We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lane Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lane, 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.

Going into 2020, before the Covid pandemic, I did not see myself entering 2021 being a new small business owner. I was very happy at my current salon. The plan was always to eventually open my own business but I had no plan to leave for at least another few years. Once covid hit, EVERYTHING changed. With the uncertainty of the nationwide shutdown, I started wanting more control of my career and how I would evolve in my craft. As an employee, that is difficult to do with being at the leisure of your salon’s owner to progress. I really utilized the shut down to learn about what were the upcoming trends and I made the investment in adding to my skillset. This was when I first got certified in Brow Lamination, which has become my most popular service over the years. Upon returning to work and notifying my boss of these new skills that I had learned, she unfortunately did not show much interest or desire to add these new techniques to her business. While I understood and respected that that was her right as as owner to decide, I knew in that moment that it was time to start taking my career seriously and venture out on my own.

It’s no walk in the park to start a small business in the heat of a global pandemic. It was a HUGE risk to do what I did when I did, but I don’t have a single regret. I wouldn’t change a thing about how my journey was or went. It has been a wild ride over the past 4+ years, but some of the best and most rewarding of my life. It doesn’t come without stress or negatives, but it is worth all of the odds to face to be in the position that I am.

Lane, 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?

Hi everyone, my name is Lane Williams. I am 29, a born & raised Nashville Native, a dog mom, a wife, a plant collector, true crime junkie and a passionate foodie. In my work life, I am an Esthetician/devout lover of hair removal and all things brows, but those are just my skills. My true purpose as an Esthetician has been curating a safe space for people from all walks of life to come and enjoy treating themselves. My services may not be the most relaxing to receive. However, I will always try my absolute hardest to make it as comfortable as I can, so that you’ll keep coming back for more!

I started off in the beauty space as a young child. I am a girly girl through and through. I loved doing my hair and my makeup as a child to a teen, started doing friend’s hair and makeup for upcoming dances in high school, moved into doing freelance hair and makeup in college. Needless to say, I always had this gut feeling that beauty was my calling. However, back in 2013, being a beauty professional was not as aspirational as it is today. My mom always supported me in my endeavors, but wanted me to truly give university a shot before going to beauty school. When that path wasn’t really panning out, she paved the way for me to follow my dream. I will always be grateful for my mom’s support through my career, even to this day.

Fun fact, the services that I offer, are the farthest thing that I thought that I would be doing in this industry. As I mentioned before, I was a hair and makeup artist from the start and that was the goal as I entered school. Even when we got to learn about waxing, I cringed at the idea of it. I was so terrified of hurting people that I was completely turned off by the service as a whole. After I got out of school, I had lost interest in doing makeup and wasn’t really sure what direction I wanted to go towards. I had tried lash extensions as a baby esthetician, but I got burnt out very quickly. My only other job prospect, at that time, was……. waxing (eye roll), my bottom of the totem pole service. I wasn’t jazzed about taking the job, but figured that I had to, at least, give it a go. I figured, worst case, I had it and I can start from scratch again later. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would fall in love. It came so natural to me and I’ll never be able to explain in words why or how, but there was a reason that I decided to take the leap and try it. I think that it was a sign that it was my calling.

Fast forward to now, I have been a hair removal specialist now for 7 years and a master brow artist for over 5 years. I offer full body waxing and laser hair removal to all genders, body sizes and skin types. As well as, what I term, natural brow and lash styling treatments including shaping, lamination and tinting. I love what I do and getting to service people in this, perhaps, unconventional way to enjoy self care. However, put the pain aside, the confidence that it creates in each of my clients is nothing like any other service, in my opinion. Nothing says “I am THAT GIRL OR BOY” like spreading eagle for a complete stranger in a non medical setting. It’s what fuels my fire and I have been so honored to help my clients feel and look their best over the years through my career.

Overall, my goal in my work is creating a space of safety and comfort for my clients. They each become like family to me as time goes on. I do not take lightly that these people trust me with their most private body parts, insecurities, secrets, passions, loves in life, precious moments, etc. Browology, as a brand, is about empowerment and celebration of what makes you YOU! We are more than just a waxing studio or a place to get your brows done. We are a haven, a home for you to belong no matter how you come.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

This is probably the most defeating question to answer, but I do hope that it instills resilience and hope in someone going through this now.. I prefer to not go into so many details, but let’s get into it.

2024 was easily the worst year of my life. Not just in business, just in general. I had some issues in my personal life that I was working through. I also made some very reckless business decisions before things in the world got very real. I didn’t consider if I could manage it or afford it at the time. I just had this “I’ll figure it out” mentality and I wish that I could say that I was able to, but I couldn’t. It felt like a never ending pile on of bills and payroll and my team feeling unfulfilled, not enough business or revenue coming in, personal life creeping in on top of it all. I’ll be honest, my mind went very dark for a minute there. I considered selling the business, if there was even anything to sell. I considered giving up and throwing in the towel, filing for bankruptcy. It was really hard to bring myself back to earth for a while, but I knew that I had to dig deep and remember that “WHY” of going into business. It was what saved me.

It took letting my ego go and allowing myself to see reality for what it was to get out of that space. To accept defeat more or less, but in accepting that defeat, I learned from those mistakes and found a whole new gratitude for my business and the position that I am in. That darkness came back here and there but I could always see that light at the end of the tunnel. My lesson through that and this period of my life was that you can take risks, but not every one of them goes as planned and that that’s okay. What’s important is that you don’t fold, you get up and keep going. The fear of failure is our worst enemy, and it allows our ego to remain at large. It’s okay to fail, it’s okay to make mistakes, but we have to learn from them rather than letting them eat away at us.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My best source for new business has always been maintaining WOM referrals and the relationships that come with them. You could have the world’s most solid marketing plan, ads plastered everywhere, etc. Sure it may work for some, but being a small business.. people want to support someone or something that is authentic and makes you want to see more from them. I seek to offer an experience from the moment that you walk through the door. One that people will leave and go tell their friends about, their coworkers, their mom, their friends, etc. At arrival, you are greeted at the door, walked back to the treatment room, you are offered either a silent appointment to wind down and relax or we can yap away. I have a comfortable heated treatment bed and a blanket to make you nice and cozy, fun and cute stress balls for body services, a treat at the end like walking out of a Dr’s office when you were a kid (LOL). At the end you are always walked to the door for a formal send off, until the next time. You are the star of the show for taking the time out of your day to grace me with your presence.

On top of an experience, I offer incentives to share their honest feedback about their experience and recommend my small business to others. I always offer a small discount at their next visit to share their honest feedback of their service, whether positive or negative. I offer another small discount to people that clients decide to refer off of their first visit, and then a discount to the client who referred them as well.

I firmly believe that it’s all about maintaining the relationships that you already have to then make room for others to come in as well. You must always believe in abundance and that positive outlook will always circle around back to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://browologywaxingstudio.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/browologywaxingstudio
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/browologywaxingstudio
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/browology-waxing-studio-nashville