The Community Spotlight series showcases innovative GlossGenius Educators and Ambassadors who go above and beyond, not only to educate their community but to inspire them, to dare them to dream big, and to empower them with the tools to succeed in managing and growing their business.

Jessica Greene is a spray tan artist and trainer, salon owner, and mother. She has been a GlossGenius Educator since 2019. She is the owner of Bronzed Belles – Parker County's reigning #1 Tan (2015-2021) – where they perform Airbrush Tans, VersaSpa Booth, and Teeth Whitening at their locations across Texas. You can follow Jess at @bronzed_belles.

Dani Berkowitz  

Hi Jess, thank you so much for joining me on this call. I am so excited that you are sitting down to talk about your GlossGenius experience.

Jessica Greene  

Hi!

Dani Berkowitz  

I would love for our readers and audience to know a little bit more about you. Could you please tell us who you are and what your business is all about?

Jessica Greene  

So, I'm Jessica Greene. I'm the owner of Bronze Belles and the Globe Lounge here in Weatherford, Texas. I do spray tans and I have for 16 years now, this past August. It is my absolute dream job and I get to do what I love every single day.

I'm also a spray tan educator and a solution trainer for an amazing solution company called Unfiltered. I've been doing trainings for about nine years now and solution training for about two. Bronze Belles is my baby. It's my life, my love. I love it.

Dani Berkowitz  

And what were the early days of your business like? When did you wake up one day and say I want to commit to this, I want to be my own boss?

Jessica Greene  

When I first started spray tanning, it was just a side hustle to make money. And my family kind of laughed at me. They're like 'Yeah, spray tanning, okay,' because I was actually in nursing school. And they're like 'So you're going to be a nurse and spray tan?' I'm like 'Yeah, whatever.' And about a year in I realized this was not a side hustle. This was my passion. This is what I wanted to do. And I quit my job in the doctor's office for a neurologist, and I bought some really janky Craigslist spray tanning equipment with my last dime. And I started doing spray tans on the back of my car with a tent. And I was hooked. I was hooked from there.

Dani Berkowitz  

When did you start seeing success in your business? Like when did you start realizing that you had something good going on here?

Jessica Greene  

Honestly, I mean, a fun answer would be to say immediately, but that's not the truth. The truth is, it probably took me three or four years before people took me seriously, because spray tans were not as popular as they are now and they weren't seen as skincare – and it is seen as skincare now.

So, it was a few years in. And it was really when I decided personally to stop treating it like a hobby and start treating it like a business that my clients started treating it like a business as well.

Dani Berkowitz  

And when did you start seeing that competition was sprouting?

Jessica Greene  

I would honestly say the first two or three years, I didn't notice any competition. That's because I was so focused on just trying to build my business. It was definitely there and I think that there were more competitors in the game then, but they weren't as much of a threat as they are now – and not a threat but more as competition.

I think now as I've grown, my competitors have also grown and improved their craft and improved their skill in marketing, and it is much more cutthroat but it doesn't have to be that way. And I think that it's really given me an opportunity to grow as a business owner and as a person, having to compete, but do it with grace.

Dani Berkowitz  

What kind of experiences did you have to learn that grace, and to learn that grit that you knew you had to put in?

Jessica Greene  

So, in the first few years, like I mentioned, there wasn't a whole lot that I was aware of. Once my business name started becoming more known, once people started referring people more to me, that's when I started noticing the competition. They were recognizing me, I was recognizing them. And there were some really tough situations where it almost became like people were just mean because they felt threatened. And that was not my intention at all. My intention was to just grow my business, support my babies, love what I did.

So it took a lot of grace and a lot of self awareness on my part to put it out there from Day One that I was not there to take their business, to threaten their business, to steal their clients. I was there to put my heart and soul into Bronze Belles and grow Bronze Belles. And if they do great, that's awesome. I love that for them. If I do great, even better.

Dani Berkowitz  

So I know that we talked about standing out from competition in a small town like Weatherford. Can you tell me ways that you've coped with that competition, and rather than feeling threatened by it, like you said, you welcomed it, and you found this opportunity to make collaboration over competition? What was that like?

Jessica Greene  

So, I think first you have to be willing to, again, be open to others. It takes an adult and a mature adult, which I was not in the beginning of my journey as a business owner, I was not mature. I had to mature and understand that just because someone else is doing the exact same thing that I do, does not mean that we are in competition.

They may be my competitor business-wise, but we are not competing with each other. It is me against me every single day. If I am so focused on what they're doing with their business, I'm 10 steps behind with my own business. So I really believe in collaboration over competition.

I have reached out to other local spray tanners and asked if they want to get coffee, if they want to chat about difficult clients and business strategies... and half of them turned me down, and that's okay. The other half say yeah, and about half of that half, actually follow through.

