Episode 309: From Beauty Tips to Building an Empire: Sarai Martinez on Confidence, Community & Career Growth
Women entrepreneurs building confidence often face closed doors. Opportunities go to people with better connections. You're constantly underestimated.
Sarai Martinez had an answer: show up anyway.
I sat down with Sarai for episode 309 of the Game On Girlfriend® podcast, and we talked about her 20-year journey building a beauty business spanning Fashion Weeks across three continents. But we didn't really talk about hair and makeup.
We talked about what it's like to keep going when doors aren't opening. When you're watching less-qualified people get opportunities through family connections while your work goes unnoticed. When people underestimate you because of what you do or who you are.
If you're facing funding challenges, confidence hits, or increased competition right now, Sarai's story offers something you can actually use.
Watch the full episode
About Sarai Martinez
Sarai Martinez is a hair stylist and makeup artist serving all of New England, represented by Anchor Artist and serving as Ambassador and brand executive to Electric London Hair care products.
After earning her cosmetology license in 2004, Sarai assisted for 4 years at Dellaria's on Newbury Street in Boston before continuing her education on the North Shore. With over 20 years of experience, she's worked New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and Miami Swim Week. Her work has been featured in Glam Hair Magazine, New Yorker Magazine, Northshore Magazine, and Boston Common Magazine.
She's worked alongside celebrity stylists such as Ted Gibson, Jason Backe, Aubrey Loots, Gary Barker, Mark Wholley, and Brendan O'Sullivan, and with celebrities including Shohei Ohtani, Willie Geist, Dana Walden, Ty Law, Lisa Henry, Tyson Beckford, Suzi Welch, and Meghan Moss.
Sarai has won several awards, including the Best of Salem Readers' Choice Award and, most recently, Boston Common Magazine's Best of Beauty Award.
Her journey offers valuable lessons for women entrepreneurs building confidence in competitive industries.
She Started in a Neighborhood Salon in Dorchester
Sarai didn't have advantages. She had talent and a good work ethic.
She started in a neighborhood salon in Dorchester, doing what she loved—making people feel beautiful.
Actually, she started way before that. At 10 years old, she was giving herself blowouts. Not because her mom made her. But because she noticed something: when she felt put together, people treated her differently. She carried herself differently. Her work was better.
"When you feel beautiful, you do better work. It's not superficial—it actually matters." — Sarai Martinez
Making People Feel Beautiful Started Early
As a teenager, her friends and her mother's friends would come over so she could do their hair and eyebrows. It was organic. Something she genuinely loved doing.
But loving something and building a successful business around it? Two completely different things. Women entrepreneurs building confidence can learn from Sarai's early commitment to her craft.
The Strategy That's Quietly Changing Business Growth
The Prada Internship That Went to Someone Else
In college, Sarai studied fashion design in Canada. Her work was strong. But when internship opportunities came up, she watched her roommate—the French ambassador's daughter—land a position at Prada while her own portfolio got ignored.
"Her drawings weren't as great," Sarai said. "And I'm like, what the hell? How is she at Prada?"
She Didn't Make It Mean Something About Her
Think about that for a second. She could have made that mean something about her. That she wasn't good enough. That the industry wasn't for her. That success required connections she didn't have.
She didn't do that.
"I don't like to look at it as a crutch," Sarai told me. "I actually look at those types of scenarios as—I don't know—they enlightened me. They made me want to fight harder."
"I Belong Where I Don't Belong"
Over 20 years, Sarai developed a mantra: "I belong where I don't belong."
Then she would show up anyway.
Her parents were adamant that she get a great education. That meant she was constantly in spaces with few people of color. But instead of feeling like an outsider, she chose something different.
"I didn't really see myself as, oh, this is going to give me a crutch because I'm a woman of color. No, I actually don't see it that way. I see myself as part of everybody else." — Sarai Martinez
She Deliberately Makes Herself Uncomfortable
She deliberately puts herself in uncomfortable situations. In rooms where she's not expected. Around people from different demographics. In conversations that make others uncomfortable.
"I like being around people that I'm not in the same demographic," she said. "I like being in uncomfortable conversations. I like people feeling uncomfortable when I arrive. I don't know where that comes from."
I do, though. It's courage. It's determination. It's refusing to let other people's limitations become your own.
Building Confidence: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
The beauty and fashion industries are catty and competitive. Success requires knowing someone who knows someone. For women of color, the barriers are even higher.
But when Sarai started organizing marketing events, something shifted. She realized she wanted more for herself. She started to see her potential in rooms where she didn't initially belong.
"I started seeing greatness for myself in that scenario," she said.
