Building authentic connections with your clients means taking yourself and your business seriously — but not too seriously.

The self-care industry thrives on genuine connections. A client may first walk through your doors for a manicure or a massage, but they’ll keep coming back because you made them feel special. Cultivating these relationships requires active listening, personalized experiences, and top-notch service. But building rapport is a two-way street. To connect with your clients, you’ll also have to be open and honest about your own personality and values. That’s especially true on social media.

In episode 8 of our Last Client of the Day podcast, we invited content creator Stefanie Maegan to share her thoughts on building an authentic online presence. Stefanie hosts the Broke Girl Therapy podcast, where she discusses all kinds of self-care from a candid perspective. From navigating romance to maintaining friendships to building healthy habits, Stefanie has attracted thousands of followers by being honest about what works and what doesn’t — both in business and in life.

Stefanie’s advice for business owners is both simple and powerful. Be yourself, try new things, and find the fun in what you do. At the same time, remember that creativity is only part of the equation. Building genuine connections takes work, and you have to be willing to put that work in.

Finding your voice

Anyone can talk about the weather during an appointment or advertise business hours in an Instagram story. To build more meaningful connections with your clients, they’ll have to be open with you. That means you’ll have to be open with them as well. The first step is discovering your unique position in the self-care world. What can you offer that no one else can?

For Stefanie, connecting with an audience meant taking a hard look at her personal life.

“I was going through so many awful relationships,” she said. “I needed some way to talk about it, but also make light of it.”

When Broke Girl Therapy started, Stefanie didn’t have a studio, a laptop, or even chairs to sit on. What she did have, though, was a network of people who were willing to have honest conversations with her. During many of those conversations, she looked inward — and shared what she found.

“I would interview exes or guys I was hooking up with at that time and just figure out why they couldn’t commit,” she said. “From there, I started having my friends on. It really became this journey of documenting me over these years, dating and trying to learn about myself.”

Stefanie didn’t glamorize her situation or try to pitch herself as an expert. She talked, listened, and had authentic conversations. Some of her guests had negative feelings toward her, and vice versa. Stefanie’s audience connected with her because they understood an actual human being was on the other end.

When building an audience for your self-care business, you don’t necessarily need to start a podcast and reveal your whole romantic history. But you do need to share something more substantive than just your hours and location. What drives you to succeed? Where have you stumbled? What’s your next big plan? Show your clients that there’s a real person with a real dream at the helm of their favorite (or soon-to-be favorite) business.

Gambling on going viral

Some self-care business owners dream of going viral. After all, one influential TikTok video or Instagram story could mean lines around the block for days — or longer. The trouble is that going viral is unpredictable. If you try to make it happen, you might wind up with shallow, artificial content that seems like it’s trying too hard. And clients can see that from a mile away.

For example, Stefanie talks about whether it’s worth imitating social media trends to find new followers and clients. The answer is “maybe,” but only if you’re willing to put your own spin on it.

“You could do the trends, and honestly, they work,” she said. “But use it to where it looks like you’re just having fun. I think people really can feel that. When it does feel super-scripted and staged, or inauthentic, people know. We all have instincts.”

One interesting study from the Harvard Business Review backs up Stefanie’s point. During Restaurant Week in Charlottesville, Virginia, researchers surveyed hundreds of diners to see how much they were willing to pay for “authentic” meals. Restaurants that advertised “authentic” styles of food — Italian or barbecue, for example — weren’t worth much extra money, according to clients. On the other hand, they were willing to pay more for restaurants that lived up to an “authentic” set of values.

In other words, it’s not enough to ride a trend or make bold claims about your business. You have to set high standards and live up to them every day. According to Stefanie, steady, hard work builds an audience more than exciting one-off stunts, especially on social media.

“It’s trial and error,” she said. “The algorithm changes so much. If you’re consistent and you’re putting out content, you’re able to catch what the algorithm wants. It gives you a higher chance.

“It’s really hard to answer the question ‘how to go viral?’ What is it that you need to do? It’s kind of a gamble. That’s why I say be consistent, and keep yourself aware of what other people are putting out.”

Finding the fun side of your business

As you grow your audience, some of your efforts will succeed, and some will fall flat. Just remember that the failures are a feature, not a bug. Getting to know clients while being open about your own experiences is not easy, and it’s not supposed to be. Nothing grows in your comfort zone.

“I’ll be honest, it’s not always going up-up-up,” Stefanie said. “There are moments where you’re going up and you’re on a high, but then there are moments when it’s really quiet. It goes up and down. That’s just the beauty of working for yourself and doing something you love. You always want to be challenged.”

Above all else, try to have some fun along the way. As long as you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll be able to keep at it, week after week.

“Make sure that you’re having fun,” Stefanie said. “I know it can feel like work — because it is. It is work. It really is. But it’s just social media. You’re putting content out on your page that’s for you, or for a brand. But you want it to be fun. People want to be entertained.”

Ultimately, you want your clients to see you as an authentic person, complete with successes, failures, and a sense of humor. Once that happens, you can bridge the gap between “self-care business” and “genuine connection.”