All Things Tips! Accepting, Claiming, Taxes, & Salon Liability | Ashley Rivera | Sales Specialist + Host of Tippy Talks Podcast | Tippy

Robert Hughes: 00:00:00

Ashley Rivera is a 19 year industry veteran.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:03

She's a former hairstylist and now she's a sales specialist and podcast host with Tippi.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:08

Today we're going to hear all about the pros and cons of claiming tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:12

We're going to debate on whether or not you should be putting in the bank, why or why not.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:16

And we're going to learn about this thing called a tip credit.

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And we're going to learn a little bit about, like, how Tippy can help us in our business.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:24

Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:26

My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:28

And today I'm with Ashley Rivera.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:30

How are you doing today?

Robert Hughes: 00:00:30

Ashley?

Ashley Rivera: 00:00:31

Hi.

Ashley Rivera: 00:00:32

I'm so happy to be here.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:33

Thank you for making, taking the time just to give some, the audience some context.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:38

I met Ashley at Artist Palette Beauty Expo and she was a vendor.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:45

You were a vendor there representing Tippi.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:47

And I walked into the booth and I asked a little bit about what is Tippy and what do they do.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:53

And we engaged in this whole conversation about, you know, how, how to think about tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:00:59

And I don't think the conversations had enough, not at least as a standalone conversation.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:04

It's usually part of a conversation.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:06

So I'm looking, I'm very excited, looking forward to this because I know that to me this is huge.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:12

Like I try to talk to people about this topic, about their tips, and people like seem to have made the made up for mind on how they feel about it.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:22

So maybe we can give people some information, education and help people make the best decisions they possibly can.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:30

So let's start off with your former hairdresser.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:33

You still have your license.

Robert Hughes: 00:01:35

Tell us like, what, tell us like your high level, like, overview of how, what's your story?

Robert Hughes: 00:01:40

How'd you get to where you are, like where and where you're at now?

Ashley Rivera: 00:01:44

Yeah, awesome.

Ashley Rivera: 00:01:45

Well, yeah, 19 years in the industry and I love this industry so much.

Ashley Rivera: 00:01:50

I was at my previous job, a seven location salon and spa, for 18 of those years.

Ashley Rivera: 00:01:57

So I've grew up a lot in that company and learned a lot.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:01

I've met so many people.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:03

That's truly why I'm with Tippi today.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:06

For the first 11 years, I was behind the chair, so I come from the, the place where I know I have that experience.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:13

I get what it's like to be behind the chair and operate in a salon.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:17

And then I recruited for about eight years for all seven locations, all positions.

Ashley Rivera: 00:02:23

And I got to dive really deep into school, schools and with Tippy now that I have all of that experience and I'm pouring that into Tippy now and it's been truly amazing.

Robert Hughes: 00:02:34

Okay, cool.

Robert Hughes: 00:02:35

Awesome.

Robert Hughes: 00:02:35

So it's a hardware and software potentially for managing tips in the salon or shop.

Robert Hughes: 00:02:42

And so we can learn, we can, we can learn a little bit more about it, about Tippy a little late, a little later, but let's just dive in.

Robert Hughes: 00:02:53

You know, you working in that space base, you clearly would be what I would consider at least a subject matter expert is what they say.

Robert Hughes: 00:03:05

So let's first start off with tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:03:08

So like one, I guess actually I didn't mention this before we talked but like what is your position on no tip movement?

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:19

I, I don't love that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:22

I mean we got.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:24

So let's just, let's just kind of like dive into what that means.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:28

I mean we, we got into this industry because we get to walk in the door every day and make as much money as we want.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:33

Right.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:34

And like the sky's the limit and it's just that extra piece of the layer that connects you and that client together.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:42

It really is, it's the thank you, it's the gratitude.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:45

It's, it's so much more than just money.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:48

And it's also, it's been a part of our industry for so long.

Ashley Rivera: 00:03:51

I just can't imag being without it.

Robert Hughes: 00:03:54

Yeah, I was one of my, one of my buddies who's a salon owner.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:00

I'm pulling it up right now.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:01

He was, he sent me a screenshot and a link to an article and it was on.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:08

Oh, it wasn't an article, it was this.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:11

He took a picture of the.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:13

It's a msn.com so mainstream news and the title of the talk was find out how you're wasting money on tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:25

That should never be expected.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:26

This is really a hot topic because the COVID everyone was so generous and tipping everybody even at the checkout line at grocery stores.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:35

And so now everybody's like kind of burnout and like from tips and kind of annoyed and.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:41

But I will say like this message, this our thing, he sent me it.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:45

It did, it did talk about a bunch of different stuff.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:48

And then they got down to hair and they have a picture of a barber and it says no tip for the barber who only buzzes your hair.

