Renew Magazine - July/August 2008 - (Page 47)

Rgrace probert Acomoclitic Laser and Wax Studio Lakewood, CO I was still in massage school when I read a great book, Business Mastery: A Guide for Creating a Fulﬁlling, Thriving Business and Keeping It Successful, by Cherie Sohnen-Moe. I also had written a business plan as part of our school curriculum. So after graduation when my school’s career counselor mentioned that a ﬁtness center in nearby Littleton was looking to rent space to a massage therapist, that’s all it took for me to know where I was supposed to be. The ﬁtness staﬀ already had been telling members that they were hiring a massage therapist, so clients were lining up for my new business: Body, Mind and Soul Massage. I focused on providing really good service and had to hire a second therapist to handle the overﬂow. After two-and-a-half years, I left to open my own spa, where I had 16 employees and oﬀered every service except hair. I also continued contract work I’d been doing at two other spas. At the three diﬀerent spas, I observed that the Denver area seemed be experiencing a heightened demand for waxing, particularly for people who could do a Brazilian wax really well and make the client feel comfortable during this service. So I opened my current studio and went back to being a solo esthetician for hair removal by laser and waxing. I do bikini and Brazilian waxes; about 80 percent of my business is Brazilian. Although I spend only 50 percent of my time doing laser removal, it generates 75 percent of my income because it’s a quicker, higher-priced service than waxing. In Colorado, estheticians are permitted to use the Aesthera laser. The other service I specialize in is bleaching intimate areas of skin that have darkened. I’m really interested in people. I’ve read a lot of books about diﬀerent personality types and how to make people feel special, and I think I’ve found a way to work with almost every personality. The most important aspect is trust. When you massage, you’re touching the client’s body. With my new business, I’m touching the most personal areas. My menu is fun for clients. It shows pictures of various bikini and Brazilian options, which lets my shyer clients just point to one and say, “I’ll have that.” Just about every day I get a client who has never before had my services, particularly the bleaching service. I know that California and Florida have had this business for years, but because I have so many ﬁrst-timers, I really feel as if I’m getting in on the ground ﬂoor of a trend in Denver. When I launched my studio, I did extensive networking. I belonged to Denver Social, Grape Expectations, Linkedin and others; I went to every networking event I had time for. I also used craigslist.com to generate wordof-mouth advertising. After about a year my revenue was high enough to place ads in local newspapers and online directories. Recently I hired a website optimization specialist, and I expect the Internet to drive a lot of business. I now have an assistant who works half-days answering the phone, ﬁling, running errands, doing the ordering and so forth. An accountant handles my ﬁnances. I have someone who has her own spray-tanning business come in a few days a week. We do some marketing together and cross-sell clients, and she pays me a fee to use my studio. eat, sleep and my “Imy personal lifetalkpart business; is of the same mix. I’ve met so many people through what I do, and I hang out with my clients. —Grace Probert This is really good money, and I have a choice of so many directions to follow. I want to sell waxing kits, and I’m creating self-waxing videos as well as videos demonstrating how to wax another person, such as a girl who wants to wax her boyfriend’s back. But I’ve had to switch around my brain to remind myself to continue to develop income that does not depend on my working hours. I eat, sleep and talk my business; my personal life is part of the same mix. I’ve met so many people through what I do, and I hang out with my clients. On July 3, I’m hosting an event to inspire other estheticians to become self-employed. Fear is the only thing that gets in the way of an esthetician’s potential. You’ll always have thoughts of fear, but just push through that. Having a business is a mental, even spiritual thing to do. It takes eﬀort, determination, persistence and a love of what you’re doing but, if you have that spark and desire, anyone can do it. n ” july/august 2008 renewprofessional.com 47 http://craigslist.com http://renewprofessional.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Renew Magazine - July/August 2008

Renew- July/August 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Renew Face/Body/Mind/Spirit Reflect Editor's Picks Your Business Spa Spotlight Decor Ultimate Business Boosters Role Models Secrets of the Solo Esthetician Green Science Solutions Inside Ingredients

Renew Magazine - July/August 2008

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