And by doing that, I built some amazing relationships, and we're able to refer clients to each other when we are out of town, or sick. We are able to, if someone runs out of solution, we can borrow a solution if our shipment didn't get here in time. If we just had a horrible day, just one tough day, we can call and vent and know that there is no drama. It's just venting, and they're going to help us figure out a strategy to have a better day the next day.

So collaboration over competition is so so important. It's also really important for building your business. I'm able to connect with other spray tanners and join in with giveaways and promotions and cross-promoting with them in the salons that they work in – and it's been really beneficial to my business.

Dani Berkowitz  

I'm sure that in order to become the expert that you are today, you've had to take a couple steps in educating yourself and learning the business before going out on your own. What would you suggest to someone who was just starting out in their tanning salon business?

Jessica Greene  

I think the first step is to get some form of education and training. There's a really bad stigma in the industry about spray tanners just buying equipment on Amazon and just doing spray tans. I think that to set yourself apart, you need to have education, whether it be online, multiple online ones, in-person trainings, you want to know the science behind spray tanning and you want to be the best at what you do.

I think step two is to know your market. You want to understand how many other spray tanners there are, what products they're using, what they're doing, are they mobile, are they in a salon?

And then I think the final step is really to get a great booking software – GlossGenius – it handles all the backend stuff, the booking, the website, the scheduling, the reminders, so you don't have to and you can focus on your business.

Dani Berkowitz  

And I recently saw that you were once again voted number one in Parker County's Best Tan. What does that feel like to get a recognition like that for your business, especially knowing that there's competition out there?

Jessica Greene  

It still doesn't feel real. I mean, all these years – so I think it's been six years in a row now we've been voted number one tanning salon in the county – and we don't even have tanning beds. It's just me and a spray tan gun. And this year, we just got a spray tan booth. And it still just feels so surreal. Like 'People, they think I'm the best. They think I'm number one?' I just... it just feels, I don't know, it's exciting. It feels fake.

Dani Berkowitz  

That reminds me of one of my favorite taglines, which is 'Real clients, fake tans.' And that's something that you've coined for your business for a few years.

Jessica Greene  

Yes, that has been kind of our motto, our tagline, because they are real clients, and they are definitely fake tans!

Dani Berkowitz  

What kind of software have you used to manage your business and help you stand out?

Jessica Greene  

So previously it was a different software and I went through a bunch of different ones, probably five or six. And there were things I liked, but overall I didn't. When I discovered GlossGenius, it was a massive turning point in my career. It's been about four years now since I've been using GlossGenius and the web platform that it provides for you, one, gives you a good SEO and a web presence online, whereas if you don't have a website, how can people find you in your town?

Two, it looks very clean, very sleek, you can customize it to your business. You can have your portfolio, you can have your cancellation policy all on one space, which is so so important for a client when they are searching out the best hair stylists, spray tanner, or whatever that may be. They want clear, clean, concise booking information. It's so user-friendly, and I've gotten so many compliments from clients since I started using GlossGenius: 'Your website's so easy-to-use. It's so pretty. It's so nice.'

And they love, love, love the reminders. Just the fact of having client reminders sent out from GlossGenius that I don't have to send out on a daily basis makes my life 10 times easier. There were so many backend things that GlossGenius took care of for me, like the tax information at the end of the year, client reminders, client notes, text messages that I get from GlossGenius to me before a client's appointment reminding me of what solution I put on them at the last appointment a year and a half ago. Things like that are invaluable.

Dani Berkowitz  

Now, as far as your GlossGenius story, tell me about what life was like before and after you found GlossGenius.

Jessica Greene  

Prior to using GlossGenius, I used other softwares and back and forth I would bounce between pen and paper, which is a nightmare on its own for multiple reasons. I remember one very, very specific time – that was actually a turning point in my career about probably three months before I found GlossGenius – where I thought a certain client had cancelled her appointment, but it was actually a different client with a very similar name.

So I erased her name out of my little calendar and went on about my day and went out of town to have fun with friends. I got a call from a very upset client that she was there for her appointment and I wasn't. It was not good and it was 100% my fault. Had I had GlossGenius and been able to look back at our notes and look back 'Oh, no, this client did this...' I would have known not to erase the wrong client.

She ended up very upset. She went to another tanning salon. I lost a client. And it made me really understand 'I need something to keep track of things.' I am too spacey to have pen and paper. I can't do this. I just couldn't do it.

Dani Berkowitz 

And once you found GlossGenius, what has that been like since you became not just a user of the app, but then eventually finding the Educator community?

Jessica Greene  

So it sounds cheesy, but it's been smooth sailing. I know that I can be asleep at night and someone can book an appointment online. I don't have to wake up to 16 text messages of 'Why aren't you responding? Do you still want my appointment? I'm going to go somewhere else.'

They go on, they book. I wake up, I have new appointments. They get their client reminders. If I forget to send reminders, it's not a big deal, because it does it for me. So it literally made me so much more peaceful and able to actually focus on my client interaction and not be in my head going over 'Did I send the next client her information? Is she prepped? Oh my gosh, I didn't write down her color formula.'

