The VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios with Matthew Landis

April Benincosa, IMAGE Studios® Owner, Is On A Mission Of Self-Love And Empowerment

• IMAGE Studios • Season 3 • Episode 21

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April Benincosa, owner of four IMAGE Studios® locations in Salt Lake City, talks with Matthew about her evolution from hairstylist to successful entrepreneur and coach. April shares her transition from working behind the chair to managing multiple salons and becoming the first IMAGE Studios®  franchisee. She discusses the emotional decision to quit hairdressing after 24 years, creating additional freedom to pursue her passion for coaching and empowering women.

April is on a mission to help women cultivate self-love and sovereignty. She shares the spiritual practices that support her personal growth, including mirror work, EFT tapping, and aura cleansing. With her coaching program, she encourages women to break free from generational patterns and reclaim their power. April also gives a preview of her upcoming podcast with her badass sisters, which will explore deep feminine wisdom.

April is getting certified in Tantra, with the goal of helping women reconnect with their sensuality and heal from trauma. Through her story, April offers inspiration to prioritize self-love, question limiting beliefs, and embrace every person's infinite and priceless worth. 

Matthew Landis:

Welcome to Season 3 of the VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios, the podcast exclusively designed for independent beauty, health and wellness professionals, brought to you by IMAGE Studios, the luxury leader in the Salon Suite industry. I'm your host, industry expert and certified business coach, Matthew Landis. In each episode, we will bring you insightful interviews with solo entrepreneurs who have forged their own path to success, from stories of triumph to practical tips and strategies for growing your client base and building your brand. This is the place to thrive and take your Salon Suite business to the next level. Joining me on the podcast today is my dear friend April Benincosa, who is the owner of four IMAGE Studio locations in Salt Lake City and the surrounding area. She is also the owner and a coach with Divine Feminine Leadership. Welcome to the podcast, April.

April Benincosa:

Thank you.

Matthew Landis:

I'm so excited to have you. I've wanted you on here for a long time, because I think you have some really incredible things to share and some insight for our listeners on the podcast.

April Benincosa:

Awesome. Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Matthew Landis:

You've had a pretty diverse journey. You've done a lot of stuff. You're doing a lot of stuff. You're managing the locations. You also have your coaching business, and you're on a spiritual journey, and you're helping other people with theirs. You were the first, by the way, people listening. April was the OG franchise owner at image studios, and so I know she was the first one out of the gate. So tell me a little bit about your journey as a hairdresser and how that led you to owning your own business and then owning four of these mammoth locations.

April Benincosa:

Yeah, it's really, when I look back on it, it was just following the spiritual breadcrumbs. Because I never have wanted to own a salon. It wasn't on my vision board. If I did a five year goal and wouldn't be like to own four salons, I just felt like, in a way, I was at the right place at the right time, but also I put myself in the right place at the right time, right so I started out at a really amazing salon called salon kg. We did a lot of Vidal Sassoon stuff. I ended up moving to New York and working at Vidal Sassoon. I hated it. I hated living in New York. It was, I'm just so sweet and and kind. And it was just like, I started finding myself being tough and having this hard exterior. And I was like, I don't, I don't want this. This is not who I am. So I said it was better to be a big fish in a small pond. So I moved back the salon I was at that I moved to I really loved, but they closed up on me overnight. I was graduating from college. I was, you know, about to take my finals, and I came into work and there was a sign on the door saying we're closed. I was like, Okay, what am I supposed to do? And so IMAGE Studios had just built their second or third location, Sandy, right down the street, so I just went there, and I was like, I need, I need a studio. I'm going out of town. I'm taking my finals. I don't care which studio just put me in one. So I got the cheapest, smallest studio, because it was quite a bit more expensive than what I was paying but it was far superior. And then over time, I ended up moving into the front salon, and then Jason (Olsen) asked me to be the manager, and then I ended up getting an apprentice. And then he asked me if I wanted to buy one and be the first franchisee. And I was like, Oh, I don't know. I never thought about that. And then my brother in law, at the same time, was messaging us to buy some real estate in Hawaii. And so, like, we did the numbers, and this was a far better investment than owning an Airbnb. So yeah, I ended up doing that, and then shortly after, so I bought Sandy location, my baby. Everyone knows it's my favorite. Sorry, everyone listening. I go there still to do hair sometimes, and it's like five minutes from my house, and it's just like the place I started. And it just so sentimental for me.

