We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessie Hayes-Stallings a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jessie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Honestly I believe its all about your mindset and having the grit to make it through the tough times. Meaning, is the passion there even during the times you aren’t making money and do you have the perseverance to keep going and be efficient when everything around you seems to be going wrong. That takes a special person with the right mindset to accomplish.

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

I am a mother of 3 teenage girls. I worked in the credit and financial industry for about 8 years before deciding that I wanted to start a business. I was a “spa” girl and always found a reason to throw spa parties, so I thought why not work in an industry that I love. It wasn’t until I enrolled in Douglas J Aveda Institute and Michigan College of Beauty, that I fell in love with skincare and realized that would be my focus. Noticing a gap in the market for the on-the-go client with limited time for professional skincare services, we at Skinphorea Facial Bar & Acne Clinic created an express service that offers a faster, best-in-class facial spa experience without breaking the bank.

Skinphorea started in 2014 as an online skincare vlog while I did facials out of my home. The 1st brick and mortar opened in Royal Oak in 2016 and our Downtown location followed in 2021. With 25 employees and our 3rd location set to open this spring, Skinphorea serves more than 14,000 clients and over 400 monthly VIPs, while recently launching our nationwide franchise expansion plan.

What sets Skinphorea apart is that we provide customers with medical-grade skin treatments while creating an elevated and personalized, yet convenient relaxation experience. We are especially known for our Acne bootcamp results which allows us to clear clients from the inside out, with no medication as we focus on the foods, medications and products that trigger their breakouts.

Due to the success and growth of Skinphorea, we have been featured in Black Enterprise, Travel Noire, Rolling Out Magazine, INC Magazine, and DBusiness. I am honored that my leadership accolades include being named 2019’s Diversity Business Leader by Corp! Magazine, as well as a member of the Top 40 Under 40 by Michigan Chronicle and Crains 2021 40 under 40. In 2021, I was announced as part of the inaugural cohort of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs Access Network, an executive-level education program designed to elevate African American and Latinx-owned businesses through mentorship, resources, and network-building. Being an alumna of both Goldman Sachs and Build Institute, and was voted class speaker for Cohort 13 has definitely elevated my leadership skills. But out of everything, I am most proud of the grit and perseverance of not giving up even through a pandemic, the ups and downs with the economy and trying to scale in an industry where most owners do not look like me. I am truly grateful for our Skinphorea team, customers and supporters through it all!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

In the beginning years of building Skinphorea, I thought it would do more harm if I showed that Skinphorea was black owned with our location being in Royal oak. I realized that once I came out as the owner and allowed people to go on the journey with me of scaling the business, showing the up’s and downs, the hardships and no’s; that the loyalty and interest of my audience started to quickly grow and follow. 

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Hands down one of the best books I’ve read and helped me along the way was The E-myth revisited by Michael E. Gerber. Other great resources that I loved was the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz and several business masterclass videos.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Skinphorea.com and www.jessiehayes.com
• Instagram: @iamjessiehayes @skinphorea
• Facebook: @Skinphorea
• Linkedin: Jessie Hayes-Stallings
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/skinphorea

Image Credits
Jeremy Cranford & Q11 Photography