We recently connected with Tasha Land and have shared our conversation below.
Tasha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a customer success story with us?
In my lash studio I had a client come in, and it was her first time getting lash extensions put on. She was very excited to have them done and during her consultation she expressed that she wanted them to look natural. I asked some more follow up questions and then proceeded to do her lash application. While I was working, we were chatting and I told her how we keep an open door policy at my business so if she doesn’t like anything, to let me know. Once i was done with her lashes, I gave her a mirror to take a look and she said she liked them. I asked her if the length and fullness was fine, and she said it was. I told her if she changed her mind we can always create a more dramatic look. She paid, and left and because she was my last client, I left a little bit after. I was in my car for about ten minutes when my phone rang, and one of the girls from my studio told me that my last client called, she was crying and saying she didnt like her lashes. I was so confused because she had just told me she liked them. I decided I would turn back around to meet her back at my business. Once she came back, I could tell she was nervous to say she didnt love them the first time because she didn’t want to be a “problem”. I reassured her that it was my job to give her the look she wanted which turns out to be more dramatic than she originally thought. I spent another hour and half correcting the first set to be longer, fuller and more curled than the original set. This client was so sweet and I could tell she just didn’t know how to communicate that she didn’t like the original lashes. Once I was done with this set she was soooo happy, almost started crying because she loved them so much and she kept apologizing for having me stay. About an hour later she left my business 5 star reviews on multiple platforms and included pictures. It just reinforced my decision to go back instead of telling the client I did what she asked and that she will have to wait until her next appointment for any changes. Although doing this made me miss a friends birthday party, it was the right thing to do for my business, as well as to build trust with this client
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Tasha and Ive been in the beauty industry since 2010. I began doing lash extensions in 2010 and in 2013 I opened my first business called Wink Lashes in Pasadnea. In 2016 I opened another beauty studio in San Diego as well as started a product line for lash artists.
Long before my career started I was born in Arizona and for the first 7 years of my life, lived in a very small town called Benson (population 10k at that time), with my single mom and sister. The town only had 2 streetlights and one grocery store, one post office… etc. My mom worked multiple jobs to provide for us, and we lived extremely modestly. I don’t remember getting new clothes at that time, everything was hand-me-downs. When my mom remarried, we moved to Los Angeles, Beverly hills to be exact, but we were far from wealthy. My parents moved to Beverly hills for us to be able to attend the public schools there to get a good education. There were 5 of us in a small 2-bedroom apartment. I always had an entrepreneur’s spirit because in middle school I made business cards to pass out at my brother’s pre-school to babysit his classmates. I built a clientele to where my summers and after-school time were booked with babysitting jobs. I saved my money to buy the new clothes I wanted. In high school I worked at the mall to pay for things like my cell phone bill, car insurance to drive my parent’s cars occasionally, and whatever ever little expenses I had at the time. I moved out the summer after high school when I was 18, couch surfed at friend’s places and even slept in my sister’s car for months. I have had just about every customer service job you can imagine, from working at a bookstore, office supply store, clothing stores, hosting and serving at restaurants as well as a corporate job for a health insurance company. It wasn’t until I started doing eyelash extensions that I didn’t have to work 2 jobs while going to school.
I think the most important thing others can learn from me is to stay determined, focused and disciplined. We can only control what we can control and that is the present moment. It is all the daily habits that create the root system that no one else sees, until they have compounded over and over again and then the results are apparent to others. Knowing this, success comes down to the daily actions and choices we make. We live in a time now where instant gratification is a strong addiction and so a lot of people skip the work because they don’t see results fast enough, not knowing that the big break or success could happen by just doing something one more time. So every day, it’s important to focus on the process of doing things one more time, and before you know it, you’ll look back and see just how far you’ve come.
I have a special way of connecting with people and helping them reach their goals which is why I started business coaching. It kind of started as giving advice to my clients and then it turned into really taking it seriously and wanting to help other girls coming up behind me to succeed
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I am an example of how redirection works in your favor. When I was 24YO I was esthetician school because I was very unhappy with my corporate job. My plan was to get my esthetician license, work in a spa while going to nursing school, and then work in a med spa doing injections and medical esthetics. While in Esthetician school I started getting my lashes done by a woman who recruited me to work at her lash studio. I got my esthetician license, started working for her and was in nursing school to obtain my BSN. By the age of 26 I decided to leave her lash studio and open my own. A couple years after having Wink Lashes, I opened another lash studio in San Diego, created my first product line Infinit Lash Products, and by 2018 my business has brought in over 1 million dollars. I built a completely custom multimillion home in San Diego with my partner at the time, had my daughter in 2018 and continued to grow and expand my businesses. I dissolved Infinit Lash Products in 2021 to create Evrly Beauty and have begun to focus on mentoring other women in the beauty industry to turn their passion into profit. A lot of people see women as having “little businesses”, especially in the lash industry, not giving credit that building 7 figure empires from these “little businesses” is a possibility. Being minority woman, my mom is Eskimo and German and my dad is Black, and coming from very humble beginnings encourages me to represent what is possible to other girls and women who come from similar backgrounds. Whether it’s being poor, being a minority or both. Empowering women to become financially independent, and teaching them to learn the business and financial aspects of the beauty industry that they occupy has allowed me to share what I have learned in the 10 years of being an entrepreneur with others.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
One of the biggest challenges I had was my businesses surviving Covid. In California, beauty salons were mandated to be closed for well over a year. My salons went from making the most money they had to that point to making nothing. During this time, I was also dealing with the end of my marriage engagement and dissolving my first product line Infinit Lash Products. To say my mindset was tested would be an understatement. A lot of changes happened at once but at the end of the day, I know I can bet on myself. I had built highly profitable businesses before, many times over, and knew that I could do it again by applying all the knowledge I share with others. I have proof that my systems and strategies work because I haven’t just done it once, but over and over again which is what I mentor other aspiring beauty bosses to do using my formula.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tashamland.com/about/
- Instagram: @TashaMLand
- Other: TikTok: @TashaMLand
Image Credits
VLEXPhoto and 2WNTY4