November 1, 2024 • 33 mins
Matthew Landis sits down with the powerhouse duo, Desarai Mannelly and Emily Condle, co-founders of Sage Head Spa, to discuss their journey from longtime friends to successful business partners. Desarai and Emily share how their complementary strengths, mutual trust, and backgrounds as an esthetician and cosmetologist have fueled Sage Head Spa’s expansion from one location in Alpharetta, Georgia, to seven thriving locations across the Southeast. With insights into how they introduced Japanese head spa treatments to a new market, they detail how they’ve made relaxation and scalp health both accessible and luxurious.
The partners dive into their approach to overcoming challenges, from handling rapid growth to staying true to their vision and values. They discuss the highs and lows of balancing business and friendship, the importance of clear communication, and how supporting each other through every decision has been key to their success. Desarai and Emily also talk about the journey of marketing their unique services, expanding their social media reach, and embedding themselves in their local communities.
Listeners will leave inspired by this tale of teamwork, resilience, and innovation. This episode offers a rich perspective on the value of partnerships in business and the power of shared dreams.
The VIP Suite is the official podcast of IMAGE Studios, created for independent beauty, health, and wellness professionals who want to grow their businesses and thrive in salon suite life. Hosted by Director of Education, Matthew Landis, each episode shares real success stories, marketing tips, and business strategies from top beauty entrepreneurs and wellness leaders.
This episode is sponsored by GlossGenius, the all-in-one salon software designed to help independent professionals book appointments, accept payments, manage schedules, and build strong beauty brands. Learn more at glossgenius.com.
Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Connect with us on Instagram @imagestudios360 and visit imagestudios360.com for more information about IMAGE Studios luxury salon suites. New episodes drop every two week. Subscribe to hear how beauty and wellness professionals like you are building powerful, independent careers.
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Episode Transcript
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Matthew Landis (00:01):
Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite at
IMAGE Studios. The podcastexclusively designed for
independent beauty, health andwellness professionals, brought
to you by IMAGE Studios, theluxury leader in the Salon Suite
industry. I'm your host,industry expert and certified
business coach, Matthew Landis.
In each episode, we will bringyou insightful interviews with
solo entrepreneurs who haveforged their own path to
(00:23):
success, from stories of triumphto practical tips and strategies
for growing your client base andbuilding your brand. This is the
place to thrive and take yourSalon Suite business to the next
level. Joining me today on theVIP suite podcast are Desarai
Mannelly and Emily Condle fromSage Head Spa, with several
locations throughout theSoutheast, but coming to us from
(00:44):
IMAGE Studios in Alpharetta,Georgia. Welcome to the podcast.
Desarai & Emily (00:50):
Hi. Thank you for having us.
Matthew Landis (00:53):
So tell us, you own a head spa. Now, I know this
is sort of a happening trendright now. It's new to the
scene. I think. Could you tellus a little bit more about what
a head spot actually is?
Desarai & Emily (01:04):
Yeah, so the Japanese head spa treatment, it
actually originated in Japan andKorea, and it's been there for
years and years and years, andtypically, the Asian culture is
ahead of us when it comes tobeauty treatments. So last year
we saw some head spots poppingup around the United States. I'm
(01:25):
a licensed esthetician. Desireeis a master cosmetologist. So we
were like, how do we bring thisamazing looking treatment to the
United States? And we studied.
We started studying, like, theJapanese techniques and the
protocols and things like that.
And that's kind of how Sage wasborn.
Matthew Landis (01:44):
And you've gone from one location to seven? How
did that happen?
Desarai & Emily (01:52):
We call ourselves crazy. So basically,
when we opened in Alpharetta,Georgia, there was such a
demand, and and then ourInstagram page grew fairly
quickly, and we started gettingrequests from a lot of other
cities. So our second locationwe opened was in West Palm
Beach. We opened. And then imagestudios there. From there we
(02:15):
opened in Texas, in Dallas,Texas area. From there we opened
Nashville, Winter Park, Tampaand Charlotte. Oh my gosh. So
you are just exploding. We'retrying that's so cool.
Matthew Landis (02:30):
So tell me how you met, and how did you form
this business in the firstplace?
Desarai & Emily (02:34):
We actually met, like 12 years ago. We were
both Hooters girls, so Dez was abartender and I was a server.
And so it's kind of weird too,though, because you had just
left and I had just got there.
We had missed each other, butone of the regulars was like,
Oh, this is Emily. She's at workat this location. You need to
meet her. And you it was funny,because, like, he takes credit
(02:56):
for this now, like, all of this,yeah. So, yeah, I basically
retired my orange shorts, but Icame in for chicken wings, and
we met so and then we actually,a couple years ago, found out
that we were neighbors, so wealways kind of stayed in contact
through social media. Our kidsgo to the same school, and like
(03:17):
I said, I knew that I knew theskin, and I just wasn't
confident on, like, the hairportion. I have always spent my
money on, like, skincare. And Iwas like, this girl seems like a
product junkie. She's constantlyposting her new hair care
products on Instagram, and she'sa master cosmetologist. So we
(03:40):
had been friendly, like, throughour kids in school, and I just
was like, Hey, have you seenthis trending service? And she's
like, Yeah. And I was like,Well, I know nothing about hair,
and you seem to know everything.
So let's partner that is soincredible, so many you know,
parallel moments in your lifethat almost seems like Kismet
(04:00):
that you were meant to meet anddo this together, yeah, for
sure. I mean, we've been like,gassed to the pedal the second
she messaged me. I remember Iwas working, like, a 14 hour
shift at the salon, like, dying,and I, like, took a second to
look at my phone because Ididn't even have a second to,
like, eat, breathe, anything.
And it was super funny, becauseI was like, there was no
hesitation. I was like, she waslike, done. She's like, send me
(04:21):
the link for the bed. And it wasbought, and then we literally
opened a month later. So yeah,oh my gosh.
Matthew Landis (04:28):
So how did you start building your business?
Desarai & Emily (04:31):
Um, so we based, we completely, like,
Frank. Um, we kind of winged it,in a sense. Um, I actually
started a business during thepandemic. I worked for plastic
surgeons for 12 years, and likeduring that time, it was
obviously, like, extremelydifficult. I was on
(04:53):
unemployment, and at that pointI realized, like, I can never
depend on somebody else to paymy bills. So I was actually
watching an episode of The RealHousewives, and I saw a picnic
party in Beverly Hills, but I'mlike, Well, nobody's doing that
in Atlanta, and you can't gohave a birthday party anywhere
because of COVID. Um, so I hadmy fiance build me a picnic
(05:17):
table, and I threw some pillowsaround it, made it cute, took a
picture, posted on Instagram,and that company just blew up.
And I learned a lot from that,because I did scale very
quickly. I went too wide, tooquick with what I offered. And
so I took a lot of what Ilearned from that business, and
(05:37):
didn't make those same mistakeswith this business, and I took
what worked for that business,and made sure that I really
focused on that for thisbusiness. So, you know,
obviously you have to be puttingout a good product, and that's
what we did. And we stuck to aniche where I didn't, you know,
(05:57):
we've had a lot of reps come tous with equipment and add ons
and things like that, like glowto facial all of these things
are great, but we really wantedto stick to our niche. And that
was something that I stand firmon, is you really need to have a
niche, and we're sticking toours.
Matthew Landis (06:14):
So I love that you said that you learned from
your mistakes, because I thinkthat we should not be afraid of
making mistakes, and mistakescan lead to really great things,
and I love that you brought thatup about your previous business.
Desarai & Emily (06:33):
Yeah, no, for sure, I feel like, you know, I
still have that business, andit's five years old, and I still
look back and I'm like, I wish Ididn't do this. I wish I didn't
do that. And then I look atSage, and I'm like, wow. Like,
it saved us a lot of really, itsaved us from making a lot of
really expensive mistakes,actually, by you know that first
(06:56):
business lot of trial and errorlessons, and although they're
completely different businesses,it's still like the same
structure. You both have thisreally incredible
entrepreneurial spirit.
