SALON PROFILE: MELLY'S PARLOUR

MAFS' MELINDA WILLIS OPENS UP ON BEAUTY BUSINESS OWNERSHIP SELF-DOUBT AND SUCCESS

When it has come to establishing and solidifying her own beauty businesses, it’s often been a case of one step forward, two steps back for Melinda (Mel) Willis. The Australian reality TV star sat down with Hannah Gay to relay the countless obstacles that have come her way and ultimately set the stage for her success.

Melinda, share with us your background in the beauty space and what first drew you to the industry.

“It was 2009 when I enrolled into my first beauty course - a Diploma in Beauty in Brisbane. At the time, I wanted to just learn a few things for myself… I didn’t actually think I would end up in the beauty industry at all! But once I had finished the year, I absolutely loved it.

We were told that one of the dream jobs for all beauty therapists was to work on cruise ships because it gets you straight into that five-star spa experience. They had sold us the dream of flying to London, living in London for a few months and advancing your diploma. We’d go from there to embark a cruise ship sailing anywhere in the world. So it’s that [life of] travel, luxury and beauty all in one… coming out of a diploma fresh into something like that was otherwise almost impossible, so everyone wanted it.

They had trainers come in and go through the class for rigorous interviews. And only one got it… it was obviously me [laughs]. So in 2010, I went over to London to study my Advanced Diploma in Beauty, embarked on my first cruise ship from Miami with Steiner, and was there for a year before returning back. I took a break from beauty after that, doing bits of beauty from home; I was always back-and-forth.”

Fast-forward to 2018 and you founded your own beauty brandFeather Sisters.

“From a young age, I would sit the family around the dining room table, that would be my boardroom and I’d be drawing up business ideas on a white board. I’ve always had a passion for business.

At 28, I was working as a flight attendant and had quite a severe work injury and was deemed unfit to fly; it was a massive hit. I fell into this depression and thought, ‘what now?’ I started spending a lot of time online in desperation mode, searching ‘how to get rich’. One business idea really resonatedthe e-commerce space. [At that time], it was this exciting new space that still had so much room in it for everyone. Through research, I found something along the lines of what our number one product is todayour microblading brow pen.

From that idea, I reached out to a supplier, spoke colors, spoke design… everything I wanted for it. My first order was with a private label. I also had to learn to build a website, and realised that while there were makeup stores on the ground, there was not much in the way of innovative cosmetic products online, especially in Australia. I chose to stick with cosmetic products that were hard to find in a store and were an impulse buy. [The brow pen] did so well - it still sells out four times a year and we now have eight products in the Feather Sisters Collection.

It was hard for us [during COVID] because we were rebranding and we were trying to expand this business, but all the shipments were delayed… it was taking months. I think we did our first $100,000 in ten days, but then we ran out of stock and couldn’t get the shipments over fast enough. People were angry because their post was taking two months. It was one big nightmare and learning curve, but that’s all we had to deal with whereas others were dealing with the beginnings of ‘how do I build a website?’... that kind of thing.

Having that knowledge of beauty behind me was really powerful so it super-seeded everything else. I’ve been in beauty full time since… I will be forever.”

I understand you had been running a personal beauty bricks-and-mortar for three years prior to appearing on TV.

“From January 2021, I started my own lash business from my apartment, so I was juggling both that and Feather Sisters. I decided I loved lashes out of all the beauty treatments possible; it was my therapeutic getaway from the stresses that came from having such a successful online business. I would do the homework for Feather Sisters in my head as I was lashing these clients. At first, I was only doing lash extensions via word-of-mouth to family and friends. I always had this little self doubt of ‘I’m not confident enough to perform these treatments unless I’m working for someone’ or ‘I can’t do it myself’. So I slowly dipped my toes in to get my experience and confidence up again.

It’s quite an open space where we can separate into little areas while still being open to each other. It’s mixing that world of lash parlours in with the world of beauty; it’s that one-stop shop.

Again, that went really well, and fast. When clients loved their lashes they would start to rebook; I started getting booked three weeks in advance. Then they would ask if I could add on services like brows. My answer was always ‘oh, I’m qualified in them, but I haven’t been doing them’. And then soon enough, I re-did my menu confidently to offer lash extensions, brows, waxing, lash lifts, brow laminations - services I could do from home without needing extra amenities or room.

That was also really hard [as COVID hit] because as I started gaining momentum and my books were starting to fill up, I was in lockdown. You weren’t able to service people from your house or be in contact with anyone. Everyone was closing down as shops were not able to pay their leases. It was kind of a blessing in disguise that I started small and started from home.

As soon as things opened, I thought ‘now we have to go full force because we have to make up for all the lost ground’. Everyone had taken a hit and a lot of big beauty places had actually closed, so clients were scattered everywhere. I knew I needed more space and I wanted to bring someone else on as I was quite booked. I ended up renting a little space inside a multi-level gym and took the second floor.”

Then, Married at First Sight (MAFS) Season 10 came along… What happened while you took time out to film?

“Come the end of 2022, and I took a break to do MAFS for three months. The application process for the show went for five months, and they kept you hanging so you didn’t know if you were on. I officially knew I was on three weeks out. It was a case of: close your businesses, pack your bags, move to Sydney, and then have minimal access to your phone, laptop and work. Again, I’d just gotten that momentum going and had another spanner thrown in the works.

I found someone to take over while I was gone. This person that I trusted to take over I obviously hadn’t spent much time with; I only had three weeks. They ended up sending a text message to my entire database, giving them a new address and told everyone I was closing down. That was a big hit, especially as it was around the time of the show’s big couple swap - my mental peak on the show. I was juggling that, but also juggling that someone was dishonouring the business I’d worked on for almost two years. You’re filming for ten hours straight… but you’ve got to pull it together for your professional career on the outside. That was my main priority.

During the time I was gone, I had 360 new clients come through the doors, but there were only four remaining [on my return]… all that marketing expense [gone]. [On wrapping filming], I knuckled down on my lash business and started to expand it. A few months later, I signed a lease for my own big, private space.”

You recently opened Melly’s Beauty Parlour.

“It’s quite an open space where we can separate into little areas while still being open to each other. It’s mixing that world of lash parlours in with the world of beauty; it’s that one-stop shop. We now have five staff and have upscaled. We’ve got lashes, brows, nails, spray tans, and we’re about to go into makeup and teeth whitening, so we’re growing. I’ve had a background in running hotels, spas and cruise ships, so we bring that element of luxury into it. But it’s still a little small… for my dreams and what I want to do!”

What did your experience on MAFS teach you? Is there anything you wish you did differently?

“I really feel that [MAFS] was one of the hardest things I did. There was an enormous amount of strength that I built from doing that experiment, and there was also an enormous amount of respect that I built for myself. There was a lot of characterbuilding, self-analysing, and a lot of life analysing that came from that. I’m not going to give up the businesses ever. [Now] I know my worth, how hard I work and everything that I’ve achieved. I’ve come a very long way and I know that everything that I’ve built is precious.

What does the future look like for your beauty businesses, and for you as a business owner and entrepreneur?

“The world is my oyster right now. I’m super driven and passionate in everything that I’m doing right now. I feel very content, but I still feel that there’s so much room to grow. I want to keep learning. I want to dive more into learning about management and how to be a good boss for my staff, for my clients, for my business, for myself.

My heart is set on a bigger, multi-level one-stop shop [for Melly’s]. I want my own training academy. And when it comes to Feather Sisters - world domination! We’re already worldwide, but it would be expanding and pushing it more across the world.”