Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adrienne Leigh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Adrienne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Moving across the country & not knowing anyone. Scary right? Let’s add opening a business & building a clientele from the ground up to the mix. Oh! And don’t forget being smack dab in the middle of a pandemic.

Until December 2020, I lived in Colorado, running a successful waxing business with a full clientele list, and was supported by friends and family. My life was easy breezy, but I had this voice in my head that kept telling me I was capable of much, much more.

I grew up in Montana and after a brief move to Los Angeles for college, I spent four years living in Colorado. I was done with winter, not to mention the waxing industry slows down during the colder months. So mid-May of 2020 I picked a warm spot on the map, started business prepping, and planned my move to Texas.

I visited Texas in August and signed a lease to a 1,330-square-foot property still in development. I moved to Texas in December & set an opening date of February 1st. (If you are in business you know all too well that nearly always timelines don’t go to plan.) The construction was delayed and delayed. Then the snowpocalypse hit, you know the one, remember the power grid madness? Texas shut down & construction was brought to a complete halt.

I waited, prayed, checked in, and prayed a little more, but construction on that property didn’t start back up again. By late April I was completely devastated, wondering if uprooting my life had been worth it, but I knew deep down that it would all work out in the end. I was so determined to make my dream a reality, so I pushed forward.

I dissolved that lease on April 26th. On April 29th toured an old home for lease and on May 9th I signed the new lease! (Yes, if it’s meant for you it will happen that fast!) I got the keys on May 31st, at this point, as you can imagine, I was more than ready to open my dream business. I set an opening date for June 18th, 2021, my 24th birthday & I made it happen!

This journey wasn’t easy and two and a half years later it still isn’t, but it’s worth it. I can’t imagine a different life for myself than the life I have created. I had a strong intuition to start this business and I listened to it no matter how difficult things got.

I hope to be an inspiration to new entrepreneurs. If you have something you can’t stop thinking about, go for it! If you aren’t satisfied with your current life, change it! Just know you will face obstacles. You will feel like the entire universe is conspiring against you. You will feel so lost, alone, and like you’ve made a mistake going after your dreams. You’re not lost, you’re not alone & your dream is not a mistake! At the end of the day I wouldn’t trade my big risk for anything, running a small business, supporting a team & teaching other entrepreneurs how to do it is a dream I get to live out every day, none of this would be possible if I hadn’t had taken that risk!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Full-body waxing wasn’t my first choice, honestly, it wasn’t even on my radar. Growing up, I wanted to become a dermatologist. In my teen years, I suffered from acne & wanted more than anything to find a solution so others didn’t have to suffer with their skin as I did.

As a junior in high school, I wasn’t super into the idea of 10 more years of schooling so when college came around I decided to study beauty industry marketing with the hopes of working at a skincare company. That’s how I was going to help people with their skin!

Fast forward a few years, I had my dream job, Digital Marketing Coordinator for a startup skincare company, in my dream city, Los Angeles, & I was miserable! I needed to be hands-on with clients. This is what led me to esthetician school & eventually my true calling!

During beauty school, estheticians learn many different skincare modalities: facials, microdermabrasion, dermaplaning, lashes, and waxing. When we dove into our waxing lessons I was lit up inside. I loved every minute of it! It was so much fun! I could be my spunky self with clients, I didn’t need to be calm or relaxed as we were encouraged to be during facial treatments. This was it!

After graduating from beauty school I went off to work for a company & started to realize not everything was as picture-perfect as I would have liked. Our team dynamic was pretty toxic, clients weren’t treated with respect & at the end of the day, I felt like a number in my boss’s eyes.

This is when The Bush Waxing Boutique was born! I knew the waxing industry could be different! A little spa-like, a little spunky, a little luxury & a little silly. That’s what The Bush Waxing Boutique is to me, my team & all of our clients.

Our mission at The Bush is to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere where clients feel confident and cared for. Our highly skilled and trained professionals use the latest techniques and highest-quality products to ensure the best results for our clients. We are committed to promoting self-care and self-love by helping our clients feel their best inside and out. At Bush Waxing Boutique, we believe that every person deserves to feel beautiful, and we are dedicated to making that a reality for each and every client who walks through the doors of their new waxing home.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Consistency. Being consistent with your messaging, consistent with your services, consistent with everything you do. When clients know that they can rely on you and the quality of your services, they are more likely to recommend your business to their friends. We rely heavily on word-of-mouth marketing.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Again, consistency! When I first started my business and I didn’t have any clients or any team members, I put almost all of my efforts into social media content creation.

I showed up daily on Instagram stories. Instagram stories are a great place to get comfortable talking to the camera. The story will be gone in 24-hours so there is way less pressure. Stories are the perfect place to share behind the scenes & let your community really get to know you. I don’t know how many times I’ve met a new client who has been following my page for a while & they’ve said, “Wow, I feel like I already know you, you’re exactly the same in real life as you are on social media!”

This leads me to my next tip: be authentic! The more true-to-you that you can be online, the better! No one wants to keep up with fake identities & honestly, when you’re growing a business, no one has time for that! Do you hate makeup? Great! Don’t wear makeup on social media! Do you curse a little? That’s cool! Splash some of that colorful language in now and then (keep it classy, of course, but a little swearing never killed anyone.) Do you spend most of your free time with your cat like me? Awesome! Show your cute little snuggle bug from time to time! No matter what audience you’re trying to attract on social media, being yourself is the quickest way to build a strong community.

Speaking of a strong community, DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR FOLLOWER COUNT, or your like count, or any other vanity metric! Post what resonates with you/your brand & ignore how many likes you’re getting. Stop focusing on growing your follower count & start focusing on sharing your brand message. Your page isn’t going to “pop off” at first & I’m sorry to say, but it may never. Building a strong community should be your main goal! A strong community doesn’t look like tons of followers. A strong community will have your back when times are hard, they will support you by sharing your page with others & they will genuinely care about you and your business. At the end of the day: a strong community > lots of followers.

Social media is a social tool, use it as such! When posting focus on creating a conversation in the comments & please respond to any, and all comments. Create conversations in your DMs by asking questions on your stories. Set an engagement timer & interact with your favorite accounts daily. This will help your engagement which will help your page to grow so much!

All-in-all: keep true to your brand identity & show up consistently.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bushwaxing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebushwaxingboutique/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebushwaxingboutique/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-leigh-ab9855128
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TheBushWaxingBoutique?si=cEw1sWUzC4v6MRX6
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bush-waxing-boutique-fort-worth

Image Credits
https://jackiemariephoto.com/ https://jackiestillsandfilms.com/