Matthew Landis (07:06):
And I think that, you know, it's interesting
that you came from food andbeverage background, and because
I think there's a lot of peoplefrom that background that really
know how to you get addicted tobeing in control of your destiny
and your money when you whenyou're independent, like that,
for sure. And so it sounds likethat's really important to you.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that, both of you?
Desarai & Emily (07:28):
I mean, I feel like we both come from
backgrounds where we've lovedour jobs however we weren't
where we needed to be, like wewere doing so much and getting
zero return. As far as, like,financial the fulfillment was
there. Like, I loved what I did.
She worked for plastic surgeons.
She loved what she did. Youknow, we loved who we worked
for, but it just didn't makesense. Like what we were putting
into it versus what we werereceiving back from it didn't
(07:50):
make sense. So I think when itcame to that, that's why it was,
like, a no brainer. When shemessaged me, I was like,
absolutely like, this is ourtime to, like, take control over
something that we see is goingto be great as long as we stay
true and consistent to what thatlooks like, we're going to do.
Well, you know, as long as wecan keep it going. And then when
we did have all the demandeverywhere, it was like, okay,
these people really want us,like, everywhere. How do we do
(08:12):
this? Like, what do we do? So westarted building a team. Yeah.
So I think, like, for me,honestly, obviously that, like,
being in control of all of thosethings, but I worked for plastic
surgeons, and they work inprivate practice, and they're in
the field of plastic surgery.
Yes, they are MDs, but theydefinitely have a different
(08:33):
mentality. And I feel like frommy day one job in that field, I
was worked like a dog. I wasn'tappreciated. A lot of people
leave the esthetic industrybecause they're overworked and
underpaid. So I really wanted tocreate a cohesive working
environment where you couldstill, if you have kids, you
(08:54):
don't feel like you're at worknine hours and you can't go to
your kids birthday lunch. Imean, I remember I worked with
one girl, and she was literally,like, hyperventilating, crying
because she couldn't go to herdaughter's birthday lunch. And I
felt so bad. I was like, youshould just leave. This is like
Insanity. I was like, thisdoctor has three kids of his
own, and he's not letting yougo. So, you know, we created a
(09:16):
really awesome schedule andshifts for our staff. So a big
thing for me is, like, why Istarted this business is like,
I'm, you know, you take care ofthe people that take care of
you, and if you're not stressedin your personal life, that's
not going to transfer to yourclient at work. And we're
providing a treatment thatpeople come in they haven't had,
(09:37):
they haven't done anything forthemselves for three years. You
know, we had, when we worked inthe treatment room, I had one
lady say that's the most relaxedI've ever been in three years.
And I really think it's like anenergy transfer. So if our staff
is happy, our clients are goingto be happy, because we are
transferring energy when we'retouching and working on them. So
for me, you know, yeah, it'slike, great that we make money,
(10:00):
but also, like taking care ofthe people that take care of us,
and just having a really greatworking environment and culture
is really important to me aswell.
Matthew Landis (10:11):
I love, love, love, love that. I love that you
approach that from a holisticpoint of view, and I love that
you don't lose sight of the why.
Yeah. You know, it breaks myheart that somebody couldn't go
to their daughter's birthdaylike, those are the things that
are most important.
Desarai & Emily (10:28):
Yeah. I mean, my daughter, my seven year old.
Now, you know, when I worked,when she was basically born, she
was in daycare for nine hours aday, and then she would have to
sit in traffic with me an hourin the morning, an hour and
evening. And I just feel like inthe United States, like the
quality of life and like thehustle, hustle culture really
(10:48):
puts a lot of stress, especiallyon women. And a lot of the
ladies who work for us, they aremoms, and, you know, we created
shifts that still allow them tobe a mom, and they don't have to
miss doctor's appointments, theydon't have to miss school
activities and, you know, thingslike that. So that's, like,
really important to us.
Matthew Landis (11:07):
And you know, when we're on our death bed,
we're not going to think, Oh,I'm so glad I worked as hard as
I did. I'm going to have thememory of that birthday party.
I'm going to have the memory ofthe people and the things that
were most important to me. So Ilove that you provide an
environment, a supportiveenvironment for that. So I want
to know a little bit more aboutthat, like, how did you expand
(11:28):
and then now, obviously, youhave employees and you have
multiple locations. So what arejust a couple of things that
were really key to getting thatoff the ground and expanding
like that? Because I think a lotof our pros, many of them just
want to work by themselves andwork for themselves, and it's
fine, but I think a lot ofpeople also want to grow their
(11:48):
business. So what are some keythings that were important when
you were doing that?
Desarai & Emily (11:53):
I mean, I think definitely always, you know,
sticking to your core, reallynailing down everything from,
you know your marketing to yourproduct usage, things like that,
really getting your protocolsdown, and then having the right
people around you, and knowingwhat your strengths and your
weaknesses are like. I know thatI like to come up with ideas. I
(12:17):
like to tell my partners what myideas are, and I like them to
execute, and then I like to keepmoving forward. So I think
knowing your strengths and yourweaknesses and what you're weak
at having a partner or partnersaround you that can make up for
what you lack, I feel like mystrength is marketing, Instagram
(12:37):
and things like that does Hisstrength is like, the protocol,
the treatment room, innovatingfrom like, that standpoint. So
we know that about each other. Ialso know if I need, like, a 10
page booklet filled out, like,I'm not going to fill it out,
I'm going to give it to her,because, like, I just, like, it
won't get done if it's up to me.
So I think just really findingyour strengths and weaknesses,
(12:57):
and then, you know, if you don'thave a partner, you know,
spending money, if you need tobring in somebody to manage your
finances, if you need to bringin somebody to help you figure
out how to track inventory, youknow, bring in those people help
you do that.
Matthew Landis (13:19):
I love that you don't have to do it on your own.
No, right?
Desarai & Emily (13:22):
No. And honestly, like you can't be good
at everything, like you can't bea jack of all trades, like
you're a master of none at thatpoint. I mean, and that's it's,
that's something that I learnedwith starry nights. I was my
marketing. I was my florist, Iwas my I was my setup, I was my
breakdown. I also cleaned all myplates. I was my cleaning crew.
I was my accountant. I was my Imean, it was like, insane. I
(13:45):
like, basically killed myself.
Had I just put the right peoplein place? I blew up my own
balloons, you know? So it'slike, had I just put my own
people in place? I think thatthat would have been a different
story. But now I do have peoplein place.
Matthew Landis (14:00):
It sounds like there's a lot of important
pieces to this, especially whenyou're starting out, to make
sure that you have everything inplace before you start. So
having a very clear plan, abusiness plan, having a very
clear vision of what it is thatyou want to do, having a clear
vision of who you want to serve.
And I think what you have doneis also being very clear about
(14:21):
the kind of culture that youwant to create for the people
that work with you. And I thinkthat's really commendable, for
sure. Tell me about thetreatments themselves. Tell me,
what should I expect?
Desarai & Emily (14:34):
Like I said, it's a Japanese inspired
treatment. We actually tried outa few Japanese, Korean hair care
lines. But we all decided tostick with the first line that
does. Picked it's Davines. It'san Italian line. It's amazing.
She said it was amazing. I triedit. I fell in love with it. So
(14:56):
good. We definitely it's it'spricey, so as any Business
Owner, we definitely dabbledwith lower priced products, and
you know, some of them were theKorean lines, but there's just
nothing that smells or leavesyour hair as amazing as the
products that we use. So we'rereally proud of that line, yeah.
