Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Lynch.
Leah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began my career working for one of the top 200 salons in America. I was fortunate to have my initial client-base handed to me on a silver platter due to the salons high-volume of clientele.
As the daughter of a female entrepreneur who had started her own franchise of 50 stores in the early 80s when it was practically unheard of, I suppose I possessed a very tenacious nature.
I remember having coworkers even request to meet me outside of work to discuss my “teacher’s pet” status and how it may have some long-term consequences in my career as my boss had been known to turn on people when she started to see them as a threat.
Regardless I pushed on pursuing every available opportunity and title. I was the lead esthetician, the Director of Education, the manager of the department making all the product determinations streamlining the back bar inventory rewriting all of the service protocols essentially everything that needed doing for the spa Department.
I had a fiercely loyal clientele who would even come to the salon in cross-country skis if we were having inclement weather. At some points, I would carry 27 clients deep on a waiting list.
It was clear that I had hit my stride! Brow waxing and Advanced cosmetic peels were my original love but were quickly replaced with a full book of lash extension clients once the popular service hit the market in 2006.
Later what my co-workers had warned me of slowly begin to reveal itself and I found myself in quite an abusive situation. Every time I tried to reach up it was like having the legs kicked out from underneath me and being told to stay down, stay in your place and dull that shine!
Regardless, I began receiving national awards for my work, magazine appearances and was featured as successful inspiring women in the beauty industry in Modern Salon magazine.
Then… it just simply became time to move on to greener pastures. I took a job just outside of town to honor my contract for a year and test the market so to speak. I was able to retain enough of my clients with enough consistency throughout that year that gave me the confidence to open my own business.
I won my second national award during that year and begin also training in cosmetic tattooing services and advanced practices in eyelash extension.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I would say my overall perception of my business is that we have always had an upward progression, we have been profitable and stable since Week 1 and I went into it with no business loans and essentially no business experience. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come with what I started with.
I was so fortunate to find the location that I did. The size, at a thousand square feet, was very manageable and though I later realized that the price was truly outrageous compared to areas just slightly outside of downtown, my space was very ideal for me to begin.
It was a lock stock & barrel deal. A man who had purchased the salon for his girlfriend that was completely set up with every detail that had just simply gone awry. I was able to walk input a few things down in my cart and get started!
The true issues that I had throughout the beginning we’re in hiring and trusting some pretty untrustworthy people! I had episodes ranging from staff members pulling entire pages out of my checkbook and writing themselves thousands of dollars worth of checks, a hair stylist on drugs in my salon cutting bangs on a bride who did not ask for them.
I mean frankly, things that would make your hair turn gray. And it has hahaha. It’s never an easy road, that’s not what you sign up for in business. But it’s extremely rewarding and when asking yourself the question, would I rather be working this hard for someone else? You wouldn’t have it any other way.
Finding my new location I can say was a very fated experience. Without joking, the numerology numbers even prove it. A beautiful expansive 3,000 square foot location, gutted and just ready for the design and finishing touches.
Each piece of the puzzle, each person involved in the process, an interesting facet of an interesting history or connection. A fascinating series of coincidences that led to the new and improved Beautique. Which is proving to be a steamrolling entity within itself.
A positive energy and abundance manifesting powerhouse. Or maybe it’s due to all of my recent yoga retreats and meditation seminars! As a business owner, I’m finding it increasingly more important to keep up with the above-mentioned practices on a regular basis.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Beautique we bring Newbury Street to Newburyport with our commitment to excellence. Our team has won six best of North Shore Awards for: Best Eyelash Extensions, Facial, Waxing, Makeup Application, Day Spa and Spa Treatment in 5 short years of business.
During the first few years of business, I won my first two International Awards and was featured in an Amazon best-selling book called lash Masters featuring a handful of an acclaimed lash artist from across the world. I acquired an additional opportunity that I felt I could not pass up.
I took the position of academy director for popular lash extension company and worked for them for 2 years to create their academy. I completed a 163-page manual on every detail of the lash extension world for use in a variety of our training classes along with curriculums, training guides, PowerPoint presentations etc.
I began a train the trainer program in Boston where girls would fly in from across the country and then return home armed with the information and materials that I had provided and the ability to train for the lash extension company locally to their area. It was an amazing way to give back some of the knowledge that I had gained throughout the years.
After 6 professional pieces of training from some of the top trainers in the world and 8+ years of hands-on expertise, I felt that becoming a trainer myself was a natural progression. Teaching students were something that I truly found a passion for.
Being able to give people the opportunity to have such a lucrative career in this industry is wonderful. Eyelash extensions is certainly known for being one of the most profitable services to provide.
Working for this company brought me to many different trade shows and allowed me to meet other individuals in the industry. Through networking, I was able to gain several opportunities such as regular editorials in the US lash only publication Eyelash Magazine produced by Beauty LaunchPad and an “Ask the Expert” column in Lash Inc. Magazine UK.