Robert Hughes: 00:04:55

And they say a two minute buzz cut is not the same as a full on hair experience.

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They have barely broken a sweat or haven't even bothered to chit chat.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:07

So they're so you're off the hook.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:09

Let's be honest.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:10

The clippers did most of the work.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:12

Toss them a thanks.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:13

So I don't believe with the sense, I don't agree with the sentiment.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:16

I think it's pretty, pretty cold.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:19

And I think that that's a little bit of the conversation around tips from customers.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:24

But they did say if we don't talk to our customers and provide them a good experience, then they shouldn't tip us.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:32

And I guess I would not disagree with that.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:34

So I mean, ultimately, I think at the end of the day, hairdressers, at least hairdressers.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:40

I mean, I would like to let a barber talk speak for themselves, but as a hairstylist, I feel like my tips are safe.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:47

And so why would I ever, ever say you don't have to tip me?

Robert Hughes: 00:05:51

I mean, 40.

Robert Hughes: 00:05:53

If you make 50%, somewhere around close to 40% of your income is tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:06:00

So like getting rid of your tips is like walking away from 40% of your income.

Robert Hughes: 00:06:04

It's crazy, insane.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:05

Yeah, absolutely.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:07

I, I can't agree with you more.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:08

our point, I think yes, their: 2020

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:17

Everybody wanted the piece of something.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:19

Right.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:19

And even going to get coffee in the drive thru were asked to tip.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:24

You know, we're not in the game of nonsense.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:27

You know, we're just not.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:28

We're, we're here because this has been for years, decades of.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:33

This is the, this is the norm in our industry.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:36

Right.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:36

So we're here to elevate that and just kind of help that along and become even better.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:43

So.

Ashley Rivera: 00:06:43

Yeah, yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:06:45

And you know, I, there is a piece to this conversation that I feel like it's a safe space to bring up an observation.

Robert Hughes: 00:06:54

It's like a macro observation.

Robert Hughes: 00:06:56

Like it's not specific to this conversation.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:00

It's kind of like across the board.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:02

It does seem like, you know, social media is so heavily influential on the way people view the world.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:10

I mean we saw with the election, you know, the polarization, it got really intense.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:15

And, and if we didn't have social media would have been as intense.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:20

I, I say no, it wouldn't.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:21

Like, and I stand by that.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:23

Like, we can have that debate all day, but I do think that echo chambers created by algorithms serve us the information we want to see and like tell us what we want to hear.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:35

That's one piece of it.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:36

But the other piece of it is if there's a narrative going around, we're all being heavily influenced by that narrative and then maybe we think that we need to act on it and if there's like an anti tipping narrative going around and then like maybe somebody who's like a social media power user, you know, they can't get away from this conversation, so they, maybe it makes sense to them.

Robert Hughes: 00:07:58

And, and I'm here to say, get out of your echo chamber and take that money.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:04

What are you doing?

Robert Hughes: 00:08:06

Sure.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:07

Or like, great, get, get back into work.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:10

Yeah, and get back into work and give these people the best experience they've had.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:15

You know, they can go see anyone, really.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:17

I mean, they can go down the street, see anyone.

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:19

But what makes you different?

Ashley Rivera: 00:08:21

And that's, that's the piece you got to stay with.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:24

Yeah, well, and I, I, I have to put a disclaimer on here because there are a number of folks and a whole conversation piece about what, you know, figuring out what you charge.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:35

And we're not talking about how you charge right now, but it kind of is very much backing up against it.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:42

But how you charge like people's.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:45

The argument against tips is one of them.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:48

There's multiple arguments, but one of the arguments against tips is people, they don't want the customer deciding if they're worth it or not.

Robert Hughes: 00:08:56

And my, and the response that I like that I think is the best to that is, well, then charge what you want to make and then take the extra money.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:07

You still don't get rid of tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:09

Like a logic is, it defies logic.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:13

Okay, I'm on a social.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:14

I'm gonna digress here.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:16

Okay.

