We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tracy Bixby a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I would say the best thing I have done for a customer to show my appreciation would be helping out a client after cancer treatment or or surgery.

Truth be known, ALL of my customers are very important to me, so there are things a do for each customer to show my appreciation for their patronage.
Every customer leaves my studio with an aftercare bag and in each bag I always put samples and candy that I think will be enjoyed by that client, but usually I do special things on an individual basis. For example, if I know that my client loves my face and neck massage, then I will spend extra massage time on that client, or maybe she needs help finding a specific beauty product or finding the best plastic surgeon for an eye lift….maybe needed a pick me up after a bad day, and I thought a gift card or flowers would bring a little cheer into her life.

To me my clients aren’t just my clients, they are people who are heroes in their lives…they are wives, mothers, care takers, housekeepers, landscapers, contractors, chefs, professional organizers, and best friends…they do whatever it takes to get the job done!
So, my clients time with me is very special…it’s a reward for doing all of the hard work they do. Most women realize that when ladies look and feel their best, they can just do more for home and their families, and they feel great because they love and feel confident with the way they look.

Through they years I have had the opportunity to become friends with many of these great ladies, which has been an incredible blessing.

Tracy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hello, my name is Tracy Bixby, and I own Blossoming Brows & Skin. I am a professional permanent makeup artist and advanced skin care specialist. I have been working in the beauty industry for 33 years, and I have 8 years of experience in the PMU industry. I hold 13 permanent makeup certifications, and I consistently strive to learn as much as possible to sharpen my skills.

I was chosen as one of the top 21 brow artists in the Phoenix area, and one of the top 30 in Arizona by Soeleish Phoenix Magazine, and I have been featured in Voyage Phoenix Magazine, but I’m most proud of having clients that have stayed with me for over 30 years.

I have business locations in California, Arizona, & Flordia where I see clients regularly. I have a day spa Santa Rosa, California that I work out of, but my main studio is inconveniently located in Chandler, Arizona.

I started working in Arizona once every quarter, because of the lack of state PMU regulations. Every time I visited my friends in Arizona 75% of the women I would see in public had the most horrific permanent brows I had ever seen, so I started working in Arizona in hopes to save a few women from being permanently maimed. After that, my business in Chandler just spiraled out of control. Now, 60% of the clients I see in Chandler are women who are needing their brows fixed because they went to an untrained amateur artist.

Fixing bad brows has made me even more skilled at creating beautiful flattering brows but, you should know I don’t just do brows! I specialize in creating an overall look for each individual client that’s low maintenance….because of this one of my clients named me the BlossomologistTM. Beautiful brows, beautiful lips and beautiful skin is where it’s at….so that each client can focus on her life and not waste time and money putting on makeup every morning, but still look and feel amazing!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started my career in the beauty industry I started by renting a station in a salon, in local town that was a one hour drive away from where I lived. I started without any working capital and no clientele which was scary but I knew I had to take the chance. The town that I chose to work in was much larger, so I figured that I would have a better chance of building a clientele there, then the town I lived in.

The beauty service industry unfortunately, is one of those industries where people are taught a skills to provide a service, but they are not taught any the skills needed to be entrepreneurs.

I was excited about the opportunity to own my own business. I was willing to work hard and I realized that I needed to get help with the attributes a good entrepreneur needs to be successful, but because I didn’t have any working capital I knew had to get my business going before I could hire the professionals that would help me run my business efficiently. At that point I was needing to do all of the administrative work on my own….I was the marketing agency, the advertiser, the bookkeeper, the tax preparer, the cleaning service…..plus I had to service my clientele.
If your a small business owner I know you have probably been exactly where I was and you know how overwhelming it can be!

Regardless, I was excited and ready to go…

I would take clients at any time….”you want an appointment at 6 am, yes! I can get you in then”….”you don’t get off of work until 9:30 pm, no problem, I would be happy to book you an appointment at 10pm! Then, when I wasn’t performing beauty services I was working on all of the tasks that need to be done to run a business….the problem was that I wasn’t a marketer or an advertiser, so the business that I was bringing in wasn’t enough to pay the bills. Remember at the beginning I said I had no working capital, well what I did have was credit, and I never intended to use that credit, but even though I wasn’t paying professionals to rely on, and running my business with barely any inventory I still wasn’t making a profit, so every month I was getting deeper in debt.

By the time I finally had a pretty reliable clientele I was so buried in debt I couldn’t even sleep at night, and I had no idea how to turn things around, so I finally had no choice but to get help.

I hired a financial advisor and he advised me to give up my business and get a job where I focus on paying off the debt…..for me, this was not an option! I had put far too much hard work and passion into owning my business and at this point I was couldn’t walk away.

Owning a business challenges you every day! You never know each day what issue will arise around the next corner and for me being buried in debt wasn’t the first business challenge I had to face, it just happened to be the biggest I had to tackle at that point.

So, I created a plan…..I was going to pay off all of my business debt over the next five years, and for the following 1825 days I worked two jobs and ran my business…..I didn’t go on vacation……I didn’t take any days off….I didn’t eat out…I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t an absolute necessity, and I paid off every penny!
During those five years I spent the little free time continuing to educate myself about business and improving my skills in the beauty industry.

To this day I am so proud that I didn’t just give up and walk away, and the fact that I made it through such a challenging situation has made my resilience even stronger.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

You might have guessed my answer after reading my last answer….

When I first opened my business I was willing to take any client at anytime….it seems to make sense, right? You need to build your business, and so you have to be available for your customers whenever you can be. But, there is a big problem with this. You probably figure I’m going to say, you need time for yourself and your family, or you need to adhere to specific business hours or it’s confusing, and those are good reasons too!

This is just so simple… if your not refreshed and energized then you won’t be able to at your very best for your customers.
For example, if you want to work long hours that’s great, just make sure you take a good break to replenish your mind and body so you can be at your best with your customers.

In the beginning I thought being my best for my customers was being available, but it’s not just about being available. It’s about being present to give them the exact customer service in the way they need it, and you just wont be capable of doing that unless you can give yourself the time you need too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blossomingbrows.com
• Instagram: @blossoming.brows
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlossomingBrows
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracybixby/