6. What it means to be a Holistic Stylist with Aprilovely

Experiencing health issues as a stylist can cause huge issues financially and emotionally. After facing blood poisoning caused by mainstream hair coloring, my guest and longtime friend Aprilovely went on a mission to become a holistic hair stylist. Today, we have the pleasure of learning from the many days, weeks, and years April has devoted to reclaiming her health. From changes to her daily routine to full shifts in her business practices, she’s taking us through it all.   

April's healing journey has been incredible to witness in the last year or two that I've known her. If you’re a beauty professional who feels like you don’t have routines set up that optimize your mental and physical health, this episode is for you! After watching the women in her lineage neglect to take care of themselves as they took care of everyone around them, April launched a business called The Lovely Box. She’s giving women the opportunity to make a monthly healing investment in themselves and get a self-care box delivered to their doors. Tune in to learn all about April's journey! 

In this Episode, We Cover: 

• The rocky journey that led April to become a holistic stylist
• Aprils realization that her environment dramatically affects her body and mindset
• Aprils self care routine that has allowed her to launch a new business AND stay healthy
• How to work with your energy day to day 

Connect with April:

On instagram

The Lovely Box
How to Connect with Me:

Join The Luxe Community
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Visit my Website ( http://www.luxebeautysocial.com/podcast-1 )

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Transcript

Welcome, welcome to the Social Stylist Podcast. My name is Lindsey Pruitt, and I'm here to help you navigate the social space.
So grab your favorite drink, pull up a chair, and let's get social.

[0:24] Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Social Stylist Podcast. I'm so excited for today's episode.
I have one of my good friends, April. She is here to talk about all things, habits, and rituals.
And you know your girl loves a really good habit and ritual system, but I get off track.
It is so hard to create balance in any phase of your business.
And April is the master, truly. She actually used to be one of my clients behind the chair we connected.
She's been doing hair. You know what? I actually am going to let her answer that.
I don't even know how long she's been doing hair, but she is an incredible artist. herself.
She specializes in hair extensions and color and she has a beautiful salon.
And I'm so excited for you guys to meet her. Hey April.
Hi, how are you?
So good. I'm so excited to have you here today talking about all of the things.
You have been on the most incredible journey with health, wellness, like overall health and wellness from the inside out.
And it has been so beautiful to watch.
Just grow into this new amazing person. Not that you weren't amazing before, but the conversations we have had behind the chair and once I transitioned out from the chair, I was always so excited for you to come and sit in the chair. I was like, what are we going to talk about today? She's so cool.

[1:50] Oh my God. I love hearing that because I know sometimes I feel like my conversations can go really left field. So I thought that. But I think that's what was so fun was there were no limits or rules to our conversations. And I always learned so much from you. Like, you would leave and I'm like, holy crap. I did not know that.
Oh, I'd love to hear that. I'd love to hear that.
So, tell us a little bit about you. What got you started on this path of healing, health, and all the things?
Yeah. Okay.
So, I actually have been a stylist, I think, now.
You kind of lose track over time, but I think now for almost six years, seven years.
But when I was in school, I got really sick and I had to leave for a month when I was in beauty school.

[2:39] And then I went and worked for my first person assisting him and the same thing happened.
So I was working with an herbalist at the time and she did some testing and she was like, yeah, so you're actually getting blood poisoning from the color.
And I was like, oh my God, how can this be happening? I just graduated school.
I found out what I want to do in life and you know, like, am I not going to be able to do it?
So I went on this extensive research on, is there a way to be quote unquote, like a holistic stylist?
And I found that there was, and thank goodness there was a salon in Chandler, like the, which is so crazy because the product is from Florence, Italy. So for it to just be in your space, in your even state, you're just like, wow, okay, I meant to be. So I went and worked there for a year and learned color. And I've never had an issue along those lines of getting sick from my career or anything ever again. And I was just like, wow, holistic health is absolutely everything.
So I really started to integrate it into every part of my life after that. That's incredible.
And you know what? I didn't even know that part of your story.
Oh my gosh! Okay, yeah. I knew that you did holistic care. We've had that conversation, but the why?
I did not know that you had the poisoning from it. That's insane.
And that's something that you don't think about is.

