Building Glo Up Salon: From basement startup to $70k months - Nicole Farsalas

Alan Li (00:01) Welcome to opening soon, a podcast where we interview retail founders about how they started and run their brick and mortar businesses. I'm your host, Alan Li, I run Signs and Mirrors where we make beautiful signs and furniture for retail stores. I also help run FotoLab a self-portrait studio with locations in New York city and Houston.

Alan Li (00:21) Today's guest Nicole is the founder of Glo Up, a beauty brand and spray tan studio based in Chicago. Nicole started her career in hospitality working in restaurants and nightclubs before she was 21, before discovering spray tanning while living in Boston. What began as a side hustle in her basement in 2019 has since grown into a thriving storefront, product line, and multi-service beauty hub. In this episode, we dive into how Nicole grew Glo Up from just $417 in her first month

to over $70,000 a month in revenue, survived COVID by launching our own spray tan product line, and dealt with major setbacks, both professional and personal. This is a must listen for anyone interested in building a brick and mortar business in the beauty and wellness space.

Alan Li (01:07) Nicole, thanks so much for joining the Opening Soon podcast.

Nicole (01:09) Thanks for having me.

Alan Li (01:11) Awesome. So really excited to dive into Glo Up and what you've built in Chicago. But before we dive in, could you give me a little bit more background about yourself and how you got here today?

Nicole (01:21) Yep, so I'm 35. I love beauty and I worked in hospitality my whole life, but I knew that beauty was calling my name. So once I got a little bit older, I decided to go to aesthetic school. I wasn't quite sure what niche I wanted to get into. I was living in Boston and I was waiting to take my state boards and I started working at a spray tan salon and I fell in love with it. Worked there for a

learned everything I know today, moved back to Chicago and started a spray tan business basically in my basement. I went back into hospitality just a little bit to kind of like meet people again and they would see my makeup, my hair, my skin and they would ask me about you know that. Then as time went by I got bigger and bigger and I kind of created this whole brand. So it started as just something in my basement and then it turned into like products.

Alan Li (02:04) Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (02:17) skincare line, events, videos, branding, social media, yeah. Kind of like snowballed, now I have a storefront, so yeah. Yeah.

Alan Li (02:22) Wow.

Okay, well, we are really excited to dive into all the different aspects

of the business, but tell me a little bit more about the hospitality. What did that entail and what were you doing in Boston?

Nicole (02:35) Yeah, so I started working at 15. My first job was at Dairy Queen. Yeah, so I had to get a worker's permit. So I've always been a hustler. So my mom had to sign off so I could work child labor. But yeah.

Alan Li (02:40) wow.

Okay.

Yeah, I think rules were a little bit different back

then too.

Nicole (02:52) Yeah,

yeah. So I come from a very blue collar, middle class family. So if you wanted extra stuff, like you had to work. And I played sports, so I was very dedicated to like a goal, right? So I started there. And then from there, I got into working in retail. And then I thought it was like not enough money. And I started working at a nightclub while I was in high school working the door. So from there, I saw, know...

Alan Li (03:14) Hmm.

And is this like

working the door as in you're the one letting people in?

Nicole (03:20) I was, they were doing the IDs and I was 17 taking the money for the register. And I wasn't even old enough to be there. But it was different times. The door guy knew and the bartender knew, but I presented myself older. I didn't drink. I just stayed in the front and I did my business and then I would go back home. So from there, because I was such a hard worker and I didn't drink, I didn't get involved in drama because I was too young. All these other bar owners and restauranteurs

Alan Li (03:26) wow. Yeah.

Yeah.

Nicole (03:49) hiring me. They're like, she's professional, makes a lot of money, and she doesn't give us problems. So from there I started working at all these really high end restaurants, downtown Chicago and hotels as I got older. Yeah, so my background is hospitality and working with like celebs, athletes, politicians, and like everyday people. Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Li (03:50) Mmm.

I see.

Yeah, that's exciting. And then

you also said in Boston, that's when you got introduced to spray tans and being in the Northeast, you probably don't get much sun most of the year. ⁓ Tell me about your first experience with spray tans and what made you fall in love.

Nicole (04:16) Yep. And... Correct? Yeah.

Yeah, so I lived out there.

And never really knew what a spray tan was. Maybe I heard like back in the day what that could be. But my teacher was like, hey, I work at a spray tan salon. It's really, really busy. I had no idea. But I did notice in set of school, a lot of the people there are really fair skin. Like you said, it's I mean, just like Chicago winter, a lot of the year, you know, not a lot of sun and people are lot of professionals. And what I've noticed people that have professional jobs in higher education, they know

Alan Li (04:48) Yeah.

Nicole (04:55) that the sun, you know, is not the best for the face, you know, it ages you. So a lot of those people have really good disposable income because they have very good jobs. It's very expensive to live. So I started working at the salon and they were coming in every week because they had events and they had weddings and bachelorette parties. And I couldn't believe how big of an industry it was, even though I didn't really know too much about it. ⁓

Alan Li (05:20) So repeat clients were coming in, some were

coming on a weekly basis.

Nicole (05:24) Yeah,

so they come in every Thursday same time See you next week and I'm talking like this place was probably the size of like a third of my salon It was in the north end and it was it wasn't fancy It was just like like I would be spraying and I would be touching the other girl behind me spring and other it was just separated by curtains like it was so Like hodgepodge, but the line was out the door. I couldn't believe it. Yeah, so I Saw the business model. I'm like, this is incredible

Alan Li (05:29) Wow.

my gosh.

