We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Renee Brown . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Renee below.
Hi Renee, thanks for joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?
Currently I manage my business’ social media pages. I desperately need to hire people and delegate the work but I don’t think some one else can capture our brand identity and authenticity. Everything we post is organic and not really planned out but it works for us and our audience.
Renee, 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?
My brand is Trachouse! Trachouse is a beauty salon like no other. We provide an all inclusive beauty experience. Our services range from hair, make up, teeth whitening, intimate waxing, facials nails, brow sculpting and much more! We are a one stop shop for your beauty needs. I have a staff of 15 beauty professionals and we have built a culture based on sisterhood and loyalty. In our city we are the premier location to get all things beauty done. We are here for every occasion and milestone in our clients lives. Customer service along with community are our top priorities.
I have a background in social work and the non profit sector so I’m no stranger to community and giving back! Annually we have a toiletry drive for a local women’s shelter in our city. We also host an amazing event called the Pink Project where we donate a day of pampering to Breast Cancer warriors. We have given out over 20+ free human hair wigs to women through this initiative. We also host many events for young girls surrounding beauty standards and self esteem building.
Having this passion for beauty started in college as a way for me to gain revenue. It blossomed into this beautiful brand where I am able to stand beside my sisters and do what I love. The road of entrepreneurialism has been rocky, with many bumps and humps, detours and pit stops but the journey has been so rewarding.
With two locations, hundreds of five star reviews, and a great reputation, I’m so proud to be a black female under 35 with a thriving successful business. It’s survived the pandemic, shifts in employees, a major move, and expansion.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
With no entrepreneurs in my immediate family, I had no direction. My mother was a hard working single parent who did what she had to do. The idea of entrepreneurship was foreign to my Jamaican mother. She saw doing hair as a hobby. She always ensured that I had a full time job to fall back on for the “slow season.” (FYI … I’ve never had a slow season). As my business grew no one told me the golden rule, “never use your own money to fund your business.” I didn’t have any banking relationships, business credit, or savings. My personal credit wasn’t in the best shape but I leaned on faith. I didn’t have credit established so I put my car up as collateral and got an auto loan from my credit union for 8K. I bought furniture for my first location and paid to fit the space out into a salon. I quickly paid it back. After that I worked hard and paid for everything out of pocket. The lack of knowledge I had hindered my growth and capped my business. In 2021 I was put in a position where I had to leave my current salon location because my lease was over with no chance of renewal. I spent a lot of time researching traditional and non traditional lending sources. I was able to secure capital through Liberty Bank here in Connecticut. They were extremely helpful through the process and small business friendly. They also have many other options for small business that I plan to tap into. I have been able to start creating those banking relationships. My banker is just a phone call away if I come up with an idea and I need to figure how to access capital for it!
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social media is truly a necessity in service based businesses. People aren’t running to the yellow pages, or listening to the radio or waiting around to get your business card. I love Instagram. It drives so much business to us! We know how to turn posts into successful appointments. When Instagram first rolled out their Reel feature I was so excited to tap in. It gave my salon an opportunity to interact with potential clients and it gave a platform for the world to see how entertaining we are. We are also able to educate via social media. If your are just starting out my advice is to post post post!!! Do market research and spend time looking at things people in your industry are doing. What is driving people to like, comment, share and book appointments. Find what you are good at and run with that. You are the expert so educate, entertain, and be visible! People book with who is in their face. Brands who are memorable get the dollar.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thetrachouse.com
- Instagram: @trachouse
- Facebook: Facebook.com/trachouse
Image Credits
Ebony B. Photography Wavyy Photography