We were lucky to catch up with Virginia Louise recently and have shared our conversation below.

Virginia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

When I finally left the franchise spa world and opened up my own individual studio, I took a small handful of clients with me. These few individuals have been some of my biggest fans and supporters, but the revenue brought in from these loyal clients wasn’t even covering half my studio rent. Social media was a tool I knew I needed to utilize, but didn’t have much prior experience creating content or comfort around putting my face and personality out there. It took a lot of courage every day to be present on Instagram, I really had to force myself at the start. Two months went by with little traction from the platforms (and no growth in my business), and I felt discouraged, a little embarrassed and defeated. But I told myself, keep trying, keep posting, give it a few more months, these things take time. Just after the 3 month mark of opening my doors, I threw caution to the wind, pushed the veil aside a bit, and got really raw and vulnerable on my social media. And later that evening, I received my first booking! Creating content has now become one of the more enjoyable aspects of running my business, and is my most successful marketing tool.

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 back background and context?

The beauty industry is one that I sort of stumbled into. I don’t have a harrowing back story with my skin, like so many of my fellow estheticians. I didn’t spend my younger years dreaming of esthetics school or obsessing over the skin and beauty of my friends and family. I studied Biology and Psychology, and spent my 20’s working in hospitality and exploring a bit of the world. As those years passed, the idea of working behind a lab bench, as I had imagined in college, became less and less appealing. I needed to work with people. I was good at working with people.

An avid eyelash extension client, I watched my lash artist build a beautiful business that allowed her flexibility and financial stability over the course of a few years. The more questions I asked, the more an esthetics career seemed to align with the direction I was looking to take my life. And I recognized the extent of different opportunities available once that school and licensing was complete. A new job was taking my then-boyfriend and I from Denver to Austin, so it was time to dive in to something new.

Esthetics school opened up countless paths and potential opportunities. When finished with the program, I dabbled in a couple different spa settings which ultimately led me to feel a bit jaded about the way in which many of these companies ran their businesses. After numerous nights spent frustrated and venting to my partner, he encouraged me to be loyal to myself and spend all that energy building something with the ethical backbone I believed in. And so I did.

Studio Lax is a space where elevated customer service meets high ethical standards. Where community is important, and honesty is the only policy. I am on a never ending journey to eliminate as much waste as possible, and I use my space to showcase local artist’s masterpieces. A portion of my profits support local Non-Profits, and many of my generous clients choose to donate as well, amplifying our impact.

What a beautiful thing to have the ability to create positive impact on both an individual level, through the safe space I create for my clients, and a community level, through my artist showcases and charity donations.

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

As a serial people-pleaser, I am on a long journey to learning that sometimes “yes” is the wrong answer. My ability to be overly accommodating is in many ways a strength, and is one reason why I have always thrived in customer service based industries. Defining boundaries is crucial and also very challenging, but it’s a skill I am working on and continue to get better at with each day!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Hustle baby!

An advantage to the industry I am in is a lower start up cost. I chose not to take out a loan, and instead spent close to a year working two jobs and saving very vigorously and intentionally. It helps that when you’re working so many hours a week, there isn’t much time left over for frivolous spending!

Contact Info:

• Website: studiolax.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: @studiolax_atx and @life.of.lax_
• Other: Tik Tok: @studiolax_atx and @life.of.lax