Wow.

Nicole (05:52) the people are happy, it's 15 minutes. At first I was scared, but when I got to it, I thought it was an amazing process. You're tan, it looks natural, it doesn't smell, it doesn't streak, it's incredible. So then I started working with a chemist from there that they used. And I really got into it like even deeper and realized that he is the chemist for really big companies and works in Hollywood for the last like 30 years. So...

Alan Li (06:16) Hmm. And when you say chemist,

⁓ what does that mean specifically? Does that mean the color of the tan that you're getting or something else?

Nicole (06:22) Yeah.

Yeah, so spray tanning is not all equal. So that's why you see some people look orange or some people smell. This chemist has been creating formula for like really big companies all over the world and he just so happened to make it for this owner and she knew him and started this relationship like directly. So he has formulated like clean, organic, paraben free, vegan, doesn't smell, doesn't streak, just very high end. He actually

Alan Li (06:39) Mm-hmm.

Nicole (06:50) was the first one to create mobile spray tanning. So because we had that solution, that machine, that technique, our spray tans were very different than the surrounding areas, if that makes sense. It was just better technology, higher end, professional, medical grade ingredients, because he's essentially the guy that started spray tanning the machine, everything. Yeah.

Alan Li (07:02) Mmm.

Interesting, but I guess,

you know, if he's creating, this formula for tanning and spray tanning, is he only selling to specific clients and he's not making it accessible for everyone?

Nicole (07:27) So different formulas, right? So he made a formula for this big company. can't say the name because there was an NDA, but you know, they're a formula for him, for them. And they're like a worldwide company, a formula for her, a formula for people in Utah, know, like based off of whatever you want. if you want more aloe vera or coconut, he can do that, you know? But it's kind of rare to work with a chemist. Like most people, they go on Amazon or just on a website

Alan Li (07:29) Mm-hmm.

I see.

Nicole (07:56) and they use like Norvell or Astralie or some of these other brands that are kind of more common and they're good but just not as high end. Yeah, it's a little bit more expensive. Yeah.

Alan Li (08:05) I see. So you had to work with them to get a

much more high-end formula for your clients that had a better skin feel, smell. ⁓

Nicole (08:16) comes

off differently, like it's not so thick. It really is like pristine, you know?

Alan Li (08:19) Gotcha.

got you.

That makes sense. And when you said you went to esthetician school or aesthetic school, ⁓ how many years was that? And what was your plan going in? it seemed like spray tanning was something you discovered, but you might've planned to do something else.

Nicole (08:27) Thank

No.

Yeah,

I did. Yeah, so I originally was going to nursing school when I was in Chicago. At the time I met someone and I got engaged and I was moving around the country for his job. So I kept changing schools and they're like, you're never going to finish nursing school because it's different qualifications in each state. So I'm like, you know what, I only wanted to do nursing because I wanted to do aesthetics. Like I wanted to do injecting or botox you know, all that. So that kind of was like not my dream was knocked down. So I'm

Alan Li (08:59) Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Nicole (09:03) When I moved to Boston, I'm going to do a aesthetic School and I'm just going to do facials, organic, know, like kind of stuff that I can do to manipulate the skin more like facials waxing, lymphatic, where I can change the skin in like a healthy way, work with people with acne or wrinkles, you know, something like along those lines.

Alan Li (09:22) Yeah.

Okay. And so you're in a school, you discover spray tans. What's the next step? How do you get to Chicago? And then how do you build up your book of business?

Nicole (09:33) Yeah.

So, and also I didn't answer your question. I started school is like maybe a year and I ended up working at my school. So I didn't miss a day. I was so into it. I was one of the oldest people in my class. I sat in front and I didn't miss any days. So I got perfect attendance. And then they asked me to work the student clinic because I never worked in a salon. So I wanted to manage the books and figure out the business side and inventory and like how much things cost. So once I got that under my.

Alan Li (09:43) Ha

Mm.

Nicole (10:01) and I was working at the spray tan salon, I felt comfortable when I came back to Chicago for my, it was for my partner's job. So I moved back and to be close to family. I was like, I'm just gonna start. I know the basics. I reached out to the chemist. I got the same machine, the same setup, told him, hey, you don't know me. I know you. I'm using your product. I love it. Can we have a partnership? He's like, yes, I'll help you. This is what you need. So we became like, you know, like he was a mentor. He's much older.

And he's helped so many businesses and he's more like retired so he's just trying to help people like me You know that have this big dream So yeah, so I started my basement and I was shamelessly promoting spray tanning when everyone's like what the heck is that I? Created the name glo up and it on Instagram it looked like gloop so people were like messaging me like did you get hacked this is so stupid This was in

Alan Li (10:36) Yeah.

⁓ yeah. And what year is this?

Nicole (10:56) 18 or 2019? Yes, February 2019. The first sprays I was doing for the Super Bowl. So my first month I was I only made like $417 and I only had like 12 clients and I was like this is good like see how this goes and I'll just give you reference like the most clients we have like in a month is like $1,100 you know so it's like crazy.

Alan Li (10:58) 2019 you start in your basement. You're promoting it. Okay

Yeah.