Like, I can actually interact with my clients and focus on them – what should be the goal of any beauty industry pro, to be able to give their clients the service they deserve. When I found the Educator team, I thought 'These people are crazy because they want me? What do they, they don't... No, not me. Not little ol' country bumpkin, Weatherford, Texas, me.'

But since joining the Educator team, I have grown so much as a person, our little like monthly virtual meetings, it's so helpful, and all the information we get it, I love it. It's definitely helped me as a business owner and a person.

Dani Berkowitz  

And we are so lucky to have you on our Educator team and to be not only a beacon of light within this intimate community, but I am so excited for everyone on the GlossGenius app to be now introduced to you and hear your story and be inspired by that – because you have a lot to be proud of and you're just getting started.

You talked earlier a little bit about having multiple locations, which probably means that you have multiple employees and multiple teams. I know that a lot of your job is still actually delivering the tan, and you know, managing your shops. But how do you manage your teams on GlossGenius?

Jessica Greene  

When GlossGenius introduced the Teams feature that really helped me up my game as a business owner and salon owner. Before, we were having to get kind of crafty with the way we listed services so we could multiple book things for multiple rooms here at the salon and other locations. And when Teams was introduced, each team member has their own services, so one person can offer a booth tan, one person can offer a regular tan, they can be in different locations.

It really simplified things and it made it less confusing for clients when they went online to book – they know they can choose myself and here's the only services I offer, or one of my employees and they offer these other services – and it really helped simplify things. And I think it helped, in client's eyes, make us look more professional.

Dani Berkowitz  

I love that you're taking advantage of our new feature Teams and I love that you had to DIY it at some point and that this swooped in and became the solution for you and your business. Tell me exactly how you set that up and how easy it is for someone else to take advantage of this feature even if you're not a spray tan business.

Jessica Greene  

So, Teams, setting it up is super simple. You go to your app, it literally says Manage Team and it walks you through every single step, it is foolproof, you can't mess it up. You can customize their services – if it's a newer staff member and maybe they take a little bit longer to do their service because they're not used to it yet – I can make it 30 minutes for my service, they can do the same service and I can change their time to an hour.

I can manage their schedule on there and what hours they're available to clients to book. I can manage how they get their notifications from clients, whether it's by email or text. It took away a whole chunk of being the boss, like stress that I had, it was very, very easy to use.

Dani Berkowitz  

How has being a part of the GlossGenius community impacted your business?

Jessica Greene  

I think it starts with being humble, being willing to know that no matter how long you have been in whatever industry you're in, how many trainings you've taken, how established you are in your career, that you can always, always, always learn something from other industries in your specific field and just surrounding areas.

I've learned so much from other GlossGenius Educators and professionals that do hair, and I don't do hair, just from how they manage their business, their time, marketing techniques... You can always learn something and I think that that is a key to building relationships, being willing and open to learn from others.

Dani Berkowitz  

Excellent advice. In your opinion, what's the landscape of the spray tanning industry?

Jessica Greene  

So, I feel like it's changing and I feel like it's rapidly changing over the past few years. It was once very geared towards mobile artists and driving around person to person house to house, and it was seen as not professional, not serious. I think that it's definitely changing. We are becoming more educated.

As a whole, I can tell that other fellow spray tanners are really diving into the science behind spray tans, how they work, why they do the things they do. We have been able to take them from the dreaded orange, patchy tans of years ago to these beautiful, flawless, smooth, brown tans by being educated on our product, our skill, our equipment, changing the way we do things and the techniques we use.

And I really see, as an industry, this is going to grow, and I think we're going to see an end to tanning beds and see spray tans become just the standard.

Dani Berkowitz  

Do you get a lot of flack for the spray tanning versus the tanning beds? I know that there's a whole taboo around that. What would you say to someone who was misguided around that?

Jessica Greene  

It used to be a lot different. It used to be you would see a lot more bed tanners versus spray tanners. And then it was kind of everyone tanning in spray tan booths versus hand sprays. I think it's changing. People are becoming more aware of sun damage, people are becoming more aware of aging on our bodies and our faces. And they really want to make sure they're putting healthy ingredients on their skin and that they're doing healthy things for their body long term.

So I think that – you know, people will come to me like 'Well, I tan in a bed, and I'm fine' and 'I tan outside' – it's about client education. It's always about educating your client in a graceful way, not in a condescending way, and letting them know that whatever they ultimately choose is best for them. But here are some options I have for you to help you with your tanning journey.

Dani Berkowitz  

Who would have thunk? I mean, it's really interesting how you have an opportunity to leverage that education around the benefits of spray tanning when a lot of us still feel like 'We'll just bake outside for a little bit,' or maybe some people still do the tanning beds. This is a real opportunity for change.

Jessica Greene  

Definitely. I mean, we want to be here a long time and have a good time and look good doing it, so, spray tan!