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Host
Can you earn 100 grand a year being a stylist?
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely. I have six figure stylists. But it has to be based off your willingness to do the work to get there. And it takes a lot of willpower and self awareness to get there.
Narrator
Ashley Pajubin is a resilient, empowering entrepreneur and salon owner and the co founder of Husalon Ballantyne. Drawing from her journey of overcoming adversity, she leads with purpose and servant leadership, creating spaces where people grow, thrive and build confidence both personally and professionally.
Ashley Pajubin
We're touching people, we're healing people. And that's exactly what it needs to be seen as because at the end of the day, people depend on us to make them feel the best, like the best version of their selves when they wake up every morning.
Host
What are some, you know, advice you'd give to a founder that's trying to get off the ground? Maybe a female founder, some wisdom.
Ashley Pajubin
They have to keep a community of people around them where they're not the smartest person in the room and that they are humble enough to receive the feedback and the criticism that it takes to be successful without being offended. And
Host
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Motivational Speaker
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Host
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Ashley Pajubin
For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary.
Motivational Speaker
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Host
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Motivational Speaker
Jordan, open Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
Host
Hello and welcome back to another episode. Joining me today is Ashley. She's an entrepreneur like all of us and working hard to actually change, disrupt and reimagine how an industry is seen. She's been doing this for a while and has a pretty epic story. I'm excited to dive in. So, Ashley, welcome to the show.
Ashley Pajubin
Thank you so much.
Host
So, so, so tell us about this venture you're on and what you do. I know you're doing something pretty awesome and I'm excited to dive into your journey and story.
Ashley Pajubin
Thank you so much. Well, I am from Charlotte, North Carolina. I was actually an executive assistant for 15 years and at the age of 32, I went to cosmetology school and decided to pursue my passion and then find a way for it to turn into a purpose. Cause you don't really have that purpose until your passion meets how you service others and how it impacts them. So, you know, I think that finding my way into that part of my story is where I really started to Grow and blossom and want to pour that back into others.
Host
Great. And let's fast forward to today. Right. So what do you do now and how do you help people?
Ashley Pajubin
So I'm still behind the chair three days a week. I coach and mentor all of my employees to hold them accountable and teach them the tools that they need to be intentional, to be on purpose and to understand that the mindset and what they do and if they're self aware enough to work on those things will help them be the best version of themselves, but also the most successful version.
Host
So you own the studio and then you're also doing coaching?
Ashley Pajubin
Technically, I do coaching on. Well, in the salon, I coach all of my employees. Exactly.
Host
Yeah. But then also I was going to say it kind of like bridges into mindset and personal development.
Ashley Pajubin
Right, Absolutely.
Host
And then you also said you, you know, one thing you're working on is kind of changing how the industry is seen and how people operate.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely. I think that, you know, the salon industry is seen as, you know, more of just like a hobby to a lot of people. You know, I joke around that, you know, if you people tell their parents they're going to cosmetology school and they're like, oh my God, you're not going to make any money. And if you Google you know how much a stylist makes, it says like $30,000 a year. And that's just unbelievable.
Host
Well, I know how much some can make because I sometimes pay for my wife's hair.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
So I know it's a can. Very lucrative.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
Business.
Ashley Pajubin
And so we have to teach the people that don't have the business tools how to do that because sadly, a lot of people in our industry, they're right brained. They're, they're, they're born to be creative. And that left part of the brain is, is not that they don't have it, they just don't have the tools yet.
Host
Well, it's like any, I mean, personal training, yoga, you know, physical therapists, any beauty salon. Right, correct. You do it because you're passionate about it. Right. I got, I became a personal trainer because I was into fitness and I had to. Luckily I was naturally good at marketing and sales, so I learned that. Yeah, but there's so many broke personal trainers.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
So many broke sal. You know, people just behind a chair their whole life. So I think it's great that you're teaching those skills.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely.
Host
Yeah. Trying to kind of disrupt or revolutionize the industry where, hey, this could be an industry where you earn as much as a doctor, an engineer.
Ashley Pajubin
And we should be seen that way, right?
Host
Yeah.
Ashley Pajubin
We're touching people, we're healing people. And, and that's exactly what it needs to be seen as. Because at the end of the day, people depend on us to make them feel the best, like the best version of their selves when they wake up every morning. And to me, that's more important than, you know.
Host
Yeah. Other industries.
Ashley Pajubin
Other industries, yeah, absolutely. But again, it comes down to mindset to be that successful, because it's not for everyone. You have to have.
