We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Renee Clor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Renee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
From day one, FIXX started off as a one woman show! Once relocating to Georgia from Los Angeles I had to keep my momentum going. While being overwhelmed in a whole new “world”, I knew I had to keep my wheels turning when it came to finding my way in the beauty industry. I started from freelancing for beauty brands, like Smashbox and Urban Decay. While working my through those opportunities I took advantage of my exposure to the world around me. It gave me full access to potential clients and from there I decided, why not take this a step further and make these customers my clients! Over a span of about 3 years I was able build myself up as an independent makeup artist and stylist. I had reached a point of having to continually turn clients away. One day, it just clicked. I told myself, “Why am I turning these potential clients away?! Why wouldn’t I just build my own team!?”
I did. Over the last few years I’ve taken the steps necessary in order to legitimize my business. I’ve have the amazing lotto contract and blessed opportunity to contract these amazing makeup artist and stylist who are now such a huge part of FIXX BEAUTY +CO’s success. We are what I like to call, “THE FIXX FAM”
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 background and context?
To give a few bullet points on who I am, my name is Renee. Born and raised in California! I got my professional start in Los Angeles California. I experienced a lot of growth in Southern California before relocating to Georgia with my now husband and three boys! I would have never thought in 1 million years I would ever leave California, let alone end up in the south! To be completely honest, I feel like I sometimes have to pinch myself every so often because I cannot believe how blessed I am!
As mentioned before, I had dug my heels pretty deep in Southern California! In no way did I ever think I would excel in this industry independently, let alone play with the thought of not being in a salon! The years have not been easy. If I am being completely transparent, I often struggle with those ‘imposter syndrome’ thoughts. They come and go. While I am in the midst of it, I make a point to step outside my emotions. I choose to reflect on how far FIXX has come and how much I have grown since starting an itty-bitty business on my own. I say it all the time, and I will continue to say it over and over again, there is no way FIXX would even be a “thing” without our amazing team! While some have come and gone, I am forever appreciative and grateful for every single person who has helped contribute to our growth. I am even grateful to those who have unintentionally taught me a lot of hard lessons.
Over the years we have grown within our community. I strive to be a word-of-mouth business. To me, the biggest compliment you can possibly get in the beauty industry. is a referral from a previous client! Through all of the uncertainties and struggles, I’ve learned consistency is key. I have made a point to create big goals for my business. Through experiences I have learned that it is the “small” goals that make the big ones even more impactful.
Some of the best advice I have received early on in my career was, “This industry has no room for ego. The moment you train your mind to believe that you are better than the next person, you’ve already lost.”
That always stuck with me. If I am being completely honest, I even felt some form of conviction when I heard that! We are all competitors in such a oversaturated industry, it can be extremely overwhelming when you really start to think about it. There are so many factors that constantly bend the rules when it comes to professionalism in this field. It makes a lot of people want to just give up. It’s tiring! I constantly remind myself why I am doing this in the first place. Strangely enough, my reasoning continues to change throughout the years. At first I just wanted to be successful. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Then it turned into building a team. We have an AMAZING team! I wanted people in the community to hear the name “FIXX” and their ears perk up. I created all these milestones for my business, and I finally started to grow restless when it came to setting the next goal.
Over the last two years I have felt so incredibly blessed. I truly get to do what I love and call it work. I get to be my own boss. I get to work amongst amazing and influential people. The list goes on, but one thing I have always wanted to do was to give back. It took me a long time to try to figure out how I can use what I have been so blessed with and pass that along to bless others. After all the doubts, conviction, and confusion I finally launched our non profit. It’s called, “THEE ASH PROJECT.”
We focus on striving for a women to regain their inner confidence from within, while incorporating God’s promises of hope healing and restoration. We serve all walks of life. Helping survivors of: domestic abuse, sexual abuse, sex/human trafficking, and addiction. I can go on and on and dive so deeply into Thee Ash Project, but we’ll leave that for another time! Please feel free to check out more details on our website!
I feel like I have finally hit a point in my career and with my business to where it doesn’t feel as superficial anymore. Everything I do, I try to do with purpose and with heart. If anything sets FIXX apart from the “norm”, I would have to say, it is that we don’t look at our clients in a transactional way. We know that with every event we book, we are creating memories to last their lifetime. While we may have done this a thousand times, we need to treat it as special as the first! From start to finish, booking your makeup artist/stylist should be the fun part! Besides the final reveal, we want our clients’ entire experience to be a found memory!
I am always excited for the future for
FIXX BEAUTY + Co. Most recently we’ve been nominated for “Best mobile beauty services” in Forsyth County’s 2023 contest. We’ve dabbled with some FIXX cosmetic products, played with the idea of popping up 4 walls around our name! Who knows! There are still a few months left of 2022. We’re walking into 2023 with open minds and ready for it all!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
It is commonly perceived that building and retaining a clientele has to do a strategy. While that might be true in some cases, I find that authenticity is what connects my business and my clients for a lifetime.
Over the years we have had the humble opportunity to watch families grow! We have been with them from their first dance competition, followed them graduation, and have watched some move on to the next chapter in their lives. We have even been invited back to help them out on one of the biggest days of their lives, their wedding!
For FIXX, strategy comes in when it comes to generating new leads. Creating new opportunities to grow, and that’s my job as the owner. I cannot take all the credit when it comes to the authentic connections we make with our clients, it’s our FIXX FAM!
Each and every one of our team members has that special “something!”
When booking our client events, I make a point to pair our artist/stylist with the right team member! A woman ready for a transformative hairstyle can be perfectly paired with Ashley! A restless bride with 5 indecisive bridesmaids can be put at ease when Kayanna arrives on site and leaves them looking flawless! A last minute fashionista won’t miss a beat once Caleb is done preparing her for gala in the city!
It’s all about connection with FIXX BEAUTY + Co! We’re creating memories and unmatched experiences! Strategy is necessary, but authenticity is what has been most effective for growing and retaining our clientele.
Any advice for managing a team?
Through my experiences as a business owner, I have come to realize that transparency and communication is a must.
When coordinating events, freelancers, schedules, and a large amount of peoples money, you quickly realize how many moving pieces that are actually moving! It can be extremely overwhelming at times. At the end of the day,my team and clients are relying on me to make sure that everything runs smoothly from start to finish.
The best part about being the owner of my own business, is that I personally get to choose who contracts with us and who doesn’t. Maintaining high morale is not a struggle with the FIXX FAM! We all get to do what we love while working amongst each other! We all know what we signed up for and I constantly try to make a point to keep us all on the same page. issues do come up, and situations can get sticky; however, that’s when transparency and communication come in.
I don’t know if I can necessarily give any advice for managing a team. What I can do, is share my experiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fixxbeauty.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/fixxbeautyco?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-clor-061a55189
Image Credits
@savkbrown @j.augustmedia @carolinewhiteheadphoto @erika_krupanski