A Conversation with Heather Elrod, CEO of Amazing Lash Studio®

Industry leadership

Amazing Lash Studio created this segment of the beauty industry and made it part of a new beauty regime for masses of women across the country. The brand was the category innovator and now we are the leader. Our intent is to be the category killer, meaning we will dominate the entire segment. One of Amazing Lash Studio’s main differentiators is the studio’s individual treatment rooms that are private and quiet, which creates a relaxing environment for the treatments.

Amazing Lash Studio also stands out because of our focus on brand innovation. This year, the brand plans to evolve its offerings to include additional treatments and other retail products that are designed to work with lash extensions.

Plus, the Amazing Lash Studios brand provides two weeks of training for every new lash stylist, which is the longest program in the industry.

Growth milestones

When I joined the company in 2016, there were 74 studios. The brand crossed the 200-unit milestone in 2018. We started getting a tremendous amount of industry recognition in 2017, including Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, in which we were ranked #1 in our category and #14 of the top new franchises. In 2018, the brand ranked #5 of the top new franchises. In 2018, we ranked 260 on the Inc. 500, and in January 2019, we learned that Franchise Times named Amazing Lash Studio #4 on the Fast & Serious list.

Future plans

In the near future, we will be launching eyebrow treatments and strip lashes and will be expanding our retail products with a full portfolio including makeup that is lash extension friendly. We are exploring plumping treatments and facial masks that can be applied while the guest is receiving their lash treatments. We will also have products that help maintain the health of the natural lashes so that they remain long and healthy to hold the extension.

We are also continuing to innovate the lashes themselves. We’ll move to fuller, more lightweight lashes.

It can be a more risk-averse investment when you’re investing in the leader in the category. We are very determined to hold that position of the category killer.

Since I joined in 2016, the brand has invested heavily in business intelligence. We have a business intelligence platform that allows franchisees to look at every single KPI in their business at a glance to understand operationally what is happening in their studios. We have become very educated and smart on the operational levers to pull and be successful. The business model works; the franchisee just needs to follow the system protocols and guidelines.

With the support of WellBiz Brands, Inc., we have very strong financial and human resources behind us. The brand continues investing heavily in the innovation of the business, in technology and marketing platforms.

The brand owns corporate studios which is very important in helping to intimately understand operational details of the business and what optimizes performance.

Amazing Lash Studio is proud of the culture of its business and of its core values. I like to say to franchisees that the beauty of franchising is you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself, and that is how we operate philosophically. The franchisor is not successful without the franchisees being successful. The way we approach the business is always with that in mind. We are here for their success, and through their success, we will be successful.

Amazing Lash Franchise, LLC. 9780 Meridian Blvd, Suite 400 Englewood, CO 80112 This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only.

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