Molly O'bryant: A lot of my timeliness and management came from working with a group of people, having to do projects and stuff in the classroom. I mean, I love learning. My goal was to go back to school, maybe do something with a Master's or something that would be my passion. I can't get enough learning. I'm an educator in my industry as well, so I get to do that and I just think that everybody should, if you have the opportunity to learn and try something new, that you should. It just is good for your mind.
Jennifer Tracy: Hey guys, welcome back to the show. This is MILF Podcast, the show where we talk about motherhood, entrepreneurship, sexuality and everything between. I'm Jennifer Tracy, your host. So happy to be with you guys today. It's November. It's officially fall, even though we've had fires and insane heat here in California. Oh my gosh, you guys, I could take this opportunity to go on a rant about climate change and political things but I really try not to talk about politics on this show because I'm not an expert.
Jennifer Tracy: I certainly have my opinions but it's very concerning, just as a human, and as a citizen of the world but as a mother to think about, like, gosh, what's going to happen when kids are my age? If he has children, it's... I don't know, very concerning. We'll put a pin in that. Maybe I'll come back to it later. Knowing me, I'll probably get a guest to come talk about it, an expert guest.
Jennifer Tracy: So happy November. I do love the fall season. I always tend to eat more food just because ... I don't know why it is. I think it's because just historically in my life, until I moved to California, which I've lived here for 20 years, I've lived here almost half my life. I ... you know It's a warm season, I mean it's a warm season. It's a warm food season.
Jennifer Tracy: So usually in other parts of the world and the country, it's cooling down and so we make stews, we make pastas, we make lasagna, we make ... I like to make butternut squash soup, I make this amazing pulled pork in my slow cooker. I discovered slow cooking, I think right around the time that I got married, which is right around the time I started cooking. I was never a cook. I never learned to cook. It was not part of my childhood. It wasn't part of my deal.
Jennifer Tracy: I started learning to cook and I started making things in my slow cooker and wow that is just magical and so easy and I really recommend it. I really, really recommend it. I wish my kid would eat any of it but he won't. He's very grilled cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, burgers, pasta. He'll grow out of it, I guess but... For me, every fall, I kind of just have to know I'm going to gain about 10 pounds. Although this year, I'm starting out a little heavier, so I'm not quite sure how that's going to work. I did just order two new pair of sweatpants. I'm not joking.
Jennifer Tracy: I'm also recently, October 26th was the one-year anniversary of my friend taking her life, and boy, did people warn me, "Oh, the one-year anniversary's really hard." And it was and continues to be. That whole week leading up to it, I just found myself just reaching for bread and chocolate and bread and chocolate. I was just like, "Girl, it is okay. You eat as much bread and chocolate as you need to because this is hard." And I knew I was emotionally eating but I just said, "It's okay. Just for today, you can do this." And then it tapered off a little bit but... yeah, anyway.
Jennifer Tracy: And I also heard once somebody say or a couple of different people say, "Oh, it's normal to gain some pounds in the winter months because historically, you know our ancestors had to gain fat to protect themselves from the elements." I think part of me just latched on to that, to be like, "Yeah, of course I'm going to gain some weight in the fall and winter," even though I live in California, "That's normal and healthy people."
Jennifer Tracy: You know what it is. I'm making fun of it but luckily I'm at the place now with my body and my age and my recovery that I'm like, "Well, I'm just a little bit heavier. Oh, well." I mean I used to just obsess about it in my 20s and... Thigh gap wasn't a thing back then but I'm sure I would have obsessed on thigh gap. It's constant and it's really now.
Jennifer Tracy: I wish I could go to my twenty-something year old self and say, "Honey, if you could put 50% or even 30% of the energy that you're putting into your body dysmorphia into your art and into service, like serving others, oh my God, you'd be so much happier. You'd have freedom." But we don't know that or I didn't know that. Some people do. Some young people do and they don't have that obsession. Self-obsession, it's such a prison. Anyway. Super grateful not to be there. I love being able to not be self-obsessed enough to get stuff done that is meaningful to me.
Jennifer Tracy: Speaking of which, I want to announce November's Give. It's really interesting because this organization, you can't actually donate to it. You either become a member... I'll just tell you what it is. For November, I chose the Global Alliance For Maternal Mental Health. When I discovered this organization, I was really intrigued because it is global.
Jennifer Tracy: I found a bunch that were local to LA and I was like, "Well, that's cool, but you know my listeners are global." Thank you guys so much. I'm so grateful for all the countries that are listening and all the people and all the varying experiences that you guys have and bring to me when I get to connect with you online.
Jennifer Tracy: Obviously, if you've listened to the show that I personally struggled with post-partum depression for a long time, went undiagnosed until he was two. I was literally pulling clumps of my hair out and cutting my arms with scissors. I finally made a call and said, "I need help." My doctor was like, "Oh my God, of course, let's get you the help that you need. I can't believe we missed this."
Jennifer Tracy: It wasn't really her fault, I just I thought I was defective and something was wrong with me. Honestly, I was hiding it because I was afraid that... And I was alone with my baby because my husband at the time, my then-husband, was out of the country. I thought, I'm the only caregiver. I mean, if something happens to me, there's no one that can take care of my child. I had to hide the fact that I was just suffering so much and I just also thought, well, get it together, girl. That's the thing, when you have chemical imbalance, it's not something you can just switch in your mind. It's not like making a decision.
