Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Jenkins.
Christina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2011 my former business partner and I decided it was time to start our own spa. We were working for the top spa at that time but management was horrendous and going to work was dreadful. Our goal was to create a fun, exciting place to work for everyone. With two years of combined tax returns savings, around $10,000, we opened our first location in Montrose. We subleased two rooms and had our own clientele. No other employees. It was just the two of us.
In 2012 we decided to move to our now current location in Montrose. We started with two rooms and again, only the two of us. Quickly we realized we needed to invest in building out more rooms so we could hire more estheticians. And we did just that.
In 2017 my former business partner and I separated. Long story short, we wanted to go in different directions. She wanted out and I wanted to grow.
In the summer of 2018, we opened our second location in Tanglewood. To date, we now have two locations, the original in Montrose, and our new one in Tanglewood, and over 20 employees.
Our original goal of creating a fun, exciting place to work has been realized. We are an employee-focused company which allows us to hire and retain the best people, and because of that, we tend to be the best at what we do.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, it hasn’t been smooth, and like most other businesses, there are new challenges nearly every day. I like to say “business is easy, people are difficult.” My former business partner, and remedying a solution to it, was the greatest challenge thus far. Overall, people are the greatest challenge, especially if you truly care about what they think.
Please tell us about Bare Necessities Spa.
Bare Necessities is a skin-care focused spa that specializes in near-painless waxing and organic facials. We are known for the superior quality of our services and first-rate customer service. We are an employee-focused company which allows us to hire and keeps the best people, and because of that, we tend to be the best.
Everyone at Bare Necessities works hard to keep customer service at the forefront. We are most proud of the Bare Necessities Team as a whole.
What sets us apart is our employee-focused approach. We compete not only at the customer level but also at the employee level. We know if we pay the most and create a fun, great place to work we can attract and retain the best talent.
We are also not a franchise. It is too difficult to maintain a consistent, superior quality with a franchise model, especially in our industry where you can’t take a cooking-cutter approach. It’s not like a restaurant franchise where you have one recipe and procedure to do it all. Every customer has different needs which require a more tailored approach, and there’s too much skill and ongoing training needed to do that well.
Luckily, we get to hire some of the best people from these franchises and you wouldn’t believe some of their stories.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If we had to start over, I would have used a great attorney to clearly spell out the business partnership agreement. Advice for all current and future business owners: If you must do a partnership, make sure the bylaws are clearly defined and problems can easily be rectified in the event of a disagreement and/or stalemate.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have many financial resources starting out, so I don’t think we even used an attorney.
Pricing:
- Waxing Starts at $20
- Facials Start at $90
- Dermalinfusion Starts at $175
Contact Info:
- Address: 1379 S Voss Rd Suite C Houston, TX, 77057
- Website: www.bnwax.com
- Phone: 832-668-5797
- Email: sales@bnwax.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barenecessitiesspa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bnwax/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bnwax
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bare-necessities-spa-and-boutique-houston-4
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