I brought one of my best friends, Dr. Betsy Saltzman, on Basecoat because sometimes you need an actual psychologist to confirm that the internet has, in fact, made us all a little insane.

We get into social media, dating, self-esteem, Instagram vs. reality, dopamine hits, Snap scores, location sharing, why nobody approaches anyone in public anymore, and the absolute psychological warfare of watching someone post on Instagram when they haven’t texted you back.

We also discuss my newest dating boundary:

If we’re boyfriend/girlfriend, in love and doing this for real… I’m gonna need the hard post. 😂

Because apparently this is where we are as a society.

Betsy brings the brains. I bring several questionable personal examples.

Episode 3 of Basecoat is out now. 💅

Meg is back, and apparently this episode is what happens when two women sit down to talk about hair and somehow end up discussing Area 51, dating, marriage, baby names, long nails, Dolly Parton, politics, Columbus, and whether or not we should become ex-wives someday.

Normal Base Coat shit.

But underneath all of the chaos, we actually get into some real stuff.

Meg and I talk about what it means to be insanely loyal in a dating world that sometimes feels allergic to commitment, knowing exactly who you are without feeling like you need to soften yourself for somebody else, and why finding the right person is less about changing yourself and more about finding someone who actually gets it.

We also get into her career, why she continues to choose Columbus even when people constantly ask why she’s still here, and the life her clients and this city have allowed her to build. Because apparently you can travel the world, do cool shit, build an incredible career AND still come home to Ohio. Who knew.

Then somehow we get very emotional about proposals. Meg talks about what it felt like to be the person getting down on one knee and realizing that before you ever ask someone else to say yes, you’ve already said yes yourself. Which honestly stopped me in my tracks a little bit.

There’s also talk of future children, engagement rings, surprise weddings, my daughter Coco, questionable Halloween opinions, hypothetical three-legged dogs and an upcoming project Meg refuses to tell us enough about.

So basically: we cover absolutely nothing and everything at the same time.

Welcome back to Base Coat.

I've known Meg Harpe for years and somehow still never really know what the hell she’s doing.

She’ll disappear, randomly pop up in another country, show up to dinner with a pack of hot women, cut some hair, smoke a cigarette and then casually drop one of the most profound things you’ve heard all week.

So obviously I needed her on Basecoat.

Meg and I get into a LOT in this one.

She talks about growing up an athlete, coming out young, moving to Florida her senior year and going from feeling completely confident in who she was to eating lunch alone in a bathroom. Then, because apparently one life wasn’t enough, she walked away from soccer scholarships, joined the Army at 17, broke her neck, got medically discharged and eventually found her way into the hair industry.

Normal trajectory.

We also get into why her phone basically lives on Do Not Disturb, why she’s intentionally mysterious on social media, dating, her ex-fiancée, loving someone privately, and why she refuses to build a relationship around somebody’s potential.

And then we get into the shit that I think anyone in the beauty industry will understand immediately.

When someone sits in your chair, it is almost never just hair. Or nails. Or tattoos. Or whatever service you're doing.

People tell us EVERYTHING.

Pregnancies. Affairs. Divorces. Insecurities. Career changes. Family drama. The best day of their life. The worst day of their life.

And then they leave and your next client walks in 30 seconds later.

Meg sees 17–21 people a day. I tattoo people for hours at a time. We talk about what it means to absorb that much human energy, still show up as yourself, and somehow not lose your damn mind.

We also somehow cover men being in their soft era, Korean skincare, Dolly Parton, hot friends, tequila, dating hairstylists, Instagram stalking and the realization that none of us have technically ever seen our own face.

That one fucked me up a little.

This episode is funny, a little chaotic and then randomly gets deep as hell — which is pretty much exactly what happens anytime Meg and I hang out.

Welcome back to Basecoat.

People love to say beauty work is “fun” until they’re asking for a last minute slot, questioning your prices, or acting like your time is optional. We get honest about the biggest misconceptions around beauty professionals and why the client relationship can feel intimate while still having a hard line underneath it. We talk about respect, money, and that weird social tension where you’re treated like “family” right up until you’re reminded you’re a service provider.

Then we lighten it up with a real talk rundown of beauty trends that don’t always age well, from throwback highlight eras to tattoo trends that circle back around, plus the bigger conversation about permanent choices in an industry built on reinvention. We also touch on plastic surgery and body trends, and why “trendy” can be a risky way to make decisions about your appearance.

The back half turns into boundary school. We share our rules for handling drama when a spouse or partner is involved, why the person in the middle needs to manage their own relationships, and how scapegoating your partner creates mess you can’t clean up later. We also dig into trust, choosing the right friends for advice, taking hard feedback, and staying professional when someone leaves your salon to do their own thing.

If you’ve ever felt the push and pull between being personable and being pressured, this one will hit. Subscribe, share it with a friend in the beauty industry, and leave a review with the boundary you wish more people understood.

For the first episode of Base Coat, I brought in one of my besties, Nonia, because apparently I wanted to risk getting canceled immediately.

We’re talking about how an Instagram DM, two daughters named Coco and one four-hour phone call from a Sonic drive-thru turned us into fast friends. But naturally, the conversation goes everywhere.

We get into the real shit happening behind the scenes in the beauty industry: luxury services when everything costs a million dollars, $2,600 worth of tiny salon waters, why new stylists need more than a TikTok education and how we’re all somehow expected to run businesses, do payroll and become full-time content creators at the same time.

We’re also digging through each other’s For You pages, discussing beauty trends, branding, salon friendships and the absolute rats of pop culture.

Basically, it’s two beauty girls yapping about business, friendship, beauty, celebrities and all the things we would normally talk about in the chair.

No appointment needed. Welcome to Base Coat.

The most honest conversations I’ve ever had didn’t happen under perfect lighting or with a microphone in someone’s face. They happened in the chair while I’m doing nails, while someone’s getting a new tattoo, while we’re both busy enough to stop performing and just tell the truth. That’s why I made Base Coat, a beauty podcast built around the good stuff, the hard stuff, the funny stuff, and all the little details that make us feel less alone.

I’m Lisa Suarez: salon owner, mom to a teenager, and a lifelong collector of beauty industry stories. I want Base Coat to feel like you just walked into your favorite spot and everyone actually gets you. We’ll talk beauty trends without the nonsense, break down what’s popping off on TikTok, pull in wild Reddit stories, and yes, we’ll do a little celebrity gossip when it’s deserved. But we’re also going to talk about real decisions: picking the right salon, building your confidence as a new professional, and figuring out what to do when your relationship feels off.

The key is that this isn’t a one-way show. I’m building a community where your questions and your hot takes shape what we talk about next, because the best advice has always been personal. If you want an “elder baddie sister” in your corner, you’re in the right place.

Subscribe to Base Coat, share it with a friend who lives for chair talk, and leave a review if it feels like home. Then DM @basecoatpod on Instagram with what you want advice on next.