[3:56] All the things that are surrounding us, how they actually impact our bodies. And especially as stylists, we have chemicals everywhere. They're in the air, they're everywhere.
No, and it's really never even talked about, about how we should care for ourselves because that is our industry. And you know, someone may be getting their hair colored one time, but if you're a stylist, the kind of MO, but I feel like everyone's trying to move out of that is like, you work 10 hour days and you're in that every single day for 10 hour days. What is that truly doing. Yeah. Yeah. But even if you are a stylist that works three days a week, that is still a lot of exposure through the week of the same things happening over and over again, whether it's three hours, six hours, 20 hours, 50 hours a week over time, that is a lot that we're exposed to. So that's a really cool perspective. I never heard that part of your story. That's insane. Tell us how you moved into this place of just like your healing journey that you've been on in the last honestly like year two years that I've known you, you have gone through so much and you don't have to share everything but just share some of the highlights of you knew you needed to change.
Why did you start learning certain things and incorporating them in your day to day and how did that help you? Yeah, I guess like I'm trying to think when I met you.

[5:17] Like a year or two ago is when I really started to notice my body actually fluctuating my weight in and out, my energy up and down all the time. And I was just like, what is the missing piece here? I feel like I eat a really healthy diet. Like I just said, I'm in a really healthy environment. My son always looked great with me, such great peace. And I was like, you know, April, you wake up and you rush to work every day. You never take a moment to breathe and take a minute for yourself or anything. And then after work, it was still in like the hustle mindset.
That like I have to get to the gym, not like I'm wanting to go, but like I have to get to the gym and I have to do this and I have to do that.
And so I really sat with myself and I was like, okay, well, I really don't wanna keep having these peaks in my life and then these super downward feelings.
You know what I mean? Like I want things to be more on like a steady wave.
Of course, life is up and down, but it doesn't need to be that extreme.
I really believe self-care is self-love and it's something I preach.

[6:11] And I think that we can fall out of our own routines the time. But something I started to realize that I find a lot of value in is that your routine is going to change throughout how you're changing. So if you're trying to keep the same routine, you're going to fall out of balance naturally because it's just not going to work for that phase of your life.
So what I started to do was not be so rigid with myself, like this is what you need to do all the time, and really tap into what am I feeling and what do I truly need in this moment right now?
And taking those moments in the morning to journal whatever comes to my mind. Same thing, not be rigid, not have a journal entry all the time, but just of like, you know, oh, today I'm going to journal about this. But genuinely just putting my thoughts on paper first thing in the morning. And that just helped to clear my brain and get me a little bit in touch with myself.
And then something I'm huge and believe in is stretching.

[7:05] And I truly believe it like moves our energy. However, you'd like to look at that.
That really just allows whatever you, you know, when we go to sleep or in our resting stage, but like, what did we carry on from that day that we don't want to carry forward in the next day?
I'm a big believer to like stretch all your muscles out, release all the energy.
Sometimes I even jump on my toes and tap for a couple of minutes and really just like shake it out.
Could say. And I feel like that just started my mornings and started making me feel so different and so much better just by those little things. Just setting an hour aside for me in the morning rather than waking up, getting dressed, and then going and serving people, which I love.

[7:46] Never taking time for me. And then by the time you're off, you don't have that much time to do things anyways. For sure. I absolutely love how you brought up stretching and moving your body because when I was on my health journey years ago, that was something that I realized was huge for me also was.

[8:05] As a person that I believe that I'm an empath, I feel like I take on other people's emotions and I.

