We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Madison Royal-Martinez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Madison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
After passing state board exams and earning my license, I began working for a waxing company that prioritized quick in-and-out services. Here I learned incredibly valuable skills such as wax techniques, working efficiently, and selling products. While all of this was valuable, I felt that having no choice but to work incredibly fast was doing a disservice to many of my clients. When you work for the type of business I had, your main focus is increasing your expected revenue with each client that walks through the door. Now you may be thinking, “Well duh, why wouldn’t I want to make as much money as possible?”. The issue lies in having 15 minutes, on average, to check in your client, perform multiple services, take them to the product wall to try and make a sale, and check them out. This isn’t even considering if they need to use the bathroom within that time, or if they already purchased a full regimen the last time they came in, yet you’re still expected to sell them SOMETHING!
I got into this industry because I’ve always had a strong desire to nurture, educate, and help others. While I was thankful for what I had learned from my employer, I knew I wanted to take everything a step further with my work. What better way to implement my values and dreams in this industry than to start my own business? Between my very few and far between breaks and sleepless nights, I researched everything possible to start my own business. Mind you, I was barely 21 trying to navigate this on my own. I was fairly surprised at how easy it is to become incorporated and completely legit; there are a ton of websites out there that dumb it down for you! My Google searches were simple; “How to start a business?”, “How to register a business name?”, “How to set up an EIN?”. These websites had steps that were easy to check off as I went and made the process fairly simple. There are a ton of businesses that will do this work for you, but honestly, they charge crazy fees in comparison to doing it yourself. I truly believe if I was able to do it with no knowledge of business beforehand, anyone can do it! It took me about a month to get everything finalized from a legal standpoint, which puts us as February of 2020. I’m sure you can imagine what happens next, but we can get to that nightmare later.
Surprisingly the hardest part of starting my business was branding. Unless you are naturally creative or have a solid idea to start on, I would probably recommend hiring out for help for this eventually. I have always struggled with perfectionism and being indecisive, and that screwed me a bit when figuring out my brand. While it is okay to rebrand at times, I wasted a lot of time and money changing everything several times. Over time, however, I finally found a path that feels authentic to me and the tone I want to put out there!
The last thing I want to highlight is having a budgeting system in place when starting a business. I am incredibly thankful for having YNAB (You Need A Budget) in my back pocket way before I ever started my business. I strongly believe using this system helped put me on the fast track to incorporating and opening my business in such a timely manner. Since I did not want to take out any loans to start my business, my money needed to be allocated in a way that my personal and business responsibilities would be taken care of. I still use this system to this day, and I think it has helped me tremendously through the ups and downs over the years!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi there! My name is Madison, I am 25 years old, a Licensed Esthetician, and the Owner of Skin & Wax Sanctuary in Austin, Texas. I have been working in the industry going on 6 years now, which is crazy to think about! Deciding on a career path during my senior year of high school was a bit daunting as I had only recently been diagnosed with ADHD. I struggled with the traditional style of schooling, so going to college almost felt impossible for me. I’d always thought I would end up in the medical field since I’d always loved the idea of caring for others. After struggling through half a semester at my community college, my mom introduced the idea of going to school for skincare or makeup. It’s no secret that there is a stigma against going to beauty school, so having her approval meant the world to me.
I spent most of my days growing up watching YouTube gurus talk about skincare and makeup. Whether I was in class (I don’t condone this haha!), doing homework, or doing chores, I probably had a video playing in the background to keep me on track and entertained. I loved trying new products on myself and learning as much as I could to treat my acne or cover it with the best makeup on the market. When I started to tour schools to study esthetics, I felt immense relief seeing how hands-on the programs were. This is exactly what I needed to stay engaged and be successful.
The heart of my business is treating all types of acne and bikini waxing. I mastered the art of bikini waxing with my first job out of school, and I enjoy doing it! A lot of women struggle with various skin concerns in the bikini area, so a lot of my focus is on treating those concerns as well. As far as acne goes, this is probably what made me fall in love with esthetics to begin with. I started to use Face Reality Skincare to treat my acne in 2018. Their line of products completely transformed my skin. When I learned that they had an Acne Specialist program, I immediately knew it was the path I wanted to take for my business. I think healing acne for my clients helps nurture what I have always wanted in life; to help make others feel better and more confident. When I take on my acne clients, we are considering absolutely everything that could be triggering their acne from products, lifestyle choices, foods, vitamin deficiencies, and so much more. Treating the skin from a holistic standpoint has provided incredible results for my clients, and the feeling both the client and I get from it is completely unmatched.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
So here we are, the toughest part of my story. Buckle up, this one is hard to talk about!
As I mentioned earlier, I started my business at 21 years old and was open for business the first week of March 2020. I had just signed a year-long lease on a room I was renting from another business and invested in all that I needed to provide services for my community. The first week of being open, the state had shut down businesses like mine due to Covid. While I was still employed with the wax company, I was completely out of work and terrified. Since I had so recently incorporated my business, I missed out on all chances to receive government support for my business. Not only was this a nightmare, but my previous employer also appealed my right to unemployment due to having started my business despite having verbal confirmation that my skincare business would not present a conflict of interest to the wax company. The details of the appeal are a doozy, but it should have been a no-brainer that I did not deserve to lose my unemployment. Unfortunately, the case did not go my way, and I was completely out of any government assistance altogether.
That entire year was incredibly tough on everyone, and I hope to never relive anything like that again. Of course, there was the option to just pack my bags and go home, but I knew that every successful entrepreneur has a story like mine. You can’t rise to the top (whatever that means for you) without rolling with the punches. Without any other financial help, I sunk into a hole of debt that I never thought I would see myself in. I’ve always made financially sound decisions, so it was quite alarming to be in the situation that I was in based solely on keeping myself afloat. I got out of my business lease 1 month early and converted my new dining room space in my one-bedroom apartment into a treatment room. I knew I couldn’t afford to rent another room at that time, but I could continue my practice with friends and family until I found my way. Get this – the evening I gave my first facial in my new space, I broke my hand and wrist! I could not catch a break haha!
Eventually, I saved money and found my way back into my community. There was the perfect room being used for storage in a massage business that I had previously managed, and we were able to work out the perfect rental agreement that best suited me. I still work within this building to this day despite management changes, and I am forever grateful to have found the right place that allowed me to grow in my own time. It’s taken several years to get to where I am today and a TON of resilience, but I am so proud of myself for sticking with it. Despite it all, I still get to live out my dream and make a positive impact on my clients who are struggling with various skin-related concerns!
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
One of the biggest things I was looking forward to when starting my business was having the freedom to have an open communication line with my clients even outside of the treatment room. I know sometimes when I walk into various appointments, I may forget a question I have been waiting to ask and have to wait for the next time I see my provider. Since the beginning, I have prioritized checking in with my clients the day after all services and encouraging them to text or email me if anything comes up! This also helps keep clients from looking to other potentially unreliable sources when they have questions or concerns. It’s a win-win for everybody! In the future, I hope to implement some sort of communication software via my website or an app that can make keeping in touch with clients even easier.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thewaxingsanctuary.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/skinwaxsanctuary
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/skinwaxsanctuary
Image Credits
Faith Gentles