1100

you have 1100 now wow

Nicole (11:25) Yeah, like in May,

like usually in May we'll have that. And this is years later, but it's ⁓ to see, how much it's grown, you know? It's really insane. but go ahead.

Alan Li (11:34) Yeah. And how much

were you charging for a spray tan in your basement and how much does a spray tan cost now?

Nicole (11:42) Yeah, so I started at I think like 30, but I would give away so many services and I would work like I would do it in my garage, like not my garage, my basement. was like a whole setup. set up like a little salon and then I would go to people's house. So like let's say a group wants it at 10 p.m. in the city in a weird neighborhood. I would go like I just said yes to everyone, you know. So I was very shameless. I'm like I'm the spraights.

Alan Li (12:04) wow.

Nicole (12:09) tan

girl, I'm gonna teach you about spray tans, I'm not gonna stop talking about it, I'm gonna like drill it into your head because people were so like against it, they're like ugh, you know? So I really changed my environment in Chicago. Now after I started, there's like probably like 50 to 60 girls that do what I do that before there was like only one or two.

Alan Li (12:31) Yeah.

And why were people against it in the beginning and how did you make them more comfortable?

Nicole (12:36) So I had to do a lot of education. I'm not sure where you're located, but I know in LA, okay, New York, okay. So New York, Boston, LA, Miami. Lots of TV, film, celebs, events, very high end things. So you guys get the best fashion, you get the best skincare, the best procedures first. It slowly works its way into the middle of the country. We're Midwest still. We have different values. Like we're not doing, you know, runway.

Alan Li (12:41) I'm in New York.

Mm.

Nicole (13:04) and all that kind of stuff. So people were getting cheaper products. don't see the celebs all the time with like, they don't realize everyone on TV has spray tan, everyone has the high end makeup and the Botox. So it's just a different mindset out here. So they think it's gonna be like snooki from New Jersey. Like that's they think.

Alan Li (13:17) Yeah.

Yeah, from Jersey Shore.

Nicole (13:26) yeah, so that's what they think. So I had to change everyone's mind, know, education and showing like before and after, come in, it doesn't smell, ask your husband. And the husbands would literally say, my wife does not smell after coming to you. Like, I don't know what you do, but it's working. Yeah.

Alan Li (13:45) Huh, and this is

largely because of the nice formula that you created with this chemist.

Nicole (13:50) Yep, it's the formula and the technique. So people get streaks and we coat the whole body a certain way and it's definitely the formula and the machines that we're using.

Alan Li (13:53) I see.

Mm-hmm,

and you said you would also go to different people's places. So this machine is portable

Nicole (14:06) Mm-hmm.

Yes, it's portable. I had the heavier ones at first, but now we've kind of like, you kind of figure out what works and you know, what's the best.

Alan Li (14:17) Okay,

that makes sense. So you're hustling, it's February 2019. Tell me what happens over the next year and when did you decide to officially open your physical location?

Nicole (14:24) Mwah.

Yep. So February, 2019, what happened after that COVID, right? 2020. So I literally signed a lease for a little salon suite that I was very nervous about because I'm like, oh my God, I never had to pay rent and now I do. And it's a lot for me. Like, can I, can I afford it? You know, because I was still growing and then COVID happened. I'm like, oh my God, I just bought all the furniture and I spend all this money. Like what's going to happen?

Alan Li (14:48) Yeah.

When did you

sign this new lease?

Nicole (14:58) I signed it, think, I don't know, I signed it right before. And then like.

Alan Li (15:02) Like January, February

2020. ⁓ wow.

Nicole (15:03) Yeah, yeah, around that time, like

everything started happening like March, April, like where it was like really shut down. I'm like, my God, like, no. So what I ended up doing was my chemist sent me these spray bottles of the self tanner, the same solution we use in salon and it's organic, paraben free, vegan, no air, no ethanol. So it's really clean. You can eat it. It sprays the same upside down. So easy to use. So I never used it. And I gave it to one of my clients who works

at Neiman Marcus and she's like Nicole that product is amazing while everyone's at home and everyone's watching their their phones why don't you start selling this product online to sustain like your income so I created a website in a week and I put all these pack these bottles maybe 30 influencers in Chicago I DM them I said you don't know me I have this business I'm trying to you know get this into your

Alan Li (15:37) Hmm.

Yeah. Smart.

Nicole (16:00) guys's hands. You guys talk about it you like it. If you don't, don't talk about it. I would say probably 90 % of the people, some of them just didn't open it, but everyone that tried it loved it and they were all doing free promo for me because they were like for small business. They were bored. They liked the product. So they started posting this stuff and I started getting a ton of sales. Like the most sales I've ever gotten online still to this day. And so it kind of like yeah during COVID so it made

Alan Li (16:24) Wow, during COVID.

Nicole (16:28) me feel like, you're not done. Like, you can also now sell this product, which before I was like, no, I'm not going to sell products. I'm just going to do sprays. Like, I don't want to be pushy. No. Now you have something. People like your product. People believe in what you have to say and your expertise. And so once the world opened back up, these people saw this product. They've been using my product at home for months, but they didn't know who I was. And they're like, now I'm invited to weddings, birthdays, bat mitzvahs.

Alan Li (16:38) Yeah.

Mmm.

