We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Endya Burgess a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Endya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I was always a girlie girl. Setting my nail appointments, getting my hair done, playing in makeup, it really gave me such peace. While attending college at Georgia Southern I realized if I was going to be in corporate america I’d want to be an owner. I dropped out sophomore year and as my plan B I began doing nails. I practiced on myself religiously from December to February and then took my first ever client. As the years past on my sister helped me realize that if I want to go as far as my dreams take me I’m gonna have to be a lot more risky. So, in 2022 I quit my full-time job with Jasons Deli and began working at Athens Nail Salon. I didn’t work at the nail salon for long due to feeling very unwelcomed by the staff and decided it was time to make my mark. My brand, BrattE Therapy Beauty Salon, was created off of knowing how therapeutic it is to get your beauty services done. I have also been a lover of Bratz and channeled it into my personality so the name came pretty easily to me. My goal is to open a good vibes, accommodating, welcoming, therapeutic, traditional styled nail salon with only caring nail artist because everyone deserves a sense of BrattE Therapy!
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?
After experiencing the traditional salon style one of the most non nail compliments I received was that clients could speak to me and I’d listen. A lot of times you hear nail horror stories and complaints about techs in chop shops not listening to their clients so they end up paying boat loads of money for something they never asked for. I plan to reinstate the trust in the nail community one step at a time by making sure I’m open, honesty, and communicative with all my Bratz! No getting offended when they dislike something, no lying about knowing how to do something I very well do not, and no unnecessary charging! Nails are in fact a luxury but theres no reason the average set should not be affordable. I am very proud of making sure everything I offer makes sense to where if I’m asked for a breakdown from a customer I can answer with more detail than “because thats the price” and all my Bratz show me how much just those few small changes mean to them all the time!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
When starting in college my sister and now exboyfriend were the biggest supporters. I had your typical rent, car note, phone bill, etc kinda bills to pay but really wanted to get started. So my boyfriend at the time bought me all kinds of acrylic powders and the sister gave me a couple hundred (and priceless motivation) to get other basic starter supplies. The next couple years I continued to still receive so much support from my sister, buying me supplies as gifts or just to simply boost me. But, I also mainly used my “9-5” money to fund myself plus whatever I would make from nails. So for a while I actually made no profit at all but it was worth it for experience and the growth of my skill.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
While working in Athens nail salon I started to become very discouraged. Most of my coworkers were not the most welcoming and it made me not want to go to work. I remember going on a vacation in February of 2023 and by the end of it the thought of going home and having to work again brought me to actual tears. My sister, Cydnee Burgess; CEO of nuucaliber edge control and StyledbyCyd, is the light of every stormy day I have ever had. She helped me realize that there is no reason I should continue to fight for a spot in an establishment I’m clearly unwanted at. But, with me living alone, having your usual bills and trying to self fund a business I was still scared to take that leap I needed. It wasnt until about 2 months later when I had another encounter of my boss trying to terminate me wrongfully again that became my last straw. My sister said to me, “Endya something you have to start all over but its okay as long as you dont stay there.” And that was all I needed. I quit the next day and moved back in with my parents to help me pour the most i could into my own private home salon. It was infact the best decision I made
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fresha.com/book-now/us10ib2f/all-offer?share&pId=450200
- Instagram: brattetherapy
- Facebook: endya burgess
- Yelp: BrattE Therapy Beauty Salon
