From lashing to podcasting & everything in between When a great idea hits you – act on it! Research it, talk to experts, plan it out and if it’s a good fit for you, go for it!
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he idea for the Lash Artist Box came to me after attending a beauty industry convention, the Chicago IECSC, in the spring of 2018. I had walked the vendor floor one afternoon speaking to different beauty companies and sampling their products. They complained of the same things I had been complaining about like travel costs, convention show expenses, and the opportunity cost to leave our businesses for a few days to attend the show. They also went on to mention how difficult it was to get every attendee over to their booth and then even harder to sell to them with all of the other competition there. Later that day I took an education course from a businessman who had become very successful from subscription-based businesses. I went home and for weeks was thinking about how to combine a subscription model with the lash industry so that I could earn a little more income to open my dream salon! Since entering the beauty industry in 2003, I had obtained a business degree and knew that owning a salon was my main goal. Then, on a Sunday afternoon over an ice-cold beer with my family, the idea for the Lash Artist Box came to me. The L.A.B., for short, was the very first subscription box for professional lash artists to discover new products, companies and trainings in the comfort of their own home without having to take time out of their busy work/family life schedules. Subscribers get to try products at a fraction of the retail cost and once they fall in love they can purchase more directly from the company, sometimes with another discount!
8 Lashes
Since its inception the subscriber count grew month over month by the hundreds and keeping up with the demand became overwhelming since it was just me running the entire show! It was named a Top 10 Subscription Box of 2018 and lash artists from all over the world were joining. I eventually saved enough money and opened my dream salon, Suburban Lash & Beauty, located near Akron, Ohio on my 35th birthday in 2019. Owning the L.A.B. has opened up so many windows of opportunity like becoming a journalist for Lash Inc Magazine, judging international lash competitions, speaking at conferences and forming lifelong relationships. I met Nikki Huebner, founder of Endure Beauty, and became a head trainer for her company and I now get to work with Nikki and her amazing team to bring new technology
to the global lash industry. I was even featured on handfuls of industry podcasts! This was where my interest for podcasting began. Between my growing salon and the Lash Artist Box, the stress consumed me and I started to lose my mind.. and my hair! I decided it was best for myself and my family to pull back from something and after meeting Katie Allen at The Lash Conference in 2019, I knew she’d be the perfect fit to take over the company! During the pandemic I decided to launch a fun passion project that I had been wanting to do for a very long time: a podcast all about my favourite decade, the 90’s, called The One With All The 90s. It has already become a top 100 show in its category and is packed with our favourite things from the 90’s, including the celebrities! My point is this: If you have an idea or a dream, you owe it to yourself to explore the opportunities of how to bring that dream to fruition. One road can lead to another and another and soon you may just find yourself in a world you didn’t even know could exist surrounded by influential people you never thought you would meet! I still work behind the chair lashing guests 35 hours a week, manage the salon, a family and a growing podcast. I can’t wait to see the future growth of the Lash Artist Box and I urge you to check it out for yourself at www.lashartistbox.com! You can find the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. It’s great to listen to while lashing! Katie Gross Suburban Lash & Beauty
