Today we’d like to introduce you to Jae Sanders.
Jae, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
First, I went to college to make my mother happy but I was miserable. I went to pursue Mortuary Science because I wanted to make a lot of money. While in college, my friends noticed my skills in makeup and told me to start charging for my services. Next thing you know, I had flyers all around campus booked and busy for all of the college parties. I knew then I found joy in making people feel beautiful. I started an essay on reasons why I needed to drop out of college and go to beauty school; now I had to persuade my mother. I was searching the web on successful people who dropped of college and became multi-millionaires. I called beauty schools set up tours and searched YouTube about how to live your best life. Living your best life narrowed down to doing what makes you happy! In the beginning, PASSION IS YOUR PAYCHECK! Passion has truly gotten me this far. I was scared to talk to people then here comes my mom “scared money don’t make no money, you should have stayed in college!” I knew I had to prove her wrong and I did. I went outside my comfort zone to build my network; I was passing out flyers and business cards. I was in hair stores, on campus, in bars and pop-up shops; where ever there was women I was giving them my card. I worked at about 5 salons before I opened my own. I never knew my business could grow this big. I didn’t even have a desire to own a salon I was just happy to work for myself. Having the freedom to create my own schedule and control my own income was magical to me. I am now overbooked and have expanded my salon to beauty suites and a training classroom. I have 10 beauty professionals that I help and encourage daily to achieve their goals. I love teaching and empowering women. I have some major additions coming to My Friends Lash & Suite Bar.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
A smooth road? NEVER! Every new level comes with new devils. Every time things got hard and I was ready to quit there was always a reward after the test. Building a clientele was hard now I can’t keep clients away. I remember when I was not making the income, I wanted so I got a job. I strongly disliked the job then they didn’t let me request off for my birthday I put in my 2 weeks’ notice because “I’m my own boss lol” Now I really had to take my business serious. I was working at salons and they kept shutting down which was discouraging because I had to keep rebuilding clientele. I remember when the opportunity came to open my own salon and I took it then I found out I was pregnant. Now how was I going to build a storefront pregnant? I was ready to back out of the lease and take the loss of the thousands of dollars I put down. I decided I had to do this for my daughter. Now that I had the storefront, I needed some money. I thought I could just go to the bank and they would give me some money. They basically laughed in my face. It was discouraging, but I didn’t quit. I sold my clients packages to make money upfront and survived off hot dogs and noodles until the money was flowing. Now that the salon is open the new struggle was getting clients in the door. I didn’t know much about business it was a lot of trial and error. I did not know how to manage people that was a struggle. My salon closing for a few months during the pandemic was scary. I thought I lost everything I worked so hard for. I felt like a failure. Then I joined network marketing which kept me afloat. I also met some great people and learned a lot about business during that time. The pandemic gave me time to work on myself, I read a lot of business and self-help books. Re-opening the doors of the salon during the pandemic was a new struggle a lot of people were still afraid to come outside. Basically, there’s a lot of struggles that comes with running a business but I love it here. Remember growing might feel like breaking at first.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My Friend’s Lash Bar is the premier lash and beauty bar located in Whitehall, OH. We offer the best in full body waxing, lash extensions, eyebrow sculpting, facials, make-up glam sessions, body sculpting, and other beauty-related services. We also offer hands-on trainings for our customers and beauty professionals.
Our Mission is to help build our client’s confidence and encourage them to be active citizens in our communities, by using their own gifts and abilities to give back.
I am very proud of how my brand is growing and evolving. We stay up to date on the latest trends and continuing education.
What sets us apart from others is our atmosphere is friendly and professional. It is created to help other women believe in themselves and that they can accomplish anything. On a daily basis, you can walk into My Friends Lash Bar and hear conversations of women encouraging each other to live out their dream. At MFLB everyone is treated like my bestie.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Support and Collaboration: I am working on a program that will allow MFLB to give beauty services and trainings to women and single mothers at a discounted rate. Example: a single mother can take my lash training and we can help fund the training to put her in a better position to provide for her family. If we can give discounted services for women maybe they have a job interview and could use some facial enhancement so they can feel more confident.
We are soon launching a beauty mentorship group that women can join for a bi-yearly rate. We will pour into our beauty professionals to help them scale and grow their business.
Lastly, business partnerships we are ready to expand MFLB.
Pricing:
- LASH EXTENSIONS $150+
- FACIAL WAXING $15+
- BODY WAXING $20+
- LASH TRAINING $750+
- FACIALS $100+
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@myfriendslashbar.com
- Website: www.myfriendslashbar.com
- Instagram: @myfriendslashbar
- Facebook: Facebook.com/myfriendslashbar