Matthew Landis:

April, you're not supposed to have a favorite kid.

April Benincosa:

I know, I know, but they all do, all parents do. It's true. No, I love, I love all of my locations, but Sandy's just like a soft spot for me, because it was where I started and where I got everything going. Then he was like, Do you want to buy the other two? And then we were actually going to buy all five, but I was still doing hair full time, and I was like, yeah, that will be the straw that breaks this camel's back. It's camel some sort of sinking, yeah. So we bought the four. So we bought one, and then a year later we bought two, and then a year later, we bought one at Fort Union.

Matthew Landis:

That's incredible. And they're all doing well. I was at the Salt Lake location, and, you know, you came in and and brought some life and energy to it. It was fabulous before, but you added a little extra spark, and that was really fun to have you there while I was there, I don't mind not being the favorite.

April Benincosa:

You know, everyone in Salt Lake was like, we know that the we're your redheaded stepchild or something.

Matthew Landis:

There's always one place that's home, right?

April Benincosa:

Yeah, for sure. Um, for four years after we bought them, we didn't pay ourselves anything. We, it was actually right during covid, when the salons were getting shut down, that it was our last payment to pay. So it's kind of this bittersweet of like, wait, just thought we were paying these off, and now we're being shut down, but, but that year, at the end of 2020 we did pay them off, which did allowed me to quit doing hair after 24 years of doing hair. That was another bittersweet moment. I identified so much as a hairstylist that for like, almost a year and a half after, I was like, I'm a hairstylist. And my friends would be like, she owns four businesses. She actually has five businesses she does this. And I was like, Oh, I used to do hair there. That's like, I used to do hair that salon. And my friend would be, like, the one that you owned.

Matthew Landis:

I do way less hair. I only do hair for a few close friends now, but I think that we'll kind of always be hairdressers, right? For sure, for sure. Yeah, it's a it's a label we wear proudly.

April Benincosa:

And we got all these scars on our hands, we gotta, like, have them be worthwhile, right?

Matthew Landis:

Oh my gosh, all these creaks and squeaks in my body, and you know, my physical therapist, my acupuncturist, my Thai massage therapist, it's like, yeah, my body says, Yeah, you're a hairdresser. It's in your it's in your bones. Yeah, you can't remove that. So you stepped away from doing hair. You're still running the IMAGE Studios, but you also have this incredible other business and pursuit and journey and adventure and all the cool words that go with it. Tell us about that.

April Benincosa:

Yeah, yeah. So after I quit doing hair, I still needed an outlet for my creativity, so I decided to do a time travel retreat. I have now done four. I did them in Scotland, and then I did one at the Versailles mall, where I just take 15 people and give them like the experience of a lifetime. We pretend to time travel. And then that got me into like that was just kind of fun, but it was turning into a business. And then I did this really intense coaching program with Alyssa nobriga changed my life. And I really got into helping women specifically find sovereignty and connecting to their womb and connecting to their divine feminine, getting out of hustle, of constant doing, and a lot of this I saw because for years I had done women's hair, and so many women have terrible boundaries, and they're people pleasers, and they're apologizing for living and hairstyles specifically are like, afraid to to charge and to raise their prices and and they would, like, mix their their self worth, and, like, charging what they're worth into no this service is what you charge for, and it has a price, and you yourself are worth, like, priceless. You're so worthy and so deserving. So, yeah, I really got into, like, Celtic shamanism and projection work from Byron Katie, and a lot of parts work. So just like talking to that part of you that's scared, and like having that resourced adult part of you, because a lot of us are just letting the inner child kind of run the show most the time, and we're not aware of it. So I for two years, I've just and I've been so lucky and so blessed to have, you know, 20 or 30 hours a week to dive into this methodology and these books and the courses and the coaching and the all the things, because I just had a lot of time on my hands.

Matthew Landis:

That's incredible. But you worked really hard to get here.