Nicole (16:56) I'm gonna come to your salon and get sprayed by you too. So from there it went crazy. It went from like 12 clients a month, like a month to like 70 by myself, like in a little salon suite.

Alan Li (16:59) Wow.

By yourself meaning you're doing every spray.

Nicole (17:12) Every

spray. I'm answering the phones, doing the emails, booking the appointments, doing the, you know, the payments and whatever. And the reviews and all the things. Cleaning, I mean, it's really messy business. So I was working like 7 a.m. to like 9 p.m. So, and the phones are going off the hook. I quit my serving job. I like, it was just chaos. So I'm like, think, yeah, I like, I think I need to hire an assistant. So that's when I hired my first assistant and slowly think.

Alan Li (17:28) ⁓ wow.

I bet.

Nicole (17:41) started kind of going from there and then yeah so that's that was just the salon suite.

Alan Li (17:43) I say. ⁓

And how were the product sales? Like how much were you able to sell on a monthly basis during the height of COVID?

Nicole (17:51) I mean,

honestly, probably like 15,000, which is not a lot to some people, but our product is like, it sells for $40. So it was a lot for not, no marketing, not paying any influencers, literally just organic.

Alan Li (18:00) wow.

Just organic.

Nicole (18:09) Yeah, I'm like, I wish they can still do that organically. Like, people were just obsessed with it and they were pre-paying for packages, pre-buying spray tans, even though they never met me. Like, it was really a magical time, I would say. Yeah.

Alan Li (18:09) That's great.

Mm-hmm.

That's really cool. That's really cool. And then for your salon suite,

how big was the space, your first space, and how much was rent?

Nicole (18:29) So

my rent was $13.75 and that was in 2020. I think it was it was like basically like a walk-in closet size with a sink. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, I think it's like 110 square feet. Uh-huh. Yeah.

Alan Li (18:40) ⁓ so really small, like 100 square feet, something like that. Okay, wow.

And you were doing all the sprays and then you hired an assistant and what would he or she do?

Nicole (18:53) Yep.

She was 16 years old and she was in pageant. So I sponsored her for her stuff and she would answer the phones. And then she eventually started being like a greeter. Like we didn't, we didn't really have a front desk. It was just like a sliding glass window and you just come right in. But I would have people there and they're changing and whatever. So we had a common space where she would greet them, seat them, check them in, check them out. So I could just get them in and out. And it just went like that. So.

Alan Li (19:22) Mm-hmm.

Nicole (19:24) That's kind of what her

Alan Li (19:24) Mm.

Nicole (19:25) job was, make sure everyone's happy, tell them the aftercare instructions. If they get lost, answer the phone for them, like we're in the back or whatever. So she was like the buffer, you know?

Alan Li (19:35) Gotcha. Yeah. And,

⁓ you know, for this suite, that's a hundred square feet. You mentioned there's a common area. describe the layout a bit for me.

Nicole (19:44) Yeah,

so it was next to like a breakfast restaurant and a gym was upstairs. So big strip mall, like a big group of salon suites. I was the only spray tanner, but there was mostly hair. Some was like one massage therapist, kind of like a circle almost. And each one was like a hundred square feet. Sometimes people knock down the middle and they would have two combined so they could get more clients. But yeah, it was just like a very normal salon suite that you see like now they're kind of all.

Alan Li (19:58) Mmm.

I see.

Nicole (20:11) over.

Alan Li (20:12) Yeah.

Okay. So, you you started off with just around 10 people in your basement. Now you're getting 70 clients and made your first hire. What happens next?

Nicole (20:19) Yeah.

Yeah, so from there then, you know, I was married. had dogs. I had a lot of responsibility. I was building a house. So I had my personal life too. ⁓ So I was like, I think I need to hire another person to help me spray. So I slowly hired that another assistant. People would come and go because what I learned in our industry is beauty people do come and go like they start off really strong and then they have a baby or they have to go back

Alan Li (20:31) Yeah.

Hmm

Nicole (20:51) to school or you know, sometimes they just can't handle. mean, it's a tough business. mean, 50 people on average or 60 people on average a day. That's like a really intense like spraying, not drinking a lot of water, no breaks for lunch. Like you kind of just take it as it comes, you know? So not everyone can last. And on top of that, it's really catty and we live in Chicago and people don't really like to see, you know,

Alan Li (21:04) Yeah.

Yeah.

Nicole (21:18) At the time I was married to a very successful finance guy. had a nice house, dogs, like two French Bulldogs. on social media people are like, ⁓ and now you have a successful business. I don't think so. I learned a lot. I learned right away, like you think people are gonna be happy for you, but you know, we started getting people like making fake appointments or not showing or making bad reviews if they like,

Alan Li (21:32) Mmm.

Nicole (21:46) didn't like you in high school or really crazy stuff and I started taking it all in and I'm like whoa like I'm just trying to like build a brand and do something I love and there's a lot of people watching and you know it was very it was a lot so that

Alan Li (21:48) my gosh.

Hmm.

How did you deal

with that?

Nicole (22:05) Honestly, had like I had definitely had a therapist and I would talk about it with other business owners and I realized that they went through the same thing. They're like, oh yeah, you're going to learn most people you think that are going to support you like friends, family. They're probably not going to be your supporters. It's going to be strangers that support you the most. So I really had to learn thick skin. I'm very naive and I'm very like, oh, I want everyone to do well. And, know, like, like everything so

Alan Li (22:09) Yeah.