Ashley Rivera: 00:09:17

I agree with you.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:18

Pros and cons of claiming tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:20

So like, okay, we've had the conversation about tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:23

You know, if you don't want to take tips, then you could just turn this conversation off and go and wait for next, next week.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:30

Next week's episode.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:31

But if you're currently accepting tips, or maybe you're wondering, maybe I should be accepting tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:36

We, we shall continue.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:38

All right.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:40

Claiming tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:41

So once we get the tips, obviously if we use a system like Tippy or some sort of system where they're, where there's creating like a paper trail, then you're claiming the tips already.

Robert Hughes: 00:09:54

And if you're, if you're using some sort of electronic form of tipping and you're not claiming it, and I think you're insane.

Robert Hughes: 00:10:02

Unless the government does make good.

Robert Hughes: 00:10:04

Do you know any, have you heard anything on the government, on the promise?

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:08

Heard.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:09

Yeah, no, I haven't heard anything yet.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:11

But it would be sort of amazing.

Robert Hughes: 00:10:14

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:10:14

Like if we didn't have to claim our tips anymore based on like the government said so.

Robert Hughes: 00:10:19

But in the meantime, claiming your tips, pros and cons.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:23

Yeah.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:24

Well, let's.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:25

Let's go back to: 2020

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:26

I think that was a huge eye opener.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:29

Right.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:29

Like we, we were shut down, we were out of work.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:33

And as hairstylists, I don't.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:35

Or beauty professional in our industry, I don't know if we've ever been in any sort of situation where we've had to plan ahead and be prepared for something like this.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:45

Of course, everyone tells us to and things like that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:48

But this was knock you on the, on your ground, you know, and a huge eye opener when you go and you are out of.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:56

Out of work to.

Ashley Rivera: 00:10:57

To claim unemployment.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:00

Unfortunately, people saw so much less.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:03

And it was a shame because you are, you're worth so much, you work so hard.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:10

And that again, is another layer of what you do every day.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:14

And that just was a huge eye opener.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:17

That was a big year for a lot of people to really take, take charge and say, you know what, we're not doing this anymore.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:26

We're better than that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:11:27

And really level up and start doing it the right way.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:31

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:32

And, you know, that's interesting.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:33

So if you're a stylist or barber work, W2 Commission, I feel like that message was for you for sure.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:43

And I guess like anybody who.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:46

So, okay, that is one thing.

Robert Hughes: 00:11:47

So it helps, it helps ensure that when you file for unemployment, if you're a W2 employee, that you get the max, because I think there's a max on unemployment usually, but you can push up the amount of money that you make that you make by claiming your tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:05

I didn't even think about.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:07

I didn't even think about that.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:08

That's.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:08

That's good.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:09

Okay, so how about you?

Robert Hughes: 00:12:11

Got anything else for us?

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:12

So, yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:12:14

What's next?

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:14

Yeah, well, that's one layer, but another piece is, is planning for your future investments, investing in yourself.

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:22

You know, we started going into schools and because I had that experience of going in and recruiting at schools, it starts there.

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:32

It starts at that beginning stage of knowing when you're going into the interview what to ask, how are you claiming tips, how are you going to support my financial future?

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:41

And that is a huge piece.

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:43

And I love that we're able to give them that element and that layer of it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:12:48

And I think it's really important so they can go and buy a house or invest in something and, and start building of a foundation for themselves, a solid foundation.

Robert Hughes: 00:13:00

Can you, can you open that up?

Robert Hughes: 00:13:02

I.

Robert Hughes: 00:13:03

One of the people that I listen to on a podcast, he Likes to say, double click that.

Robert Hughes: 00:13:08

Can we double click that on that and open that up?

Robert Hughes: 00:13:11

So what do you mean?

Robert Hughes: 00:13:12

Like, why is claiming tips have anything to do with buying a house?

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:16

Great, because when you go and you say, I need to buy this, this piece of property, or I need a loan for this, you have to show proof of income.

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:25

And how are you going to do that?

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:26

You're going to do it because you have proof of income and you're claiming it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:29

It's there.

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:30

The data is there.

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:32

You can't, you can't unfortunately go in and say, here's $5,000 in cash, you know, and that's just not the way it works.

Ashley Rivera: 00:13:40

So unfortunately, we need to start really advocating for ourselves and saying, like, that this is really important to me.