(15:16):
But essentially, to give youkind of like, a rundown of what
we offer, we use, like oil inour treatment. There's lots of
massage. We use different toolsfor different nerve ending
stimulations. So everything thatwe do, we work in with our hands
for that personal touch, butthen we also reinforce with
(15:37):
tools. So we ordered, probablylike 100 different tools, and we
narrowed it down to about six orseven tools that we use in our
treatment protocol. So we dodouble shampoo. We do a
conditioning treatment based onthe hair type. We also have an
add on deep conditioningtreatment. We do a salt scrub at
(16:00):
the beginning, but really wejust wanted to give people
different sensations on theirhead. And then also, there's
nothing better than having aneck and shoulder massage. So
yeah, we implement neck andshoulder massage, and then our
other two treatments include amedi grade mini facial. So we
(16:20):
use Society skincare, which alot of people aren't familiar
with. It's actually based herein Atlanta. It's an all natural
medical grade skincare line, sono parabens, no sulfates, no
color, no coloring, no nothing.
It's super clean. Honestly, itis such a good line you can use
their pure cleanser on a newbornbaby. I would say, What sets us
apart from other head spas?
(16:44):
Number one is the product thatwe use.
Matthew Landis (16:46):
What are the benefits for the customer to
getting a head spa treatment?
Desarai & Emily (16:50):
I would say, like number one, relaxation. I
feel like we live in such a highstress world that it's just
literally one hour of purebliss. When I had anxiety as a
kid. I literally had anxietysince second grade. And I would
make my grandma scratch and rubmy head, and it was like the
only thing that would calm medown. And I literally had
nothing to have anxiety over. Ijust had anxiety as a child. It
(17:12):
was always super comforting tome. So I feel like that's number
one you're going to getbasically relaxation, but also
it's like total rejuvenation,basically from your chest up. A
benefit is a lot of people say,Oh, I have to wash my hair every
other day. Yeah, we clean yourscalp. So good that we have
people say, Oh, my God, I'vegone seven days without washing
my hair. Obviously, we're aheads spa We want you
(17:33):
exfoliating your scalp. However.
You know, it is really nice tohear that people with super oily
hair can go an extended timewithout having to wash their
hair, right? People that have,yeah, have super flaky hair, but
it helps balance their naturaloils, which makes it whether
it's either dry or oily, itdoesn't make a difference. Going
to help balance that for you.
(17:55):
And we definitely, like, I'vehad people reach out to me a
week later and they're like, Ohmy God, I need to buy everything
you did to me, everything like,or I just need a membership.
Like, memberships were huge,like, and you just launched a
membership. Yeah, you just lostlaunched a membership. But we've
had like, people like, we needto come see you. Like, for a
number of reasons. Like, one, Ifinally disconnected. Like, I'm
always on my phone, or I alwaysthere's not a moment so that 45
(18:16):
minutes or 60 minutes, like, Ihad no choice, because even if
you're one of those overthinkerstoo. When you're in that bed,
there's so many movements, somany feelings, so many smells,
so many you know, differentthings going on, that your brain
just blanks out at that point.
I've had people like, though,like, I need a moment to get up,
like I feel drunk, like I'venever drank before, but I feel
drunk. I'm pretty sure this iswhat this feels like. I just
(18:38):
need a moment to, like,rebalance myself. And that's
like the biggest compliment, Ithink, to us sleep. I'm like,
Oh, my God, obviously we areexfoliating your scalp. So if
you have a healthy scalp, that'swhat you need for hair growth.
You know, it can simulation,yeah. I mean the simulation and
the blood flow and thecirculation does help hair
growth, the products that we useas you know, you're an educator.
(19:00):
I mean, it's really great foryour hair. I would say like,
relaxation is number one. Andthen the added benefit is clean,
healthy skin and hair. And Ireally think that everybody
takes care of their skin thesedays, and now a lot of people
are focusing on hair growth. Ihave heard a lot of people say,
like, since COVID or sincethey've been vaccinated, they've
(19:22):
been, you know, suffering withfrom hair loss. I also think
hair loss is stress induced. SoI think that, you know, coming
in and, you know, justdecompressing, like Dez said,
but then also the benefits ofthe exfoliation and the
circulation and blood flow alsowill help, kind of with that
hair regrowth and strengthening.
Matthew Landis (19:43):
A lot of people, I think, neglect the scalp. They
because they're they're thinkingabout the hair. But the hair
isn't really where it begins.
You really have to address allparts of the hair, you know,
where it's growing from, andwhere it's been, and the whole
journey of the hair, you know,by the time it's as long as
yours, which is, you know, downto your belly button. It's gone
through a lot, but it reallystarts at the very beginning,
(20:05):
and it starts with a healthyscalp, and it is like a garden
that you you have to tend to.
And I think people just forgetabout the skin care. They forget
about the scalp itself. So Ithink that's really incredible,
especially for people who maybesuffer from hair loss or some of
these other challenges?
Desarai & Emily (20:25):
Yeah, no, for sure. So how did you market
yourself? What are some keymarketing tips in getting your
name out there, getting the wordout there about this? What? What
did you do? Or what did you findthe most effective and what can
you help our listeners withtheir marketing for us,
Instagram is a huge marketingtool for us. Again, that's
(20:47):
something that that's basicallyhow I was able to scale my other
business quickly during COVID,is through Instagram, we do a
little bit of Tiktok. We startedfocusing on Tiktok, so we
actually have gotten a decentbit of bookings from Tiktok, and
we only have about 10,000followers Facebook. You kind of
have like your older crowds.
However, that could still beeffective. I would say it
(21:07):
depends on like your clientbase. What you want to focus on.
For us, our client base isliterally anywhere from 15 years
old to 70 year old. So I thinklike finding your niche, and
then from there, picking whatsocial media platform works for
you. And then you know, if youare like local to a specific
(21:28):
place, you can do like targetmarketing on Facebook, Instagram
or even Tiktok. And then weactually didn't implement like
SEO till about eight months in,we are obviously, like on
Google, but we just started,like the SEO, really diving into
that, which can be complicated,and that's something that isn't
(21:49):
any of our strengths. So we didhire a marketing company to
focus on that for us, you know.
And that can get pricey, so Ithink definitely starting out
the social media route, you it'sa little more user friendly.
You, as a pro, can kind ofnavigate that a little bit
(22:09):
easier. And then once it'swithin in your budget, I think
going the SEO route, and what wefound is like doing things
locally in your community. So ifyour kids, you know, their
school as a fundraiser,something like that. I mean,
it's old school marketing, butold school marketing can
sometimes work, you know,definitely be open to that. And,
(22:29):
you know, we try to get involvedin any sort of like fundraiser.
When Helene happened inCharlotte, we did like a
giveaway. So, you know, thingslike that, anything to generate
revenue to help your communityis super helpful, and it also
gets your name out there andshines you in a good light.
Matthew Landis (22:47):
I love that you said, being a part of your
community, you know, that's oneof the things that I did with my
business that really helped,being seen as a part of the
community, donating to thingsthat I care about. I donated to
almost everything, except forone ones that just didn't align
with my values, but everything Isaid yes to and being a part of
that. And you know, I think oneof the great things about social
(23:08):
media is now you can go and be apart of your community, which
you should be, but you can alsobe a part of your community
online. You can engage withother businesses and other
people without ever leaving yourcouch. So there's a lot of ways
to support the people in yourcommunity, the people around
you, because that's really whatit's about. It's great if you
have a million followers onInstagram, but who's actually
(23:31):
coming into your business andsupporting your business by
booking a service and giving youmoney, right? And I love it. And
I you know, I have to circleback a little bit. I love also
thinking about the treatments,because that's where my head is.
Head massages are one of thegreatest things of all time. And
every time I've ever had one, itfelt like I took a trip to outer
space. And I love that. For yourtarget customers, there's
(23:56):
there's two sides of it, there'sthe sort of treatment side of
it, the clinical side of it, andthen there's just the pure,
blissful relaxation part of it.
