Episode 3: Rewriting Your Money Story

Stop Undercharging: Rewrite the Money Stories You Inherited (For Hairstylists)

In this episode, I talk about the “money stories” many hairstylists inherit—beliefs about what money means, how much we’re allowed to have, and whether charging more is greedy—and how those stories can lead to undercharging, discounting, apologizing for prices, avoiding rate increases, and over-delivering out of fear. I explain where these beliefs often come from (family, the beauty industry, and broader culture) and why this isn’t really a pricing problem but a worthiness story that can be rewritten. I contrast scarcity and abundance, reframe being paid well as a fair exchange that supports sustainability and prevents burnout, and clarify manifestation as belief plus aligned action. I also share one simple practice for the week: notice a money flinch and ask, “Whose voice is that, and is it even mine?”

00:00 Inherited Money Stories

00:49 What Is A Money Story

01:41 Where Beliefs Come From

03:19 How It Shows Up

04:28 Scarcity To Abundance

05:45 Charging More Reframed

06:04 Manifestation Plus Action

07:17 One Question Homework

08:12 Course Invitation

08:52 Write Your Next Chapter

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Transcript

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Inherited Money Stories

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I want to start with something that might make you feel a little uncomfortable. And I promise I say it with so much love. A lot of the reasons you undercharge, a lot of the reasons you feel that little pit in your stomach when you say your prices out loud, a lot of the reasons you give and give and give until there's nothing left for you, those were never actually your ideas. You inherited them. You were handed them long before you ever became a hairstylist. And today we're going to talk about the money stories we inherit, where they come from, and how you can gently, on your own terms, start writing a brand new one. Welcome to the Sustainable Stylist, the podcast for hairstylists who want a career that lasts without burning out behind the chair. I'm Jen Alden, and I'm here to share the real lessons on building a business you love, protecting your energy, and creating a life that feels as good as your work looks. Because doing hair should light you up, not wear you down. Wherever you are in your journey, pull up a chair, this one's for you.

What Is A Money Story

SPEAKER_00 1:12

So let's start with the basics. What even is a money story? A money story is just a set of beliefs you carry around about money, about what it means, about how much of it you're allowed to have, about whether wanting more of it makes you a good person or a greedy one. Most of us never sat down and chose these beliefs. We absorbed them quietly when we were little from the people around us and the world we grew up in. So before we go one step further, I want to be really clear about something. This is not about blaming anyone. Not your parents, not your first salon owner, not yourself. This is simply about noticing because once you can actually see a story, you get to decide whether you even want to keep carrying it.

Where Beliefs Come From

SPEAKER_00 2:03

So where did these stories come from? Let's walk through it together. The first place, and honestly the biggest one, is family. Think back to how money felt in your home growing up. Was it tense? Was it a secret nobody talked about? Was there this constant hum of there's never quite enough? Maybe you heard things like money doesn't grow on trees, or we can't afford that, or don't get too big for your britches. They're little phrases, but they sink in deep. They become the water we swim in without even realizing we're wet. The second is our own industry, and this one definitely runs deep in the beauty industry. We're basically trained to believe we should be grateful just to get to do what we love. The passion is the payment, that being an artist means you do it for the joy, and bringing up money is almost rude to talk about. How many times have you heard someone say, but you love what you do? As if loving your work means you should be perfectly fine being underpaid for it. And then the third place is the whole culture around us. This big loud story that creatives do not make real money, that artists are supposed to struggle, that if you're not exhausting yourself, hustling until you drop, you haven't earned it yet. We soak all that up year after year, and then wonder why it feels so hard to simply change a fair price.

How It Shows Up

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Now let's bring this right back to the chair because this is where it gets real for us. I want to name a few ways these inherited stories actually show up in our day-to-day. And I just want you to notice if any of these land for you. You discount for friends and family until you're basically working for free. You feel that little flush of embarrassment when you have to say your prices out loud. So maybe you rush through them or you apologize for them. You haven't raised your rates in years, not because your work hasn't grown, but because you're terrified that your clients will leave you. You over-deliver on everything, you throw in extras, you give away your time, and you call it being generous. But if you're really being honest with yourself, sometimes it's not generosity. Sometimes it's a quiet little fear that you're not quite worth the full number. And here's what I really want you to hear. None of this is a pricing problem. It's a worthiness story. And the beautiful thing about a worthiness story is that it can absolutely 100% be rewritten.

Scarcity To Abundance

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Okay, this is my favorite part, so stay with me. I want to walk you from scarcity into abundance because they are two completely different ways of standing in the world. Scarcity says there's not enough to go around, so I better grab what I can and hold on tight. Scarcity is where all the discounting and overgiving and the fear live. Abundance says something totally different. Abundance says there's enough. And me being paid well doesn't take a single thing away from anybody else. I want you to try thinking about money as energy, as an exchange. When someone pays you, they're not taking from you. And you're not taking from them. It's a fair trade for the real skill, the real time, and the real care you poured into them. And when you let yourself actually receive that fully without a flinch, something opens up. You can give well because you're not running on empty. You can rest, you can keep doing this work you love for a whole lifetime instead of burning out in five years. So

Charging More Reframed

SPEAKER_00 5:51

let's reframe charging more once and for all. Charging more is not greedy. Charging more is sustainable. A stylist who's paid what she's worth is a stylist who gets to stay. She doesn't burn out. She doesn't quietly leave the industry. She doesn't

Manifestation Plus Action

SPEAKER_00 6:09

disappear. She stays. And I promise you, we need her here. Now I know some of you heard me say abundance, and a part of you probably went, okay, Jen, is this the part where you tell me to manifest my way to a full bank account? So let me clear something up because I think manifestation gets a bad rep. And honestly, sometimes fairly. Manifestation is not sitting on your couch wishing really hard for money to show up. That's the version people roll their eyes at, and truthfully, I roll my eyes at that version too. The real version, the one that actually works, is belief plus aligned action. Two parts. You have to genuinely believe you're worthy of more, and you have to take the real world steps that match that belief. You raise the price, you hold the boundary, you protect your time. The inner work and the outer work are partners. Mindset with no action just stalls out. And action with no belief underneath it, that's exactly how we burn ourselves out, doing all the right things, while a little voice in the back of our head whispers that we don't really deserve

One Question Homework

SPEAKER_00 7:20

them. You need both. And together, they change everything. So before I end this episode, I want to give you one tiny thing to try this week. Just one. I don't want you walking away thinking you have to fix your entire relationship with money by next week, because that's not how any of this works. Here's your homework. This week, I want you to catch just one money story in the act. The very next time you feel that little flinch, that tightening when a client asks your price or when you need to hold a boundary, I want you to pause and ask yourself one question. Whose voice is that? And is it even mine? That's it. That one question is the very beginning of writing a new story. You don't have to change everything today. You just have to start noticing.

Course Invitation

SPEAKER_00 8:12

This right here, this mindset work, is honestly the heartbeat of everything I teach inside my new course, The Sustainable Stylists. It's designed for independent stylists who are ready to stop undercharging and start building a business around their life instead of building their whole life around their business. We go deep on money blocks. We get real about pricing, and then we back it all up with the practical systems that actually hold it all together. If any of this stirred something in you today, come join the wait list. The link is waiting for you in the show notes below, and I would truly love to have you inside.

Write Your Next Chapter

SPEAKER_00 8:51

So here's what I want you to carry with you after today. The money story you inherited is not a life sentence. You're allowed to set it down. You didn't choose it, and you don't have to keep it. You're allowed to be paid well for your work you pour your whole heart into. And you, my friend, get to write the next chapter on purpose. I'll see you in the next episode.