[8:12] Hold space for them, which is a blessing and a curse. I love to be able to hold space for my people. But at the same time, as a service provider, you're seeing multiple people per day for multiple hours, right? And they're telling you all of these things that are going on in their life. And after a while, it really impacted my body, not just my mental health, but also my body. It started causing pain, unexplained pain. Doctors could not figure it out.
They just kind of basically said, oh, you have chronic pain. And once I started implementing literally something as simple as stretching and breathing and moving that energy from my body, it was incredible. I saw a lot of my pain go away. It didn't completely go away, but it was manageable.
And I realized in that time that I was like, I hold on to energy, I hold on to negative energy more than positive. And it just was really affecting my body. And so I love that you brought that up because I just really feel like a stylist. A lot of us do that and we don't even realize what we're doing. We're taking on other people's emotions or even housing our own and not even expressing those. So just tapping, jumping, moving your body, that allows us to move that from our body and clear our minds to be able to serve others better, be able to pour into ourselves more. It's just crazy how one little shift like that can really change so much for you.

[9:39] It is. I 100% believe what you're saying is like, we don't really notice at first. And what you said, you're just like, oh, there's this pain. Why is this here? And you almost take it as a physical thing when it's, where is it really coming from?
It's like an energy transfer.
And I think energy is being talked about a lot more these days than it used to.
So it's not so woo woo.
You could say we're all acknowledging, you know, like it's a real thing, but it does matter. And if you're not releasing that and you're just harboring it, I mean, even sometimes women I have met in my salon, we're like talking about different things.
I'm like, actually, I think where your weight game is coming from that you can't lose because after like hearing their diet, all these different steps that they're taking, I'm like, I truly think it's because you don't have a good practice, just taking time for yourself. So you're taking on all this energy and think about it, adding actual physical weight.
Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that you brought that up because it took me years to figure that out years. And after I had Lennon, I mean, you remember this. I was like, I can't lose weight.
I was fluctuating all the time. And we had talked about this too, where you were just like, well, do you take care of yourself?" And I was like, what does that even mean? I have a one-year-old and I have a business. What is self-care? But you made me realize that I needed to do that.
And it's crazy, like once I actually started incorporating more.

[11:04] Habits and rituals because I love saying those words. I just feel like that's what it truly is.

[11:10] It has to become a habit for you to be able to do this at least for me I have to make sure that it aligns with who I am and where I'm at in life But really putting that into my schedule and making it like no, I'm going to spend time for myself today, whether that's just journaling whether I do an entire routine.

[11:30] Make that an appointment for yourself and and don't cancel. I am so good at cancelling that. So good. But I realized too, if I want to trust myself more, I have to keep those promises to myself as well. But anyways, we're kind of going off tangent. That's also this podcast. But if you have ever sat in my chair, you know that that is just kind of what happens. We could be talking about one thing in one minute, and then we're like, well, where did we even come from? How did we get here?
Girl. I'm on the same page. So I'm like, we could go, like I said, off to left field.
I know. I know. I feel like especially with us, we would start with one topic and then we would end up somewhere else. And it's like, okay, well, I'm done. So, but I do want to talk about why do you feel having these habits and rituals is so important and share some of the things that you do and how they've helped you with your situation. Yeah. Right now, my morning routine is when I I wake up, I actually just don't jump out of bed.
I made this vision board. I don't touch my phone.
I look over at my vision board and I touched on each little thing and I almost just like affirm it, you know, like it's already here, it's already happening and I've really, truly, it just like excites my day because I'm like, this is what I'm looking forward to in my future and all the things.
And then I also do this thing, which is a little bit different.

[12:49] Like I said, my body really started to fluctuate and I was like, Oh my God, what can I do to help this?
I just, I'm working out, I'm eating all the right things. I have pretty much a very basic diet.
Most of the week I eat most of the same things I really enjoy, so no problem there.
So I'm like, what is this?

[13:04] So something I started doing where I find so much healing in.

[13:09] Is I stand up in the morning and I start at my feet and I just hold each, literally each part of my body and I just affirm that you are loved and you are cared for, you are loved and you're cared for. And I say it all the way up to my head and I just like touch myself all the way. And just that little step has literally been life changing for me, just to connect to every little cell in my body and be like, okay, and started off on such a high vibration. So this is the start of my day.
And then I make myself a cup of tea or some coffee and I sit outside in the sun for 20 minutes.
I feel like a lot of people have gotten these tiny little rituals, which I think is so positive.
But I think starting your day, especially that we get to live in Arizona, let's take advantage of where we get to live. The sun is out and peaking, but just to feel that warmth on your skin and to be able to look at it with your eyes, I think it just brings such a positive presence to your day. And I've noticed just a massive shift in my mental health for that. Taking those moments.

