So just like that, poof! Off she went!
This year has already seen a roller coaster adventure for Lash Candy and we're only half way through! First opening in April this year and rapidly building up a wonderful client base full of supportive, beautiful females which as a group, kicked Lash Candy off to an amazing start in Maidstone, Kent!
In the beginning when I first launched the brand, I had no clients booked, I was new to the area and had nothing but the sheer obsession of achieving my dream spurring me on every day to establish myself in, unbeknown to me, an already very saturated area. I spent a lot of time and even more money creating a lash room to remember so all my future clients could really experience the luxury aspect of their luxury treatment from the second they walked through the door. I decorated, painted, built and customised every single little detail that went into that lash room so that every client that came for their appointment would be wowed by what I was bringing to the local lash game.
I officially opened on April 10th and after investing everything I had and actually knowing nothing about the realities of launching a brand, I expected ALL the bookings!........Well I couldn't have been more wrong. Zero F'ing clients! The dread washed over me like a wave and I felt like a failure before I'd even started! Everyone puts their successes on Instagram, but no one posts their failures! That day I was harassed by this incredibly doubtful, pessimistic and quite frankly, very unsupportive voice in my head telling me "wellllllll this was a mistake. How much money do you reckon you could get back on all the shit you bought?"
Another day goes by, no bookings, and another. Well, full onset of cold sweats and nausea took over and all I was thinking was "probably should look at getting a normal 9-5 and just accept defeat"
I am so glad I did not crumble and get that 9-5...
Because all it took was one client. It's like that old saying about the bus! My first ever client in Maidstone rocked up at my door ready to experience what Lash Candy was all about and before I could throw a one man victory party in my apartment in my pants, just me and my very confused doggo, another client booked in! Well that's it! Full on success speech planned out in my head! When those girls opened their eyes after their sets were finished and I could see they were thrilled with the work I had done, I knew then there was absolutely no looking back! I have climbed the corporate ladder since I was 18 and reached high managerial levels at a very young age, leading 20+ man teams, but all that paled in comparison to the feeling I got when I was working for myself and for clients that loved what I was producing!
Every single day since it's inception, Lash Candy has been building quickly and strongly and after 4 short months in Maidstone I decided it was time to take the leap and crank it up a notch. I had been lashing out of my apartment for such a short space of time but I could quickly see my large diary was demanding more from me and my little room and a spot in a salon seemed to be the next logical step. Lashing from your home can be great as it's cost effective but it can also massively upset the work/life balance. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, I was technically working. Poor Milo. I blurred the lines massively between working and having time to myself and if you are a lash artist currently lashing out of your home, you will know the strange feeling of isolation. It's just you and your lash room.
So I welcomed the idea of being in an environment with other motivated and independent females who are also on their own journeys to achieving their dreams. As Lash Candy grows and heads towards the aspirations I have for it, being surrounded by hard working females will be the norm, so I thought what better time to acclimatise than now!
"Ok Sas, we get the salon bit, but why not build in Maidstone? What's in York?" This was probably the general consensus when I announced this major move and the reasons are simple. York stole my heart in 2017 when I visited for the first time and I knew I would one day love to live there, my dog grew up there, the love of my life lives up there and lastly - most importantly of course - I saw a gap in the lash market up here that I knew Lash Candy could fill! The lash game up there is just as huge as it is anywhere else in the country - lashes are most definitely taking over the beauty industry! - but I didn't see anywhere in that magical city that offered what I do and therein lies all the opportunity.
The ball started rolling pretty much after my decision was made. I found a perfectly positioned salon, owned by a wonderful and bubbly woman with a huge heart and we hit it off before we even met! After seeing the space, the fantastic location and the amount of potential for the business, we shook hands on the spot!
So I packed up my stuff and travelled across the country! 24 hours of sleep deprived moving later and I'm up here! As I type this, I'm sipping a well deserved cider, eye twitching from lack of sleep and stress but I'm up here and I'm so excited for what this next chapter has in store!
Lash Candy started in a treatment room in my apartment, it then branched out into a space in a salon, next it will expand into a Lash Candy Lash Bar and then.... well that's a secret for now!
Keep following me on my journey and share in the exciting adventure. I will be posting more about the new salon very soon!
Until then,
Its all love!
Lash Candy x