Robert Hughes: 00:13:49

Yeah, the, the important piece here is dti, or debt to income ratio.

Robert Hughes: 00:13:53

If you calculate your monthly and then subtract, take away 51%, I think is the H.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:03

Someone said it was higher, but let's just say 50%, just to be conservative.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:07

So take half of what you make for your monthly income, subtract the amount you pay in any credit card debt or loans or student debt, and then whatever you.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:17

That number you have left over is your buying power.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:20

And so, like, with that buying power, you.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:24

You can increase that buying power by claiming your tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:27

So every dollar that you, that you claim, you can use 50 cents of every dollar that you claim towards buying property or acquiring assets or buying, I guess, buying a car.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:41

I.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:43

I mean, a car.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:44

We don't talk about buying cars here.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:45

Because.

Ashley Rivera: 00:14:45

No, I was just gonna say investments.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:47

Unless you're like a collector, and even then there's a high risk.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:52

This is not financial advice, but I would never look at a car as an investment anyway.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:56

Okay, so that, so we got.

Robert Hughes: 00:14:58

So, like, your borrowing power is directly connected to your income, and your income is impacted by what you can prove.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:05

Because before: 2008

Robert Hughes: 00:15:11

You could walk in to be like, I'm a millionaire.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:14

You know, it's like, give me a loan and I got no money, though.

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:19

Oh, and that got us so far.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:22

Yeah, exactly.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:23

It caused their whole world to collapse.

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:26

Yeah, for sure.

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:27

Yeah, no, yeah, absolutely.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:30

Okay, so we got.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:32

Unemployment is higher because you're proving income, and unemployment is based on your income.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:38

Oh, there's another one.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:40

I wonder if you're gonna.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:40

What you're gonna say next.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:41

But anyway, the second one is, is your debt to income ratio, your borrowing power.

Robert Hughes: 00:15:49

Any other reasons why we should be claiming tips?

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:54

Look, I'm not, I'm.

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:55

We're not here.

Ashley Rivera: 00:15:56

Like, I think we all can say, like, we don't want anyone to feel like they have to do something or, you know, something that they don't want to do within their business.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:04

But the, the thing is, is we've.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:07

This has always been a thing.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:08

It's been a scarce thing.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:10

It's been a free, like a, a fear.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:12

What do I do with this, this income?

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:15

And I think it really is cut and dry, you know, especially if you go on the website, it's right there for you.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:23

And to make it easy, to have the tools to make it easy is important.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:28

So we want ease for salon owners, for employees, for, for everyone that's in this.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:35

And, and to make it easier to bring these tools in for your company.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:38

I think it just, it helps you, it continues to grow you and it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:42

And it also helps your employees too.

Robert Hughes: 00:16:46

So the thing that comes to my mind is Social Security when you retire.

Ashley Rivera: 00:16:51

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:16:53

I mean if my math is anywhere close to right, then that's a significant more money that you will be able to get a percentage of.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:03

That's if you believe that Social Security will be around later on.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:06

I don't know about that, but I.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:09

Those are the three areas that I can think of is your unemployment, because that's income based.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:13

Your borrowing power, that's income based.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:15

And your retirement from the government, because that's income based as well.

Robert Hughes: 00:17:22

What are the cons of not claiming your tips?

Robert Hughes: 00:17:26

Let's talk about the side, the cons that we have not mentioned.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:33

Well, you could get audited, you know, so I think, I think there's definitely pros and cons to everything.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:41

Right.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:41

So when you're, when you're looking at bringing something into your business or doing a different practice or doing something different, you certainly want to start there.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:51

But again, I'll go back to.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:53

It's very cut and dry.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:55

It is what it is.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:56

There's no one's changing that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:17:59

So I think the best way you can save money in other ways would be something that you would want to look at and continue to do, claiming them.

Ashley Rivera: 00:18:10

Because what's going to happen is you're going to get audited or the stylist may be claiming them.

Ashley Rivera: 00:18:16

You don't know that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:18:17

And your numbers are off and it doesn't match.

Ashley Rivera: 00:18:21

So when that happens, it kind of puts you, puts a red flag there.

Ashley Rivera: 00:18:25

And, and that's kind of starts why you would be audited.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:29

Okay, so now.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:31

So I would.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:34

We're.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:34

I'm going to shift over to the salon owner because you were definitely just talking to the salon owner.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:39

Yes, that was definitely the salon owner.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:42

So for the, but real quick, the person who is not claiming their tips, the risk of an audit, can you just tell us what that is?