Jennifer Tracy: Anyway, Global Alliance For Maternal Mental Health, what's really interesting about it is it's actually a coalition. It's a bunch of international organizations committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of women and their children in pregnancy and the first post-natal year worldwide. Here is some statistics that's interesting. I'm just going to read from their website, which will be linked to my giving page on milfpodcast.com if you want to check them out. If you want to become a member, it doesn't have to be a financial obligation to become a member. I have applied to become a member just through my work of spreading the word of this.
Jennifer Tracy: Worldwide, this is on their website, worldwide maternal depression is the most common serious health complication of maternity. This and other mental health problems in pregnancy and postnatally result in huge human and economic costs for this generation and the next. Yet, they are neglected. They are a neglected area of investment in services and research. Mental health problems in pregnancy and following childbirth are roughly twice as common in low-income countries as they are in high-income countries. If the United Nations' sustainable development goals are to be achieved by 2030, maternal mental health must be prioritized.
Jennifer Tracy: Just check it out. It's really interesting. There's a lot of resources and real-life stories on their website, which is globalalliancematernalmentalhealth.org, I know that's a mouthful. It's also linked through my website, milfpodcast.com. You can just go check it out later. I'll be posting about them also on my social. But it is something that... We need to take care of our moms because the moms are raising the moms of tomorrow and the dads of tomorrow and the people that are going to be running the world and so if we aren't okay and can't give our kids stability from our mental wellbeing, that's a scary thought too. That's as scary as the climate change thing.
Jennifer Tracy: Anyway, this is very close to my heart and very important to me and I think this organization is just phenomenal and I love the work that they're doing and the resources that they give on the site as well. Check it out and without further ado, I'm going to introduce today's guest.
Jennifer Tracy: Today's guest is my new friend, Molly O'Bryant. She is an entrepreneur. She is the owner of A Touch of Lash in Las Vegas. Her company is an eyelash extension company. They also have an academy there where they train people to do this. Her journey to entrepreneurship is really interesting.
Jennifer Tracy: She was an athlete in college, where she met her husband who is also an athlete. Anyway, I'll let her tell you about it in the interview. But she's really just fascinating and full of moxie, which is something I so admire. I really enjoyed getting to know her. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Molly O'Bryant. Hi, Molly.
Molly O'bryant: Hi.
Jennifer Tracy: We're giggling because we were just talking for about three minutes and it was not recording. I had not recorded it. I learned that Molly is from Illinois. She's been in Vegas for 10 years, coming up on 10 years, and loving the warmth. You went to Bradley University. That's where we were going to go.
Molly O'bryant: I did. I actually-
Jennifer Tracy: What did you study there?
Molly O'bryant: ... I graduated from St Mary's in California. I did transfer. I finished out there and I have a Kinesiology Degree.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow. What sparked your interest in that?
Molly O'bryant: I was a D-1 college athlete. I played softball and loved the idea of studying human movement, thought that was kind of what my passion was going to be. After college, I was a Division Three College Coach out in Boston. I thought that was going to be my path. I coached for a little bit. I did the stint at Boston, I did University of Toronto, as well. And then I kind of... I didn't have a work permit when I lived in Toronto, so I had to volunteer only.
Molly O'bryant: The season was really, really short because I didn't know this at the time, but all the, I would say more talented, Canadian players come to the States to play because they get scholarships. The season was really short. It was okay, it was fun but I was kind of bored. I ended up taking a lash extension course when I lived there. That's what I am currently doing. I own a lash extension salon.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow that's so... Isn't it interesting how our life just takes us in these directions? You never know when or why or how. It's magic.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah, I basically went to college to play softball, never used my degree.
Jennifer Tracy: I love it. I love it. Well, but you did. And you are. And you do. And I'm sure it comes in handy in several different ways with your business.
Molly O'bryant: It does. It really does. As far as dealing with people, having timelines, time management, getting everything down, I learned a lot in school. And from having other people relying on me and making sure that deadlines were met and nothing was pushed to the side. A lot of my timeliness and management came from working with a group of people, having to do projects and stuff in the classroom. I love learning.
Molly O'bryant: My goal was to go back to school, maybe do something with a Master's or something that would be my passion. I can't get enough learning. I'm an educator in my industry as well, so I get to do that. I just think that everybody should, if you have the opportunity to learn and try something new, that you should. It does this good for your mind.
Jennifer Tracy: Absolutely. Get me from where did you do the lash training? Is it in-
Molly O'bryant: Toronto.
Jennifer Tracy: Toronto?
Molly O'bryant: Yeah.
Jennifer Tracy: Okay. Get me from there to Vegas. What was the series of events that brought you to Vegas?
Molly O'bryant: My husband trains here. That's kind of what landed us here, and...
Jennifer Tracy: When did you meet him?
Molly O'bryant: He-
Jennifer Tracy: Someone's Face Timing you.
Molly O'bryant: [crosstalk 00:13:36].
Jennifer Tracy: Don't worry, oh my God, it happens. It's life. It's just life. It happens.
Molly O'bryant: Patrick and I met in college at Bradley.
Jennifer Tracy: You've been together since... Your college sweethearts?
Molly O'bryant: Yeah, freshman year.
Jennifer Tracy: No way.
Molly O'bryant: It's been a long time.
