We were lucky to catch up with Angela Reyes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Angela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
When starting a business, the thought can always be scary. I didn’t enroll back in beauty school to “start a business.” I enrolled back in beauty school January 2018 after regretting not taking my state exams back in high school when I first completed the cosmetology program. The thought to finish something I started so long ago would always haunt me. It finally kicked in after I had my 3rd child, that I never wanted to go through postpartum depression again like I did with my second. I needed to find a way to keep my mind busy. That’s when I decided to go back to school. I knew I would be sacrificing a lot of time away from my husband and kids. I was working during the day and going to school in the night. I rarely had anytime in between to see them. I would get home late at night to everyone already sound asleep. For 9 months straight, it was a sacrifice I was just about ready to give up on. I picked up lashing my second month in school and began to perfect my craft. I would put myself out on social media and advertise my $40 lash sets. It’s like the word was getting out about my affordable lash sets that I knew it was time to raise my prices so that I could stop overworking myself. I graduated in October 2018 and by January 2019, I was able to move into my first suite. For two years I worked at my bank job and took clients around my schedule aside from being a wife and mother. I was starting to book clients back to back, it was almost like a second job. Obviously the more clients I booked, the more money I made. My goal began to shift. I no longer wanted to book so many clients. I wanted to raise my prices to make the same amount of money, but with less clients. I was trying not to burn myself out. With booking so many clients a week, I was beginning to lose count of my inventory. I remember having to borrow glue, or lash trays from local lash artists because I underestimated my inventory and my product orders wouldn’t arrive on time. That is when I decided, it’s time to start my product line. in 2019 I started with small orders. about 100 trays which is the bare minimum to place an order. Now we ship worldwide and order well over 1100 lash trays every month or two. My brand was starting to grow. A brand I didn’t even know was a brand, till people started recognizing me as GLOW. Mrs. glow at that. Girls started asking if I was hiring or if I had a spot they could rent from me as they saw the drive I had to grow my business. They wanted to be surrounded by the right motivational woman. And they chose me. in 2018-2020 I moved about 6-7 times upgrading to a bigger suite and eventually my first store front. I knew that if I wanted to grow, it was going to be an investment I had to be willing to make. 2020 I decided to open a 3,000sqft 2 story beauty salon. It was when I realized, I was really making a difference in peoples lives by providing them a home to take their clients in as well. aside from taking clients, running a salon, and selling lash products. I was also starting to teach advanced courses to other lash artists struggling in their skills. I was there to help them perfect what they didn’t know and show them how to retain a loyal clientele. I began to do this so often, I decided to go back to school for my instructors license. Once I had the instructor license, I was able to apply to open my very own school. To begin helping others have the same opportunities I did back in 2018. To start a BUSINESS that I never even knew I could start. Glow Artistry Studio LLC started as a lash artist in her home and is now a 4 multi business brand that continues to grow each and every day. Definitely did NOT happen overnight, but I hope my success testimony is proof that YOU could do it too!
Angela , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
If you haven’t heard of Glow Artistry Studio, the woman behind the business is Myself, Angela Reyes. A mompreneur who was wanting to make an extra income for my family as my husband has always worked out of town in the construction/oilfield business. My husband is now employed and part owner of Glow Artistry Studio. What sets us apart from other businesses, is the love we have to always give back to our community. Whether it’s through donations, or being helping hand in any opportunity that comes our way.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
In the beginning, I was always camera shy. I would be inspired by botique owners who would show case outfits and talk to the camera all day, I quickly realized that, it was making them sales. I finally overcame the fear of being on camera and decided to just GO FOR IT. Who cares if my double chin was noticeable. lol I was going to start introducing myself to my audience. Now, if I even go a day without talking on my social media or showing up, my audience looks for me. They tell me they look forward to hearing me on their newsfeed. It’s what helps many of them keep going. Sure I can make sales too, but if I can make someone’s day, that’s the true prize for me. Being an inspiration to someone, has NO price tag.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I hope this doesn’t offend anyone in any way, shape or form. Sharing my story and my experience, is because I want to help each and every single one of you. For the longest time, I always wanted to hire a mentor. My business had been growing at a rapid pace that I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. I am human, I had issues at home, I had issues with family, friends, you name it I had issues just like everyone else. April 2023 i was in a deep depression that no one knew about and I’m sure it’s because again, they only see success. I decided that I was not going to spend thousands on a mentor or a therapist. I was going to find a home church. That’s exactly what I did. I can truly say my life has completely changed in a very strong positive way, I no longer feel lost, I no longer feel overwhelmed, I take each day as they come, and I’m blessed for each one that I get to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: glowartistrystudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glowartistrystudio/?hl=en
- Facebook: glowartistrystudio
- Other: TikTok – glowartistrystudio
Image Credits
@shotsxjc