Host
So, so let's ask this question. Can you earn 100 grand a year being a stylist?
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely. I have six figure stylists.
Host
Great, There you go. And, and it's funny because, you know, you mentioned earlier, people maybe frown if someone says they want to pursue this as a career or they tell their parents.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely.
Host
Whereas you can get, you know, a college degree and be 150 grand in debt and only earn 50, 60 grand a year.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely.
Host
With a master's degree. But, you know.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely. So I have four stylists in my salon that have college degrees and I have a ninth grade education. So you, you look at the difference in the people. And if it was based off my education, y, it would be different. But it has to be based off your willingness to do the work to get there. And it takes a lot of willpower and self awareness to get there.
Host
So what are some of the. Let's stay on that for a second. What are some of the key traits you see in the, the stylists that come through, that become successful? The ones that quit or go off or don't?
Ashley Pajubin
I mean, the turnover is pretty high in our industry, let's be honest, because they don't understand how hard it is. It's very hard, it's very grueling and it's physically demanding on your body. A lot of people think that the only way to make money in our industry is to work 12 hours a day, six days a week. And that's just unheard of in my salon. All of my stylists work behind the chair 32 hours a week and they're making over six figures. So, you know, there's people that can't even do that and the salaries they're making, working 60 hours a week, you know.
Host
And what are some of the key traits of the successful people that make it with you versus the ones that burn out or fall off?
Ashley Pajubin
Again, mindset.
Host
Mindset. What specifically?
Ashley Pajubin
Specifically, you have to keep your eye on the prize. So to speak. Right. You can't let the obstacles get in the way.
Host
So having the belief in the goal, the vision, where you want to go,
Ashley Pajubin
and then what I do is I come in and I go, wait a minute, you said that you wanted to be here. You know, is that still where you want to be? Because if so, your actions are matching your words.
Host
And then accountability.
Ashley Pajubin
Accountability. Accountability is one of my favorites. The acronym for our core values is hearts. And. And A is, is acronym in that, so. Absolutely.
Host
Well, I, I mean, I think a lot of people like you say they get into it because they want. It's a cool business or an idea or something they're passionate about. And it's like anything in life. Oh, you want to run a marathon? Well, great. But training's gonna suck. You gotta be, you gotta be accountable.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
Really achieving any goal in life is the same thing. You've got to believe you can achieve the goal before you can and then you have to do be disciplined and accountable to the, the daily training, the ups and the downs. You know, if you run in a marathon, the injuries, getting up at 5am to go run before work.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly. But you, it's really important to have a community of people around you that will lift you up when you're having the bad days. That's most important too.
Host
So that's the peer group, right?
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
And you help kind of create that or provide that.
Ashley Pajubin
That's what I do. That's the culture that I create. And it's the most important part of my salon. You know what is, what's important is that we all are working together to reach a common goal.
Host
And you find if you get someone that comes in that is more lazy or negative, they kind of get pushed out quickly if they don't change very quickly.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. Well, and you have to, because it's not fair to put those two. You know, I don't know what I'm allowed to say, what I'm not allowed to say, but we have a saying, you know, don't come and piss in my pool. You know what I mean? So it's, it's funny to see people think that they have the ability to do something, but they don't have the willpower to do it.
Host
Yeah, well, it's the same in any high performing team. If you go look at the class of the military, Navy SEALs, right? So you go look at an NBA team. If you go look at whatever team, right. Like if someone isn't holding their weight or bringing the team down, everyone else Is there to win. So they, you know, they get rid of that person because they either weed
Ashley Pajubin
themselves out or they get rid of them. Absolutely.
Host
We have the same in our business. Business, you know, we have a lot of staff come in. They, you know, I'm well known in my industry. They want to work here. I think it's cool. And then when they get pushed to the level of standards and excellence, we have 110, you know, then you get some people that it's like they thrive really well and do really well and a lot don't, sadly. And that's. It doesn't mean they're a bad person. Just not a good fit part of the process.
Ashley Pajubin
Yeah, you're not a good fit for us. That's it.
Host
Exactly. Yeah. Good. So what would you say to someone inspired by this? They want to go. Maybe they're working a job or they're looking at any industry, but say the beauty health industry. Right. They want to go pursue that dream. How do they start? Where do they start?
Ashley Pajubin
Well, obviously they're going to go to cosmetology school and then it depends on where they want to go from there. Do they want to work in a commission based salon? My salon is a commission based salon, but I always recommend that they go somewhere where it's going to be an advanced training salon that has core values as the most important thing to get the experience that they need. And if their goal is to eventually go out and be their own entrepreneur and open up their salon, I always recommend getting a business coach. I got a business coach the first year that I opened up my salon company. And I have grown every single year since. And I know that that's a hundred percent part of why I've been successful and my business partner, Janet, we've been successful together because I have an accountability partner.