Robert Hughes: 00:18:53

What is that risk?

Robert Hughes: 00:18:55

Like what is the downside of getting audited?

Robert Hughes: 00:18:57

And just in the.

Robert Hughes: 00:18:58

An IRS discovering that you were not.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:02

Claiming income, you're going to have to owe money.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:06

You're going to have to owe a lot of money.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:08

And it's just a really, it's so sad when that happens because it, it becomes thousands.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:15

It really can, it can become thousands.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:18

And it's, it's, when it happens, it's just like, oh no, that just.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:22

They weren't educated enough and they didn't have the tools and it's, it, it can be really detrimental.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:30

It's, it's kind of like a experience.

Ashley Rivera: 00:19:32

I don't, I wish, I don't wish upon anybody.

Robert Hughes: 00:19:34

Yeah, totally.

Robert Hughes: 00:19:36

And then, and then the piece about the, that you just mentioned was a piece that I'm not really familiar with myself.

Robert Hughes: 00:19:47

So if, if you're a salon or shop owner, you have W2 employees and they're not claiming the tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:19:55

And, and, and you're not, you're not asking them.

Robert Hughes: 00:20:01

Because I had the last salon I was a W2 employee at, they would give you this form every month, I think, and you were supposed to fill it out.

Robert Hughes: 00:20:11

But I don't know what the repercussions are if I didn't fill it out with them, but then I claimed it on my income.

Robert Hughes: 00:20:18

So you were just alluding to what happens if as a business owner, a salon or owner or a W2 employee tip owner that has tipped and tip based employees or whatever.

Robert Hughes: 00:20:30

I don't want to use legal terms here, but yeah, the salon owner that's watching, the shop owner that's watching that, that has a W2.

Robert Hughes: 00:20:38

Can you explain what you were just talking about?

Robert Hughes: 00:20:41

Because I don't think understand the nuances.

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:44

Yeah, sure.

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:44

I mean it, I think you mean if, if I was a stylist and I was bringing that to my accountant, it just, everything goes back to the business.

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:54

Right?

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:55

The business that you work at and everything should match.

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:58

Right?

Ashley Rivera: 00:20:59

Would I, would I bring my, my W2 at the end of the year and I go, and I go to my accountant and I claim my taxes, my not my income should match what my, my owner is saying what my income is.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:13

If it doesn't, then I think it just starts this.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:16

Okay, well it starts like A red flag.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:18

And then.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:19

And then they kind of start to look into why that would be.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:23

And there's a risk for the business owner.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:26

Yes.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:27

If their employees aren't claiming their tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:30

So, like, what is the burden on the business owner?

Robert Hughes: 00:21:33

Like, is it the business owner's responsibility?

Robert Hughes: 00:21:36

Like, are they liable?

Robert Hughes: 00:21:37

Like, do you.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:39

Can you speak to that?

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:40

Sure.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:41

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:41

It.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:42

It literally says it on the.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:43

On the IRS website.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:45

We honestly don't get involved with any of that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:48

But.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:49

But we.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:51

We just.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:51

We just support it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:53

You're supposed to claim them on your.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:54

On the payroll.

Ashley Rivera: 00:21:56

So basically.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:57

So the business is.

Robert Hughes: 00:21:58

It is the business's responsibility to make income calculating tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:05

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:05

That's news.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:06

That's so crazy that I.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:09

Someone told me that, like, maybe two years ago, and I was like, that's ridiculous.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:14

I've never heard that before.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:16

Yeah, I mean, basically what it is is just recording that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:20

That extra layer.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:21

You're just recording what that was.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:24

Whether it was cash or whether it was through our system or.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:29

Or through your POS system, you just.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:31

You still just have that lined item.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:33

That is crazy because it's like, I don't see how it's the business owner's business.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:39

If my customer slides me to 20, I think that's my business.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:44

Well, I mean, we can talk about the.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:47

The.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:48

The turning our.

Ashley Rivera: 00:22:49

Our heads to some things, right?

Robert Hughes: 00:22:52

Yeah, but not.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:52

If it's not.