Jennifer Tracy: How long have you been together?
Molly O'bryant: Since 2005.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow. That's incredible.
Molly O'bryant: [crosstalk 00:13:58] I can't count that high [crosstalk 00:14:00].
Jennifer Tracy: That's still great. Congratulations.
Molly O'bryant: Thank you.
Jennifer Tracy: Married for how long?
Molly O'bryant: We've been married since 2011, so seven years.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow, that's great.
Molly O'bryant: I know. It's been great.
Jennifer Tracy: You guys were together... Did he follow you to Toronto or how did that work?
Molly O'bryant: I followed him. Patrick-
Jennifer Tracy: You followed him?
Molly O'bryant: ... Yeah. Patrick, he's a professional athlete, so that's kind of what lead us to me finishing up my collegic career in Marago, California, the Bay area. And then he went over to Boston and then up to Toronto. And then the off season, we always spent in Las Vegas. The year after we finished up in Toronto, we purchased a home here in Las Vegas. This was going to our home base, which was nice because we had to have received and pack up all of our stuff and storage.
Molly O'bryant: We didn't have a place that we could call home. This was our home and it was great. He ended up, the next season going overseas and I stayed here because I had taken that class in Toronto, I decided to build my business from there and open the salon, get my aesthetic license and do all of that while he was over there following his passion, I kind of created a passion.
Jennifer Tracy: I love that.
Molly O'bryant: Fell in love with the industry and just have been doing it ever since.
Jennifer Tracy: Two questions. What sport does he play?
Molly O'bryant: He plays basketball.
Jennifer Tracy: How was it during that time? I'm sorry, I going to tell our listeners my trees are being trimmed. That sounds like a sexual thing but it's actually my trees outside my home are being trimmed. There's this buzzing, I don't know if we're going to be able to edit it out but I didn't want to reschedule with Molly because she's so busy and awesome. We are going to power through is interview. How was it during the time when he was abroad and you were creating your business? How did you guys maintain a connection? That's hard.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah. Thank goodness for FaceTime. Every place that he lived, it was between 12 and I think the longest was 18 hour time difference. It was hard. It was a lot of time management, making sure that we made time for each other in the day. If he was waking up, he would always call. It was easier for him to reach out to me because his schedule was so crazy, two days and everything. In the mornings and after practice and then bedtime and things like that, we always made sure to talk.
Molly O'bryant: And then I would schedule my clients and my day around that as well. But I see it as kind of a blessing and maybe not so cool thing as well because A, I got to travel, I got to go over whenever I wanted see him.
Molly O'bryant: It was really cool to see different cultures and different places of the world, places I would've probably never gone to had he not had a contract there.And then the other thing too is, I was in a committed relationship but I didn't really have to do a lot of, you know what I mean? I could spend 14 hours at work and not feel guilty.
Molly O'bryant: So I really am able to focus a lot on my business and build it, kind of be a little workaholic that I am and not feel guilty about it and not have to worry about someone else because he was just on my phone and my phone can go everywhere with me.
Molly O'bryant: But it was hard. It was a lot of just making sure that we had communication and making time for each other and just making sure that when I could get over I was. And then by the time we kind of spaced out some trips and holidays, he was back home again for three months. We've [inaudible 00:17:19].
Jennifer Tracy: How long did he do that for? How many seasons did he do that?
Molly O'bryant: He retired this January. [crosstalk 00:17:25].
Jennifer Tracy: So he's been doing that in Europe this whole time? [crosstalk 00:17:28].
Molly O'bryant: He did not play much in Europe. He did... he played-
Jennifer Tracy: I mean abroad. [crosstalk 00:17:32].
Molly O'bryant: Yes. That's okay. Yeah, he did that for the last few years. Since 2000 after we got married, 2011.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow. And then... That's so fascinating because I had that experience with my husband, divorced now, but he had to leave when our baby was born and he was gone for a long, long, long, long time. For us, that was the beginning of the undoing of our marriage because it was so hard. How many kids do you have?
Molly O'bryant: I have two children.
Jennifer Tracy: You have children. How old are they?
Molly O'bryant: I have a four year old and I have a one-year-old and there so-
Jennifer Tracy: You have the ability to work 14 hours and just carry your phone with you now.
Molly O'bryant: No.
Jennifer Tracy: Now you have...
Molly O'bryant: They are not on my phone. They want to be on my phone playing. [crosstalk 00:18:16]. They need attention and love. I've definitely had to pull back too. But, yeah, you're right. Once the little's came along the dynamic definitely changed. Layla's birth, my oldest, she was born during Chinese new year, which was great because Patrick was playing in Taiwan so he was able to come home but it was for seven days and then he rolled out again. It was very hard.
Molly O'bryant: Luckily through the years of him playing overseas, I kind of set up my business in a way that I had strategies in place that if I was not actually physically at the location, it could still function and things were being taken care of and people were in place that I trusted to handle the day to day business where maybe I had to take a step back. When Layla was born, that's exactly what happened.
Molly O'bryant: I didn't have to set it all up all at once, it was already in place. So that made it a little bit easier. With Tessa being born, I think actually, Patrick kind of started to feel a little bit like he was missing out on some things and he kept saying like, "I feel guilty leaving you. Are you sure that you're OK? Do you want me to stay? I don't have to take this contract. I don't want it to be too much."