[14:10] Just to be in gratitude. Because a lot of the time, I think our society, like connecting on negative matters and getting stuck in those loopholes is a lot easier than getting stuck in the loopholes of being positive and happy for each other and so grateful and not coming from an inauthentic place, but really being grateful for people. Really being grateful for yourself is genuinely a practice because we are fed so many ugly things a lot of the time to take yourself out of that box and start practicing something new is why it is a practice. Yeah. I feel like you would agree, Lindsay, even in our industry, actually I'm talking to the marketing wizard.
So of course he would know even with marketing, it used to be fear-based marketing where I truly feel like it's like that lower vibrational, Oh my God, if you don't do this, you won't reach success.
And that can even be stressful. You hop on your app to post something for the day, as you should, when you have a business. And then it's like you're getting bombarded with these things like, I'm never enough.
Where I feel like truly, especially your page as well, is such positive, motivating things of like, here's what you could be doing.
Are you not doing this? But this is what you should be, blah, blah, blah.
It's such a different vibration to hold that energy.

[15:25] So yeah, I hope that answers your question. Yeah, oh my gosh.
Yes, that was amazing and so beautiful because you're so right along with the marketing. I think that's why a lot of us have this mindset around social media where it feels hard, it feels yucky, I don't want to go on the app, it's not fun anymore. And that's another reason why I really wanted to have this conversation with you because truly this is the Social Stylist Podcast, but but social media goes way deeper than just the how to post and the what you should do for success.
It goes way beyond that. and a lot of people don't realize.

[16:05] That that is how you actually gain success. You have all of these social media gurus out there that tell you you need to do, you know, post 100 times a day or whatever crap they tell you.
And you don't realize that they have an entire team of like 20 people behind the scenes doing it for them. And so that kind of like messes with your mental state, but then, um, it just makes you feel not enough. And so once you actually take the time to connect with yourself, do these habits every single day to really express gratitude for yourself. I thought that was so beautiful, April, that you do that. I actually want to start doing that.
I need to get out in the sunshine more. It's so sad. I live in Arizona. I don't freaking get in the sun enough. But it is so important to really genuinely express gratitude. It's one thing to say, I'm grateful for this, but you actually embody that gratitude and share that with others. I love sending little texts here and there to the people that I love like, hey, I'm just thinking about you or phone calling or even on social media, like the the stylist in your area, there's no competition.
The only competition is you. And so if you really pour out true gratitude.

[17:30] The amount of things that you will receive back in your life, it's just incredible when you actually embody that.
So anyways, April, that was so freaking beautiful. I love your whole routine.
I need to like get better with this.

[17:48] You will. I think even from meeting you till now, I genuinely know that you take better care of yourself. Look at how you moved your whole life. You literally went from one business to the next, popped off, and now you started your pod. So inspiring. But yeah, girl, you move at lightning sweet. I look up to that. You're so sweet. I don't even know what I was going to say, honestly.
But I just look up to you because I really see how much you have grown. We've talked about the things that have gone on in your life. You have grown so much in business and with yourself. It has just been incredible. And that's why I wanted to also have this conversation because I was like, man, she just like is so knowledgeable in health practices and self-care and why it's truly important. Because I mean, like all of these things are kind of like a buzzy, you know, on social media, like self-care, take care of yourself. But when you actually put it into practice, the way that April has taught us today, that's how you actually achieve success.
Truly. I mean, April, you've probably heard like, you know, the most successful people have routines and habits and rituals and all this stuff. And I feel it, I really feel like that's where it starts.

