We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Varuni Palacios a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Varuni thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
All my life I’ve taken risks. I’m not someone who can sit for long on an idea. I have one rule, sleep on it. And then, if it sticks with me, I pursuit it, or it eats me alive. Some of my favorite personal risks include pivoting into entrepreneurship after spending 15 years in corporate America; moving across the country from NYC to LA to build a family; and being open and vulnerable with my emotions since I was a child. My mother always called me rebel. To everyone else, it looked like I was always taking risks, but to me, I was really just following my own gut instincts.
Varuni, 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?
I’m Varuni Palacios—founder of Studio Varuni in Los Angeles, MBA, California-licensed esthetician, HydraFacial Master Esthetician and Face Reality Certified Acne Expert. I specialize in luxurious, clinically-effective facial treatments & skin routines to clarify, brighten and tighten your skin.
For 15+ years in my first career, I led top performing marketing teams through the journey of launching businesses and building them into powerful brands—at MasterClass, Miss Grass, goop and NBC Entertainment. I was climbing the corporate ladder, but I was really asleep at the wheel of life. The pandemic shook me awake and becoming a mom for the first time birthed a new version of myself. I had to pivot.
Now, in my second life, I work 1:1, in the treatment room, helping my clients to achieve their best skin so that they can feel the best they ever have. My own life-long struggles with acne, eczema, psoriasis, pigmentation and self-confidence led me here, and a relentless passion for uplifting others through the magic of skincare brought Studio Varuni to life.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Everyone always thinks that formal education and training in finance, business or marketing is a requirement to be successful in owning and running a business. And it definitely helps. However, what no one tells you is that the number one most important requirement for business success is resilience, consistency and confidence. Every single day, you have to be able conquer the way that entrepreneurship makes you feel: nervous, fearful, uncertain, delusional. Being resilient, confident in your decision making and consistent in taking action is what will help you succeed. And patient: build fast, lose fast. Build slow, create sustainable growth.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I refuse to leverage paid advertising to grow my clientele. I’ve tried it and always end up acquiring the wrong audience. Rather than forcing a message down people’s throats, here’s my playbook for client acquisition in a service-based industry:
1. Client retention is more important than client acquisition. Even if you only have 2 clients, treat each and every single one of them like gold, every single time.
2. Be so good at what you do that you can’t be ignored.
3. Don’t look at the competition. Look ahead and stay consistent.
4. Create and distribute more content than you consume.
5. Fine tune your messaging and your offering based on your ideal customer. Work on it and improve it over and over again.
6. Be willing to piss off the 80% of people who aren’t for you, so that you can attract the 20% who are for you.
7. Pick two platforms and focus on them. For me, that’s email and Instagram.
8. Word of mouth and reviews / testimonials and feedback are the most important tip your customers will ever leave you. Don’t ask for them, earn them.
9. Be willing to give your service away for free to 10 people, so that they bring in 100 paying people as a result.
10. Build fast & you’ll lost it fast. Build slowly and intentionally & you’ll create sustainable growth.
11. Leverage data to drive your decision making every single step of the way.
12. Learn the funnel (brand awareness, consumer interest, intent to purchase and conversion) and master it in a way that makes sense for your business. Before you try and scale, make sure this is optimized.
13. Profitability over everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.studiovaruni.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/studiovarunI
