We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Evelyn Romero a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Evelyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
At first, my business only pertained to doing lashes. When I rebranded and introduced more services, I wanted a name that really resonated with my new vision. As I introduced a more ‘spa like’ setting, I began brainstorming names. The vision was simple – women owned, women catered, spa like and welcoming environment. I wrote over 100 ideas on a piece of paper and liked none of them. Until one day I thought about including the women who meant the most to me. My mother and the women who raised my mother to be the person who she was. My mother’s name is Mina and my beloved Grandma’s name was Luz. I played around for a while and mixed the two names together until I decided to throw my name in there “Ev”… That is how I created ‘Lumevina’. The name of my location ‘Lumevina Aesthetics spa’ means a lot more to me than people know because I get to honor the women who made me the women I am today. I also felt it was the most fitting considering the purpose of my work is to empower women and help them embrace their beauty.
Evelyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was 19 when I first decided to start my business in 2019. I had just dropped out of my first semester of college – I wanted to be a teacher for kids in the beginning until I realized I had no real passion for being in school. I worked for a rehab center after leaving school. I still felt really unfulfilled while being there so I started looking into other jobs that interested me. The beauty industry was always relevant in my life considering my mom was a cosmetologist for so many years. She was a single mom so I grew up in a salon setting for so many years. I looked up to my mom a lot so I always had an eye for the beauty industry.
I decided to take a course to become a lash artist and that was the move that started it all for me. I got rid of all my furniture and set up a work station in the corner of my bedroom. I was home based but I didn’t mind because I fell in love with building my clientele and learning how to manage my small business.
Fast forward 5 months, going into the new year 2020, I decided to quit my full time job. It was one of the riskiest and scariest decisions I had made in my young adult life. I rented a chair at a salon to go full throttle with business but only 3 months in I received the news that all non essential business would not be able to work due to Covid-19. I was crushed and felt so defeated. I had just let go of my stable job with benefits and now I was left unemployed. What now?
I lived off my savings for 1 month until I decided to continue working from home to make just enough money to pay my bills. It was a scary time but I remember my mom reassuring me that everything was going to work out for me the way it needed to. I received a message from an old friend to check out some new suites to own my very own private studio to work from. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to move there. I knew it was a risky move to make such a decision amidst a pandemic but isn’t that what being a business owner requires? Taking risks. I used up all my savings and opened up my own studio.
It all worked out, just like my mother had said. What should’ve been the scariest time of my career ended up being the best. My business was profiting and I had created a steady clientele. I finally saved up enough money to go to beauty school and receive my esthetician license. We were still in the middle of a pandemic, it took me longer to finish school because of it. Many many times I would question myself, “is this really for me?”. There were so many obstacles and unfortunate things that made me question my choices but I stuck to the plan because I knew I was in the middle of what I had envisioned for myself.
2022, I graduated and received my esthetician license. I immediately re-branded and introduced “Lumevina Aesthetics Spa” and trademarked / officialised my business. I was now an OFFICIAL business owner. With a great title came even greater responsibilities.
When I introduced Lumevina Aesthetics Spa, I wanted the environment to be very welcoming and become a safe space for people who came to visit. I was still offering lashes but now I had introduced Facials and Waxing. These 3 services all attract a different clientele but I wanted every single one of them to come in and feel like they were being heard. I consider all of my services to be intimate services because we sit with each other for hours at a time and see each other often. My clients rely on me – not just as a service provider but also as another women who related to their struggles and concerns.
Facials have become one of my most popular services. Here at Lumevina, everything is customized to meet my clients needs and goals. Treating skin is a very complex thing so I am very big on ethics and educating myself to provide the best possible solution for my clients and never trying to sell them something they wont benefit from.
I focus my treatments on natural botanical ingredients that are backed by science. I know that my clients are receiving the best treatments because I test all of them and invest a lot into educating myself.
People become very vulnerable discussing their insecurities and what goals they want to achieve from their service. I am very honored that my clients trust me enough to share personal things with me. I have the upmost compassion for my clients. I see them as people not a number.
It can be very easy to get caught in the idea of making good money as a business owner but what sets you apart is making your client feel more than just a client who is paying you. I am very grateful to have built client relationships off trust, respect, compassion and understanding. If there is ever a client who does not align with my values in my work area, I gladly refer them to someone who can be of help.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I built my audience by being consistent and making my brand have it’s own personality. Have you ever seen a business and loved their content and their overall “vibe’? That is their brand. I began infusing myself into my brand and not just being a faceless business. I began interacting with people on my socials and not just posting my services/products. I made it more personable by sharing my own struggles with my skin and sharing more of my day to day life as a business owner. I was also able to network with more people in my industry and help new estheticians just starting out. I also created a visual identity by creating a brand color palette that I follow on my instagram. I use certain fonts, illustrations and icons. I think people feel more connected and attracted to your socials when they get to know the person in charge of the business. The biggest tip I have for you, be yourself. You create an amazing experience for your targeted audience and it attracts a certain clientele that you truly want.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
After I made my business official, I opened up a business bank account. It was a great way to start reaping the benefits of being a business owner and using the tools that could help me invest into my business. In the beginning, I did not have all the start up I needed because I was a full time student in beauty school. I was essentially starting from the bottom again when I introduced new services. Inventory for starting a facial/waxing/lash business is not cheap. I opened up credit cards under my business credit and began building that to open more doors for myself. Those loans helped me get a jump start and made me profit a great amount.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=24971384
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lumevina/
- Yelp: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lumevina+Aesthetics+Spa/@34.1940211,-118.6005495,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c29dc086ccba57:0xa8352bb515875ff7!8m2!3d34.1940211!4d-118.6005495!16s%2Fg%2F11t1btgs70?entry=ttu
- Other: email: [email protected]
Image Credits
photographer: Xena Peterson