Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Minique Rice. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Minique, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think the most important ingredient to business success is belief. You have to truly believe in what you are creating and know that it has value. In order to truly believe you’ll have to fully understand the problem or need that is not being met and know that it would undoubtedly be solved by what you are offering. This will naturally build that belief. The belief will then create confidence and the confidence will fuel the drive that will take you places. Believe… and you’ll go far!

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 back background and context?

My name is Minique “Mini” Rice. I am an entrepreneur, wife, mom of four and an MSU alum. Go Green! I previously owned Metro Detroit’s first and very popular sugaring hair removal studio, The Sugar Parlor. I recently decided to close The Sugar Parlor after learning I’ll be welcoming my fourth child. I felt it was important to be more present with my family and reduce my mental load as much as possible. During this time I was able to dive into passion projects and focus on creating businesses that align more with my current lifestyle and who I am at this stage in my life.

After all my soul searching I have branded myself as a mom blogger and digital creator and I have also created a virtual doula business. Now, you’re probably wondering what lead me here? Well, The sugar Parlor has always serviced all genders, but we worked with mostly women. Lots of my conversations with clients were centered around pregnancy, birth, motherhood, etc. I loved these interactions, and it was something that came so naturally to me. I also noticed that there was so much that women, especially young women, didn’t know in regards to these topics. In the birth space specifically, there is a huge need for women to be educated and encouraged to advocate for themselves.
With the work I am doing, I am able to connect with these women, provide my expertise, and know that I am making a direct difference.

I am very thankful for The Sugar Parlor and proud of the the success it reached. If it weren’t for The Sugar Parlor it would have taken much longer for me to realize my passion. What I am most proud of though, is understanding when it was time to put my mental health, and my family first. I bet on myself knowing I would find the path that would lead me where I needed to be for this next phase in my life.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I first became an entrepreneur I worked alone in a small suite. After growing my business beyond what I could handle alone, I decided I wanted to expand into a full studio. Being a young business, under 3 years, I couldn’t really establish trust with banks, not to mention my personal credit wasn’t the best (thanks to my college years). I also tried looking into grants but no luck.

The drive and determination that ran through me wasn’t going to allow me to give up. I decided I’d just work hard and save up money. Not long after, I came across a commercial space that was in a prime area that had just became available for lease. I made an appointment to view the space and get information. Surprisingly, the lease price wasn’t too bad but it was really old and needed a big facelift. I wasn’t sure that I was ready to face such a feat, but ultimately I decided to take the leap.

Money was limited. A contractor was not in the budget. So, I put together a plan to renovate the space myself along with my husband and friends we recruited. I funded everything out of pocket. I worked a lot servicing clients in my suite while simultaneously renovating the space for a grueling four months. It was truly a difficult time but it became so worth it when we finally opened our doors and became Metro Detroit’s first sugaring hair removal studio!

Doing it this way was not ideal, but in the pinch, it was the best option. There was so much I would have done differently and so many things that could have been avoided had I been awarded capital. Yet and still, a way was made out of no way and it got us pretty far.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think the biggest pivot was me closing my business and completely changing directions. Another time though, was about a year into the life of The Sugar Parlor, I relocated to another state. I had been preparing for the move and wrapping my head around running a business remotely. I had established a team and thought I was nervous, I was pretty confident things were going to work out. As expected, we hit some bumps but for the most part things were going pretty well. Out of nowhere, I was faced with an unfortunate situation that caused me to have to unexpectedly do a complete team change over and shut down the business temporarily while I hired and trained new employees. At the time I was nine months pregnant with my third child and I could not travel back to to provide training in person. I was in a panic because how am I going to teach people how to do sugaring hair removal services when I can’t be there in person?

I got creative and figured out a way to quickly restructure the sugaring training to be taught virtually. I had to be innovative with demos and hands-on practice. I tapped into our network of loyal clients that knew exactly how the technique was to be performed and asked them to be models and honest critiques. I was able to have the new team hired and fully trained in two weeks! It actually ended up being the best most in-depth training. Oh and the best part is, it was all completed just in time for me to have a stress free delivery!

Contact Info:

• Website: Miniquerice.com
• Instagram: @Miniquerice
• Linkedin: Minique Rice

Image Credits
Noelani Fraiser @ohbabyatlanta