Bootstrapped to Beauty Powerhouse: Scaling SUGARED + BRONZED with Courtney Claghorn

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Courtney Claghorn, co-founder of SUGARED + BRONZED, joins Lara Schmoisman on Coffee Nº5 to share how she bootstrapped a beauty service out of her apartment into a nationwide brand. From $1,000 in startup capital to 10 stores before raising funding, Courtney reveals the lessons of growth, customer loyalty, franchising, memberships, and creating a product line—all while keeping customer service at the core.

We'll talk about:

• How Courtney turned $1,000 in savings into Sugared + Bronzed
• The leap from apartment spray tans to opening a first brick-and-mortar in Santa Monica
• Bootstrapping growth for 9 years before raising outside capital
• Building a team you can actually trust—and learning when to take back control
• Creating a product line without losing focus on services
• Customer service as the foundation of brand loyalty
• Why raising capital with the right partners changed everything

For more information, visit Courtney Claghorn's LinkedIn.

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