#awinewith Sparkle Grose
MEET Sparkle Grose, Founder of AllFace & Co.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:05):
Amazing Sparkle. Welcome to Spark tv. I'm so excited to have you here.
Sparkle Grose (00:12):
Thank you for having me.
Danielle Lewis (00:14):
So exciting. Let's start out by telling everyone who you are and what you do. Okay.
Sparkle Grose (00:19):
My name is Sparkle Gross. I am a permanent makeup artist. I'm in the process of trying to open Salon Suites that offer childcare because I'm a single. Yeah, no, I'm a single mom and I've had to take my kids to work more times than I can count, and I know. How are you a mom by any chance?
Danielle Lewis (00:41):
I'm not a mom, but we have lots of moms in the spot community, so I'm yes,
Sparkle Grose (00:46):
Intimately aware of
Danielle Lewis (00:47):
All of the
Sparkle Grose (00:47):
Challenges. I know it's a struggle sometimes just trying to take care of yourself while also trying to take care of the kids and everything else like that. So I'm trying to create a space where moms can practice without the struggle of childcare.
Danielle Lewis (01:02):
It's just genius. Right. I'm just shocked. 50% of the population are women and no one's doing this. This is amazing. I know. I was thinking the
Sparkle Grose (01:09):
Same exact thing.
Danielle Lewis (01:11):
That is so good. And it looks like we have a fur baby with us today.
Sparkle Grose (01:15):
Yes. My little fur baby, her name is bougie. I'll see if I can get her over the camera there.
Danielle Lewis (01:21):
Oh my God, she is gorgeous. I love this. Thank you. I love it when we have a special guest. It always makes it exciting. Yeah, she, she's rotten. Yeah, they're the best kind though. We love being the most I know. So how did you even get into business? How did this all come about? What's your story?
Sparkle Grose (01:43):
Oh, my story is so long, but I'm going to try to keep the short as I can. Oh, sorry. My other dog wants attention too. I have another one. Come here, Bentley. So I started in 2017. I had went to cosmetology school and I did that. And then initially I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life. I was 18 at the time, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life. It was just kind of a hobby. I did makeup part-time and I went into the military.
Danielle Lewis (02:15):
Wow.
Sparkle Grose (02:16):
I know. Crazy, right? I did the military for four years and then when I got out I was just like, I really want to focus on doing something that I just love to do. So I got into doing makeup and I did that for a while. Worked for several different companies before branching out on my own. I branched out on my own in 2015, and I have not worked a regular job since. Oh, wow. I went from, I had a business doing weddings, doing hair and makeup for weddings, and I did that for a while and then I transitioned to permanent makeup in 2022, I believe. Yeah, 2022. Initially when I transitioned to permanent makeup, I was like, oh, this is just going to be a way to bring in extra income. I was just trying to create another way of bringing in extra income, but it took off so fast and I know it took off incredibly fast and to the point where I had to put my other business on the back burner.
(03:16):
And so I started doing that and then as I got into doing that, I realized my son is seven and I was having to take him to work all the time, but I was working in different salons and at the time they didn't want kids there and everything like that. And it was such a struggle because I'm a single mom, so I was like, I would love to open a place where childcare is already there, not just for me, but for other single mom entrepreneurs or mompreneurs as I like to call them, or clients who just need a moment out of their day to get some pampering done. They can bring their kid, not have to worry about what I'm going to do with the kids or who's going to watch my kid or anything like that. So that's where I'm at now.
Danielle Lewis (04:02):
Oh my gosh, I love it so much. It's so genius because I know so many. So we obviously have lots of mom business owners in the smart community, and it's so true between work, looking after the kids, being short dinners ready, keeping the household, when do you actually get time to look after yourself? So having a place where you can go and the kids are taken care of. I think it's amazing.
Sparkle Grose (04:27):
And I feel like moms, we always put ourselves last and it's not fair because we're always taking care of everybody else.
Danielle Lewis (04:33):
That is so true. It's really interesting as well that you mentioned that the permanent makeup took off. You're thinking, okay, an extra income stream, and that went crazy. It's so funny how sometimes we think, oh my gosh, I've got a genius idea, and then it tanks and doesn't do well, and then I, I've got this idea, I'll just try it and then it goes crazy. So we can, I
Sparkle Grose (04:54):
Know. You never really can. It just kind of depends on what the people want at the moment.
Danielle Lewis (05:00):
Yeah, that's so true. How did you find the transition from military and then to being an employee and then running your own business? What was that like for you?
Sparkle Grose (05:13):
So I feel like I always knew that I was going to have to be an entrepreneur, surprisingly enough, because I have a military background, I do not take orders very well. You've done that. I'm done. I'm done. Yeah. I had only went into the military. I needed money for college, but I did not take orders very well at all, and I was always extremely girly. So when I went into the military in the first place, my whole family was completely shocked that I even went into the military. And it was so funny to me because I was like Gi Jane in the military. I was so girly. I dunno, I thought I was like Cadet Kelly or something. But the transition wasn't too hard because in my prior life before getting into the military, I was always very much into makeup and all the girly things. If anything, the transition to into the military was probably the hardest part.