I love that. You know, there isthat sort of spectrum. Yeah, no,
for sure. Who or what inspiresyou, each of you?
Desarai & Emily (24:12):
I would say my kids are my biggest like, why? I
never want them to feel likethey can't do something. I have
two little girls, so I thinkit's, like, really important to
be independent. I think that alot of times that's not really
instilled in little girls. Sofor me, they're my definitely
(24:33):
why, and my driving force. And Ihonestly don't really like look
up to anybody. I kind of justwant to be like, the best person
I could be every single day. AndI try not to like, compare
myself to other people, becauseI feel like I'll never be happy.
So I just try to wake up and belike, How can I be better every
(24:56):
single day? You know, setting myown goals, and then. Attaining
my like, attaining those goals,I just feel like, you know,
sometimes people sit there andthey compare to other people
what they have or theiraccomplishments, and that kind
of hinders you from reachingyour own goals. And I just had
to kind of stop doing that,right? I would have to agree
(25:18):
definitely our children are likeeverything to us, and we want to
be able to create something forthem to say, Okay, well, this is
like what our moms did, like,This is crazy. They did this in
such a short period of time,like they stuck their ground.
They created, you know, anenvironment for other people
like us, who, you know, insteadof in the positions we were in,
or they were in those positions,working, you know, for crazy
(25:41):
hours and making bare minimum toeven pay their bills. Now they
can pay their bills like wecreated something different, and
I think that's the biggest thingfor us. But again, like when it
says, like, Who inspires you? Imean, I would say Emily inspires
me. My, you know, all my all mybusiness partners, they inspire
me because we're in this everysingle day. And it's not easy.
(26:01):
You know, it may seem like it'seasy, but it's not easy. We work
from sun up to sun down, andthere's always challenges, but
we do the best we can to pushthrough them and move forward.
And I can't say that someone inparticular inspires me, except
for my partners, because we'rein it together. But like my
staff, inspires me. You know,the people around us inspire us
on a daily basis. But there'snothing in specific that's going
(26:23):
to say, Okay, this is why.
Because, like, we want to createthat. We want to create that for
ourselves. We want to createthat for others. So it's just
like the environment is, what isinspiring to us, is if we, are
we creating these things? Arewe? Are we smart about it? You
know, are we doing it and it'sbenefiting other people? Like,
we want to do things that aregoing to benefit other people,
not just ourselves. If it didcome down to that truly owning
businesses is not alwaysbeneficial however you push
(26:44):
through it. But again, it's likeour kids. We want to take care
of our families. We want them tosee like, listen, our moms
kicked ass. They did this. Theydid this for not only us and
them. They did it for everybody.
So I think it's just like goals,like having goals and setting
those goals and followingthrough, that's what's
inspiring, but not necessary ofperson in general. So yeah,
(27:07):
there's definitely people Ifollow on Instagram that are
business people that takemotivate me, but I try not to,
like, say, oh my gosh, I want tobe like Kim Kardashian when I
grow up. I mean, I want to looklike Kim Kardashian when I grow
up, but like, I know, like, I'llnever have her house. So, I
mean, maybe, but, you know,probably, but that's like,
that's the best way. Yeah,people motivate us to do more,
(27:30):
to do better. But as far aslike, inspire, I think we
inspire each other.
Matthew Landis (27:34):
Yeah, you talked a little bit about the rough
days. And we all have roughdays. We we've all had days
where we just want to say, I'mout of here. How do you overcome
those days, those moments?
Desarai & Emily (27:48):
I mean, I think there's definitely been days
where we've all, like, thrownoff our hands and we're like, F
this, but I think like, whatalways brings us back is like,
our core values and our why andour want, and, you know, our
desire to, like, do this andmake this work and really grow
and be something is what alwayslike brings us back, is like,
(28:11):
just remembering our why. We'vedefinitely had, you know, rough
times, like we've had basicallya plumber come in and just
decide to, like, shove our bedand completely, like, dismantle
our plumbing and flood the roomand before opening. Yeah, I
mean, we've had a lot of stuffthat has happened to us, like,
you couldn't make it up. Thereshould be an actual camera
(28:33):
following up on a day to day.
Like, we're too much reality forTV, honestly, like there's
always It's unreal. I mean, Imean, I'm sure a lot of other
business owners can relate, likewe wake up every day and like we
sometimes feel like we're goingto war, but we just need to win
the war. And then we, for everylow low, I feel like we have so
many high highs, so they kind ofbalance each other out. You can
(28:57):
just get through those lows andkeep pushing you have safe, yes,
then you'll be okay. And then,you know, if she has an off day,
like, I try to step up if, like,yesterday I was kind of having
an off day, I had a migraine,does kind of took charge of
things. So it's just kind oflike, also, it is nice having
people around you that you candepend on, which sometimes, if
you're a single business owner,that's sometimes harder to do,
(29:20):
but hopefully then you have,like, a spouse or a bestie you
could call and kind of complainto, or, you know, essentially,
it's having a team. If you havea team, then you're solid,
whatever that looks like foryou, whether it's a business
partner, whether it's, you know,again, best friend or spouse,
neighbor, whatever that lookslike for you. As long as you
have that backing, then I feellike you can push through those
(29:42):
days, and then it gets better.
You always just have to look forthat silver lining or therapy.
Matthew Landis (29:48):
Well, you know, one thing I love about IMAGE
Studios is that is because ofthe open windows and yeah,
there's such a great atmosphereand positivity when you go into
an IMAGE Studios. And I feellike even if you are in a studio
by yourself, you're not reallyalone. And I love that you both
rely on each other. I both lovethat you both have people around
(30:09):
you that support you. And what Iwould love to impart, because I
also do business and marketingcoaching for solo entrepreneurs,
for people that own their ownbusiness, is that you're not
alone, that there are peoplethat will understand what you're
going through, that can helpyou, that you can talk through
these things and and help youmove forward and support you and
(30:30):
that and that your your clientsand your family and everybody
around you, the universe, forlack of a better term, the
universe is conspiring for you,and people want to see you
succeed, and I hope people cantake that away. I love that you
said that. What is next for thetwo of you?
Desarai & Emily (30:48):
I think that, you know, last year we did like
our rapid expansion, and I thinkthis year, we really want to
focus on the seven locationsthat we have and really grow and
scale those to the best of theirability. We definitely have a
new treatment up our sleeve thatwe definitely want to introduce,
but we want to make sure thatour staff is fully trained on
(31:09):
that, and we are going to belaunching some new add ons.
We're switching booking systems,so we're basically taking what
we have and we are making iteven better and more efficient.
So we're doing like a revamp. Weactually hired a new marketing
team, so we just rolled out ournew logo, you could see that on
our Instagram. So we're justkind of taking what we have and
(31:33):
really perfecting it to the bestthat it can be, and just going
from there.
Matthew Landis (31:37):
A year of enrichment. Yes, I love it. So
where can our listeners findyou?
Desarai & Emily (31:43):
So you can find us on Instagram at Sage head
spa. We are also on Tiktok atthe sage head spa. And from
there you can find like minerdoes his personal Instagram. We
live closest to the AlpharettaIMAGE. So we are always in and
out of there, and then we kindof pop into all of our locations
(32:03):
randomly when we can.
Matthew Landis (32:05):
Well, I'm so excited for you. I'm so excited
to see what else is coming downthe pike from both of you. You
both inspire me, and this hasbeen such an incredible
interview today. Thank you, Dez,thank you, Emily. I look forward
to chatting some more in thefuture.