Nicole (22:33) innocent and then I was like whoa like I had people getting a job with me to just learn my technique my skill my knowledge my solution and also get access to my clients to copy and to open like down the street or to take my staff or like really intense like it was tough like I realized I don't really have a lot of friends in this world yeah

Alan Li (22:45) Copy.

Yeah.

Huh,

how long did this period of difficulty happen for?

Nicole (23:03) I think, I mean, it was pretty intense. It was pretty instant once things started rolling. But I would say probably like a good two to three years. I had to leave my space because I was so busy and some of the other people in the space were jealous. So they were like, her assistant's in our way or there's just too many people, like too many people coming and going. And they were like trying to make it seem like

Alan Li (23:20) Yeah.

Nicole (23:28) she's loitering. I'm like, wait, what? Like, my service is 15 minutes, yours is three hours. So like, you're gonna see people coming and going. But like, what's the problem with that? You know? So yeah, so I dealt with it for a long time. And then I now I've changed who I am now I teach other people because I do spray tan certifications. I add that to my course, like, hey, just so you know, this is a part of business. People are gonna copy you. People are gonna

Alan Li (23:32) Yeah.

Hmm.

Mm.

Nicole (23:56) to come after you. People are going to be so not nice to you and you're so innocent you're like I'm just trying to like make money for my husband and I you know like to have kids and maybe be a stay-at-home mom one day. Like I didn't I wasn't coming for anyone I wasn't copying anyone I didn't want to take anyone down but I realized when you have a good product or you know like you're good with people like people don't like it. So yeah.

Alan Li (24:05) Yeah. Yeah.

Hmm.

And this was so, you know, you started in 2020 and then you said for two to three years as you were getting more successful, you're developing more haters, even amongst your peers in the same studio space and then also from people online. And then you had to move out to a new location. Is that correct?

Nicole (24:30) Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, we were so busy that I was, I try to work with my landlord. I'm like, Hey, can I knock down this wall and pay double rent? Like, I love this space. I want to stay here, but he's like, I already signed with someone else. no. ⁓ so I'm like, okay, that's fine. So it was, it was challenging to find a storefront because it was COVID businesses and you know, where I'm at, it's a suburb. So big companies only complex malls. It's not like mom and pop. So you have to have a lot of money, a lot of staff.

Alan Li (24:53) Yeah.

Nicole (25:10) Establishment they're like who's this girl like you've been in business for two years like we don't really care, you know, so I had to really I had to put my house as collateral To sign my lease my husband who's never been a part of my job. Now. He's my ex-husband He's never been a part of my business He had to sign my lease with me like we had to do a guarantee of like a hundred thousand dollars and All this stuff just to sign a lease like you know

Alan Li (25:32) Wow.

So tell

me a bit more about this new space. like, you know, where is it? How big is it? How much did it cost? Because it must be a lot if you're having to put up, you know, your house.

Nicole (25:47) Yeah, honestly, it's not even that much. So it's 1200 square feet.

so the company that owned at the time, it was just like a big hedge fund that owned it. And they wanted me to, you know, have the financials, which I had. They wanted, at the time I had a house that I just built, it was, you know, worth like about 2 million. So we put that as collateral. my ex husband, he was on the lease. So was I. And we both had great credit. So like we really had to like,

Alan Li (25:56) Mm.

Nicole (26:17) show. When I did see the spaces, I'll just point this out there, I would pull up and some of the other people I would meet that did have like more mom and pop shops, they're like, is that your husband's car? Like, like they couldn't believe that a woman was like working her tail off and like opening business. And then they would say stuff like, well, let's talk to your husband and your dad to see if you could afford this. And I'm like, what era?

Alan Li (26:34) no.

⁓ man.

Nicole (26:44) Am I living it? Like I couldn't believe my ears. So when I got this place, I'm like, okay, whatever. I'm used to all the nonsense. So I showed them like the style because they were worried. They're like, well, spray tans, like what is it going to look like? Like what's your style? So was like, okay, well, I just built this house. So it looks like this. And I'm like mimicking this vibe. And it was very girly in here. So I made it super girly. This used to be a vet, like an animal hospital.

Alan Li (26:46) That's crazy.

Mm-hmm.

Nicole (27:12) ⁓

got it, it was in shambles, I elevated it. My rent at the time was like $37.50. And then I think I put with my like, literally with cash, like 100K into it the first year. So was like a major, yeah, major like renovation. At the time it was COVID, so everything was really expensive. Like super expensive to do anything because all the people were working.

Alan Li (27:28) into the renovations and

Nicole (27:40) working on everything else and supplies were expensive. So I definitely overpaid. But that was the name of the game. And so we got started and it was it was definitely a struggle. mean, it was such a big increase in, you know, what I was used to and I had to be there all day every day. And it's different when you have a storefront. People expect a certain like elevated experience. You're not just

this little girl in a little room right like they understand that more storefront where I'm at I'm in Oakbrook so we have one of the most beautiful malls very high-end right across the street a hundred thousand cars past the street that I'm on so very busy we're surrounded by very affluent areas you know so people really expect like four seasons service but they don't necessarily want to pay that but they

Alan Li (28:08) Yeah.

