in the first like beginning months it was really really scary. So in the first like beginning months it was really really scary. So many people from all over came to support me Like family members came, not even that clients came. I met so many new people. People were reposting my website, reposting my Instagram posts, so I got so much overwhelming support, like in the salon, behind the chair, yeah, which, like I honestly, was not expecting.

Annalisa Imburgia:

I don't know why, but I thought, thought that I was gonna come on my first day and just be like okay, waiting around. That literally didn't happen. The first couple months were super, super busy, especially because we opened July 1st and we started going into like the winter months. The winter months are super busy behind the chair Christmas, thanksgiving, um, all kinds of religious holidays, so that was super big. So, as it went on, like it was scary in the beginning, but then it got like so busy, not even just in the salon, but outside, like just the marketing and the posting and the content and talking to people and people asking me you know other people that, like I did not ever work with texting me being like how did you do that?

Lauren Chapnick:

yeah, so I was like it's inspiring to a lot of people thank you, it really is well. I think people think that they're not yeah, that's anything that you don't know how to do your perfect you learn well, you just find the resources to show you how to do it yeah, what do you love? About it, and is there anything that you don't love about being a business owner? Honestly?

Annalisa Imburgia:

yeah, the only thing that I don't like and I'm not saying I hate this, the only thing I do not like is the content. I'm not great at taking content. It's hard to keep up with trends. They change so frequently and social media is such a big part of this industry now it just all industries, I feel like. Social media is so big now it's really hard for me to keep up with that. What I love the most is this is I'm able to control the environment that my clients are in. Yes, that's the biggest thing for me. I did this so that my clients can have somewhere to come where they feel comfortable, they feel safe, they feel beautiful and there's no negative energy in the air no matter what.

Annalisa Imburgia:

I don't care what I'm going through. You'll never feel that energy from me. I control the environment. It's just me. You can come here and you're gonna have a positive. You're gonna have a positive session every time, like it's always gonna be good. That was the most important thing. Um, when I did my my what is it called my business checklist and all that stuff my business plan, my business goal right, was to, like have somewhere where you can come as you are. That's my biggest thing. Come in sweatpants, come in a full glam, come in your pajamas, come in a bathing suit, I don't care. Like come however you are, it doesn't matter. Like everybody's welcome here. You should feel comfortable and safe. You are doesn't matter. Like everybody's welcome here. You should feel comfortable and safe and I feel like being able to have my own thing. I was able to make that happen. I was able to do that because I control everything around me. Yes, so yes, that that's something that I love about it. It's it's great for me and the clients, yeah, to be in a safe environment.

Lauren Chapnick:

That's it okay, a couple questions that I ask everybody on my guests. What do you think it means to live your biggest, best life?

Annalisa Imburgia:

This is going to be cheesy, but it's going to be good. Go ahead and do the things that are scary, because usually when they're scary they're good. Don't sell yourself short. Just do it, and do it with good intentions. You can do it and do it with good intentions. You can do it. You just have to push it. You have to, you have to come out of that. You know comfortability and just you have to you. You'll be fine.

Lauren Chapnick:

You'll do it, yeah yeah, stay true, that's it good. Yeah, complete this sentence. Happiness is.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Hmm, happiness is key, I guess Key. We could say that Happiness is key, like if you're not happy, you know something's going on and you can get there. Takes time Find the right things around you that make you feel happy. For sure, yeah.

Lauren Chapnick:

Thank you for sharing your story. Is there anything that we didn't touch on that you wanted to say, that you wanted to share honestly?

Annalisa Imburgia:

do we get it all? Honestly, I do want to share something.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Okay, being in cosmetology school is super. It's super hard, but don't get discouraged if you have a bad experience in a salon. Do not get discouraged if you feel like you don't know anything. Um, you will learn as you go and you're going to learn the hard way and the easy way. You'll figure it out. But stick to the plan. Stick to what you're doing. It's going to be okay. You're going to get out of that tunnel at some point and you're going to be like okay, this is it. But I see a lot of students. They're getting discouraged and then they're not doing it because of not learning enough, or they feel like they're not capable because they didn't learn anything. And, um, what do I do now? Am I an assistant or am I a hairstylist? Sit to the plan, learn as much as you can grind and you'll come out.

Lauren Chapnick:

It's scary, but you'll come out of it yeah, and I think that's true and relatable in any industry. Yeah, like I hear that and I think of nursing 100% because you can quit nursing, because you have one bad experience oh, 100% one bad preceptor, or something like that yeah, so I think that's so true. There are so many resources, there are so many different options out there for you exactly.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Don't give up, because you know yep, exactly, there's not one way to do something either. Like there's like thousands of ways to do things, like you're going to learn 500 ways to do the same thing, like what works for me might not work for you, so you know, maybe that doesn't work. But figure out what works for you in learning and what you want to do in the industry and do it Like there's so much to cover, like there's so many things you can do in this industry and any industry. You just have to like stay focused and you know, kind of like turn away the bad, like okay, that did happen, but what did I learn you?

Lauren Chapnick:

know what I mean put them together.

Annalisa Imburgia:

That could be really hard when you have, you know, a terrible experience, but you will come out of it. That's how you learn. Thank you so much.

Lauren Chapnick:

Thank you the future holds big things for you oh, you have'm proud of you, you are really truly living your biggest, best life this is just amazing.

Annalisa Imburgia:

Thank you, thank you so much. I feel so grateful. Thank you so much for having me on. I felt like a celebrity that was really you are.

Lauren Chapnick:

You are a celebrity, thank you, so so much.

Annalisa Imburgia:

I really appreciate everything All right.

Lauren Chapnick:

Don Just freaking love her. She is incredible and 22 years old. I wish I could go back to my 21-year-old self and have the mindset and the outlook that she did. She's amazing and she is a perfect example that age should not hold you back. You can do anything at any age. Thanks, annalisa, and thank you for listening. If you liked this show and you're enjoying what we're doing here, please kindly leave us a rating and review. We would appreciate it so much. Make it an awesome day. See you next time. Bye-bye it an awesome day, see you next time.

Announcer:

Bye-bye. Thanks for tuning in to Biggest Best Life. If today lit a fire in you, follow, review and share it with someone who needs the spark. And remember to text BESTLIFE one word to 833-681-6463 to get Lauren's weekly dose of motivation straight to your phone. Now go out there, live boldly, love wildly and never settle for less than your biggest best life.