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

Linda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think what it takes to be successful is the sum of passion and long term perseverance. Our limits are self imposed. It’s important to stick to our goals even in moments of failure, and learning to transform those setbacks into lessons to grow. For me, the journey of overcoming challenges is sometimes more meaningful than achieving the actual goal. Experience is truly our best teacher. It can be tough and humbling. It takes grit to fail and try again, but nothing worth having comes easy. Success requires long term wholehearted effort.

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?

My name is Linda Gutierrez. I was raised in Brownsville, Texas, a city by the beach on the Gulf of Mexico, on the border with Mexico. For me, one of my biggest insecurities has always been my fair skin. Living so close to the beach, I felt ghostly in a bikini without a tan. I tried sunbathing, tanning booths, but I was still not getting the results I wanted. That is when I decided to try sunless tanning. Sunless tanning has been the perfect solution for me. It helps me avoid the harmful rays from the sun and tanning booths while providing essential vitamins to my skin via the spray. My skin feels healthy and beautiful. The boost of confidence has provided me with a unique glow I’ve never felt before. When I started I went through extensive professional training and research of products to ensure a comfortable and safe organic sunless tanning for all skin tones and complexion. My mission is to share the glow by promoting health and wellness.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Any business has their ups and downs, but you never know when you’ll be faced with a true crisis. For Instance, COVID changed everything almost overnight. The pandemic went global, a recession impacted local businesses and tanning salons closed their doors.

With no business to run I began working on plans to adapt to challenging circumstances. Whether it’s a pandemic, a national security issue, or natural disaster. I did this by auditing my assets outside of tax season. Then, calculated how long I could sustain my business after losing customers. I then prioritized essential expenses and implemented a referral program. The reopening was an excellent opportunity to offer rewards that will benefit new and old clients. This way I was able to reinforce my brand.

Have you ever had to pivot?

With the announcement of the nationwide lockdown enforcing non-essential businesses to immediately shut down. Beauty services were one the first industries to close their doors. Since my tanning business is a service that demands I interact with my clients face to face. I had to find a new source of capital that fit the parameters of social distancing. Rather than change my entire career and business. I decided to adapt and create my own product. A self tanning product that my clients would be able to buy online and use at home. In those uncertain times, I was forced to adapt quickly and be creative. Above everything, being creative and intuitive is what inspires me to be in the beauty industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aphroditetan.com
• Instagram: @aphrodite.tan
• Facebook: @aphroditesunlesstanning

Image Credits
Liliana Teixeira