April Benincosa:

Yes, I worked 80-90, hours a week for like five or six years.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, I think it's really easy sometimes to look at somebody like you and think, Oh, well, they're just lucky, or they had it easy or but you have worked. You know, I've known you for at least probably 15 years. You have worked and worked and hustled and really gone through a lot of good times, some not so great times. I mean, just on the journey of life, right? Yeah, I'm really proud of you. Yesterday we had a conversation, and I love that you talked about, since this is a podcast for Salon Suite owners and people in Salon Suite businesses, and I love being able to connect this spiritual and emotional side of it with you. And we talked a lot about and you just mentioned that you know our need to please people, and we're afraid to charge too much. We're afraid to hurt people's feelings. We're afraid because we've had this client forever, and we're afraid to charge her when it relates to business. And so we sort of get caught up in our own heads and our own, you know, sense of self worth. And I love that you said that we place too much of our own self worth on what we charge. You already said it, but I just want to repeat it, because I think it's really important. You said our sense of self worth is tied to what we charge, but you are inherently worthy and priceless. Your prices are not Yes. Now I. Because of you and because of these conversations that we've had for years, actually changed the name of our raising prices workshop, because it used to be, know your worth. Oh, know your worth, raise your prices and you are more than your prices. Yeah. So I love that. I love that you work with people in really, sort of getting a better sense of self. Tell us more Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was my biggest nemesis, of course, right? So we always teach our wounds become our wisdom. So I had a really hard time raising my prices, because I had a deep seated sense of unworthiness. The more that I have been able to sit with myself and look at myself and love all parts of myself. So it's called radical self love. So you love the parts of yourself that are your shadow, right? So 95% of everything we do is unconscious. We're only living from 5% of consciousness. From zero to seven is when those patterns are created. So we have lots of patterns of running the show. So one of my patterns that I had was from my mom and from her mom. It's a very big generational pattern, and they're actually proven scientifically now that it goes back seven generations, like generational trauma and it can be healed seven generations forward, they're actually getting scientific proof, which is awesome, but yeah, but just like seeing my mom and seeing women just apologizing for everything, and realizing unconsciously, I had been running this pattern of people pleasing, of finding my value and my worth if people liked me and if my client liked their hair. So that would mean I'm a good hairstylist, or I'm not a good hairstylist, or I'm a good business owner. I'm not a good business owner, because do they like me or do they not like me? And Steve Jobs said, if you want people to like you sell ice cream, don't become a business owner. Because the thing is, the more that you're true to yourself, the more that people are not going to like you. Like, I have seven fixed fire signs in my astrology chart. I'm an Aries with an Aries rising so like, I'm meant to trigger people. I meant to have people not like me. That's medicine for them too, like because if it causes them, like, a little pink and that causes them to look at something that they haven't looked for, like, that's medicine for them, as long as my intentions are always good, and so like doing that deep work myself, and then seeing the pattern and recognizing I'm not the pattern. I'm April, the higher perspective, who is playing out the pattern, so that, just like, helps you get out of it. Like Eckhart Tolle talks a lot about that, right? Like the you get out of the ego mind, and you're, like, the living awareness that's observing the pattern that really, really helped me. And then I used to always say that, like, just charge what you're worth, charge Oh, you're so deserving, you're still worthy, and now I wouldn't ever even say that you're worthy, because there's no not worthy. There's no not deserving. Like you can't be that because that you just are about your services, like there is, you know, in Utah, like you might be able to charge$1,000 for a haircut, but you're not going to get very many people. Well, at $1,000 you only need one a day. I'm a big fan of Eckhart Tolle, by the way, he really helped me through a difficult part of my life, and helped me kind of understand, am I doing this because it's good for me, or am I doing it to satisfy my ego? Am I trying to prove something to somebody else and to everybody else, I had a big salon, lost the big salon, went through a lot of stuff, and I had to really face down my ego through that process, and getting back up on the saddle and proving to everybody that I can do it again, and falling off the saddle again, and really having to deal with that, and that was really painful. But I think, to your point, I think that what we do in the beauty, health and wellness industry, we really help and heal people, but sometimes maybe we haven't healed ourselves, and so we sort of relive that trauma of one client at a time in many ways. Because, you know, I always say for hairdressers, I'm a hairdresser by trade, the hardest thing for us to do is to put the scissors down, yeah, because that's the moment where it's like, does she like it? Which translate, does she like me? Is she gonna pay this? Am I worth this? And so you we go through the whole rabbit hole of emotions in one moment on a regular basis to the point where we for we stop even acknowledging that it's happening. Yeah, we're not even aware that it's happening, because we live in that sort of terror and feelings of self worth, and, you know, seeking validation from other people. And you know, for me, I realized I was always seeking validation from other people, but when they gave it to me, when they told me how great I was, I was like, I'm not worried that I'm not worth it. Don't tell me how great I am, because I can't live up to that.