Molly O'bryant: He got tired of just chasing the jobs and leaving the family behind. This season he was just like, "I'm not into it." He retired. He's happy about it. He's trying to do some coaching and training and get into the world of basketball just in a different capacity where he can be a little bit more home-based or at least in the country. That'd be cool.
Jennifer Tracy: No kidding. No kidding. How has the dynamic shifted since now he's home all the time? Was that a little bit of an adjustment for you guys?
Molly O'bryant: It is. [crosstalk 00:19:55] It was like the-
Jennifer Tracy: Like who are you? What are you doing here?
Molly O'bryant: Yeah, the first three weeks I'm like, "Why are your pants on the floor? My house is so clean when you're not home." He's like, "Why do I have to tell you what time I'm done with practice and when dinner is?" It was usually three weeks and then we were back on track and it was like... Three weeks acceptance [crosstalk 00:20:13].
Jennifer Tracy: When then you're adding in these other two human beings and their schedules and when you've got your vibe with them and it's like, no, no, no, that's not how we do it here, that kind of thing. Right?
Molly O'bryant: That was hard. Especially when with Layla, because obviously he played the most during her younger years and as of me, wants... But with Layla he'd come home and he'd want to do things a certain way and go somewhere and I'm like, "Nope, we have a schedule. This is how we do it. This is how we function, we thrive on a schedule. The kids thrive on a schedule. We get things done on a schedule." That took a little bit. It was hard for him too because I wasn't used to being so bossy and then the mom and me came out and he's like, "Oh, you're bossy." I had to kind of tone it down and learn how to talk to him as an adult and not as a kid but still stay on schedule.
Molly O'bryant: It's changed, he's an awesome dad. He gave up his dream of being a professional athlete, which so few people get to do. To stay at home and make sure that our family dynamic was on point and thriving and not suffering from his career choices. Not a lot of people get that. I feel very grateful. I give him a lot of grace in this learning period with Tessa.
Molly O'bryant: I mean he's learning the things that he missed out on with Layla, like right now Tessa's... she's almost two, so she's about 19 months in. It's very hard to understand her. She's trying to talk but she can't really get it out and so he's learning to have patience work through that with her but it's been fun to watch him with the kids. I mean, it's definitely like a new love and appreciation that I have for that man.
Jennifer Tracy: Aww, that's so sweet. You are kind of getting to fall in love with him all over again.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah. In a different way.
Jennifer Tracy: That's so awesome. How is it running... Tell me a little bit about your business. What is your business like? And they're in Vegas. Do you have multiple... Tell me all about it. I'm so curious.
Molly O'bryant: I love what I do. It's so awesome. It started off as me being able to contribute to our finances. That's how it started off. I didn't like the volunteer thing that was going on in Toronto. The thing that really pulled me towards lash extensions was the idea that I could do at wherever we lived and I would be able to make an income. That was kind of like the underpart of my business, why I was doing it.
Molly O'bryant: When I opened the salon, it was just me and I quickly realized that in Nevada you have to have an aesthetic or cosmetology license to do lash extensions on the public, I didn't have that. I had to go to school. I quickly had to find someone that did train them, teach them, build a business around them and then get my license. While I was in class on my brace, I was answering phone calls and booking clients in school. It was crazy but-
Jennifer Tracy: How long did it take you to get through cosmetology school? That's not a small thing.
Molly O'bryant: No. I ended up going the quicker route, which was aesthetic. I have an aesthetic degree and it was 900 hours. It took me about seven or eight months.
Jennifer Tracy: That's a lot.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah. It was a lot of juggling but we did it. And from there I really found that, from training my first employee, I really liked teaching people. At the time in 2010, we were one of three companies in Las Vegas doing lashes so it was very new. Not a lot of people knew what it was. People were always asking me like, "Tell me more about this." "How'd you get into this?" "Could you teach me or show me how to do this?"
Molly O'bryant: For me, I liked being able show them how to do it, how to train them because I knew that it would give them a way to financially contribute to their household and to feel good about themselves while at the same time giving women confidence and creating these beautiful looks on their clients that they wake up instantly and feel so much more confidence.
Molly O'bryant: So that was really important to me. In 2013 I started putting together, my training Academy that also went hand in hand with my salon. I started training people, putting together actual curriculum and making sure that we are compliant with the state board in Nevada. Through the training program obviously we had to provide them with product. So that's naturally how we came out with our ATOL product line and just kind of grew it from there to be honest.
Molly O'bryant: I did have another location at one point. Unfortunately due to some personal circumstances with my daughter's health, I couldn't keep up with it. I ended up closing it and I just kind of get back there every month to run it. My family, they were wonderful. They were like, "I'll step up, I'll take care of it."
Molly O'bryant: But it was suffering and it took me a lot to close it, a lot of conversations with Patrick. I tell my clients and my people back there because it was in my hometown in Illinois, so I tell them, "You know what? one day we might be back." They were very understanding about it. They know how much obviously my daughter means to me. So if we had to close, it couldn't have been for a better reason than that.
Molly O'bryant: Layla is doing wonderful so who knows what the future will bring. Maybe we'll reopen at one time. But as of right now, we're very happy. I have six employees here in Las Vegas. We're in our biggest space. I have a onsite training facility here. We're launching new products with our extension product line.