Desarai & Emily (32:20):
Thank you so much for having us. Thank you so
much for joining me on thisepisode of The VIP Suite. I'm
Matthew Landis, and I hope youfound the insights and
inspiration shared today trulyvaluable for your journey as a
Salon Suite entrepreneur andindependent beauty, health or
wellness professional. Don'tforget to follow us on Instagram
@imagestudios360 and if youenjoyed this episode, don't
(32:42):
forget to subscribe to the VIPSuite on your favorite podcast
platform so you never miss anopportunity to connect with our
vibrant community and todiscover more incredible stories
and strategies we love hearingfrom our listeners. If you have
any questions, topics,suggestions, or want to share
your own success story, feelfree to reach out to me at
matthew@imagestudios360.com.
Remember listener, you are theheartbeat of the beauty, health
(33:03):
and wellness industry. Yourdedication and passion make the
world a better place one clientat a time. We'll be back with
more engaging and inspiringconversations in our next
episode. Until then, take care,stay inspired and continue to
create your own VIP Suite. Formore information about becoming
a part of the image studiosluxury salon, suite community,
visit our website atimagestudios360.com.
Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite at
IMAGE Studios. The podcastexclusively designed for
independent beauty, health andwellness professionals, brought
to you by IMAGE Studios, theluxury leader in the Salon Suite
industry. I'm your host,industry expert and certified
business coach, Matthew Landis.
In each episode, we will bringyou insightful interviews with
solo entrepreneurs who haveforged their own path to
(00:23):
success, from stories of triumphto practical tips and strategies
for growing your client base andbuilding your brand. This is the
place to thrive and take yourSalon Suite business to the next
level. Joining me today on theVIP suite podcast are Desarai
Mannelly and Emily Condle fromSage Head Spa, with several
locations throughout theSoutheast, but coming to us from
(00:44):
IMAGE Studios in Alpharetta,Georgia. Welcome to the podcast.
Desarai & Emily (00:50):
Hi. Thank you for having us.
Matthew Landis (00:53):
So tell us, you own a head spa. Now, I know this
is sort of a happening trendright now. It's new to the
scene. I think. Could you tellus a little bit more about what
a head spot actually is?
Desarai & Emily (01:04):
Yeah, so the Japanese head spa treatment, it
actually originated in Japan andKorea, and it's been there for
years and years and years, andtypically, the Asian culture is
ahead of us when it comes tobeauty treatments. So last year
we saw some head spots poppingup around the United States. I'm
(01:25):
a licensed esthetician. Desireeis a master cosmetologist. So we
were like, how do we bring thisamazing looking treatment to the
United States? And we studied.
We started studying, like, theJapanese techniques and the
protocols and things like that.
And that's kind of how Sage wasborn.
Matthew Landis (01:44):
And you've gone from one location to seven? How
did that happen?
Desarai & Emily (01:52):
We call ourselves crazy. So basically,
when we opened in Alpharetta,Georgia, there was such a
demand, and and then ourInstagram page grew fairly
quickly, and we started gettingrequests from a lot of other
cities. So our second locationwe opened was in West Palm
Beach. We opened. And then imagestudios there. From there we
(02:15):
opened in Texas, in Dallas,Texas area. From there we opened
Nashville, Winter Park, Tampaand Charlotte. Oh my gosh. So
you are just exploding. We'retrying that's so cool.
Matthew Landis (02:30):
So tell me how you met, and how did you form
this business in the firstplace?
Desarai & Emily (02:34):
We actually met, like 12 years ago. We were
both Hooters girls, so Dez was abartender and I was a server.
And so it's kind of weird too,though, because you had just
left and I had just got there.
We had missed each other, butone of the regulars was like,
Oh, this is Emily. She's at workat this location. You need to
meet her. And you it was funny,because, like, he takes credit
(02:56):
for this now, like, all of this,yeah. So, yeah, I basically
retired my orange shorts, but Icame in for chicken wings, and
we met so and then we actually,a couple years ago, found out
that we were neighbors, so wealways kind of stayed in contact
through social media. Our kidsgo to the same school, and like
(03:17):
I said, I knew that I knew theskin, and I just wasn't
confident on, like, the hairportion. I have always spent my
money on, like, skincare. And Iwas like, this girl seems like a
product junkie. She's constantlyposting her new hair care
products on Instagram, and she'sa master cosmetologist. So we
(03:40):
had been friendly, like, throughour kids in school, and I just
was like, Hey, have you seenthis trending service? And she's
like, Yeah. And I was like,Well, I know nothing about hair,
and you seem to know everything.
So let's partner that is soincredible, so many you know,
parallel moments in your lifethat almost seems like Kismet
(04:00):
that you were meant to meet anddo this together, yeah, for
sure. I mean, we've been like,gassed to the pedal the second
she messaged me. I remember Iwas working, like, a 14 hour
shift at the salon, like, dying,and I, like, took a second to
look at my phone because Ididn't even have a second to,
like, eat, breathe, anything.
And it was super funny, becauseI was like, there was no
hesitation. I was like, she waslike, done. She's like, send me
(04:21):
the link for the bed. And it wasbought, and then we literally
opened a month later. So yeah,oh my gosh.
Matthew Landis (04:28):
So how did you start building your business?
Desarai & Emily (04:31):
Um, so we based, we completely, like,
Frank. Um, we kind of winged it,in a sense. Um, I actually
started a business during thepandemic. I worked for plastic
surgeons for 12 years, and likeduring that time, it was
obviously, like, extremelydifficult. I was on
(04:53):
unemployment, and at that pointI realized, like, I can never
depend on somebody else to paymy bills. So I was actually
watching an episode of The RealHousewives, and I saw a picnic
party in Beverly Hills, but I'mlike, Well, nobody's doing that
in Atlanta, and you can't gohave a birthday party anywhere
because of COVID. Um, so I hadmy fiance build me a picnic
(05:17):
table, and I threw some pillowsaround it, made it cute, took a
picture, posted on Instagram,and that company just blew up.
And I learned a lot from that,because I did scale very
quickly. I went too wide, tooquick with what I offered. And
so I took a lot of what Ilearned from that business, and
(05:37):
didn't make those same mistakeswith this business, and I took
what worked for that business,and made sure that I really
focused on that for thisbusiness. So, you know,
obviously you have to be puttingout a good product, and that's
what we did. And we stuck to aniche where I didn't, you know,
(05:57):
we've had a lot of reps come tous with equipment and add ons
and things like that, like glowto facial all of these things
are great, but we really wantedto stick to our niche. And that
was something that I stand firmon, is you really need to have a
niche, and we're sticking toours.
Matthew Landis (06:14):
So I love that you said that you learned from
your mistakes, because I thinkthat we should not be afraid of
making mistakes, and mistakescan lead to really great things,
and I love that you brought thatup about your previous business.
Desarai & Emily (06:33):
Yeah, no, for sure, I feel like, you know, I
still have that business, andit's five years old, and I still
look back and I'm like, I wish Ididn't do this. I wish I didn't
do that. And then I look atSage, and I'm like, wow. Like,
it saved us a lot of really, itsaved us from making a lot of
really expensive mistakes,actually, by you know that first
(06:56):
business lot of trial and errorlessons, and although they're
completely different businesses,it's still like the same
structure. You both have thisreally incredible
entrepreneurial spirit.
Matthew Landis (07:06):
And I think that, you know, it's interesting
that you came from food andbeverage background, and because
I think there's a lot of peoplefrom that background that really
know how to you get addicted tobeing in control of your destiny
and your money when you whenyou're independent, like that,
for sure. And so it sounds likethat's really important to you.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that, both of you?
Desarai & Emily (07:28):
I mean, I feel like we both come from
backgrounds where we've lovedour jobs however we weren't
where we needed to be, like wewere doing so much and getting
zero return. As far as, like,financial the fulfillment was
there. Like, I loved what I did.
She worked for plastic surgeons.