Robert Hughes: 00:22:53

If I'm the shop owner and it's not and I'm gonna get in trouble, then I need to be up all up in my people's business.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:00

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but that's just.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:03

That just happens.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:04

I mean, fear is a very good motivator, you know?

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:06

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:10

Let'S go back.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:10

Let's go to something.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:12

So, so on this conversation, there was this thing called a.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:16

Some sort of tip credit.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:18

Salon restaurants have it.

Robert Hughes: 00:23:20

Could you explain what it is and the process that we were in and the current status?

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:27

Yes.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:27

So you could.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:29

If you were claiming the.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:30

Just on payroll, the.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:32

The tip was going on the check, and you could, at the end of the year, get a credit for doing that and be basically being reimbursed on.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:42

On that piece.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:43

We, as the industry, beauty industry, were trying to do the same thing.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:49

And we're.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:50

We were definitely getting somewhere, but ultimately, I mean, really took it far.

Ashley Rivera: 00:23:57

And ultimately we're told, like, this is going to happen.

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:01

So it's frustrating.

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:04

I feel like a lot of things in our industry get kind of pushed to the side a little bit, but it's because People have a passion or have a purpose about it, and they, they want to continue this push and, you know, continue elevating our, our industry.

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:20

So I think if, if you have that, that want and that need, you need to get out there and start advocating for it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:27

But yeah, I mean, if it's, if it's happening in other industries, I think that it should absolutely happen with ours.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:34

So would, would that require an act of Congress or can the IRS regulator do that?

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:40

You know, I don't know that question, but I believe that it would be at like a federal level.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:47

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:48

Interesting.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:49

Well, I know the PBA was working on it and I have the, the page pulled up right here.

Ashley Rivera: 00:24:55

That's right.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:58

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:24:59

So, yeah, so it's like, you know, right now I'm working with the PBA or at least helping them and meet people.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:08

And we, I, we were able to set up a meeting with this, with city council on my council member here in D.C.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:14

to talk about the compact license, which is an issue they're working on.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:18

And they were also working on this tax tip fairness thing where we would have the same credit as the salons.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:26

And I'm really sad to hear that it's not working.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:29

And I guess it goes to show that business owners out there, if you're like, if you want this, then you definitely need to tell your representative.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:39

Unfortunately, the, the, there's.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:42

I don't know how much energy is behind, behind trying to get this done now, considering that we're being told that it won't happen.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:49

But just another kind of reminder that being actively engaged in your local, state and federal politics is important for your business.

Robert Hughes: 00:25:59

If you're in business and you're ignoring what's happening, then you're not doing business.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:04

Right.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:04

That's here to hear.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:06

Right here, sorry to say.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:09

Hot take.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:09

Anyway, so moving on.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:11

So what.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:12

So we talked about.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:15

Oh, okay, so like, claiming your tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:26:17

Does that mean putting it in the bank?

Robert Hughes: 00:26:19

And like, why would you put them in the bank or why would you not put them in the bank?

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:24

Oh, gosh.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:26

I think you, I think you have a, a good perspective on this.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:30

I know that we talked about it before, but taking a piece and investing it into something that can be better or more money and be more proactive in that, in that space.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:42

I mean, I couldn't agree with you more, but I do think there could be more education behind it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:48

So, you know, I think people are a little nervous about it just because they just don't know much about it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:55

And I think, you know, getting involved in In.

Ashley Rivera: 00:26:58

In more talks.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:00

Like, that is super important.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:01

I myself am a little like, I know, I know some about it and of course, like, my husband's very involved in that, but there's a piece of me that wants to know more about that as well.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:11

But I do think it's important for people to know that it is a huge chunk of your income.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:16

So if you can make it grow for you and work for you, then that is where you should be focusing on for sure.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:23

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:24

And I mean, even.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:25

I guess as you're.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:26

As like this is all being talked about.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:29

My first.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:30

The thought that comes to my head is the reason why we have bank accounts is, you know, if you keep all your money in your mattress and your house burns down, you know, that kind of thing, you know, you lose all your money.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:42

That's true.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:43

Yeah, absolutely.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:45

Yeah.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:46

And Cat.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:46

And again, cash goes back to, like, it only takes you so far.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:50

You know, it just.

Ashley Rivera: 00:27:52

There has to be some sort of, like, trail and reason and meaning behind it.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:57

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:57

And the.