Unknown:

Yeah, yeah. And it's never enough, no matter how many people tell you that you're worthy or that you're left if you don't see it like in the parts work when we talk with that wounded part of the child. World, right? So there's like the parts of you that you're like, exiling and not looking at the parts of you that don't deserve love, and those are the parts when they get so loud they start to unconsciously just come out, and you don't, you don't have any awareness around it. And no one can tell you enough for you. No one can approve of you. Enough of you not approving of yourself. So like, when you do that deeper work and you actually sit with the emotion, it's always like, I just want to be good, I just want to belong. I just want to be loved by me, not by anybody else. And that's the hardest relationship to have.

Matthew Landis:

Ironically, that's the hardest person to please. Yesterday, you said that the future is male and female. What did you mean by that?

Unknown:

Yeah, so there's a big you know, I get invited to a lot of women's networking events, and they're always like, the future is female, the future is female. And I understand the sentiment of like women stepping into their power. And it's funny because you're talking about woo woo, because I actually, I don't have any problem with woo woo, but I really like to ground things in, like a mature wisdom of like, looking at things and being like, the future is male and female, because we are all male and female, masculine and feminine Energy. Also, we just can't have babies female. Well, we can, but it's not the fun way. So I do it. You know, we all have a masculine and a feminine energy, and we need both, because without so the masculine is the doing. We always say it's like a bowl, and the feminine is the emotions, the nurturing, the substance, and it's the oatmeal. But without the bowl, the old was a mess, like feminine chaos is real, and I lived in my only my feminine for a long time, and it was freaking chaos. So I needed, and you know, my husband helped be my structure for a long time until I could actually do it myself. But without the the oatmeal, the bowl is empty. So without the the emotions and the nurture and the beauty, the structure is empty. So we really want to move forward in a way of doing and being, doing and being, but most people just know how to do, do, do, do, do, all day long, they burn out. They get in hustle because they're living in their masculine and they're not nourishing themselves, or they're not nourishing each other or their business. They're just, like, numbers this bottom line. It's like, okay, but there's people at the bottom line. There's the numbers tell a story that has emotion, that has value, that has how much of you being of service. And then if you're just the feminine and you just be all day long, you're not going to do shit. You like, get nothing done, right? So they always want to have the dance of, do we, do we? Do we do so like doing, being, doing, being masculine, feminine. And that's where the energy is really moving towards, in business, but also in just the world, like more women creating their own structure, believing their truth, but not coming in an angry, masculine way of like, I'm a queen. Listen to me. It's like, okay, if you have to tell people you're a queen, you're not, because Queens don't come around demanding the people know that they're a queen. They just hold presence, and you can feel their energy, and you're like, Oh, that's a queen. It's really just growing up the inner child and being, like, grounded in yourself and loving all parts of yourself, which is much easier said than done.

Matthew Landis:

Well, you've been doing the work, yeah, let me just throw this out there. Your Instagram is@aprilbenincosa, and your website is aprilbenincosa.com. Now, you have some great assets for people that are available through your website to get started on their journey, if maybe they're feeling like, I want to do this. I want to see what it is and more about it. And you have some good sort of practical things on your website. You have five rituals for your spiritual makeover. You have another one , my morning routine. And then you also have another one how to create a vision board. Let's talk about a spiritual makeover.

April Benincosa:

I just redid that and changed it to just five rituals for self love. So kind of like with any relationship, like, if you don't talk to your husband for a year, you're not going to have a good relationship, right? So building a relationship with yourself, of self love is a practice, because we're inherently like the the monkey mind makes things come from a fearful place, or like natural essence is love. We have to untrain the programming that we've had of I don't have enough, because if you always think you don't have enough, you always buy more, and you make a really great customer. You know capitalism when you know that that you have everything that you need, you don't need that. Stuff to make you worthy, to make you feel whole, to make you feel anything. There's nothing outside of you. Everything's inside of you, creating like rituals. So the first one is mirror work, like looking at yourself in the mirror. So hairstyles are really good at this.