Molly O'bryant: We just released a new adhesive that is a game changer for the lash industry. It used to be [inaudible 00:25:42] to use oil products for extensions because it would break down the glue and we ended up finding a manufacturer that could formulate an adhesive that is okay to use with oil. For our oily clients, for our clients that love their facial products and want to keep the oil products on their regimen, we now have something for them. It's been a game changer so that's awesome.
Jennifer Tracy: That's awesome. I really... I'm just feeling how passionate you are about this. It's really like shining through and just how you talk about it-
Molly O'bryant: Thanks.
Jennifer Tracy: ... The thing that keeps popping out for me is how important it is that your clients and your employees feel confident.
Molly O'bryant: Yes. I agree.
Jennifer Tracy: I think for women that's something that we need way more of all over the place. Is like other women, other employees, other places encouraging us to have confidence and feel competent.
Molly O'bryant: I agree. When I'm asked about my business, I find that I talk about Patrick a lot and my life in that world. For me, that's what it was. I had to be ready. He would come home and be like, "Babe we've got a charity event." Or "We have this gala that we have to go to and I just got done with practice and I'm a hot mess or I had no idea that it was happening and I had nothing to wear."
Molly O'bryant: The fact that I could get ready in an instant and I have to worry about one thing was just a game changer. Now that I'm a mom, those extra minutes in the morning, I don't have my lashes on right now but I'm getting them back on tomorrow.
Molly O'bryant: I'm so excited because this morning I was like, gosh, this mascara isn't doing it. I hate mascara, it's horrible so get lashes. But it definitely comes through, being able to give the women time back in the mornings is either spend with their little's or sleep in and get those extra minutes that we still need as moms or the confidence to walk into a room and just have a little bit more swag because your lashes-
Jennifer Tracy: Huge.
Molly O'bryant: ... Exactly. That's what I get the most out of that. That's why I do it. For me, if I can teach my employees how to do the service in a way that's going to keep the natural lashes healthy and safe and also give women that confidence, I mean I think we've done it. As you can see what the industry, 2010 like I said, we were one of three companies, now there's a company [inaudible 00:28:06]-
Jennifer Tracy: Everywhere.
Molly O'bryant: ... It's kind of cool. It's kind of cool to be a pioneer in it and see the industry grow and be an educator in the industry to make sure that not only are people falling in love with the industry but we're continuing to use those products that are safe for that natural lashes and continuing to get away from products that maybe we shouldn't be using because they're causing too many side effects and things like that. I really get a lot out of it and I'm kind of that person that if I'm not feeling that, I don't do it. I really like what I do.
Jennifer Tracy: I totally know what you mean. It shows, it really shows. We haven't said it on the show yet, but what's the name of your company?
Molly O'bryant: It's called A Touch of Lash.
Jennifer Tracy: I love that. Yeah. Your product line is also called A Touch of Lash?
Molly O'bryant: It is. It's all under the, A Touch of Lash brand. The Academy, the product line, it's all ATOL based and then we just say Academy or product lines so it kind of keeps that same branding, same colors, everything. You can find everything on the website so it's very easy to purchase, buy a class or anything like that. Everything is all under one brand.
Jennifer Tracy: Do you think you'll, I don't know, maybe you currently do, but do you think you'll teach any online courses or is it all in person?
Molly O'bryant: That is huge. Online is huge. As much as I talk about confidence and everything, I am not very good on camera.
Jennifer Tracy: Disagree. Disagree. Right now I'm experiencing you on a camera and it's so good.
Molly O'bryant: Thank you.
Jennifer Tracy: I would pay good money to take a class from you right now.
Molly O'bryant: Thank you. I want to get into it, I've been forcing myself to get behind the and show people who I am. I know that's huge in the social media world right now too, so the classes I've been taking, I've been learning a lot about that. They want to see the face that goes along with the brand. We've been here for 10 years and I mean I ran into people that were like, "I didn't know you're the owner." I was like, "Oh, I am so glad that you love my stuff so much you think that they run the place [inaudible 00:30:02]"
Jennifer Tracy: Yes, exactly.
Molly O'bryant: I do want to offer some online classes. I know that just people are going to gravitate towards that. It's the ease of learning when you're on your own couch in your sweats and it's so much better. I believe that with my online courses, I'm going to take it to some little step further. I think for anything introductory, I do want to get them in the salon just for a little hands on.
Molly O'bryant: So maybe we offer mentorship where they can come in as a part of the package that they purchased, something like that. There's just some hand techniques that you can really see a lot more when it's in person.
Jennifer Tracy: Of course.
Molly O'bryant: If they're struggling we'll probably offer it as an option. But yeah, I've thought about it.
Jennifer Tracy: Yeah. That's awesome. Are there products available and can we order them online?
Molly O'bryant: You can. Yes, we have the full product line. Anybody looking to get into the lash extension world, first and foremost, I do want to tell you have to check with your state board to find the regulations. There are only seven States in the country that do not require an aesthetic or cosmetology license, so every other place does require it. Purchasing the product, it really want to be beneficial because you can use it to make money. But if you are licensed please use it.
Molly O'bryant: They are high end salon products. It's exactly what we use in our clients here. You're going to find that the extensions are very... they fan very easily, they're very soft. That's one of the compliments that we've gotten over the years that's been consistent is they really like the material of the extensions and they really like the adhesive, how it works over multiple different climate regions, which is so important in the industry.
