We were lucky to catch up with Marsia Nogueira recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marsia, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Most days I absolutly love being a business owner, but wow do I miss days off. Today is Monday, a day the salon is closed and the staff is either home relaxing or out enjoying their days and I and locked away in my office for the next 10+ hours. Bridal contracts and endless communications, renewing a lease for one of the renters, payroll, ordering supplies for an event, updating the website with new prices, scheduling social media and the list goes on and on. These are the days that I struggle to remember my why. Why I’m doing this, is all the stress and lack of balance worth it? Because a girl is tired. Then Tuesday rolls around- I get to the salon about an hour before opening, start to prep the space and the girls start making their way in, and that first chipper “good morning” reminds me every single time of my why. I love being surrounded by like-minded hard-working women who I have had the privilege of watching build their own careers under my roof. Being there makes me want to work even harder and make a better business not only for myself but for them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my beauty business about 8 years ago, with the focus solely on bridal hair and makeup. In the last 5 years, it has expanded into a full-service salon and spa with a separate 10-person bridal team. I wanted to create a space where clients could come and get fully prepped for their wedding day, and it has turned into a space where not only clients but employees look forward to coming to. We offer everything from massages to spray tans, nails, lashes, and all hair services. So often as. wedding vendor, we get to know our brides during the planning process and then never see them again after their wedding day. That’s not the case with us, we now have brides coming in every few weeks for hair, facials, nails, etc., and have formed such wonderful relationships years after their wedding. My goal for this business was to have a salon that would allow stylists to grow their own businesses under my roof. I love helping other service providers reach their potential and cheering them on as they reach their own career goals. So often in the beauty industry, we head about ” salon trauma” and my goal is to have a safe space where clients and coworkers can be completely 100% their magical selves.

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

Back in October 2019, I bought out my former business partner. The entire process was extremely quick, and I was thrown into having to learn every aspect of her job (we split responsibilities prior) while still in the middle of wedding season, and right before the holiday. Fast-forward a few months, we all know what happened in March of 2020. A total lockdown. In the backend buyout paperwork, there was a clause that I would be 100% responsible to continue paying if the business was to close. My former business partner had zero faith that I would be able to run this massive business without her. She clearly didn’t know me that well. Faced with a global pandemic, and the determination to prove her wrong, I threw myself into learning every single thing I could about pivoting a brick-and-mortar solely online, took business classes remotely, created social campaigns to get our clients excited to come back when we reopened and keeping those relationships strong. I was able to reschedule every single wedding, we also have a clothing boutique within the salon that had its best sales to date during those months, and the salon schedules were completely full when we reopened. I refused to let this business fail, I owed it to myself and my team to do everything I could to keep up going.

How did you build your audience on social media?

The best way I have found to grow on social media is to be your most authentic self. We love to post our work, our clients, and the stunning makeovers, but our audience wants to see more of the behind-the-scenes. We do a weekly takeover on Instagram, so clients get a full day of different service providers taking them along on their work day. This helps the audience get to know the person behind the work, their personality, their home life, as well as the services they provide. First-time clients have said they feel like they already know us because of Instagram. I wanted to create more of a community than just a follower count.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebeautystudioma.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artistrybymarsia/

Image Credits
all photos were taken by @jamiedesimedia