From Dorchester to Fashion Week
Now? After 20 years, she's worked New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and Miami Swim Week. She's been showcased in major magazines. She works alongside celebrity stylists like Ted Gibson and Jason Bank. She's won multiple awards, including Boston Common Magazine's Best of Beauty Award.
She's landing TV segments where broadcasters tell her they're shocked by how natural she is on camera.
The Assumptions Never Stopped
But she still faces assumptions. People are surprised she's educated. Surprised she has business depth. Surprised she's more than "just a hair stylist."
"They think, oh, just because I'm in the beauty industry, she's not really that smart," Sarai said. "I'm actually kind of very smart, but you know."
Yeah. We know.
This is essential work for women entrepreneurs building confidence in spaces where they're not expected.
What Success Actually Means
I asked Sarai what success feels like to her. What would make her stop and take a breath and say, "I did it"?
"I think for me, success would be building a whole empire brand on my own. Watching my kids grow up and reap the benefits of it, and I can just take a breath and watch them kind of take over." — Sarai Martinez
For women entrepreneurs, building confidence means defining success on your own terms.
Building Something Her Children Can Inherit
She envisions her daughter assisting her one day and her son handling her website. Creating jobs that weren't there before.
"It's like the best feeling, isn't it, though?" I said. "Every time we do payroll, I'm like yes."
Because that's what we do as women entrepreneurs. We create out of thin air. There's no business, then there's a business. We grow people. We build things that didn't exist before.
That's our actual superpower.
Building Confidence When You're Feeling Discouraged
Maybe you're going through a hard time right now. Feeling passed over. Working harder than others but not seeing results. Watching opportunities go to people with better connections.
Sarai has advice she's lived by for two decades: just keep going.
Chase Down the Fear
I asked her if that always feels true. Because listen, there are times I'm convinced I'm going to lose everything.
But for Sarai? It really does feel true.
"You have nothing to lose. What could be the worst scenario?" — Sarai Martinez
It's about chasing down the fears. Going all the way to the bottom. Ask yourself what would actually happen if everything burned to the ground.
And realizing it's never as catastrophic as fear makes it feel.
"That's worst case scenario," she said. "It's really not as bad as we think."
The Problem With Always Moving to the Next Thing
Sarai struggles with something many of us do. Savoring her successes.
"I do regret not kind of staying in the moment a little bit," she admitted. "I can't stay in the moment. I'll have an accomplishment. I'm like, all right, on to the next."
She's always thinking about how this achievement will get her to the next step. The turnaround is quick. She doesn't know how to take a moment and celebrate.
We're Conditioned to Produce, Not Celebrate
Listen, I get it. We're so conditioned to produce, produce, produce. We look down at the path day to day, and everything looks the same. We don't realize how far we've come until we stop and look behind us.
That's why I made her pause during our conversation. To acknowledge that landing those TV segments is a big deal. That building something her children can inherit matters. Creating jobs that didn't exist before is worth celebrating.
Success isn't just about the next milestone. It's about recognizing the path you've already walked.
A Day in the Life: Building Confidence as a Women Entrepreneur
When I asked Sarai to give me a day in her life, she laughed.
"This is so funny that you're bringing this up because I actually took one of my friends out with me a day in my life and like, godly almighty."
Two Days, Six Different Things
In two days, they went to a TV segment, a podcast interview, drove back home, had dinner, and then Sarai jumped in a car to drive to New Hampshire. Then she had to go to Nantucket for a wedding.
"That is the day," she said. "I'm on the go, and it's not the same day every day. That's why I call my brand name Sarai by Day. I'm literally dealing with the day as it comes."
That's entrepreneurship. It's not linear. It's not predictable. It requires enormous flexibility and resilience.
Beauty Wisdom You Actually Need
Before we wrapped up, I had to ask Sarai about the biggest mistakes she sees people make with beauty.
Her immediate answer? "Cutting their bangs."
Don't cut your own bangs, people. Just don't.
The Wedding Hair Mistake Everyone Makes
And if you're getting married? Don't wash your hair the day of. Or even the night before.
"Hair will do nothing," Sarai explained. "It's a nightmare for everyone involved. It's a nightmare for you. It's a nightmare for the hairdresser trying to get your hair to stay in place."
Your hair needs to be just a tiny bit dirty or it won't cooperate. Do it the day before the wedding, not the day of.
You heard it here first.
What This Conversation Is Really About
This episode isn't about hair tips or beauty routines.
It's about what happens when you stop waiting for permission and start creating your own opportunities.
It's about recognizing that the worst-case scenario is never as catastrophic as fear makes it feel.
It's about getting comfortable being uncomfortable.
For Women Entrepreneurs Facing Real Challenges
It's about showing up in spaces where you're not expected and staying even when it's awkward or hard.
For women entrepreneurs facing economic anxiety, funding challenges, confidence erosion, and increased competition—Sarai's story offers something real.
