"I want to make impact. I want to help small business owners be successful and feel fantastic about themselves." With a mission like that, how do you make it happen? We chat with Melody McCloskey, co-founder and CEO of StyleSeat, the leading destination for booking beauty and wellness appointments.Melody co- founded StyleSeat in 2011 to simplify the process of booking beauty appointments. With StyleSeat, industry experts are provided a place to showcase their work, connect with clients, and build their business while clients can discover new services and providers and book appointments on the go. Melody opens up about her journey building a top online booking service that not only helps stylists earn more but also serves a huge market need. Building a technology company is no easy feat and Melody discusses what entrepreneurs need to focus on if they want to be successful as well as some of the challenges she is currently facing within the business. To date, StyleSeat has powered over 50M appointments in over 16,000 US cities and has powered over $3 billion in appointments. 

*SHOW NOTES: www.dreamsindrive.com/melody-mccloskey-styleseat 

IN THIS PODCAST WE DISCUSS:
- What inspired Melody as a child
- How Melody leveraged her college internship to get a full-time job
- The art of perfecting your hustle
- Curating your friendship circle
- Why Melody sat on the StyleSeat idea for two years
- How to find courage to get started
- How to know when your idea is special
- The importance of validating your idea + surveying your test market
- Basic business fundamentals
- The early days of StyleSeat
- Tips for raising capital + fundraising
- Why obsession + passion for your vision is important
- What Melody tells every new employee
- How to use data to grow your business using the top 5 metrics method
- Switching from a free to paid model
- Navigating challenges
- The importance of looking and feeling your best 

*SUBSCRIBE: www.dreamsindrive.com/join

*RESOURCES: www.dreamsindrive.com/free

Follow Dreams In Drive on Social:
*twitter.com/dreamsindrive
*instagram.com/dreamsindrive

Follow Melody on Social:
*instagram.com/melody
*twitter.com/melodymcc
*www.styleseat.com

Follow Rana on social:
*instagram.com/rainshineluv
*twitter.com/rainshineluv