Host
Yeah, yeah.
Ashley Pajubin
Right.
Host
And you know, I always say one of the best. If you want to learn marketing, sure, you can go get a degree, but you'll learn way more with no debt if you just go work for a great marketing person.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
So if you want to go, you know, start a hair salon, go work for someone with a great salon.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
For free. You're learning for free, right?
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
Yeah. I love that. Good. And what are some, you know, advice you'd give to a founder that's trying to get off the ground? Maybe a female founder. Some wisdom.
Ashley Pajubin
Oh, gosh. I would have to say, like, we always go back to mindset, Right? Sure. But you are who you surround yourself with. So just surround yourself with the Right. People that are pushing you and holding you accountable. Because there's days that it's really hard. It's not easy at first. You know, like the saying it's, it can be hard now or easy later or easy now and hard later, but you still got to go through hard.
Host
Well, and sadly the truth of entrepreneurship is I think it's always hard.
Ashley Pajubin
It's always hard.
Host
You just get used to being in the heart.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly. You almost adapt. Right, exactly. So I think most importantly, they have to keep a community of people around them like I was saying before, but that have already been there, that where they're not the smartest person in the room and that they are humble enough to receive the feedback and the criticism that it takes to be successful without being offended and torn down.
Host
Yeah, I like that. I like that. And you know, we've talked a lot about you teaching others the success of, you know, your, your journey. And I mentioned something. I mean it's important that it's. Business is always hard. Right. So what are some lessons and maybe failures along the way that you'll always remember throughout your journey?
Ashley Pajubin
Oh, gosh. Well, most importantly, business partnerships. I have a business partner, so I can say if you don't want to do it yourself and I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself, it's too much. It's a lot. So having a business partner that is like minded and you understand you're on the same page, that's really important. But you have to make sure that you keep that relationship for the business still professional and be able to separate those things and be able to communicate the ins and outs of understanding every part of it, but delegating what's going to be done. Because it is a lot of work to own a business, obviously you know yourself and if you don't have a team of people to delegate work to, then there's just no way that you're going to, you know, have those pillars to, to make you be successful. So you know, to, to your point about, you know, struggling through and understanding that it's going to be hard again, I would just say get a business coach. If you can't afford a business coach, then you start going to networking groups where you can have people that are already successful that have some of the tools and the ideas that yeah, could influence you.
Host
So, yeah, I mean, a common reoccurring theme and what you've mentioned is surrounding yourself with the right people. And I, I love that and teach that too. Can you expand on why that's so important? Because I think a lot of people surround themselves with the wrong people.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely.
Host
Don't support them, pull their goal, pull them down, Tell them their goals aren't going to happen. They're being silly or it's too risky.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly. Well, and I do. I work with all of my employees in that regard of understanding that there's people out there that are insecure and they feel less than when you are bigger.
Host
Most people.
Ashley Pajubin
Most people. Period. Exactly. And so you have to identify those things. So I have coaching sessions, but I also have mentoring sessions where we dive deep into that. Like, who are you surrounding yourself with? What's going on in your life right now? It's your time. You can talk about whatever you want to talk about. And I'm here to give you the advice. Or just be quiet if you need me to. Just listen. I suck at that one. But at the end of the day, you know, you have to. I think the hardest part about most human beings is that we don't know how to tell people no. And we don't know how to let people go that aren't healthy in our lives.
Host
And it's a good. A hard muscle to train.
Ashley Pajubin
It's a hard muscle to train one for sure. Exactly. And when you. You just have to figure it out on your own. But having the right people around you will start to fuel a different side of you that helps you understand that if I mimic what they're doing and if I do what they're doing, then I'm gonna be able to be just
Host
as it can really be like your biggest blessing or curse. Like, depending which side of the coin you're on. Like, I moved to America as an entrepreneur and a mil. You know, kind of becoming a millionaire pretty quickly. Or was. And so all my friends were millionaires. I didn't know any normal people here because I just got straight into entrepreneurship.
Ashley Pajubin
Right, Right.
Host
Whereas if I had been back in England, I grew up in a normal school, small town. Everyone's working. Dead end sometimes. Yeah.
Ashley Pajubin
You have to step outside.