Matthew Landis:

I never, by the way, I never look in the mirror at work. Oh, you don't. It's so funny, because I'll get two thirds of the through the day, and I'm like, Oh my gosh. How come nobody told me might look this horrible, because, like, to me, it's not there. It's sort of like, you know, I'm on a sitcom and I don't see the camera.

Unknown:

Yeah, interesting. Yeah. Well, I mean, when I was doing her, I noticed how many clients could not look at themselves in the mirror. And a lot of my coaching calls clients, the first thing I ask them to do is look at themselves in the mirror for five minutes a day. And there's so much resistance. And so that's like, the best place to start is like, look in the mirror. Look in your left eye, your left eyes, your receiving eye. And just if you keep focusing and like, see who's behind the eyes, eventually you're just gonna connect to your soul. So many people are like, That's stupid, that's silly, like, I have notes all over my mirrors in my house, being like, show yourself some love. Make sure you look at yourself like you're looking good. Like I like, write little love notes to myself all over my house, because I need the reminders.

Matthew Landis:

I think when we say something stupid or silly, it's sometimes because it makes us uncomfortable. And what I would challenge people is, if you think it's stupid and silly, do it. You have five minutes. You spent five minutes playing Candy Crush or scrolling through Instagram. So I dare you, yeah. So do it,

April Benincosa:

yeah, yeah. It's only scary, yeah. And then the other one is EFT tapping, which is emotional freedom technique. So you, like, tap on meridian points and you tap with where you're at, like, even though I'm 30 pounds overweight, I still choose to love and accept myself, even though I'm not charging what I want to be charging, and I'm not making money, I still choose to love and accept myself. And then you bring the thought up till you get, like, the charge away. And there's tons of videos on it. I love Brad Yates. He's kind of nerdy, but he does the best videos. And I have, like, I have a freebie that will send you, it will email you all of these. And I walk through like a self love, tapping one, and then the other one is just when you shower, like, make a like, cleansing your aura and like, cleansing off the day, cleansing off the negative energy. Like, as I washed my hair, like I call it, I'm gonna wash that shame right out of my hair. Because I think that song to myself sometimes, just like, as you're washing your hair, like it's your crown chakra, so you're like, I'm cleansing my aura from the day, I'm just gonna let it go down the drain. Like intention is so important. So just like, everything that was icky and gross, I'm just it's going down the drain. So there's kind of a ritual for that. And then there's havening, which is like you basically are giving yourself a hug, but you're creating theta waves and delta waves, which calms your brain and puts it into a relaxed state of consciousness. So when you're feeling really activated and triggered, if you can just gently pretend you're brushing crumbs off your arms and off your face, and then you can start thinking about like animals in the alphabet. So like an Aardvark, you know? And you just go down the list, because it just, you need to get your focus off if you're highly triggered.

Matthew Landis:

I just love these. I love all of these because they kind of just sound fun,

Unknown:

yeah, and they're like, you can do them in the car or wherever, or, like, in between a client if, like, a client does stay, let's say they hate their haircut, and they're like, I'm not paying for this. I hate my haircut. And then your next client's waiting, and you're like, you could just easily, like, okay, just gonna do some tapping, just tap on your heart, or just some shaky you just get it out of your body. That's why dogs shake when something happens, because they're just shaking off the energy. So it's called shaking medicine. It's a Qigong move.

Matthew Landis:

This would have been so helpful so many times.

April Benincosa:

I know I didn't do any of these doing hair, which is why I had to quit doing hair. Because I was like, emotionally, like, I can't do this anymore.

Matthew Landis:

And even if your client is angry with you and you're doing these things, who cares? I love it. These are really great things that anybody can do. And I love that. Yeah, you're a little bit further along on the journey. And, you know, by the way, when I say woo, woo, I don't, I don't mean to diminish the work, because I think it's so powerful and important. But I love these because they're small steps that people can take. And I love the the shower ritual. I love all of these because, you know, sometimes I will talk about, I do a little bit of meditation when I'm overwhelmed or stressed out, but you say meditation to people, and they're like, your spouse, you're like, I'm not going to meditate. But these are all things that I think that people can do, and they're so helpful. So but you're, you're a little bit farther along on your journey, because you've been doing a lot of work, and where, for somebody that's just at the beginning of this journey, and wanting to, to take care of themselves, wanting to get more in touch with with, you know, self love. And that sounds dirty, that comes back to the shame part, right? It's like we can't even say something without feeling some level of shame about.

