Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Victoria Logan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Victoria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Starting a business can be very risky at times. Even if you plan each step to the fullest, there’s still unexpected things that could arise that can change the entire path of your journey. I started taking clients in Greenville SC in 2019. I only knew one person that lived in Greenville at the time and I was taking a huge risk by starting a business where I knew very few people. I was terrified to say the least. I began to utilize social media to inform people of my business and it’s grand opening. I had no idea if I would even have any clients show up for the opening day. Luckily, I actually had five people schedule appointments on the opening day. One thing about taking risk is, hope for the best but mentally prepare yourself if things doesn’t go as planned.
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 background and context?
My name is Victoria Logan but a lot of people know me as Victoria Lo or VLove. The name of my business is VLove Esthetics and VLove Studio Suites. I am a licensed esthetician. I started this journey about seven years ago when I decided to go to esthetics school in Charlotte NC. I went to Aveda Institute in uptown Charlotte. Initially I was going to school to be a makeup artist, so I thought. I also wanted to provide skincare services but I was unsure of what I wanted to specialize in at the time. When I went to esthetics school there wasn’t a lot of independent estheticians in the area that I was from, Spartanburg SC. I finished school in April of 2016 and I immediately jumped into the esthetics world. I started off by working closely with a chemist to formulate products that would eventually turn into VLove Skincare, my skincare brand. Shortly after graduating esthetics school I learned that I was pregnant with my second child. I had a one year old daughter at the time so I was a bit surprised to learn that I had a second child on the way. Being pregnant changed a lot about my entrepreneurial path. From the morning sickness to the lack of energy, I knew I had to put my esthetics career on hold until I gave birth. I then went back into the corporate world and began to work for a company until the birth of my son in 2017. Immediately after giving birth I jumped head first back into what I love. I learned my love for skincare during my pregnancy, I would watch videos and just indulge in the industry. I would vision and picture myself doing facials. In the summer of 2017, I did my first convention and began to sell and introduce my products to the public. It was very difficult starting a career with two children, two and under. There were a lot of really long nights brainstorming and working on my business. I was torn between starting services in NC or Greenville SC. I decided to be closer to family and start my business in Greenville SC, where I knew no one. That was terrifying to me, but I took a leap of faith and planted my roots in Greenville. From 2019 to present my business has grown tremendously! I service anywhere from 125 to 150 clients a month doing facial treatments. I provide chemical peels, microdermabrasion, basic facials and much more. I provide training classes for new estheticians and business owners as well. I now own a studio suite business where I welcome other entrepreneurs to come and grow their business as well on Haywood Road in Greenville SC, called VLove Studio Suites. Once you believe in yourself, there isn’t much anyone can do to deter you from your dream. I wrote down and visioned having a studio suite before took my first client. It’s necessary to write down your plans and make them clear. Even if you don’t have all the tools and answers, stay consistent. Being consistent will help you on the days that you lack motivation. I am very grateful for the continued support from my community. In the future we will open more studio suite locations and train more estheticians on building a foundation for a thriving business.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is an amazing tool if used correctly. I was able to build about 75 percent of my business solely from social media. I began by creating business pages on both instagram and Facebook for my new business. During each facial treatment I would ask the client if I could take a picture or video of the service being performed. Most of the time clients would agree, and I would post daily on each social media. It takes a lot of time and patience to create content. I would look at the people who liked the post and would see what their likes and social media consisted of and I would try to make post that were appealing to my audience at that time. I would do polls and ask questions to create some interaction with my audience and to remind them that I am also a consumer that enjoys products and services as well. One thing that helped my business was running small ads on Facebook. I would run 5 or 10 dollar ads on Facebook to reach people outside of my social media network. Running ads would bring in about five new clients weekly. I would try to share it with friends and friend of my friends. My advice to anyone starting a business on social media would be, post post post, as much as you can and don’t focus on the likes or comments. Also make sure the picture or video is clear and in the right position so that the viewer will know what you’re trying to sell and or show them.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The second year in business I decided to start working on a new location for my business. At that time, my business had grown so much that I didn’t have enough space to take all of the clients I was receiving. I found a building in May of 2021. It is a 3000 sq ft building, a lot bigger than the 10 by 12 studio suite I started my business inside. I immediately got to work and started the build out process. I initially planned to be done with reconstructing my new location in July of 2021, ruffly 90 days after signing the lease on the building. It absolutely did not happen in 90 days lol. Once construction began, a lot of materials needed to frame the rooms were on back order due to covid. So much material was out of stock and extremely over priced due to inflation from covid and the shortage of worker from covid. I had to push the opening date back to November 7th 2021. Once we made it to October 2021, we were no where close to finishing. Every time I would acquire about furniture or lights, ect. things were on 3 and 4 week back order. It became so discouraging because I never knew when I would be able to complete the job, but it didn’t stop me, I continued to work towards opening our new location. I changed the opening date to January 7th 2022. Once we got to December 2021, we still did not have all of the neccessary material and a lot of our workers were getting sick with covid which in turn set back the opening date once again. After January 2022, I decide to stop setting opening dates and just allow the work to get done when it gets done. It was out of my control. We ended up officially opening on July 1st, 2022, an entire year after my first initial “opening date” and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It was perfect timing. Sometimes you have to let things that are out of your control, just flow and trust that everything will work out in the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vloveskincare.as.me/
- Instagram: @Vlovebeautybar @Vlovestudiosuites
- Facebook: VLoveBeautyBar
- Youtube: VLovetheesthi
Image Credits
photographer: Jeremiah Drummond