We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tsvetelina Tomova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tsvetelina below.

Tsvetelina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Some things that I do differently, that may qualify me as a bad business owner in some peoples eyes, is not forcing product sales, not investing in the latest trend machines, and spending much more time with my clients than what i charge for. I have worked and interviewed with other spas before and one of the main goals they all have is sales … Sell products, sell products , upcharge and add on a service … Why ? Money…
When I opened my business one of my number one goals was not to sell items or services to my clients if they do not need it , or cannot afford them . I have even gone as far as selling the products for whole sale price or giving big discounts to people who really needed the product and just could not afford it. Basically making no profit.
I got into this industry because I chose I want to help people. As an esthetician and Reiki practitioner I basically help people like 30 % , the rest is their own work at home. I see myself more as a guide than business owner if I am being honest. And how can I with clear consciousness say that I am here to help people help themselves and yet sell them stuff they do not need.
Same goes with me spending more time with them than what I charge for. I have taken clients after hours and I have charged for 1 hour facial but worked on them for sometimes up to 2 hours. Why ? Because I love what I do and I know that that little extra care they need will effect them in much more major way than me “loosing” one extra hour of my day.
And the last thing I mentioned was investing into the latest machines and trends. I decided that I want to go into more holistic approach when it comes to skincare services. The body is a self healing mechanism if we just give it chance to ( through healthier eating habits, meditations, etc). So I started incorporating energy healing into my facials instead of more machines. I am not saying that all machines are bad , of course there is some that can give a client amazing results. But my approach is more healing on the inside 1st to match our desires on the outside, if it makes sense .

Tsvetelina, 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?

Hello, everybody. My name is Tsvetelina. I am 29 years old entrepreneur. This is the story about me, and my business journey.
I grew up in a small European country, Bulgaria. My life growing up was not easy. We were not wealthy whatsoever and my parents struggled putting food on our table. I had to step up as the big sister at a very young age and start helping out my family. Looking back now, I will forever be grateful for those hardships because they made me who I am now , they made me strong enough to face every negative thing that happens to my life and to keep pushing forward.
I knew that life could be so much more than just waking up and going to a 9-5 job every day and going back home, doing the homely chores and back to bed again. So I put my big girl pants on and I left everyone that I know and love , to go to America , the land of dreams.
I spent few years working 2 to 3 jobs, trying to find myself who I am and what I want , whilst working long hours and saving money. I have worked as cleaning lady, at grocery stores pushing carts in the rain, at coffee shops, retail clothing stores, I have worked as a server, etc. You name it I have probably done it. By the age of 25 I realized that I was not happy. I still had no idea who I was, I was tired, I hated the snow in Massachusetts. I was lost. And what do I do when I am lost? I tell myself “Life is too short to be miserable, let’s start all over again! “So I decided, let’s move to California.
My plans did not work out how I wanted them to, so I had to stay for 1 more year on the East Coast. Getting into this industry was so unexpected for me. My cousin actually told me one day “Hey why don’t you check out this esthetician school, looks fun, maybe you’ll like it.” I had nothing to lose, why not. Luckily for me , I went on the last day of acceptance of new students and they got me in. And I fell in love with all of it! From facials, to essential oils, to crystals, etc. I guess when it is meant to be it just happens so easy. I knew right there and then that this was what I was supposed to be doing. This was my life’s purpose.
I finished school, I worked for a bit and I just , yet again , left everyone and everything that I know to pursue my happiness elsewhere, this time it was in California. I packed my car and drove 5 days by myself cross country. It felt so freeing.
Fast forward I opened my business 2 years ago when I could not find a job that matched my core beliefs! Let me tell you, It was not easy ! I would love to use the opportunity right now to dedicate this to my support circle, who are always there for me to motivate me and lift me up when I felt like giving up because it was so hard. Starting a business from scratch with barely any money, working 2 jobs and no business experience is one of the hardest things I have ever done. But also, one the proudest moments of my life so far. So if you , the reader, have ever felt like you deserve more and you have talents you would like to share with the rest of the world, do it! Find yourself a good circle of people that will be there to support you and give yourself a chance!
I am so grateful that now I get to do what I mostly love. I have the freedom to mix facials with holistic lifestyles. I get to integrate energy healing techniques into my facials; I get to talk to my clients about the importance of different forms of meditation practices, the power of crystals, the power of high frequency music, the power of professional skincare etc. I keep educating myself more and more so that I can educate my clients as well. I personally do not see a point in having a client lay down for an hour while I put a bunch of skincare on their face, massage them and then let them go home , with no knowledge of what I did, why I did it and how they can help themselves at home. What I am most proud of is my ability to inspire my clients to start loving themselves and motivate them to keep on doing the good work at home. In my office we celebrate the little wins not just the big ones. I always tell my clients “I do not want you to NEED to see me to fix something, I want you to CHOOSE to see me just because you decided to spoil yourself or celebrate yourself.”
I also have an amazing network of other entrepreneurs where I trust sending my clients if they seek further help with practices that are out of my scope. Being able to support other amazing entrepreneurs is such a blessing and makes me so happy and proud of the community we are building together.

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

Hmm I wish there was only 1 ahaha. I would say one of the biggest hardship from this journey is actually a mental one. Fighting with your fears and self-doubts , sometimes on the daily can really affect you. Fear has the ability to physically freeze us. I remember when the day came for me to post on my socials that my business is now live , I froze. I could not do it. I started crying, overthinking everything! I started doubting the name of my business, I started already imagining how my business was a fail, how I was a failure. I remember sitting and I could not make myself press the button publish on my Instagram story. I let the little negative voices take over, hitting every single self destructing thought I have ever thought. It was awful. I literary said out loud “I cannot do this. What was I even thinking.” You know we are really our own enemies sometimes. Fear is suppose to protect us from things that are dangerous to our lives, not from taking the leap and making our dreams come true. I once read the book ” The entrepreneur roller coaster” , by Darren Hardy. He wrote : The entrepreneurs who make it are brave not because of the absence of fear, but because they put one foot in front of the other and face down that fear every day.
I connected so much to this line because it is true. On my opening day I faced those fears. I looked myself in the mirror and gave myself a mental slap. I started saying out loud my daily affirmation to remind myself who I am and why am I opening this business. I reached out to my friends for their moral support as well. I am not embarrassed to admit that in this moment I needed my friends to tell me to believe in myself , I needed them to remind me of my strength and fighting spirit and honestly it felt nice someone else to tell me ” You’ve got this. I believe in you ” .
As long as you keep going against your fears and keep fighting for your dreams , you are one step closer to success every day,

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I would say integrity and connection to your already existing clientele. Do not underestimate word of mouth. If you listen to your client’s needs , if you support your client and provide results, the word will spread. Now you have that trust built in, and believe me they will hype you up everywhere. We as people we like to share when something good happens to us, either to brag about it or simply because you want other people to experience it as well. This way you have returning clients and new ones coming in. Treat each client as if they are your only one for the day, not like just the next client from your schedule. Be grateful that they chose you , that they trust you and show them that. You think clients don’t notice, but they do. Everyone likes to feel special and appreciated it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.glowtostudio.com
• Instagram: @glowtostudio
• Facebook: @glowtostudio

Image Credits
Jay Darian