She loved what she did. Youknow, we loved who we worked
for, but it just didn't makesense. Like what we were putting
into it versus what we werereceiving back from it didn't
(07:50):
make sense. So I think when itcame to that, that's why it was,
like, a no brainer. When shemessaged me, I was like,
absolutely like, this is ourtime to, like, take control over
something that we see is goingto be great as long as we stay
true and consistent to what thatlooks like, we're going to do.
Well, you know, as long as wecan keep it going. And then when
we did have all the demandeverywhere, it was like, okay,
these people really want us,like, everywhere. How do we do
(08:12):
this? Like, what do we do? So westarted building a team. Yeah.
So I think, like, for me,honestly, obviously that, like,
being in control of all of thosethings, but I worked for plastic
surgeons, and they work inprivate practice, and they're in
the field of plastic surgery.
Yes, they are MDs, but theydefinitely have a different
(08:33):
mentality. And I feel like frommy day one job in that field, I
was worked like a dog. I wasn'tappreciated. A lot of people
leave the esthetic industrybecause they're overworked and
underpaid. So I really wanted tocreate a cohesive working
environment where you couldstill, if you have kids, you
(08:54):
don't feel like you're at worknine hours and you can't go to
your kids birthday lunch. Imean, I remember I worked with
one girl, and she was literally,like, hyperventilating, crying
because she couldn't go to herdaughter's birthday lunch. And I
felt so bad. I was like, youshould just leave. This is like
Insanity. I was like, thisdoctor has three kids of his
own, and he's not letting yougo. So, you know, we created a
(09:16):
really awesome schedule andshifts for our staff. So a big
thing for me is, like, why Istarted this business is like,
I'm, you know, you take care ofthe people that take care of
you, and if you're not stressedin your personal life, that's
not going to transfer to yourclient at work. And we're
providing a treatment thatpeople come in they haven't had,
(09:37):
they haven't done anything forthemselves for three years. You
know, we had, when we worked inthe treatment room, I had one
lady say that's the most relaxedI've ever been in three years.
And I really think it's like anenergy transfer. So if our staff
is happy, our clients are goingto be happy, because we are
transferring energy when we'retouching and working on them. So
for me, you know, yeah, it'slike, great that we make money,
(10:00):
but also, like taking care ofthe people that take care of us,
and just having a really greatworking environment and culture
is really important to me aswell.
Matthew Landis (10:11):
I love, love, love, love that. I love that you
approach that from a holisticpoint of view, and I love that
you don't lose sight of the why.
Yeah. You know, it breaks myheart that somebody couldn't go
to their daughter's birthdaylike, those are the things that
are most important.
Desarai & Emily (10:28):
Yeah. I mean, my daughter, my seven year old.
Now, you know, when I worked,when she was basically born, she
was in daycare for nine hours aday, and then she would have to
sit in traffic with me an hourin the morning, an hour and
evening. And I just feel like inthe United States, like the
quality of life and like thehustle, hustle culture really
(10:48):
puts a lot of stress, especiallyon women. And a lot of the
ladies who work for us, they aremoms, and, you know, we created
shifts that still allow them tobe a mom, and they don't have to
miss doctor's appointments, theydon't have to miss school
activities and, you know, thingslike that. So that's, like,
really important to us.
Matthew Landis (11:07):
And you know, when we're on our death bed,
we're not going to think, Oh,I'm so glad I worked as hard as
I did. I'm going to have thememory of that birthday party.
I'm going to have the memory ofthe people and the things that
were most important to me. So Ilove that you provide an
environment, a supportiveenvironment for that. So I want
to know a little bit more aboutthat, like, how did you expand
(11:28):
and then now, obviously, youhave employees and you have
multiple locations. So what arejust a couple of things that
were really key to getting thatoff the ground and expanding
like that? Because I think a lotof our pros, many of them just
want to work by themselves andwork for themselves, and it's
fine, but I think a lot ofpeople also want to grow their
(11:48):
business. So what are some keythings that were important when
you were doing that?
Desarai & Emily (11:53):
I mean, I think definitely always, you know,
sticking to your core, reallynailing down everything from,
you know your marketing to yourproduct usage, things like that,
really getting your protocolsdown, and then having the right
people around you, and knowingwhat your strengths and your
weaknesses are like. I know thatI like to come up with ideas. I
(12:17):
like to tell my partners what myideas are, and I like them to
execute, and then I like to keepmoving forward. So I think
knowing your strengths and yourweaknesses and what you're weak
at having a partner or partnersaround you that can make up for
what you lack, I feel like mystrength is marketing, Instagram
(12:37):
and things like that does Hisstrength is like, the protocol,
the treatment room, innovatingfrom like, that standpoint. So
we know that about each other. Ialso know if I need, like, a 10
page booklet filled out, like,I'm not going to fill it out,
I'm going to give it to her,because, like, I just, like, it
won't get done if it's up to me.
So I think just really findingyour strengths and weaknesses,
(12:57):
and then, you know, if you don'thave a partner, you know,
spending money, if you need tobring in somebody to manage your
finances, if you need to bringin somebody to help you figure
out how to track inventory, youknow, bring in those people help
you do that.
Matthew Landis (13:19):
I love that you don't have to do it on your own.
No, right?
Desarai & Emily (13:22):
No. And honestly, like you can't be good
at everything, like you can't bea jack of all trades, like
you're a master of none at thatpoint. I mean, and that's it's,
that's something that I learnedwith starry nights. I was my
marketing. I was my florist, Iwas my I was my setup, I was my
breakdown. I also cleaned all myplates. I was my cleaning crew.
I was my accountant. I was my Imean, it was like, insane. I
(13:45):
like, basically killed myself.
Had I just put the right peoplein place? I blew up my own
balloons, you know? So it'slike, had I just put my own
people in place? I think thatthat would have been a different
story. But now I do have peoplein place.
Matthew Landis (14:00):
It sounds like there's a lot of important
pieces to this, especially whenyou're starting out, to make
sure that you have everything inplace before you start. So
having a very clear plan, abusiness plan, having a very
clear vision of what it is thatyou want to do, having a clear
vision of who you want to serve.
And I think what you have doneis also being very clear about
(14:21):
the kind of culture that youwant to create for the people
that work with you. And I thinkthat's really commendable, for
sure. Tell me about thetreatments themselves. Tell me,
what should I expect?
Desarai & Emily (14:34):
Like I said, it's a Japanese inspired
treatment. We actually tried outa few Japanese, Korean hair care
lines. But we all decided tostick with the first line that
does. Picked it's Davines. It'san Italian line. It's amazing.
She said it was amazing. I triedit. I fell in love with it. So
(14:56):
good. We definitely it's it'spricey, so as any Business
Owner, we definitely dabbledwith lower priced products, and
you know, some of them were theKorean lines, but there's just
nothing that smells or leavesyour hair as amazing as the
products that we use. So we'rereally proud of that line, yeah.
(15:16):
But essentially, to give youkind of like, a rundown of what
we offer, we use, like oil inour treatment. There's lots of
massage. We use different toolsfor different nerve ending
stimulations. So everything thatwe do, we work in with our hands
for that personal touch, butthen we also reinforce with
(15:37):
tools. So we ordered, probablylike 100 different tools, and we
narrowed it down to about six orseven tools that we use in our
treatment protocol. So we dodouble shampoo. We do a
conditioning treatment based onthe hair type. We also have an
add on deep conditioningtreatment. We do a salt scrub at
(16:00):
the beginning, but really wejust wanted to give people
different sensations on theirhead. And then also, there's
nothing better than having aneck and shoulder massage. So
yeah, we implement neck andshoulder massage, and then our
other two treatments include amedi grade mini facial. So we
(16:20):
use Society skincare, which alot of people aren't familiar
with. It's actually based herein Atlanta. It's an all natural
medical grade skincare line, sono parabens, no sulfates, no
color, no coloring, no nothing.