Wow.

Nicole (28:34) It's

funny. But when you answer the phone, like if you're open on Mondays, you better be there from nine till 10 or whatever. So it was a lot. It was very stressful, I will say. But it was worth it.

Alan Li (28:46) Yeah.

And what time was this during COVID? Was this 2022, 2023 or?

Nicole (28:51) I think 2022.

Yeah, 2022. Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Li (28:53) In 2022, okay. So

you open up the space, you spend a hundred thousand out of your own pocket to renovate the space. How is the reception now? Does it open to fully booked days or what happens?

Nicole (28:59) Yeah.

Yeah. Yes.

We have done another renovation since we just kept expanding. So at the time I had two rooms, now I have four for just spray tanning. I have a space in the middle where I rent out to hairstylists. So I didn't just do sprays here anymore. I do hair and makeup for weddings. I do hair and makeup for events, TV, whatever. I rent out four chairs to hairstylists and they do dye, cut, perms, all that.

I two rooms. I have one room behind me and that's an aesthetics room. So we do body sculpting, waxing, facials. I rent that room out and then we have like a laundry room, break room, podcast room. So we really like expanded in the beginning was just sprays and then two rooms. And then, you know, with the times and what people want, we offer like kids spa parties. We do events where businesses come in and sell their products.

Alan Li (29:52) Yeah. Wow.

Hmm.

Nicole (30:07) Now

we do permanent jewelry. Like we do so many different services, like kind of like all in one. So it's kind of more of like a communal event, not just spray tan. So it's really good. Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Li (30:20) That's really cool. And this is all under the sort of glo up brand.

This is your space and it started off with two and now there's four spray tan rooms, but then you brought four chairs for hair and lashes and makeup and okay. So how many people or how many employees are in the space at any given point in time?

Nicole (30:32) going to go up here.

So kind of depends. Certain days are slower. So like Monday, Tuesday, I don't know, one to two could be in here, a couple of hairstylists. But then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that's when most of the staff. So maybe like five to six. And then we'll have, I mean, our appointments are 15 minutes long. So we are, we have four rooms going every 15 minutes. And then we'll have people waiting, then people in the hair area, couple of facials, and people just stop by because they want to hang out.

and we have coffee and we sell product and I just like to talk to my people, you know? So it could be really busy or could be kind of quiet. It just depends on what's going on. Now we have the permanent jewelry so people just want to come in and get like a bracelet really quick with their daughter or with their best friend. So it really just depends.

Alan Li (31:16) Yeah.

Yeah, and ⁓ I know that you mentioned for the hair and makeup, you're renting those out to other people. So those are not your own employees, but those are people renting the chair space. Is that correct?

Nicole (31:41) Yep.

Yeah, and we help them so they rent from us. Sometimes like one of the girls she'll do some stuff, but it just depends on who's working for us at the time. I have a lot of people that don't work in the salon, but we have a whole team that do hair and makeup on-site for weddings. So on the weekends in the summer and like early fall, we'll be like the peninsula or we'll be in Wisconsin at like 5 a.m. doing hair and makeup. So we don't necessarily need the space.

Alan Li (32:03) Yeah.

Nicole (32:11) do the preview for the bride like months prior but day of we'll be getting all those ladies ready or we'll get that group of ladies in for sprays on Wednesday and then we'll see them on Saturday and do their hair and makeup yeah well those are more like 1099 employees yeah

Alan Li (32:15) I see.

On site. Gotcha. ⁓

Makes sense.

It seems like from when you started in your basement with just 10 people to now, and you mentioned that there was 1100, you know, sprays per month and probably more people doing hair and makeup. Overall, how much can glo up bring in each month?

Nicole (32:39) Yeah.

I mean, it kind of depends. Sometimes like in the past it was like $68,000, $70,000, you know, a month, which is insane. And it's seasonal, right? Like we'll have like three months like that and then we'll have, you know, when it's slow. For us, spring is really insane. Like March, April, May, insane. May is always my craziest month. That's the like $1,100. You know, that's, it's always been crazy. Then June, July, August, like $500.

Alan Li (32:54) Wow.

Yeah.

Nicole (33:16) to 700 people and then kind of you know the winter kind of depends holidays you know and then it slows down like January, February so some months can be like 25 you know it just it kind of flows so I I've had it for a while six years in total so I know the way right and I and I always try to teach my new staff I'm like you guys I know you're tired like we

Alan Li (33:30) Hmm.

Hahaha

Nicole (33:45) We've extended our hours when we didn't have all the rooms to get everyone in for like homecoming prom to like 11 p.m. And they're like, we're so tired. like, I know, but next week when it's dead, you guys are going to be complaining about money. So just trust me. I'm going to buy you guys pizza. I'm going to feed you. You're going to have waters. It's going be fun. I've had like photo booths come in, DJs on those crazy days just to make it fun for like the people that are coming in and for my staff because it's like feast your famine, right? Business is like.

Alan Li (34:06) Yeah.

Yeah.

Nicole (34:15) and then it's like, or like it just goes normal. My staff is like, wait, it's so dead. I'm like, you guys, it's not really dead. We're just used to like psychotic. You know what I mean?

Alan Li (34:16) huh. Yup.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

How has your time changed in terms of what you spend your time on in the beginning to now? Because in the beginning you're doing sprays, but what is a typical day like for you?