Jennifer Tracy: Wow, interesting. If you're in humid or versus desert it affects the lash, I mean I guess that makes sense.
Molly O'bryant: It does.
Jennifer Tracy: It's like hair.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah.
Jennifer Tracy: Your hair on your head.
Molly O'bryant: The main ingredient in the adhesive is actually an acrylic based product ingredient, if you've ever gotten acrylic nails you've probably been exposed to the main ingredient already. But it's very... Not a lot of people know a lot about it, that's what I'm trying to say. When you dive deeper into the science, you start to understand that it's moisture seeking, so it thrives at humidity. For me, having the location in Illinois and having the location here in Nevada... I didn't necessarily want to bring on a separate adhesive. I wanted something that would work over a large range of climate, so a big range of temperature and humidity. I found it. I [inaudible 00:32:29] it.
Molly O'bryant: The one thing that I will notice though, even though we are using the same product, is because we live in the desert and we don't have that extra humidity, the clients don't have as much, as long as of a retention, so typically two to three weeks for refills here in Nevada is very standard because of the humidity or the lack thereof.
Jennifer Tracy: I see.
Molly O'bryant: Whereas in Illinois, same product, same techniques, same artists, you could go about four or five weeks.
Jennifer Tracy: Interesting.
Molly O'bryant: The humidity plays a huge role and as the lash industry grows it becomes a little bit more science-based. Before we were just slapping lashes on and ... "Yeah, your beautiful, go be confident." But now there's a lot more behind the scenes. So going on, why are allergies happening? Why is the adhesive ranging so much from climate to climate? Why does it work in one area and not in the other? Things like that.
Molly O'bryant: It's really cool time to be in the industry. I think that's also why I'm so, so passionate is because it's ever changing and we're continuing to get more information on things like the adhesive. Personally, I'm hoping one day to have a CYO acrylic which is that main ingredient. I'm hoping to have a CYO acrylic free adhesive, which will allow more people to get extensions and have fewer reactions.
Jennifer Tracy: Interesting. I've never gotten lashes. I have many, many friends who swear by them. Here in LA as you can imagine, there's a lash place on every corner.
Molly O'bryant: Everywhere.
Jennifer Tracy: But what is the price range of getting Lester's lashes?
Molly O'bryant: Very much ranges. In LA, you're going to have a lot higher prices and it's based obviously on your region but in Nevada it typically ranges anywhere from about $120 to $300 for full sets. You only have to get the full set once because after that you're going to come back for maintenance refills. That happens, like I said, every, anywhere from two to four weeks, depending on your region. Those will range between $50 and $100. This is all based off of what set you're getting-
Jennifer Tracy: I see.
Molly O'bryant: ... what type of extensions you're wearing, who's doing your lashes, how experienced they are and kind of the amount of a fill that you need. If you were naughty and didn't take care of them, you're going to need a bigger bill.
Jennifer Tracy: I see.
Molly O'bryant: It's going to cost you a little bit more. Whereas if you did a really good aftercare and you just have a slower shutting cycle, naturally you're not going to have as high of a cost.
Jennifer Tracy: Now we talked about the adhesive materials. What are the lashes actually made of?
Molly O'bryant: Oh wow. You hit a huge... There's so many controversy in this industry over that.
Jennifer Tracy: Really? Okay.
Molly O'bryant: There's a lot of confusion because overseas that's where we get the product still, Korea, Japan, those are big manufacturing hubs for the extension industry and obviously there's a language barrier. They needed to figure out a way to describe the extensions to us in a different language. They started calling things like mink and silk and it's false. The extensions themselves are not actually made out of that material.
Molly O'bryant: That descriptor word mink and silk are actually the taper of the extension where it gets dark and where it thins out. So it was used to describe kind of how dense it was towards the tip, the shine, things like that.They're all made out of the same material. It's all a very high end soft PVT material, which is a plastic. So they're all really synthetic. Now you will find on the market Fox lashes and you will find authentic Siberian mink fur extensions.
Jennifer Tracy: Those are like $1,000, right?
Molly O'bryant: Yeah.
Jennifer Tracy: [crosstalk 00:36:06].
Molly O'bryant: They have their time and place. A lot of people are using them for marketing campaigns and things like that, editorial shots. They're not really realistic for anybody that wants a dense dark lash line because they're not going to be able to achieve that because their actually a natural hair. They're very thin and you're not going to get the wow factor that you could from using a PVT material. That's usually what we go towards. But there's people out there marketing them as authentic mink but they're really just the PVT. They're just describing the taper but they're confused because the manufacturer told them that.
Molly O'bryant: We're working on kind of smoothing out all those kinks and educating all these new artists out there and just making sure that everybody's using the same verbiage, describing things the same way. Going back to price, I mean a lot of undercutting. There's a lot of people that are out there doing it for very cheap. It's a skilled labor that you're doing. You spend a lot of time working on it, you spend a lot of time doing it. You deserve to make a nice dollar for it. But because it's so saturated, people are trying to figure out a way, I'm so sorry, people are trying to figure out-
Jennifer Tracy: Don't worry, you're a popular lady. I get it.
Molly O'bryant: ... I told no one to call me. I don't know what's going on.