Your path doesn't have to look like anyone else's to get you where you want to go.
The doors don't have to open the traditional way for you to walk through them.
Sometimes the permission you're waiting for isn't coming. You have to give it to yourself.
Why Feeling Beautiful Actually Matters for Your Business
Remember what Sarai said about giving herself blowouts at 10 years old? About noticing how differently people treated her when she felt put together?
There's something there.
It's Not Vanity, It's Strategy
When we feel beautiful, we show up differently. We carry ourselves with more confidence. Our work improves. We take bigger risks. We stay in uncomfortable conversations longer.
This isn't vanity. It's not superficial. It actually matters. This matters for women entrepreneurs building confidence in high-stakes environments.
"When we feel really beautiful as women, we not only enjoy the day more, we're actually more productive, we do better work, and we connect with people on a deeper level." — Sarah Walton
Maybe it's time we stopped dismissing fashion, beauty, and self-care as frivolous. Maybe these things that help us feel confident in our own skin are actually tools that enable us to do our best work in the world.
She Built an Empire on This Truth
Sarai has built an entire empire on this truth. She helps people feel beautiful because she knows what happens when they do—they go out and do beautiful things.
The Lesson for Women Entrepreneurs Right Now
Building confidence as women entrepreneurs requires rejecting the narrative that closed doors mean you're not good enough.
If you're reading this and you're in the middle of building something difficult, here's what I want you to take from Sarai's story:
The Closed Doors Don't Mean What You Think They Mean
The closed doors don't mean you're not good enough. They mean you haven't found your door yet.
The people with better connections aren't more deserving. They just have different advantages. You have your own.
The Moments That Separate Empire Builders from Everyone Else
The moments when you feel like giving up? Those are the moments that separate the people who build empires from the people who don't.
Sarai spent 20 years showing up in rooms where she didn't belong. Now those rooms feel like home.
Your uncomfortable rooms today become your natural habitat tomorrow. But only if you keep showing up.
Listen to the Full Episode
Ready to hear the complete conversation? Click here to listen to Episode 309 of the Game On Girlfriend® podcast or click here to watch the full interview.
Sarai's story will remind you why you started your business in the first place—and give you the courage to keep going even when the path isn't clear.
Connect with Sarai Martinez
Want to follow Sarai's journey or work with her?
Website: saraibyday.com
Instagram: @saraibyday
You Might Also Enjoy
If you enjoyed this conversation about women entrepreneurs building confidence, you'll also love these episodes:
- Episode 153: Loneliness: The Truth About Entrepreneurship That No One Tells You About - If Sarai's story about showing up in uncomfortable rooms resonated with you, this episode explores the other side—the loneliness that can come with the entrepreneurial journey and how to build genuine connections that sustain you. Listen here
- Episode 50: The Power of Grit (and YES! You can learn it!) - Sarai kept going for 20 years despite setbacks and closed doors. This episode explores why grit is the number one predictor of success—more than IQ, passion, or access to resources—and how you can develop it. Listen here
- Episode 300: 300 Episodes: What I've Learned About Consistency, Confidence & Refusing to Quit - Just like Sarai showed up for 20 years building her business, this milestone episode celebrates the power of consistency and what happens when you refuse to quit on your dreams, even in the hardest seasons. Listen here
Share This
Know a woman entrepreneur who needs to hear this message? Share this post with her.
Sometimes we all need a reminder that we belong in rooms where we don't belong.
A Gift for You: 15 Minutes of Clarity
If you made it this far, Sarai's message landed with you. You're someone who's willing to show up even when it's uncomfortable. Who keeps going even when doors stay closed.
Here's the thing: you don't have to do this alone.
As a gift to listeners and readers of this episode, Sarah is offering complimentary 15-minute strategy sessions to help you identify exactly what's standing between you and the business you want to build.
This isn't a sales call. It's a genuine conversation about:
- What's actually holding you back (hint: it's probably not what you think)
- Whether your challenge is strategy, mindset, or both
- Your next right step forward
- If working with Sarah is a good fit for where you are right now
Claim this gift if:
- Sarai's story about belonging where you don't belong resonated deeply
- You're ready to stop watching from the sidelines
- You want honest guidance from someone who sees your potential
- You're willing to do the work if you know what work to do
Claim Your Free 15-Minute Clarity Call
Limited availability. Sarah personally conducts these calls and can only offer a small number each month.
About Sarah Walton
Sarah Walton is a business coach, podcast host, and mentor who helps women entrepreneurs build businesses they love. She's the creator of the Abundance Academy, Effortless Sales, and the Game On Girlfriend® podcast. Sarah's mission is to put more money in the hands of more women while teaching authentic, heart-centered business strategies.
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