The History of the Amazing Lash Studio Brand: How the Brand Was Founded, How it Grew and Where It's Going Next

The Amazing Lash Studio brand has come a long way since it was founded in 2010. The eyelash extension brand was started as a way to capitalize on a new beauty trend and snag that initial growth. The brand’s first location opened in Houston, Texas. It was a huge hit and soon grew to a six-studio enterprise in Space City.

The Amazing Lash Studio brand’s founders realized they had a concept they could scale even further. They were familiar with the concept of franchising, and in 2013 they partnered with Massage Envy founder John Leonesio to jumpstart franchise growth. The brand awarded its first franchise that same year and began to award regional developer licenses.

• The brand had 75 locations when Heather Elrod joined as the chief operating officer in 2016.
• At the time, the business model was very sales focused.

Elrod’s first order of business when she joined the Amazing Lash Studio brand was a practical one: try the product. She immediately realized the value in what the brand had to offer.

“Personally, I liken lash extensions to Botox because the service makes an immediate impact,” Elrod said. “The Amazing Lash Studio mission focuses on lasting beauty and confidence. If you’re a young woman and want to look glamorous and wake up looking beautiful, you can achieve that without any makeup or invasive procedures. For mature women like me, lash services make you look younger, and for busy professional women, they offer a quick but long-lasting solution.”

The Amazing Lash Studio brand isn’t simply capitalizing on a hot trend. Through careful research and market analysis, the brand is catering to what is shaping up to be a regular and long-term clientele base while continually making improvements to its product offerings. Elrod and her team began building a foundation for business intelligence, operations support and training. They monitored top KPI in the business across every studio.

• In late 2017, the brand did internal research with its members, 61% of whom had never had lash extensions prior to visiting the Amazing Lash Studio.
• Two years later, the brand conducted three major third-party research studies around membership, awareness and trial and usage.

“In the markets where we had a presence, 91% of the women had never tried lash extensions, which shows the opportunity for growth in lashes, as well as the opportunity to expand into other categories,” Elrod said.

The business really took off, and we crossed the 200-unit milestone in 2019. To date, we have over 240 studios open and want to add more before the end of the year.

The Amazing Lash Studio brand owes much of its success to WellBiz Brands Inc., which also manages the Elements Massage and Fitness Together health and wellness brands. The acquisition gave the Amazing Lash Studio brand plentiful resources in terms of shared services.

“As a standalone business entity, we wouldn’t have the resources to support the brand’s growth and operational efficiency,” Elrod said. “In 2019, thanks to WellBiz Brands, a robust learning management system was launched across the three brands, giving us a business intelligence and support platform.”

The brand is also laser-focused on product innovation. For one, the brand will launch strip lashes in 2021 with its proprietary styles: Gorgeous, Natural, Sexy and Cute.

“We anticipate that the strip lashes will appeal to a younger demographic, further strengthening our foothold in the category,” she said. “About 20% of the brand’s services are to non-members who come in for a special event. Strip lashes will allow us to have more service options for an episodic guest.”

The Amazing Lash Studio brand is also currently pilot testing a brow program and recently introduced six different types of lash curls, five new adhesives and lash lifts, and, with the rollout of brow services, will add lash tinting.

“Brows will be the biggest new service,” Elrod said. “Guests want to have their brows done while they are already in the studio, and it’s also the number one service that stylist want to do.”

With a solid product offering and a passionate leadership team focused on innovation and franchisee success, the Amazing Lash Studio brand is on track to continue leading the eyelash extension segment.