How a viral hairstylist built a 7-figure online education business

Meet Patricia Nikole: A hairstylist with a vision

Patricia Nikole is no ordinary hairstylist. Better known on Instagram and TikTok as Painted Hair, Patricia has considerably transformed her passion for hair into a thriving online education program. As a stylist, she made waves on social media by showcasing dramatic before-and-after hair transformations, captivating over 1.5 million followers.

“I wanted to give my audience sort of an insight into what may be the beginning of someone's hair, their starting point, and then where they could go from there,” she says.

Patricia's innovation didn’t stop at creating stunning looks — she pioneered a unique hair coloring technique she called “painted hair.” To share this technique with the world, Patricia built an online educational curriculum certifying other stylists in the art of painted hair, and cementing her status in the industry not just as a cutting-edge stylist but as an educator.

The Challenge: Bridging the gap between social media success and online education

While Patricia was successful in her social entrepreneurship, she wanted to do more. She recognized the need to expand her in-person training program to reach hairstylists beyond her immediate geography who were eager to learn but were restrained by factors such as cost and logistics of travel (particularly during a global pandemic), or their inability to fit classroom training into their busy schedules.

Her goal was to provide easily accessible, quality education to her community of fellow stylists. However, taking her program digital and becoming an online course creator presented issues of how to effectively create, manage, market, and deliver quality content that lived up to her offline standards, while providing a tailored experience to her audience.

“When I first discovered Kajabi, we were working through Facebook, and there were so many challenges that we ran into, and also that our members ran into,” Patricia recalls. “We were doing live streaming and we had a community on there but because of the challenges, it made it really hard for us to be able to run our business the way we felt we wanted to.”

The Solution: Finding a platform for growth

Faced with these challenges, Patricia initially began her online education venture on Facebook. However, the platform didn’t offer the comprehensive solution she sought. When she discovered Kajabi, she recognized its potential to serve as her one-stop-shop in achieving her digital transformation.

The platform provided exactly what she needed from managing her content and marketing her courses, to creating a unique online experience for her students. Kajabi's customization capabilities and the opportunity to have full control over her business resonated with Patricia. She fell in love with the platform and its promise of making her online education dream a reality.

The onset of the pandemic solidified her decision as the right one. While the world paused, her online education business blossomed, offering stylists stuck at home a chance to learn and upskill. “It was a sad time because you see stylists who can't go to work, can't do anything, can't support their families,” Patricia says. “What we were able to do in our own way was build a community of stylists who are so hungry to get education, so that way, when we were able to go back to work, they could raise the prices in their own business. And that's exactly what happened.”

The Results: A stronger community and increased revenue

With Kajabi, Patricia's online education program became her primary revenue stream, navigating her business through the many challenges presented by COVID-19. By building an online community of hungry stylists, she empowered them with new skills to enhance their businesses when they could return to work, even allowing them to raise their prices with their enhanced skill set.

Moreover, Kajabi allowed Patricia to transcend her primary hairstyling curriculum. She incorporated business, social media strategies, and best practices into her program which catered to the needs of both stylists and entrepreneurs.

For $599.88 per year ($49.99/month), Patricia’s customers can get access to more than 250 hours of online education that includes new live classes every month (recorded for you in case you can’t watch live), giveaways, live Q&As, and more on topics from sectioning and placement and color theory to business and social media tips, photo taking, and even video editing. Patricia also offers a lifetime membership option for $2499 that includes a one-on-one in-person learning session at her salon suite.

“One thing that I've learned from online education is definitely be competitive with your pricing,” she says. “With the higher ticket price for the lifetime membership, students definitely feel like they’re getting a premium service. Not only are they able to become certified in the Painted Hair method that way, they're also able access our education for the entirety of our program.”

Her personalized approach resonated with her audience and helped not only grow her business into a seven-figure venture but also established Patricia as a go-to expert and educator in the hairstyling industry — a true Kajabi Hero.

The Future: Helping businesses grow

Looking forward, Patricia is eager to continue her growth. With her online business proving a success, she plans on staying the course and finding new ways to provide even more value to her community, both on Kajabi and her social platforms. Her story serves as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs looking to share their talent and passion with a wider audience.

In her own words, "Social media is social and the way you grow an authentic audience, is to be invested in that on a personal level." Patricia's advice speaks to the heart of what it means to be an educator in the world of online business, a concept Kajabi strongly values.

“A lot of plans that we have for growing our community are about elevating the top performing students in our community, the ones who engage the most, the ones that are the most active, and giving them an opportunity to grow with us. That way, not only can we grow our own business, but we can grow others businesses as well,” she shares.

Transforming her online business with Kajabi, Patricia encourages others to share their unique talents with the world, knowing that it's not just possible, but inevitable with the right tools and mindset. If you're feeling inspired to start your business, see how Kajabi can help.

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