Nicole (34:38) I mean, honestly, my day is crazy. I now do the trainings. So I teach other people how to start their own spray tan business. I do the certifications. I wholesale our products and our formula to other businesses. So I am now taking, go up more to a bigger scale. I'm trying to find locations to expand possible business partners. So I'm working on scaling.

Alan Li (34:56) Mmm.

Nicole (35:06) Every day, one, I'm working on our online presence, because I've had people in the past and I like doing it myself. I don't want to keep wasting money on things that just don't really have a return and it's not my vision. So I'm working more on the creative side. I'm doing stuff like being on podcasts, starting my own, finding things that I'm interested in that I'm like, I think this is the next trend. I think this is something we should kind of get into, you know, like business development.

Alan Li (35:28) Hmm.

Nicole (35:33) now we're trying to get our products into big retail Can I fulfill those orders so working with my chemist? Changing our product the labels the way that it looks on the shelf like doing stuff like that That's what I'm doing on top of training new people because all my kids are going to college So I had really good staff, but they're literally ones going to Spain one's going to nursing school So now I'm like now I have to curate these new

Alan Li (35:50) Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (36:01) new

girls, teach them our way and make sure that they stay. So that's like my day to day, like just work on the business, not so much hands on like today I did makeup in the morning, ran to a business meeting, came back, doing the podcast, now doing a video shoot somewhere else. So just kind of all over, you know?

Alan Li (36:19) Yeah.

That's

really interesting. And I know for ⁓ a lot of brick and mortar owners, the typical way to think about growing the business is, ⁓ I have to open up another location or a few more locations. But I think you've also found a way where just using this one location, you've been able to wholesale your products to retailers, sell it online, sell your method to other tanning salons, ⁓ host events at your studio, do offsite. ⁓

Nicole (36:40) Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Li (36:50) how do you manage all those different pieces or how do you think about, know, because there's probably five different business lines under the glo up umbrella.

Nicole (36:58) Yeah, I honestly think that I'm kind of insane. I think you have to be a little insane. I do.

I feel like you have to have little bit of ADHD to like have these ideas and kind of it just kind of like works. Like I have like a really I have to be honest, I always find really good assistants and I have all these things in my brain really organized and I operate day to day. I shoot things out like like I'm like we have the podcast. My assistant was doing my hair. I'm throwing out my makeup. I'm like set up the camera. Do this, do that. And then after this, now I'm going to

Alan Li (37:08) Yeah.

Mm.

Nicole (37:34) the next thing. I don't think and maybe I'm different. don't think like so far out. I'm like we need to figure out the task at hand. Obviously things are always planned. But like okay this is due today. Let's work on that. Lots of check lists. I work with a lot of attorneys. I work with a lot of people that help me with business, accountants. Like we have a good team. So I feel like that's how I'm able to get a lot done.

And then honestly, I just I think my brain just operates differently than other people Like I don't know how to it to be honest and maybe the people that watch us they are the same Maybe they're not you know

Alan Li (38:06) Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Well,

I mean, guess to be an entrepreneur, you do have to be a little bit crazy ⁓ to step away from the comfortableness of a stable job and health insurance and all that.

Nicole (38:18) Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I think they call it Dululu. You have to have a little Dululu. Yeah.

Alan Li (38:27) Yeah, a little delude.

For people that are interested, in, starting a brick and mortar business in the beauty and aesthetic space, what advice would you have for them?

Nicole (38:38) Well this kind of goes into the last question and this one together. I think one, believing in yourself.

and having a good team and being able to delegate. I think that if you really, really want to do well, you're going to have to learn how to give tasks and jobs and let it go to someone else. Because like I just said, I have all these things in my mind. I have to put it down and delegate it. Like, OK, you have to call this person. Send this note to that person. Let's finish this deal. You know what I mean? So I think that's a big one. And I noticed a lot of people, they

They're like, I don't want to have all that. I just want to worry about myself, which is fine. Do that. But as long as you believe in yourself, like, OK, you know that you only can manage yourself. But I know I can manage people. It's very hard. It's the hardest part of my job. But I know I could do it because I'm a natural born leader and I want to do it. gives me like it does something for me. So maybe find what you're passionate about. Figure out your why. Like, are you doing this because you want to stay home with your family or doing this

Alan Li (39:21) Mm-hmm.

Nicole (39:43) to grow and to help others.

Nicole (39:45) just really believe, like believe in yourself and believe in your mission. If you don't believe in it, who's going to believe in it? Right. So I feel like those are like major things. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. I'm really not. Just really have a good product and really stand behind it. And I think education, like if you do hair extensions, educate people why they should be getting yours or, you know, if you want to stay home with your family and your kids and you're working just to do that, do it.

with grace like love that you don't have to have a storefront you don't have to have 20 employees like just do do whatever you do best right that's what I think

Alan Li (40:22) I like that. I like that.

I know that you focus more on the day to day and executing there, but what are your plans over the next, call it three to five years? And what are some of your goals?