[19:16] I would agree a hundred percent. And that's why I think you have to find what works for you.
Find a couple of things that you can truly incorporate that you can stick to, right? Because if you start off and it cuts everybody's journey, as we always hear, but it's so true, is everybody's journey is on a different page. So if you are following routines from someone who's been doing this practice of daily routines, but moving them throughout their their growth, where maybe they're on step 48 over there, it's not going to match up to where you're at.
And you're probably not going to be able to stick with it.
So it's like, truly find what's going to make where you're at.
Just take a moment, connect with yourself, figure out what you're lacking, what you feel like you're needing, and incorporate those in your morning.
And I think the morning, too, not that you shouldn't take little bits of the day for yourself, too. But I truly feel like the morning is just so impactful.
And that's why you hear a lot of the time, it's like a morning routine, is really letting the day be with you first.

[20:17] But I was going to say, too, what you said about truly being authentic about it, I think that, not I don't think, the word that I always choose to say that I'm like is intention, is everything that you do that you want to have an impact and truly vibrate on that frequency with, you have to have intention behind.
So you can say the words, and that's great.
And sometimes that's the integration process is you saying something over and over and affirming it to yourself until it really does become a part of you.
So that's 100% a thing. But that's when the intention, the true intention becomes.
And that's when you start to see the actual magic of life is because you're like, holy shit, I've been saying this over and over.
I truly am embodying now.
And now all of these things are popping up in my field, whether it's new clients that you want to call in of like.
Whoever that may be, you know, or like friendships or anything. Actually, okay, a little off-tangent, but not really. I was talking to my mom, like maybe a month ago, and I was having like a really hard day and I was just like telling her about it and really just letting her see like where I was at, which is something that I've also had to grow on is being vulnerable with people around me, like learning to really trust women, you know, create... I'm really into the whole sisterhood thing right now. I am vibing there. I love it.

[21:45] But it takes being vulnerable with women. And it's really intriguing when you start to sit down and think, why have I not been able to be in this place a lot sooner in my life? I'm almost 30. Why am I now just being like, not that I haven't had friends and friendships, but really embodying that.
Anyway, so I was talking to my mom about it. And she's like, April, I'm going to say a prayer for for you. And I said, okay, mom, thanks. And it was so crazy.
Lindsay, I woke up in the morning and three of my friends I hadn't heard from, I don't know how long had all texted me almost the same thing saying, Hey, April, I'm just checking in on you. How are you doing, girl? Like, yes. And I literally screenshotted like my, you know, before you open it, your little Yeah, you know what I'm talking about? Anyways, I sent it to my mom. And I was like, Did you really say a prayer for me last night? She's like, Yeah, I said I would I said, because look at this message, like, or these messages.
But so that is like what I think about daily rituals and tensions, like all of that coming together.
Like, you know, can almost think of it as encompassing.
All of it is like, that's when all the magic starts to happen.
So as you start your routines, you know, you might not be able, you might be like, okay, I've been doing this for three days.
Like, what the F? No, you gotta like really wait it out and start to embody it, which takes a moment.
And then, yeah, all the good things come after that.

[23:05] That's amazing. Yes. I know. Oh my gosh.
Power of moms, I'm telling you. There's just a power there.

[23:15] With your mom. You're one, you know. Oh, well, I'll get there, you know, I'll get there.
But, shoot, what was I gonna say? I just literally forgot.

[23:29] Oh, yeah, you said that, you know, you've got to wait longer than three days.
And I feel like that is so key because we live in this world of instant gratification.
It's like when people say manifest, all of these like buzzwords, it's like, these are, not things that happen overnight.
Sometimes it could take years of embodying that and just like feeling like, okay, it's already here. It's already happening.
It could take a while. You have no idea how long it's going to take you, but it's just having that greater perspective of like, you know, it will happen when it's supposed to happen.
I know it's meant for me and I know it's coming my way.
So I think it's just important to know that like in this world of instant gratification, it's like you need to also be okay with it not happening tomorrow or next week.

[24:25] I agree with that completely. I always call it like planting seeds, like wherever you go, plant little seeds.
Because I mean, even in people, when you talk, people have planted seeds in me where I remember what they said, but it didn't hit to like what you said, like maybe a year later and I'm like, oh my God.
But then it's like, you know, I'm ready to like tend it and grow it and you know, let it blossom.
But at the moment they told me I wasn't, but I'm so grateful.
And it's the same thing with yourself, is like all these things that you dream of, Okay, use my vision board, for example. Maybe those all aren't gonna happen this year, but I know in time they will as I become that person.
Yes, yes, totally.
Because you're taking the action to become that person right now.
So why wouldn't they come your way for the actions you're taking now.

