We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Alvarez-Galindo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Everyone seems to have a deep meaning behind their business name but mine is just basically named after my favorite artist, The Weeknd. When I was about 12-13 I was over at my cousin’s house and she was playing his music on the computer. At the time he was just starting out and he had this logo, X’O. For some reason I just really liked it and it always stuck with me, I even wanted to get it tattooed at one point haha (OG Weeknd fans know) obviously, I couldn’t use it commercially for legal reasons so I had to get creative coming up with my own version of it so I wouldn’t rip him off and get in trouble.
Sarah, 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 name is Sarah, I’m a 24 year old Virgo, born and raised here in Austin, TX. I’ve been in the beauty industry for about three years now and I’ve owned my business for about two years.
I never really had a clear vision of what I wanted to do before I attended beauty school. I always knew I wanted to have my own business but every business idea I had never seemed to make it very far. I attended college but I didn’t do very well and I felt like I was just wasting my time and money. I decided to take a break after the first year.
Once I started beauty school it immediately felt like a good fit for me. I made some awesome friends and i actually enjoyed being there. When we were introduced to lash extensions I fell in love and knew that was what I wanted to pursue as my business.
At the moment, the services I offer in my beauty business are, lash extensions, lash lifts, brow waxing, brow tinting, & facials. I’m hoping to add more services by the end of the year. I’m always looking out for the latest trends to bring on.
A huge part of why I wanted to start my business was so that I could give back and support my community. What I’ve started doing now is I’ve turned some of my studio space into a gallery for local artists. They can display their artwork and if a client comes in and purchases it, the money will go directly to the artist. Another cool project I’m starting on is offering discounted services for students in school who receive excellent grades. Even though I didn’t attend a traditional college, I still believe education is very important and hard work deserves to be rewarded. I hope In the future I’m able to be in a position where I can give back even more.
I’m very big on creating relationships and community. All my clients know that the last thing I tell them before they leave is “text me if you need anything.” It might seem like I say it out of habit now but it still stands true. If any of my clients are stranded somewhere and I’m able to go rescue them I absolutely will. When someone comes to me they’re not just another client, they become a friend.
It’s been a great journey so far doing this entrepreneurial thing. I’ve met some good people and made some great friends. There have been a few hiccups along the way but the good completely outweighs the bad. I feel good and I finally have a plan & a very clear vision of where I want myself and my business to be. I see myself staying in this industry for a very long time. Thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
As I mentioned, building strong client relationships is very important to myself and my business. I make it a point to remember details from my conversations with my clients. If they mention a birthday or anniversary, I make note of it to send them a text or a gift when I see them. If l haven’t seen someone in a while I’ll try to check up on them and make sure they’re doing okay. A lot of my clients are new to the city and I know from experience how scary being in a new place alone can be. I make sure they know that my studio is a safe space and I’m here if they ever need anything. I try to make myself and my business as accessible as I can.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I don’t speak on him as often as I should, but my amazing business partner is actually my fiancé. He’s been the biggest blessing, funding all my crazv ideas and supporting me in evervthing I want to do. We met when we were 10 in sixth grade on the first day of school in science class, (shoutout to Ms Collins for putting us in the same group).
Ever since then we’ve just stuck together. Like every couple, we’ve had our share of breakups but we’ve always found or way back to each other. It’s a little crazy to think we’ve been together longer than we’ve been without each other.
He’s the one person who knows me the best other than myself, which is why we work so well together. I know it can be tricky mixing personal & business relationships but I can’t see myself doing this with anyone else. He’s the best teammate, and partner. I wouldn’t be this far without his support.
Contact Info:
- Website: ExoBeautyBar.com
- Instagram: ExoBeautyBar
- Facebook: ExoBeautyBar
- Twitter: ExoBeautyBar
- Youtube: ExoBeautyBar