Today we’d like to introduce you to Johanna Payeur.
Johanna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been drawn to makeup and hair artistry for as long as I can remember but never thought I could make a career of it. I went to college to study graphic design and after landing an internship my second semester freshman year, I realized that graphic design was no longer a good fit for me. I stayed in school for one more semester before deciding to leave and figure out what I wanted to do. I worked a bunch of odd jobs over the next few years – tanning salon, in-bound call center for high end concierge services, corporate sale of copiers and office solutions – but, nothing fit. It wasn’t until I met my (now) husband that I decided to leave my job of copier sales and do some serious soul searching of what was going to make me happy. I decided to go back to school to get my cosmetology license and pursue my lifelong passion of beauty. Upon receiving my license, I got experience working in two different hair salons. At the last salon I was at, I was also doing my own makeup business on the side. As my makeup career started to take off, I decided to leave the salon and focus all of my efforts into making Jo Louise Beauty a success. From there, I opened my first small studio after 1.5 years of being in business, focusing on makeup and taking clients by-appointment only. I outgrew my first studio in 6 months and moved across the hall to a larger space to allow me to start offering other services like lash extensions, blow outs and spray tans. A year later, I was outgrowing my space again and made a huge leap to be store front on street level of Main Street in Nashua, where I now have expanded to have a team of artists, a store front with my own makeup line and continued to grow the amount of services offered.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road to get where I am today. My path was not a straight one, but I think that every path I took to get where I am now has only been to my benefit. Although it may seem like a positive thing to outgrow and move so quickly, it has been tough to find my footing and lay solid roots in the community until this point. There is no handbook on how to become a successful business woman because what works for some will not work for others. It’s all about trial and error and finding what is going to work best for your particular business, what brand you want to build and what you want your business to look like 5, 10 or 20 years down the road.
Please tell us about Jo Louise Beauty.
Jo Louise Beauty is a high end makeup and beauty boutique. We offer makeup applications and lessons, lash services including extensions and lifts/tints, custom airbrush spray tanning, brow shaping and we now have a full service hair boutique for all your cut, color and style needs. We pride ourselves on our eye for detail and our passion for what we do. First and foremost, Jo Louise Beauty specializes in bridal and special occasion makeup and hair. We have now had hundreds of brides since starting in 2014 and pride ourselves in making sure that each bride feels like she is just as important and special as if she were the only bride we had. We are the one stop shop for all your beauty needs, especially our brides who can rest assured knowing that not only their hair and makeup needs are taken care of for their big day, but that they can also trust in us for pre-wedding day beauty such as lash extensions and spray tans. We are very proud to have so many women trust in us to make them feel beautiful on one of the biggest days of their lives!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I may have changed a few things here and there but honestly, every move I have made has been a learning experience and I cherish the mistakes and the bumps in the road for allowing me to move forward, to grow and learn to do things better the next time.
Contact Info:
- Address: 144 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060 - Website: www.jolouisebeauty.com
- Phone: 603-316-0240
- Email: johanna@jolouisebeauty.com
- Instagram: @jolouisebeauty
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jolouisebeauty/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jo-louise-beauty-nashua
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