Jennifer Tracy: They never stop. I get it. I have the same thing. That's so fascinating. Well, and I mean... Some of my friends, I've noticed different women, my friends that have lashes, some of them look... One of my friends, Tanya, I'll just say who i is, she's on the show early on and she's such a wackadoo, she would do this live on video right now. She came back from one place and her lashes were like, one was going this way, one was going that way. It looked... She's like, "I look like a circus clown." I don't know but she's like... And it was not cheap.
Molly O'bryant: Oh, no.
Jennifer Tracy: It was a place in LA. Now, she doesn't go to that place. But I think in LA what I'm finding is if you don't know your person, your lash person really well, you have to go to something that's really high end and costs a lot to make sure you're going to have a good lash experience.
Molly O'bryant: Yeah. I've definitely heard that about the LA market, very hit or miss. I get a lot of offers to come and teach at different places. People that have moved over there, they're like, "We'll hook you up with our salon. Please come out. We need help and [crosstalk 00:38:26] uniform."
Jennifer Tracy: Training.
Molly O'bryant: The training is not there for some reason. There's a lot of good companies in the area, so I haven't been able to pinpoint the why this is happening out there. But we can pass on some information if you needed to do lashes that [inaudible 00:38:44]. We know [inaudible 00:38:46] place and there's a lot of them, there's a lot of good lash artists out there. It's just, you're exactly right, if it's not somebody that you know or off of a referral, it's definitely hit or miss.
Molly O'bryant: A lot of that too, I will say is because of miscommunication in the consultation. These artists maybe are not as skilled on consultations and so [inaudible 00:39:07] asking the right questions or their client is not someone that really is able to explain correctly what they want and the artist gives up on the consultation and just wings it. That's sometimes a problem as well. When we teach, we teach...
Molly O'bryant: We actually have a section just dedicated to the consultation because over the past 10 years I've learned, no two people say the same thing the same way. Just because you said it one way doesn't mean I heard it that way. I really want to give my students that information on how to kind of get to the trigger words and the keywords that they need to figure out what the client's trying to describe to them to have a more successful result at the end of the appointment.
Jennifer Tracy: That's awesome. What do you do for fun girl? What do you do when you're-
Molly O'bryant: Work.
Jennifer Tracy: ... I knew that was going to be the answer but... And you have two small children, so sleep is probably your number one.
Molly O'bryant: Very high on the list. No, I-
Jennifer Tracy: Do you have time for your sleep at all?
Molly O'bryant: ... I really haven't but Patrick has been on me about this. He really has been making me carve out time that we go and do something. We just did a wine and paint thing that was probably not a bar alley but it was fun just to get out of the house and hang out together. On Monday nights, we do play softball. We play softball, so he plays on the team with us and it's our neighbors and my sister plays. It's so much fun.
Molly O'bryant: It's like our time. Our babysitter stays a little bit later on those days and helps us out with the kids. That's really it. Otherwise, I know this sounds cheesy and corny, but like we're at a place in our personal life with our children and the ages that they're at. We just like being at home.
Molly O'bryant: My sister is like, "You never leave the house, you never do any..." I love coming home and seeing how much they grew while I was gone and all the silly things that they did and playing dress up. They're so spoiled, they have such wonderful grandparents, I mean, the toys are just insane at home, so we have so much to do. It never really feels like we're not busy. But I mean other things...
Molly O'bryant: Vegas is a great town, if we're ever bored, it's our fault. We take the kids everywhere, we take them to the park, we take them for the strip, we take them to restaurants, we take them horseback riding, to the orchards and the pumpkin patches. We're coming up on a very fun season. It's something that I just enjoy. I know it's corny, I say much about my family.
Jennifer Tracy: No. I mean I get it. When they're little, you're really married, like you said earlier, to the schedule and the sleep, the feeding and bringing kids to a restaurant. It's just a nightmare.
Molly O'bryant: Say no more.
Jennifer Tracy: It's just like, why, why, why?
Molly O'bryant: Why did we do that?
Jennifer Tracy: And then half the time, more than the time I would end up bringing them home and cooking them another meal because they didn't even eat any of the food I just paid for.
Molly O'bryant: That was taco Tuesday last night. Tasha ate nothing. She ate French fries and a Soba Pia. That was it. I was like, "Okay, that was a horrible dinner for you."
Jennifer Tracy: And then got home and she was hungry, right?
Molly O'bryant: Oh yeah. "Snack, mom, snack." She's got a few words. Otherwise you're just like, "Oh, I don't know what you're saying [crosstalk 00:42:18]."
Jennifer Tracy: That's so cute. That's so sweet. We have come to the time, my dear. What do you think about, Molly when you hear the word love?
Molly O'bryant: My family. I have so much love in my life. Even before my new immediate family, I grew up with a huge family. We grew up next door to my grandparents, a mile down from my paternal grandparents. My uncle lived two blocks from me. My other uncles lived maybe two miles, three miles. And then the rest of my family was all in the neighboring city.I grew up very loved. I grew up understanding the meaning behind family, the good in the bed because it's not always good. But yeah, I definitely think of my family.
Molly O'bryant: Now that I'm growing my own family with my husband and my little's, everything I try to do is with love. For my clients, I try to give them a service and make sure that they feel loved and appreciated. I try to remember their names, important dates, things that are going on in their life, just to make them know that we do appreciate them coming in here and we want to treat them as family with love. To me it's important.