April Benincosa:

Oh, that will be a whole other podcast.

Matthew Landis:

anyway. So yeah, as I blush a little, but where can people begin? What do you think

April Benincosa:

When I first started, I was very much into Tony Robbins and that like when I was 17, like I had a very abusive, hard childhood, and I found the book Awaken the Giant Within. And I just, I mean, it's like, this big, and I read that whole thing, this add girl, I read that whole thing, and one thing he just talks about a lot is changing your state. And I think that's a really good place to start. Meaning, like, if you're hunched over and you're like this. It's like, if I was gonna give you a million dollars to describe a depressed person, it's like, how do they sit, how they stand, how do they talk, how do they act? And so if you can just get out of that, create a character even to be like, Oh, okay, well, this is someone who's depressed and they talk like this. Someone's like, really sad, not engaging. And you're like, Oh, okay. Like, I don't want to be like that, so I'm gonna be like this. Like, that's like, training your body and your physiology that like, like, it's okay if my client doesn't like their haircut, I'm still good. Because, like, you're training your body to be like, even though your nervous system might be like, Oh my gosh, what's happening. But you're like, body and your voice, and then afterwards, just talking to yourself like inner child work, I would say the best book to start is Dr Nicole Lapera, who's the holistic psychologist. Her book is called how to do the work, and it's a really good guide of regulating your nervous system talking to your inner child. It's a really good place to start. Her Instagram account grew to like, a million followers in less than a year, because people just wanted this information so bad. And she has tons of good stuff on her account. So I think that's, that's where, I think that's what got me into more of the spiritual work is like her and Eckhart Tolle on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday. Like those were the two people.

Matthew Landis:

Eckhart, Tolle. I listen to him on at least once or twice a week, because he sort of resets my compass. And I don't mean this in a I'm not trying to shame anybody, but a lot of people don't read. Yeah, a lot of people don't like to read. In fact, I love reading, but I have a pile of books that I probably will never read. So I listen to audiobooks. I listen to podcasts because I can do that while I'm doing other things, while I'm driving. So I encourage people, if you're not a reader, get the audiobook. But do you have any podcasts or anything that you like to listen to?

April Benincosa:

Dr Nicole does have a podcast where she walks through each chapter of the book. That's a good one. I love Michael's fingers podcast so much. It's called the surrendered. It's like the surrender experiment. It's basically like living life surrendered. But another good thing if you don't want to read and you don't want to listen to stuff, is just notice what questions you're asking yourself, because awareness is the key to change and awareness, well, awareness and acceptance of people. Miss the acceptance part. Just journal for three pages. Like, just get it out and look at your words and see like, if you're asking, Why does everybody not like me? That's not a very empowering question. So you could change the question to like, Why does everybody love me so much. Or who does love me? Like, because your your brain will look it's called a reticular activating system. If you look for a blue car, like, don't think about a blue car. Don't think about a blue car. Don't think about the car. You're gonna think about a blue car, and then you're gonna see blue cars everywhere. If you're asking yourself questions that are not empowering, then that's the answers you're gonna get, if you could just think of like the question, follow the emotion back to the thought that caused that. It's really, honestly just sitting with yourself, Matthew, but a lot of people cannot sit with themselves for five minutes. That is the work is sitting with yourself, sitting with your thoughts, questioning your thoughts, being curious. Like, Oh, I'm curious if I thought a different thought, how my life could change. It's all work.

Matthew Landis:

You have to take one step at a time. And I don't think anybody ever sort of arrives at enlightenment, but we get a little, hopefully, maybe a little more every day if we're paying attention and if we're being conscious. I know, for me, when I've been in a dark place, I just know that I have to change something. I know that something is wrong, and I like that. You said, just sit and think about it. So if I'm having a bad day, I just have to stop and think, Where did this begin? At what point during the day did I start feeling this way? Maybe it was on the commute to work or something, and it's like, well, I can't do anything about what happened this morning, so I need to just let it go and move on with my day.