I also had the fortunate opportunity to speak at an International Conference in London on the subject of safety in my industry where I was able to present my International Eyelash Extension Safety Program that is utilized by schools in three different countries.
All the while, yes, I was still growing Beautique! All of this training and experience was helping to catapult our reputation locally as the place to go for not only amazing eyelash extensions but my clients also trusted that I would make good recommendations for the other services that we offer.
Such as hair, spray tan, microblade, lash lifting and tinting, massage therapy, facials, peels, waxing, photo facials, botox, polarity therapy energy balancing and the list just keeps growing! And thankfully the clientele right along with it.
We got word from the city one day that they were just simply going to take the building by eminent domain to put up a huge parking garage! After back and forth and back and forth it turns out they realize that might be too expensive and that I was miraculously going to be fine in, what now looks to be war-torn location.
Just in the nick of time, I was able to find my new location and quickly avoid the massive demolition project. The sound of a three-story building that’s approximately 10 ft away being demolished would not have been conducive to a spa atmosphere, to say the least. As I stated, finding my new location was truly a fated experience. The perfect place right at the perfect time.
Upon entering my new facility I pictured us slowly growing into space over time. You know, pick up my operation at my old location in and just simply move it to a new one? Hire a few more people how much more work could it be? Our new business started climbing over 50 new clients a month rapidly and I became a hiring and training machine!
Despite the rocky road that has been this blackout/whiteout winter we are certainly on a roll and grateful for all of the opportunity that this new location has unfolded.
If I had to pick one thing that I was most proud of I would say building my amazing team. I am so grateful for each of the 18 talented women that have made Beautique their home, and I make sure to let them know.
We have a very relaxed and comfortable feel in our salon & spa, that is one of the number one things that we get the most positive reviews for. In fact, since moving to our new location we’ve received over 35 five star reviews in only 5 months and most of them mention not just their impeccable service and customer service experience but our beautiful welcoming environment.
I’m very proud that I’ve been able to create such an inviting space that both my employees and my clients truly feel comfortable in.
I believe what sets us apart from our competitors is the fact that I the owner, possess the ability to be able to train and fine-tune my own staff on a consistent basis. It’s not necessary for me to rely on expensive outside trainers and/or costly travel expenses to get my girls to some of these lash training that has truly become overpriced.
All of my girls have completed my safety certification program, my advanced design curriculum, and my advanced lash extension application courses.
We have a strong social media presence and we’ve tried to get better and better about taking good quality photos of our work, which is very helpful for some of the more intricate services that we provide such as lash extensions and the incredibly popular new eyebrow micro blading service.
Beautique was the first business to ever receive a tattoo license in the city of Newburyport. It took me 4 years, much convincing and meetings with every member of City Hall and the health department before they would cave but I triumphed and microblade has become another amazing niche service that sets us apart from our competitors.
We also have the only Harvard-trained board certified plastic surgeon for miles around providing our injectable services, and are one of the only salons offering Kevin Murphy hair care products as well as the Kevin Murphy Color Me hair color line. People drive from miles around to be able to acquire our high-quality, natural products and services.
We pride ourselves on providing the most natural and safe options in each one of our departments. We do not use parabens, preservatives, artificial fragrances or dyes.
Our color line is low ammonia, our lash adhesive is the purest on the market, our spray tan organic, our makeup mineral based, we use CBDs and essential oils for massage, and even our plastic surgeon chooses Xeomin over Botox due to its more purified qualities.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was always very much my own person. Never really caring what other people thought but never really quite fitting in. I have raised an only child and found a passion early in life for horses. I spent a lot of my time at the barn, taking care of the horses riding, taking lessons and training for competition.
When I was 3 years old my parents decided to open their first business out of the lower level of their home. That business grew to a national franchise of 50 stores within a few years and I so i also spent a lot of my youth with them in the business world, in and out of the stores and offices “helping” at every opportunity.
I remember even when creating my very first resume there was a line that said that I possess the entrepreneurial spirit it takes to be successful in business today.
That go-getter attitude, that entrepreneurial spirit, that tenacious nature to always continue to strive and set goals and achieve has brought me all of my success but also quickly isolated and eliminated the negative forces and influences in my life.
It was hard to lose some of the relationships and friends that needed to be lost through those years in order for me to continue to move in an upward direction. Looking back now I realize that no matter what I must trust that what is meant to be for me will come right into my life and what is no longer meant to be for me will just simply be removed.
I’ve learned to stay more liquid about this feeling and try to not attach too much emotion to the changing tides of life. Go with the flow!
Pricing:
- Microblade brow tattooing $450
- Eyelash Extensions $175-$475
- Hair services $35-$220
Contact Info:
- Address: 26 Parker Street Newburyport MA 01950
- Website: beautiquenbpt.com
- Phone: 9782552774
- Email: beautiquenbpt@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/beautique_nbpt
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Beautique.NBPT/
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/beautique-newburyport?osq=beautique
- Other: Instagram.com/lashmasteryonline
Image Credit:
Gary Pearl Photography
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