It's super clean. Honestly, itis such a good line you can use
their pure cleanser on a newbornbaby. I would say, What sets us
apart from other head spas?
(16:44):
Number one is the product thatwe use.
Matthew Landis (16:46):
What are the benefits for the customer to
getting a head spa treatment?
Desarai & Emily (16:50):
I would say, like number one, relaxation. I
feel like we live in such a highstress world that it's just
literally one hour of purebliss. When I had anxiety as a
kid. I literally had anxietysince second grade. And I would
make my grandma scratch and rubmy head, and it was like the
only thing that would calm medown. And I literally had
nothing to have anxiety over. Ijust had anxiety as a child. It
(17:12):
was always super comforting tome. So I feel like that's number
one you're going to getbasically relaxation, but also
it's like total rejuvenation,basically from your chest up. A
benefit is a lot of people say,Oh, I have to wash my hair every
other day. Yeah, we clean yourscalp. So good that we have
people say, Oh, my God, I'vegone seven days without washing
my hair. Obviously, we're aheads spa We want you
(17:33):
exfoliating your scalp. However.
You know, it is really nice tohear that people with super oily
hair can go an extended timewithout having to wash their
hair, right? People that have,yeah, have super flaky hair, but
it helps balance their naturaloils, which makes it whether
it's either dry or oily, itdoesn't make a difference. Going
to help balance that for you.
(17:55):
And we definitely, like, I'vehad people reach out to me a
week later and they're like, Ohmy God, I need to buy everything
you did to me, everything like,or I just need a membership.
Like, memberships were huge,like, and you just launched a
membership. Yeah, you just lostlaunched a membership. But we've
had like, people like, we needto come see you. Like, for a
number of reasons. Like, one, Ifinally disconnected. Like, I'm
always on my phone, or I alwaysthere's not a moment so that 45
(18:16):
minutes or 60 minutes, like, Ihad no choice, because even if
you're one of those overthinkerstoo. When you're in that bed,
there's so many movements, somany feelings, so many smells,
so many you know, differentthings going on, that your brain
just blanks out at that point.
I've had people like, though,like, I need a moment to get up,
like I feel drunk, like I'venever drank before, but I feel
drunk. I'm pretty sure this iswhat this feels like. I just
(18:38):
need a moment to, like,rebalance myself. And that's
like the biggest compliment, Ithink, to us sleep. I'm like,
Oh, my God, obviously we areexfoliating your scalp. So if
you have a healthy scalp, that'swhat you need for hair growth.
You know, it can simulation,yeah. I mean the simulation and
the blood flow and thecirculation does help hair
growth, the products that we useas you know, you're an educator.
(19:00):
I mean, it's really great foryour hair. I would say like,
relaxation is number one. Andthen the added benefit is clean,
healthy skin and hair. And Ireally think that everybody
takes care of their skin thesedays, and now a lot of people
are focusing on hair growth. Ihave heard a lot of people say,
like, since COVID or sincethey've been vaccinated, they've
(19:22):
been, you know, suffering withfrom hair loss. I also think
hair loss is stress induced. SoI think that, you know, coming
in and, you know, justdecompressing, like Dez said,
but then also the benefits ofthe exfoliation and the
circulation and blood flow alsowill help, kind of with that
hair regrowth and strengthening.
Matthew Landis (19:43):
A lot of people, I think, neglect the scalp. They
because they're they're thinkingabout the hair. But the hair
isn't really where it begins.
You really have to address allparts of the hair, you know,
where it's growing from, andwhere it's been, and the whole
journey of the hair, you know,by the time it's as long as
yours, which is, you know, downto your belly button. It's gone
through a lot, but it reallystarts at the very beginning,
(20:05):
and it starts with a healthyscalp, and it is like a garden
that you you have to tend to.
And I think people just forgetabout the skin care. They forget
about the scalp itself. So Ithink that's really incredible,
especially for people who maybesuffer from hair loss or some of
these other challenges?
Desarai & Emily (20:25):
Yeah, no, for sure. So how did you market
yourself? What are some keymarketing tips in getting your
name out there, getting the wordout there about this? What? What
did you do? Or what did you findthe most effective and what can
you help our listeners withtheir marketing for us,
Instagram is a huge marketingtool for us. Again, that's
(20:47):
something that that's basicallyhow I was able to scale my other
business quickly during COVID,is through Instagram, we do a
little bit of Tiktok. We startedfocusing on Tiktok, so we
actually have gotten a decentbit of bookings from Tiktok, and
we only have about 10,000followers Facebook. You kind of
have like your older crowds.
However, that could still beeffective. I would say it
(21:07):
depends on like your clientbase. What you want to focus on.
For us, our client base isliterally anywhere from 15 years
old to 70 year old. So I thinklike finding your niche, and
then from there, picking whatsocial media platform works for
you. And then you know, if youare like local to a specific
(21:28):
place, you can do like targetmarketing on Facebook, Instagram
or even Tiktok. And then weactually didn't implement like
SEO till about eight months in,we are obviously, like on
Google, but we just started,like the SEO, really diving into
that, which can be complicated,and that's something that isn't
(21:49):
any of our strengths. So we didhire a marketing company to
focus on that for us, you know.
And that can get pricey, so Ithink definitely starting out
the social media route, you it'sa little more user friendly.
You, as a pro, can kind ofnavigate that a little bit
(22:09):
easier. And then once it'swithin in your budget, I think
going the SEO route, and what wefound is like doing things
locally in your community. So ifyour kids, you know, their
school as a fundraiser,something like that. I mean,
it's old school marketing, butold school marketing can
sometimes work, you know,definitely be open to that. And,
(22:29):
you know, we try to get involvedin any sort of like fundraiser.
When Helene happened inCharlotte, we did like a
giveaway. So, you know, thingslike that, anything to generate
revenue to help your communityis super helpful, and it also
gets your name out there andshines you in a good light.
Matthew Landis (22:47):
I love that you said, being a part of your
community, you know, that's oneof the things that I did with my
business that really helped,being seen as a part of the
community, donating to thingsthat I care about. I donated to
almost everything, except forone ones that just didn't align
with my values, but everything Isaid yes to and being a part of
that. And you know, I think oneof the great things about social
(23:08):
media is now you can go and be apart of your community, which
you should be, but you can alsobe a part of your community
online. You can engage withother businesses and other
people without ever leaving yourcouch. So there's a lot of ways
to support the people in yourcommunity, the people around
you, because that's really whatit's about. It's great if you
have a million followers onInstagram, but who's actually
(23:31):
coming into your business andsupporting your business by
booking a service and giving youmoney, right? And I love it. And
I you know, I have to circleback a little bit. I love also
thinking about the treatments,because that's where my head is.
Head massages are one of thegreatest things of all time. And
every time I've ever had one, itfelt like I took a trip to outer
space. And I love that. For yourtarget customers, there's
(23:56):
there's two sides of it, there'sthe sort of treatment side of
it, the clinical side of it, andthen there's just the pure,
blissful relaxation part of it.
I love that. You know, there isthat sort of spectrum. Yeah, no,
for sure. Who or what inspiresyou, each of you?
Desarai & Emily (24:12):
I would say my kids are my biggest like, why? I
never want them to feel likethey can't do something. I have
two little girls, so I thinkit's, like, really important to
be independent. I think that alot of times that's not really
instilled in little girls. Sofor me, they're my definitely
(24:33):
why, and my driving force. And Ihonestly don't really like look
up to anybody. I kind of justwant to be like, the best person
I could be every single day. AndI try not to like, compare
myself to other people, becauseI feel like I'll never be happy.