April Benincosa:

Another quick thing that is like, question your thoughts. So Byron Katie does a whole thing called self inquiry. So like, we only suffer when we believe our thoughts are true. A belief is. Just the thought that you've thought for a long time. So if I believe that people are greedy and not good, then how do I act when I believe that thought is true? So just some self inquiry, is, is it true 100% would I bet someone's life that this thought is true, that people are greedy, or whatever it is or that people don't love me to 100% No, without a shadow of a doubt that nobody loves me like no. Okay, well, how do I act when I believe that thought is true? How do I treat others when I believe that thought is true? Because what you project out is what you will get. So if you're walking around thinking nobody loves you, then you're looking for ways for people not to love you, and then you're acting in a certain way which would cause people to not act like they love you, because it feels weird. So it's really just sitting with your thoughts and questioning them and bringing curiosity and then loving all of the thoughts like none of them are bad.

Matthew Landis:

What's next for you?

April Benincosa:

Oh, you know, I'm kind of taking things a couple months at a time, because my life is changing so fast right now I am so I do coaching. So I do one on one coaching. I offer free Clarity Calls, so I'll give you a free 90 minute clarity call, and then I'm starting a podcast with both of my sisters and one of my mentors about the archetypes, and it's just basically about deep, rooted feminine wisdom.

Matthew Landis:

By the way, April's sisters are badasses. Yes, they are so lucky. Yeah. Can you do a little left turn real quick? Can you just give us a brief description of your sisters?

April Benincosa:

Yeah. So my sister Brooke was a nurse, and now she does not call herself this and she because it's actually not culturally appropriate, but she's a healer, Shaman, person. She does sweat lodges. She connects to the womb. She's super psychic. She is a steward of the land. She has a cabin up in Eden and does a whole bunch of Healing Retreats. And she is just the most powerful warrior archetype. And then my sister Darcy is the magician archetype. So she's just magical. And she has a multi million dollar business and brand. She does high end wedding photography. She's a high end coach. She has like she does masterminds. She has a podcast called play it brief that's all about just having courage and playing life full out. And I'm so blessed to have both of them, and they're my best friends.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, it's three very powerful women, and I'm excited for your podcast. Okay, so what else?

April Benincosa:

And then I've been doing a lot of womb healing and breath work, so my goal is to have 250 women in a room, all in a circle, connecting to our wounds together. I mean, I coach a lot of women on divine feminine leadership and sovereignty, boundaries, self love. I'm very fiery, but I can bring the water, so it's just, you know, but on a good day, I'm mostly fiery, yeah, and then from there, I don't know, like, I'm just letting that unfold. Oh, I am getting certified in Tantra, so I will be working with intimacy and helping women connect back to their sensuality and their pleasure, and helping them overcome, you know, sexual abuse, which does cause a lot of weight and protection, and getting connected back to their body and creating safety and protection on their body. So that's what I'm working on next year.

Matthew Landis:

Well, I love you. I adore you. I'm so proud of you. It really. I know listeners, you can't see April, but she is glowing. She just really has this, the sparkle and the shine about her. And I couldn't be happier.

April Benincosa:

Thank you. Love you so much.

Matthew Landis:

I love you too. So where just let's repeat this. Where can people find you?

April Benincosa:

Yeah, um, Instagram, April, benincosa.com or April Ben and kosa, and then, yeah, my website, which is April benacosa.com you can sign up for my freebies ritual. You just put in your email address, and then every day, we'll send you a video with the new ritual. So you can just do that, and that will be a good place to start.

Matthew Landis:

That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast today, April.

April Benincosa:

Thank you.

Matthew Landis:

All right. Take care. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of The VIP Suite. I'm Matthew Landis, and I hope you found the insights and inspiration shared today truly valuable for your journey as a Salon Suite entrepreneur and independent beauty health or wellness professional. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram@imagestudios360 and if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to the VIP Suite on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an opportunity to connect with our vibrant community and to discover more incredible stories and strategies. We love hearing from our listeners. If you have any questions, topics, suggestions, or want to share your own success story, feel free to reach out to me at matthew@imagestudios360.com Remember listener, you are the heartbeat of the beauty, health and wellness industry. Your dedication and passion make the world a better place, one client at a time. We'll be back with more engaging and inspiring conversations in our next episode. Until then, take care and continue to create your own VIP Suite. For more information about becoming a part of the IMAGE Studios luxury Salon Suite community, visit our website at imagestudios360.com