Host
Yeah. And they would all been drinking at the weekend and trying to do all these things. And I always look back to how fortunate I was because I kind of inserted myself into this very collective group. Like at my wedding, I don't think maybe only a couple of my college friends. But apart from that, everyone was probably a millionaire.
Ashley Pajubin
Exactly.
Host
And that's helped me so much because the environment and a lot of people are still stuck in the negative groups, maybe because they grew up with friends and family that they don't want to say no to or let go, but don't support their goals.
Ashley Pajubin
But I do believe it only takes one person to inspire another person to continue that ripple effect. So where we have more people that are it have the mindset to work hard and do hard and be better and be successful.
Host
And I think if people are listening to, I would say it's like, hey, if you have friends, family, old friends that aren't successful and don't support you, it doesn't mean you have to get rid of them or they're bad people. You just have to kind of learn. They don't know your language so you just don't pay too much attention if they try and talk your language.
Ashley Pajubin
You have to set boundaries as well.
Host
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I even do. I've done that over the years with family and friends. I've said it's great you want to talk about that, but I'm not really interested in talking about it. I know it's all just going to be negative, you know, and then you just, you know, and then eventually it stops. Right. Because they know it's, it's like they're not, it's not going to be entertained. So I think that's a great skill to have that people are afraid to have because they have confidence.
Ashley Pajubin
Yeah. And it is just taking that step.
Host
But it's very good. So last couple of questions we wrap up today. Firstly, where if people are inspired by this and you know, I think it's so great how you educate in that industry and you know, also empowering people in that industry to make great incomes, you know, and have that earning potential and the mindset that they can reach those goals. Where do people listen and find you if they want to learn more or work with you?
Ashley Pajubin
So you can follow us @hucilanbalentine on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. You can also reach out to me. My email address is Ashley Pusalon valentine.com I am always happy to just share my knowledge to see if it helps someone else, you know, even it fills my heart. It feels, it fills my cup. So if you are interested in learning more about self awareness, I am a certified Enneagram practitioner. So you know, even if you're not in my industry, it's something that I can help coach people and to get into the mindset that they need to be in to start being successful.
Host
Love it. And the last question, someone's inspired by your success. One tip for them to get started on.
Ashley Pajubin
Be humble and do not be offended when the people around you want to give you advice to be better and you said one bit of advice. But again, just surround yourself with the right people and don't let yourself get down. When you have hard days, just remind yourself that you gotta go through that
Host
part of the journey.
Ashley Pajubin
It's part of the journey.
Host
Good. Love it. Well, there you go, guys. That's a wrap. I hope you're inspired by the story today, the lessons today and the episode. Super awesome to break that down. Super awesome what you're doing and thank you. It's great that you're helping people with mindset because I think it's so important in life success and business success and there needs to be more of it.
Ashley Pajubin
Absolutely.
Host
Guys, go out there, crush it. Chase your goals and dreams and as always, have an impact. I'll see you soon. Take care of Sam.
Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Ashley Pajubin, Co-Founder of Husalon Ballantyne
Date: May 7, 2026
In this inspiring episode, Rudy Mawer sits down with Ashley Pajubin, a resilient entrepreneur who transformed her life from being an executive assistant to owning and scaling a six-figure salon business. The conversation delves into Ashley’s journey, her passion for elevating the salon industry, tips for aspiring entrepreneurs (especially women), and actionable mindset and leadership advice. Ashley openly shares the challenges she overcame, how she’s redefining industry success, and her commitment to empowering others.
“You don't really have that purpose until your passion meets how you service others and how it impacts them.” (Ashley, 02:20)
“...teach them the tools that they need to be intentional, to be on purpose, and to understand that the mindset...will help them be the best version of themselves, but also the most successful version.” (Ashley, 02:44)
“If you Google how much a stylist makes, it says like $30,000 a year. And that's just unbelievable.” (Ashley, 03:47)
“It has to be based off your willingness to do the work to get there. And it takes a lot of willpower and self-awareness.” (Ashley, 05:45)
“Don’t come and piss in my pool.” (Ashley, 08:32)
“You are who you surround yourself with. Surround yourself with the right people that are pushing you and holding you accountable.” (Ashley, 11:18)
“The hardest part about most human beings is that we don't know how to tell people no. And we don't know how to let people go that aren't healthy in our lives.” (Ashley, 14:32)
This episode offers a raw, actionable blueprint for anyone seeking to redefine their own limits, build an empowering environment, and turn adversity into advantage. Ashley’s authentic storytelling and Rudy's insightful questions make for a motivating listen—filled with real strategies you can use to build your own legacy.