Robert Hughes: 00:27:58

In the assets, based on my research and my studies, the assets that tend to help people gain wealth are owning stocks and real estate.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:10

I mean, those are the two most common wealth builders.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:15

And you.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:15

And you can't buy either with cash.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:18

I mean, in theory, you could buy a house with cash, but that's like, if that's on, that sounds like a huge risk.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:27

Like, because that's all public data.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:29

Like, if you buy that with unclaimed money and you get audited, then you're going to look like a criminal.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:34

Like, people are going to think you're going to drug dealer or trafficker or something like that.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:39

So I don't know if anybody is listening or watching that that has bought their house with unclaimed cash.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:46

I'd love to hear from you.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:47

You probably will not tell me who you are, but I would love to have that debate if somebody out there wants to have that one.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:54

Do you have a take on that?

Ashley Rivera: 00:28:57

No, but I would love to hear the story.

Robert Hughes: 00:28:59

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:00

Really?

Robert Hughes: 00:29:01

Okay, cool.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:02

Well, I mean, I think this is good.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:03

It was all things tipped and a couple of hot takes and some education, and I think this is good.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:11

So bottom line is it sounds like if you want to change your life, then you should claim your income so that you can.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:20

You can have the opportunity to do with it what folks do who build wealth, you know?

Ashley Rivera: 00:29:28

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:30

That was.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:31

I said that without giving advice.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:33

You know, financial advice is, like, tricky.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:35

You know, you got to be careful for sure.

Ashley Rivera: 00:29:38

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:39

All right, well, everybody out there.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:41

You've.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:42

You've heard it here.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:43

You heard about.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:44

You heard about tips, why you should claim them, the pros and cons.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:47

And so tell us, tell us, tell us how we could find you what, what it is that you're talking about.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:55

You mentioned Tippy a little bit.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:57

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:57

Littered throughout there.

Robert Hughes: 00:29:58

But why don't you take a moment for, as we wrap it up, to give people the.

Robert Hughes: 00:30:05

The why and the what and the how.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:07

Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited to tell you about it.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:10

So Tippie is a software that was born in a salon and it was because we were going cashless and we needed a way to still provide the tips every night to the, to the service professional walking out the door.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:26

So Tippie is a kiosk that you can use at the front desk.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:30

We're integrated with some POS systems as well.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:33

So you can tip.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:34

You can go to the kiosk and tip.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:36

Your service professional directly instantly goes to them.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:41

And they even know your name.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:43

They know how much you left them.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:44

And then they also have like a little picture next to the percentages that suggested percentages based off of the service.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:54

So it's just again, bringing back that personalization.

Ashley Rivera: 00:30:56

The reason why people tip you is because they loved you.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:00

They just loved that experience and they want to be able to do it easy.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:04

Professional.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:06

You know, the, the customer doesn't have to have an app either, so that's kind of takes away that awkward talk.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:13

And it's really nice to be able to use something like this.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:17

And then for the, for the owner, it gives them all of that data, so we have a dashboard for them to pull reports.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:23

We really try to make it super easy and bring back, like, the ease to being able to take that data and do something with the.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:32

The service professional also has an app that they can look at their income for the day.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:38

They can filter it out for a week, month, year.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:41

They can see everything.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:43

So it's really nice to be able to track some, track all of that.

Robert Hughes: 00:31:46

Nice.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:47

Awesome.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:48

Yeah.

Robert Hughes: 00:31:49

How can people find you?

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:51

Yeah, awesome.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:51

Well, I'm on social media.

Ashley Rivera: 00:31:55

I have.

Robert Hughes: 00:31:57

I don't know what's your handle?

Robert Hughes: 00:32:00

Your, like, the best way to reach you is through a DM or email.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:04

Yeah, I mean, you can go to Tippy, meet tippy.com.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:07

you can find a little link for a demo and it goes right to me.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:12

We can talk, we can chat.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:14

We'll give you guys a free year to try the kiosk out.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:18

So no strings attached.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:20

We don't have contracts or anything like that.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:22

So whole year for free.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:25

Just try it, see if it's a good fit for you.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:28

Nice.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:29

Awesome.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:29

Well, thank you for taking the time, and this was a great opportunity to talk about tips and only tips.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:37

And this is great.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:39

So thank you so much.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:41

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:42

Absolutely.

Robert Hughes: 00:32:44

Take care and I'll talk to you later.

Ashley Rivera: 00:32:46

Thanks.