Molly O'bryant: I feel like if you do things with love, you get love back. It's very important to me that people... I mean, especially in today's world, there's so much that you hear about and I feel like if there was maybe more love given or more love shown and a little less ego, some of these things wouldn't be a problem. For me, teaching my girls to give love and respect is huge.
Jennifer Tracy: Yes. Amen. Amen to that. If you could live anywhere in the world other than where you're living now, where would you live?
Molly O'bryant: I would go back home. I miss my family, I've been away from him for 10 years. My sister has a four year old niece that's four months younger than my daughter and she has a 20 day old son. So I'm missing them. My grandparents, I grew up next door to them, I miss them every day. I miss my mom, my dad, I miss everyone. For me, I would move a little bit closer to home. I think we'd always had the business and the house here just to get away again but I would move back home.
Jennifer Tracy: How do you define serenity?
Molly O'bryant: I don't... That's a hard one for me because I don't think I have much of it. It's very hard because I don't have it in my life.
Jennifer Tracy: [crosstalk 00:44:41] children.
Molly O'bryant: No. Serenity to me is, I think just checking things off my list and getting things done and making sure that my kids had quality time that day. That really brings me serenity and peace. When I go to bed at night knowing that I gave them an attention, I didn't have my phone, I wasn't busy, we really played and they got a lot out of it, they went to bed relatively happy because we're still at the age where bedtime is still kind of a nightmare. But a little bit less of a nightmare.
Molly O'bryant: I find that I have some serenity and then just checking off those things for work. I'm very driven. I always have a never ending post note on my desk. I do find a little peace when I'm able to cross some things off and make sure that the family is taken care of.
Jennifer Tracy: Lightning round of questions. Fireside or Oceanside?
Molly O'bryant: Fireside.
Jennifer Tracy: Favorite junk food.
Molly O'bryant: Cookies.
Jennifer Tracy: What kind?
Molly O'bryant: Sugar.
Jennifer Tracy: Do you like theme parks?
Molly O'bryant: I do.
Jennifer Tracy: What's your favorite one?
Molly O'bryant: I really like The Adventure Land and I think it's because they were when we were growing up, so I've just always gravitated that. Now that we're so close to Disney, we didn't get to go last year because of Lay's health but we are definitely going get back on track with taking the kids there. My husband loves it, I love it. We love seeing the kids happy about it. I think we might get a little bit more out of it than they do but... yeah.
Jennifer Tracy: Sorry about that.
Molly O'bryant: That's okay.
Jennifer Tracy: Daytime sex or nighttime sex?
Molly O'bryant: Nighttime for sure.
Jennifer Tracy: Shower or bathtub?
Molly O'bryant: Shower.
Jennifer Tracy: On a scale of 1 to 10, how good are you at making lasagna?
Molly O'bryant: Zero. I don't cook. Patrick Cooks, so I don't cook. Yes, we don't eat unless that man makes us dinner. He slays it in the kitchen so I've never had to make a lasagna.
Jennifer Tracy: That's so great. But you're-
Molly O'bryant: My mother [inaudible 00:46:45].
Jennifer Tracy: Oh please. Well you're running a whole business, you're doing all these lots of stuff.
Molly O'bryant: Exactly.
Jennifer Tracy: We can't do it all. What's your biggest pet peeve?
Molly O'bryant: It's having to repeat myself but I've had to learn to get over this one with my kids. I would say definitely having to repeat myself is my biggest one.
Jennifer Tracy: For sure. I can relate to that. I can relate to that. Superpower choice. Invisibility, ability to fly or super strength?
Molly O'bryant: What's the first one?
Jennifer Tracy: Invisibility, ability to fly or super strength?
Molly O'bryant: Super strength. Because those kids, they want me to carry them at the same time and I can't.
Jennifer Tracy: Oh my God. [crosstalk 00:47:26].
Molly O'bryant: My little one is like a tank so I can't get her up with Layla. [crosstalk 00:47:31].
Jennifer Tracy: They just get heavier and heavier.
Molly O'bryant: They do.
Jennifer Tracy: Would you rather have a cat tail or cat ears?
Molly O'bryant: Ears.
Jennifer Tracy: What was the name of your first pet?
Molly O'bryant: Brutus.
Jennifer Tracy: Brutus?
Molly O'bryant: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jennifer Tracy: What kind of animal was Brutus?
Molly O'bryant: It was a golden retriever dog.
Jennifer Tracy: Oh my God. That's such a great name.
Molly O'bryant: He was so sweet.
Jennifer Tracy: What was the name of the-
Molly O'bryant: [crosstalk 00:47:52] picked it out.
Jennifer Tracy: Your mom picked it out. I love that name. Brutus. What was the name of the street you grew up on?
Molly O'bryant: East high street.
Jennifer Tracy: Your porn name, were you to have one, is Brutus High.
Molly O'bryant: Oh, nice.
Jennifer Tracy: If I had to think, it was like, I don't think you did the East [inaudible 00:48:12]. Your porn name is Brutus High.
Molly O'bryant: I think I could drive some hits to the site. It's a good name.
Jennifer Tracy: Hundred percent. Hundred percent.
Molly O'bryant: Thank you.
Jennifer Tracy: I love it. Oh my gosh. Molly, you're such a treasure. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Molly O'bryant: Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun.
Jennifer Tracy: Thank you so much. Hey guys, thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Molly. Join me next week as I welcome actress Jenna Elfman to the podcast. Can't wait. Talk to you guys then. Bye.