[25:18] Yeah. And that's like where, you know, putting your trust into things of like, this isn't my timing, you know, is, I mean, I think there's a balance to that too. Like what you said, you have to take action, but also just knowing that like, okay, if I'm putting my energy fully here, it's going to happen to me. What you said, I just can't expect instant gratification.
And that goes for all things. Right. I was literally just about to say that. Like, I, I think we do this in business, I think we do this in life. We think, okay, I'm putting in action today.
Oh my gosh, social media, gosh.
We think, okay, I'm gonna post consistently for a week, for two weeks, and the applications are just gonna roll in, just gonna come like so easy, so great, all the dreamiest clients, but it's like, you have to be willing to put in the work for a long extended period of time.
Like social media and everything in life is such a slow burn.
Like you have to be willing to play the game to be able to see the results.
I would agree with that, totally. Yeah, so I freaking have loved this conversation.
Is there anything else that you wanna like leave us with a little thought?

[26:34] Yeah, I would say this, when you're going through like you're growing pains and all the things is truly just don't pass judgment.
When you're like sitting with your journal, if you decide to journal or yourself and your thoughts, however you decide, putting them on paper though, I can say, it does leave a really strong message for yourself and then you can look back at your growth.
But it's like, don't judge yourself for all the things you're putting down.
It doesn't matter like positive, negative, any of the things, don't judge them in that way.
Just let them flow because naturally as you put the effort towards yourself every day, you'll notice those thoughts will grow and become naturally on a higher vibration.
And you'll be able to see that and that's gonna make yourself feel so good that no matter what phase in life you're in, you're gonna be like, oh my God, okay, I wanna keep doing this because this keeps making me feel so good inside.
Yes, that's so beautiful and it's so true and I feel like that's like the perfect way, to wrap up like all of the thoughts for this episode, but I do want you to share more of what you're doing right now cause I'm so freaking stoked about it.
And they are so freaking cute. So share more about your current project.

[27:50] Yeah, so I launched a business called The Lovely Box, and it is a self-care, self-love box.
So after realizing for many years, and it really stemmed from, I guess I could have said this earlier, is looking at my lineage.
Women in my lineage really did not take care of themselves. They were super empathic women, nurturers, a lot of cancers, which is funny.
And we took care of everyone but ourselves. And I saw over the years how that looked, as people aged and whatnot. And I was like, you know what?
I'm not gonna carry that on my lineage anymore.
So in spite of that, I decided to create what I call a toolbox.
So it's somewhere where you can invest in yourself monthly and you get delivered this little self-care, self-love box.
There's a different theme of it every month. Sometimes we're focusing on the heart.
Sometimes we're focusing on the sacral.
And if you're not sure what I'm saying, these are chakras and it's all explained within the box too.
But you can also follow my social media page, The Lovely Box, where I also dive into that and what that means, what that looks like.
But yeah, it's a toolbox you can get every month where you're just reminded to take a second and take a moment of yourself.
And if you don't know where to start, then it gives you a theme and a message of that month where you can just focus your energy around and start to heal or nurture or grow that part of your being.

[29:13] Oh my gosh. you guys, they are so perfect for everything she is saying.
I got her first box and it was so amazing and I am so grateful for her for starting this venture because she truly is the queen of self-care and it really does help remind me that you need to take a second for yourself.
So if you find yourself in this space of wanting to do more for you and you're not really quite sure where to start. The lovely box is a perfect place to start for you. So like April said, you can find her over on Instagram at the lovely box. And you can ask her any questions that you have along the way as well. I'm sure. Right. I kind of just plug that for you, April.
I'm sorry. No, you know me. I'm like an open box. Actually, speaking of boxes, I am an open book. How about that? Yeah, I was like, hey, that just worked out.
I know. Okay, cool.