We were lucky to catch up with Lindsey Hogan James recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lindsey, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Coming from a background of battling acne even as an adult. And, a passion for making self-care affordable, accessible and fun! The small woman-owned Oasis Face Bar franchise was immediately interesting to me. Oasis Face Bar was created to shake up the skincare scene. The thought of spa music, cucumber water and 90-minute facials make us sleepy. :) We’re reinventing the spa experience across Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and now Florida. Each location has its own vibe and a little touch of the owner’s TLC with an ode to an oasis with visuals of palms and nature as well as our signature pops of pink and green. We believe that skincare doesn’t need to be a pampered luxury with a hefty price tag. Our goal is to provide a casual environment where clients can drop in for exceptional, naturally derived skincare services while being educated on each step of their treatment and never feeling intimidated.
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 background and context?
My journey into providing affordable, accessible and fun self-care options started with the stress and anxiety of the Advertising and Start-Up grind. I worked for Tech Start-Ups in Chicago and then as a Strategist for B2B/B2C global and national brands in Cincinnati. Subsequently I ended up very high-strung from the non-stop, hectic deadlines and a constant neglector of my own self-care needs. I wanted to leave the corporate world and provide self-care options that were..well of course, affordable, accessible and fun! It started with my Relax Babe online shop that started with my own line of CBD gummies and has since expanded to other wellness/self-care products that are from brands with ethical production, sustainably-conscious, woman-owned/minority-owned, vegan, all-natural, etc.
When I lived in Cincinnati, Molly, the Owner of the Oasis Face Bar franchise, had just begun the concept and was similarly in the beginning of starting her business as Relax Babe was getting up and running. We kept in touch and when I moved to Nashville, Oasis Face Bar was so in line with my personal mission I thought it would be a great way to share a little of my home town and mission with Nashville. We opened in March, the first open-concept facial bar to open in Nashville!
Oasis Face Bar offers 30-minute targeted facial treatments, addressing anti-aging, acne, dark spots, dull, lackluster skin and men’s skincare. HydraFacial MD® treatments for a 30 to 60-minute session. Customers can also get compliments to their HydraFacial MD®, including the Perk™ Eyes and Perk™ Lips add-ons. Additionally, clients can customize their experience with extras like extractions, light peel, dermaplane, LED mask therapy and a facial contouring massage. Oasis Face Bar offers a limited-time add-on every season featuring nourishing ingredients like Cannuka, made from hemp and honey. We also provide additional services ranging from a brow wax, brow tint, chin wax, lip wax, lash tint and brow lift.
At Oasis Face Bar we welcome everyone, whether you are a newbie to the skincare world, a regular facial recipient or a busy professional who doesn’t have time to sit in a spa for hours. Our thoughtfully-designed modern space, cheerful music and friendly staff remove the intimidation that can often come with the traditional spa experience, allowing guests to relax and unwind.
We also offer private events/parties for client-entertaining, birthdays, bachelorettes and other celebrations. Guests can book the space for one to two hours and enjoy complimentary champagne with the option to bring their own food and drinks.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I was looking for a space in Nashville it was tough! We were still in COVID pretty deep but I knew it would take time to build out so I was looking ahead of when we wanted to open. I signed a lease and worked with the property owner for 9 months perfecting our space and the day I was supposed to move in and start prepping the space for opening I received an email from the owner letting me know something was overlooked and the space was actually not properly zoned for a service business. I was devastated. All that work and 9 months just gone but you can’t stay down too long in business if you want to get something off the ground you keep going. I gave myself a week to process and reset and then hit the pavement. I drove around every day looking for buildings and spaces that could be needing a new tenant. I talked to other business owners, got an amazing real estate broker and found our current location within a month! We moved in two months later. And, our current space is beautiful and has worked perfectly! It all works out.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Funding is tricky because in order to get a loan, even from the Small Business Bureau, you need a lot of things you can’t get unless you already have a working business but you need the money to start the business. It’s a sticky situation. After being turned down for a Small Business Loan my husband and I cashed out almost all of our stocks, got small funding rounds from friends and family and bootstrapped our opening. As a small self-funded business we run lean since we’re backing everything but it will be pretty cool to look back and know that we did this! All on our own (plus the help of our friends and family).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dashboard.
boulevard.io/booking/ businesses/8967f80b-d0a2-44e3- a97e-cb59f389c121/widget#/ locations - Instagram: OasisFaceBarNashvil
le - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/lindsey-hogan- james/