Nicole (40:33) Yeah, so honestly, I would love to open another location. I'm trying to figure out exactly where I am going to be moving part time to a warmer climate, either Florida or Arizona. I think probably Florida. It's always been my goal. I have a lot of personal things that were bringing me down there. So I want to see like right now I'm kind of meeting with different investors, different possible partners to see like what it's going to look like,

my goal is to ultimately one day maybe franchise a glo-up kind of like how Drybar was or waxing in the city. I really like that model but at the same time a lot of them don't exist anymore or you know I don't want things to just go away. I want it to be sustainable but I also want my products to be in everyone's hands. I believe in the brand and I believe in the product so I'm working on kind of being separate like the salons are

separate from the product, you know? And how does that look? So I'm kind of figuring that out myself. I was married, now I'm not. I also am like, I don't want to kill myself and one day be like, man, I didn't really get to enjoy all of this. You know, like I have all this cool business and whatever, but like, did I get to enjoy the process? So I'm trying to do things where if it brings me joy,

Alan Li (41:44) Yeah.

Yeah.

Nicole (41:53) so it's gonna be sustainable and can maybe pay for my retirement. Can I sell it? I would love to sell this one day, but I have to get there. So that's kind of what I'm working on for the next three to five years.

Alan Li (42:04) Yeah, that makes a lot

of sense. And I also just wanted to give you some space if you wanted to talk about sort of on the personal side of maybe running such a demanding business and how that may or may not affect relationships. Yeah, we'd love to give you space if you'd like.

Nicole (42:11) Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty open about it on my social media. I went through a really like traumatizing divorce, unfortunately. This might help someone watching, but what happened with me was I was with someone that was really successful and I was like kind of like their person that like made everything nice for them and just yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to them. And then I was like, OK, but it's my turn to like do something. And when it became my turn, it was like kind of like a battle. So

Alan Li (42:47) Mm.

Nicole (42:47) I feel like I started shining and it wasn't gonna fly in my relationship. So it definitely did suffer and I will say if I didn't have my business and the income and the knowledge that I learned in business and kind of the things that I got taken advantage or I wasn't used to working with lawyers and accountants and this until I did with business, I probably wouldn't be able to finish my divorce the way I did.

I would have been taken advantage. I mean, I really went through the wringer and I was able to afford through like having my business, like my attorneys, my forensic accountants and to like have like things still look the way that they're supposed to look. So I will say that if you invest in your business and yourself, especially being a female, married or not, it really helped me in my life. So my personal relationship, not the best.

Alan Li (43:15) Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nicole (43:42) I think it was going to happen with or without the business. It just kind of added. It got there quicker. Yeah, accelerated. But I will say having your own thing and having your own resources, your own attorneys and like kind of having a business sense, you're able to fight a little bit better,

Alan Li (43:45) Hmm. Accelerated things. Yeah.

⁓ Thank you for sharing that. And I think that's really valuable advice for anyone listening. So sort of last question for me is, you you've been on this journey for about six years now and have a lot more insight and experience than when you first started. Is there anything that you would have done differently in the beginning knowing what you know now?

Nicole (44:00) Yeah.

I think I would have started this way sooner. I wish I would have gone to beauty school years prior when I originally wanted to. I was kind of pushed to not because people said, you'll never make money or it's not a good job. Like go to school to be a nurse, you know? And now I'm like, I do better than nurses. So and I'm like, have my freedom and I get to be expressive. So I wish I started sooner. I wish I believed in myself sooner.

Alan Li (44:34) Yeah.

Nicole (44:47) I wish I didn't have as much fear. I was very fearful. I'm like, oh my god, my rents to be 1300 I'm like, oh my god now our rents like our bills are like 25,000 like you know, like things like really I didn't know that you can get lines of credit I didn't know that I can get a car through my business like I didn't know all these things cuz no one really teaches you this, you know, so I wish I knew that sooner and I also wish I

didn't keep people on my team or around me that were like showing signs of like betrayal Like I wish I got rid of them sooner and now I do and just been more like transparent like hey I know you're trying to take advantage I'm not here for it I wish you the best let's keep it moving. Like I allowed too many people to stay and like it kind of like hurt my business you

Alan Li (45:25) Yeah.

starting earlier, firing fast. I hear this quite a bit because it's tough to let people go because you you feel somewhat responsible. You made the hire. You want to give them chances, but sometimes that's the best decision for both parties. Well, Nicole, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast today and sharing your experience with us. I'm sure our audience will.

gain a lot from listening to this and hopefully be able to start their own businesses in a much better way because of this.

Nicole (46:05) Yeah, amazing. Well, thanks for having me. I can't wait to hear your other podcasts.

Alan Li (46:10) Awesome.

And then ⁓ if people want to reach out to you or learn more about Nicole and Glo Up, what's the best way for them to do so?

Nicole (46:11) Okay.

I think finding us on social media, sending us a DM or via email. we are glo up with no W. So it looks like gloop Chicago on Instagram. And then our email, Nicole at glo up Chicago dot com. And then our website, which will take you to all ways to contact us is glo up co dot com. So we're all over the Internet. Call email. I'm like an open book. So.

Alan Li (46:42) Okay, cool.

Awesome.

Alan Li (46:48) Thanks for listening. If you liked this episode, feel free to visit openingsoonpodcast.com for all of our episodes online. If you run a retail store and need updated furniture or signage, please feel free to visit www.signsandmirrors.com. Lastly, if you have any feedback or would to be a guest on the show, email me at alan, A-L-A-N, at signsandmirrors.com. I promise I'll respond. Thanks for listening.