So I just try to wake up and belike, How can I be better every
(24:56):
single day? You know, setting myown goals, and then. Attaining
my like, attaining those goals,I just feel like, you know,
sometimes people sit there andthey compare to other people
what they have or theiraccomplishments, and that kind
of hinders you from reachingyour own goals. And I just had
to kind of stop doing that,right? I would have to agree
(25:18):
definitely our children are likeeverything to us, and we want to
be able to create something forthem to say, Okay, well, this is
like what our moms did, like,This is crazy. They did this in
such a short period of time,like they stuck their ground.
They created, you know, anenvironment for other people
like us, who, you know, insteadof in the positions we were in,
or they were in those positions,working, you know, for crazy
(25:41):
hours and making bare minimum toeven pay their bills. Now they
can pay their bills like wecreated something different, and
I think that's the biggest thingfor us. But again, like when it
says, like, Who inspires you? Imean, I would say Emily inspires
me. My, you know, all my all mybusiness partners, they inspire
me because we're in this everysingle day. And it's not easy.
(26:01):
You know, it may seem like it'seasy, but it's not easy. We work
from sun up to sun down, andthere's always challenges, but
we do the best we can to pushthrough them and move forward.
And I can't say that someone inparticular inspires me, except
for my partners, because we'rein it together. But like my
staff, inspires me. You know,the people around us inspire us
on a daily basis. But there'snothing in specific that's going
(26:23):
to say, Okay, this is why.
Because, like, we want to createthat. We want to create that for
ourselves. We want to createthat for others. So it's just
like the environment is, what isinspiring to us, is if we, are
we creating these things? Arewe? Are we smart about it? You
know, are we doing it and it'sbenefiting other people? Like,
we want to do things that aregoing to benefit other people,
not just ourselves. If it didcome down to that truly owning
businesses is not alwaysbeneficial however you push
(26:44):
through it. But again, it's likeour kids. We want to take care
of our families. We want them tosee like, listen, our moms
kicked ass. They did this. Theydid this for not only us and
them. They did it for everybody.
So I think it's just like goals,like having goals and setting
those goals and followingthrough, that's what's
inspiring, but not necessary ofperson in general. So yeah,
(27:07):
there's definitely people Ifollow on Instagram that are
business people that takemotivate me, but I try not to,
like, say, oh my gosh, I want tobe like Kim Kardashian when I
grow up. I mean, I want to looklike Kim Kardashian when I grow
up, but like, I know, like, I'llnever have her house. So, I
mean, maybe, but, you know,probably, but that's like,
that's the best way. Yeah,people motivate us to do more,
(27:30):
to do better. But as far aslike, inspire, I think we
inspire each other.
Matthew Landis (27:34):
Yeah, you talked a little bit about the rough
days. And we all have roughdays. We we've all had days
where we just want to say, I'mout of here. How do you overcome
those days, those moments?
Desarai & Emily (27:48):
I mean, I think there's definitely been days
where we've all, like, thrownoff our hands and we're like, F
this, but I think like, whatalways brings us back is like,
our core values and our why andour want, and, you know, our
desire to, like, do this andmake this work and really grow
and be something is what alwayslike brings us back, is like,
(28:11):
just remembering our why. We'vedefinitely had, you know, rough
times, like we've had basicallya plumber come in and just
decide to, like, shove our bedand completely, like, dismantle
our plumbing and flood the roomand before opening. Yeah, I
mean, we've had a lot of stuffthat has happened to us, like,
you couldn't make it up. Thereshould be an actual camera
(28:33):
following up on a day to day.
Like, we're too much reality forTV, honestly, like there's
always It's unreal. I mean, Imean, I'm sure a lot of other
business owners can relate, likewe wake up every day and like we
sometimes feel like we're goingto war, but we just need to win
the war. And then we, for everylow low, I feel like we have so
many high highs, so they kind ofbalance each other out. You can
(28:57):
just get through those lows andkeep pushing you have safe, yes,
then you'll be okay. And then,you know, if she has an off day,
like, I try to step up if, like,yesterday I was kind of having
an off day, I had a migraine,does kind of took charge of
things. So it's just kind oflike, also, it is nice having
people around you that you candepend on, which sometimes, if
you're a single business owner,that's sometimes harder to do,
(29:20):
but hopefully then you have,like, a spouse or a bestie you
could call and kind of complainto, or, you know, essentially,
it's having a team. If you havea team, then you're solid,
whatever that looks like foryou, whether it's a business
partner, whether it's, you know,again, best friend or spouse,
neighbor, whatever that lookslike for you. As long as you
have that backing, then I feellike you can push through those
(29:42):
days, and then it gets better.
You always just have to look forthat silver lining or therapy.
Matthew Landis (29:48):
Well, you know, one thing I love about IMAGE
Studios is that is because ofthe open windows and yeah,
there's such a great atmosphereand positivity when you go into
an IMAGE Studios. And I feellike even if you are in a studio
by yourself, you're not reallyalone. And I love that you both
rely on each other. I both lovethat you both have people around
(30:09):
you that support you. And what Iwould love to impart, because I
also do business and marketingcoaching for solo entrepreneurs,
for people that own their ownbusiness, is that you're not
alone, that there are peoplethat will understand what you're
going through, that can helpyou, that you can talk through
these things and and help youmove forward and support you and
(30:30):
that and that your your clientsand your family and everybody
around you, the universe, forlack of a better term, the
universe is conspiring for you,and people want to see you
succeed, and I hope people cantake that away. I love that you
said that. What is next for thetwo of you?
Desarai & Emily (30:48):
I think that, you know, last year we did like
our rapid expansion, and I thinkthis year, we really want to
focus on the seven locationsthat we have and really grow and
scale those to the best of theirability. We definitely have a
new treatment up our sleeve thatwe definitely want to introduce,
but we want to make sure thatour staff is fully trained on
(31:09):
that, and we are going to belaunching some new add ons.
We're switching booking systems,so we're basically taking what
we have and we are making iteven better and more efficient.
So we're doing like a revamp. Weactually hired a new marketing
team, so we just rolled out ournew logo, you could see that on
our Instagram. So we're justkind of taking what we have and
(31:33):
really perfecting it to the bestthat it can be, and just going
from there.
Matthew Landis (31:37):
A year of enrichment. Yes, I love it. So
where can our listeners findyou?
Desarai & Emily (31:43):
So you can find us on Instagram at Sage head
spa. We are also on Tiktok atthe sage head spa. And from
there you can find like minerdoes his personal Instagram. We
live closest to the AlpharettaIMAGE. So we are always in and
out of there, and then we kindof pop into all of our locations
(32:03):
randomly when we can.
Matthew Landis (32:05):
Well, I'm so excited for you. I'm so excited
to see what else is coming downthe pike from both of you. You
both inspire me, and this hasbeen such an incredible
interview today. Thank you, Dez,thank you, Emily. I look forward
to chatting some more in thefuture.
Desarai & Emily (32:20):
Thank you so much for having us. Thank you so
much for joining me on thisepisode of The VIP Suite. I'm
Matthew Landis, and I hope youfound the insights and
inspiration shared today trulyvaluable for your journey as a
Salon Suite entrepreneur andindependent beauty, health or
wellness professional. Don'tforget to follow us on Instagram
@imagestudios360 and if youenjoyed this episode, don't
(32:42):
forget to subscribe to the VIPSuite on your favorite podcast
platform so you never miss anopportunity to connect with our
vibrant community and todiscover more incredible stories
and strategies we love hearingfrom our listeners. If you have
any questions, topics,suggestions, or want to share
your own success story, feelfree to reach out to me at
matthew@imagestudios360.com.
Remember listener, you are theheartbeat of the beauty, health
(33:03):
and wellness industry. Yourdedication and passion make the
world a better place one clientat a time. We'll be back with
more engaging and inspiringconversations in our next
episode. Until then, take care,stay inspired and continue to
create your own VIP Suite. Formore information about becoming
a part of the image studiosluxury salon, suite community,
visit our website atimagestudios360.com.
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