We recently connected with Melanie Brumsted and have shared our conversation below.

Melanie, appreciate you joining us today. How has Covid changed your business model?

Covid has changed everything as a whole I feel. I think a lot of people do not even realize how much these past two and a half years have affected us all. I opened my salon in January of 2020 and during that time the beauty business was booming. Everyone went to work in person, had lunches with co workers, events with friends, parties with family etc.

I had every intention to create a full service beauty bar in 2020 but when we had to abruptly close in March it put a halt on all of my plans. When we got to re-open my main focus was only to make people feel as safe as possible- not how am I going to grow.
Covid caused a lot of people to not want leave their homes to go to work including beauty professionals. It has made it very challenging to find employees since then. Also, with people staying home it means they might care a little less about a luxury service like lashes or a facial.
I have made a lot of changes and have taken risks to try and get creative with how to make our experience worth the splurge.
I have put my main focus into making our services as comfortable and as luxury as possible.

Melanie, 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?

I fell in love with this industry as a teenage girl and always new it was my passion. After spending many years as a stylist I decided it was time to learn something new. I started my journey in the lash business in 2014 and spent the following years earning multiple certifications. With 20 years of beauty experience, I decided it was time to turn my dreams into reality and opened Howard Counties first beauty bar, Vanity Beauty Lounge.

At Vanity Beauty we strive to offer you luxury skin, lash, and waxing services in a clean and comfortable environment. As an education focused team, we are always learning and keeping up with the latest trends, products, and techniques. Every single one of our artists is licensed and trained in their craft.
Empowering women with beauty and confidence is our top priority.

We offer many services including facials, Lash extensions, brow and lash perming, spray tans, and makeup. We also have a wonderful membership program and offer packages for some services.

Our beautiful boutique is filled with items from woman owned businesses in the United States. It is truly wonderful to be able to showcase items from other woman owned small businesses.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have built everything I have from social media. 11 years ago I realized it could be used as a tool. I was still doing hair then and I just started posting pictures on my Instagram and Facebook of my work. For a while I wouldn’t get any likes or comments but then I started to get clients. When I started doing lashes it was my only tool besides referrals. I was working in a salon that didn’t have social media presence so I realized I had to take it into my own hands. I truly had no idea what I was doing but I figured I would keep trying to see what worked. I began running ads for myself and within 2 years I was able to leave the salon and open a suite on my own. I had so much business I was actually turning clients away which led me to grow into my store front salon in January of 2020. The pandemic really changed things a lot especially with social media because pictures alone became not enough. Our brains became more entertained by reels and tiktoks.
I do my best to try and grow and learn the trends to continue to keep our presence growing. In 2021 I created a form that all of our new customers needed to fill out before their service and at the bottom I asked them how they heard about us, about 80 percent say social media(specifically instagram).

My advice to anyone learning is to keep posting, keep sharing. Even if you’re not getting likes or comments- keep telling people what you offer. Lots of followers does not always mean lots of clients- an organic follower will likely bring you more business. Also don’t get discouraged, we are all learning as we go.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I opened Vanity Beauty in January of 2020 and also learned I was pregnant with my daughter that same month. Trying to grow a business in a pandemic and raise a child has been the most challenging experience I’ve ever been faced with. It is like I have two children growing at the same time. As a working mom I always feel torn. Business owners are always working around the clock and so are moms. Trying to find the balance and managing time will forever feel like a juggling act.

Contact Info:

• Website: vanitybeautyloungemd.com
• Instagram: vanity_beauty_lounge_md
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vanitybeautyloungemd
• Yelp: Vanity Beauty Lounge

Image Credits
Jess Lombardi Photography Collectively Social