Danielle Lewis (06:16):
Yeah, yeah. Interesting. It's like you are probably a born business owner and then took a little sidestep and then came back.
Sparkle Grose (06:25):
Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly what it was like. But I do think the military helped me out in a lot of different aspects of my life, even though I knew it wasn't going to be a permanent thing, it taught me discipline and good life skills that I needed that I feel like did contribute to my success.
Danielle Lewis (06:46):
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And I think that the moral of the story is you can always learn something from every experience, good or bad that we have in life.
Sparkle Grose (06:56):
Absolutely. Every experience that you have is a learning experience in my life. I feel like everything that I've done, even including the military, has led up to this point that I'm at now.
Danielle Lewis (07:08):
I know I have that same philosophy. I'm like, I have no regrets, because if anything didn't play out the way it played out, then I wouldn't be here. I exactly, yeah. And not all of it's good, but that's okay.
Sparkle Grose (07:20):
No, but even the bad stuff or learning lessons, I know we would love life to be, there's one way street unicorn. Rainbows. Exactly. But all the obstacles we go through makes us better.
Danielle Lewis (07:37):
Yes. Oh, I love that so much. So have you had any challenges? What's been the biggest challenge of running your businesses over the years?
Sparkle Grose (07:48):
Oh, I've had many challenges. Running a business is so hard because it's unpredictable. This year you may do amazingly well, but when covid hit, it took us out for a moment. So sometimes planning can be really hard because a lot of times you don't even know what you're planning for because things, yeah, I think it's going to arise at any moment. And then I have relocated locations from where I had originally started my business, and so it's starting, almost starting over again, just more with more knowledge, but it's almost like starting over again. So it's been a little bit challenging with that because I was used to having a certain amount of science and bringing in a certain amount of money, but when you start all over again, you have to build it back up to that. So that's what I think my biggest challenge has been. It's just businesses just always so unpredictable.
Danielle Lewis (08:48):
Yeah, it's really interesting. I mean, I think Covid was such a big deal for everybody, but it was interesting because I guess longer term business owners were like, yeah, but there's always something. I was like, yes, the covid is bad, but I'm, in the 12 years I've been running a business, there's been something every year there's something unpredictable
Sparkle Grose (09:09):
It has and you just kind roll with the punches and get through it. I was blessed enough to be able to roll with the punches and still get through it, but it doesn't make it any easier.
Danielle Lewis (09:19):
Yeah, that's so true. Yeah. You just have to have that attitude that things will be okay and you just might have to change and adjust your strategy, but you've just got to keep going.
Sparkle Grose (09:29):
Yeah. I think that's what think some people, when they get into business, they're not prepared to adjust their strategy. They have this one, this is what I have set, this is how it's supposed to go. And in business, you're always recalculating because things don't always go how you plan for them go. It would be nice if they did, but I would love that. Thank you. Exactly. They don't, so you have to be able to, what's the word I'm looking for, to pivot? Everyone used pivot so much. Exactly. That's a good word. Yeah, pivot. You have to be able to pivot to the next thing and figuring it out. That's such an important thing in
Danielle Lewis (10:19):
Business. Yeah, that is so true. I love that. So how did you grow? So you mentioned that the permanent makeup really took off. Did you do anything in particular to attract new customers and grow your business? Are there any secrets that you can share with us?
Sparkle Grose (10:37):
Honestly, word of mouth was the biggest thing. I started out in a smaller town, and so everybody knew everybody. And so when one person gets something done, if you do a good job, they're usually telling someone else. And that was the biggest way I started gaining popularity. But then focusing on social media. Social media has gotten so big. I feel like if you're in business and you're not using social media, you're really doing yourself a disservice. So focusing on social media, I've taken so many classes and courses trying to figure out social media. I'm reading all these books because the algorithm, I know everybody always talks about the algorithm. It's just trying to keep up with the algorithm is difficult, but I feel like when you give good service, people are willing to brag about you.
Danielle Lewis (11:31):
Yes.
Sparkle Grose (11:32):
And there's nothing better than word of mouth that even social media is better because people want to hear from someone who has been to you.
Danielle Lewis (11:41):
Yeah, that's so true. Nobody should underestimate just doing a great job. Whatever you do, just do it really well.
Sparkle Grose (11:50):
Exactly. And then being personable, I think that doing a great job is, of course you want to do a great job, but you also are selling yourself. So people have to, you also have to give good customer service. People have to like you because I can do an amazing job, but if they don't like the person that I am, I doubt they're coming back.
Danielle Lewis (12:15):
Yeah. Oh my God, that is so true. And it's really interesting. I love that you said word of mouth, because I think in word of mouth versus social media, it's like one kind of has to come before the other. So yeah, on social media, it's so important. You've got to be there. But if you've got people that are going, oh my God, she's amazing. I'm so happy with what she did. I want to tell everybody like that. And then social media is so powerful.
Sparkle Grose (12:41):
It is. Because at the end of the day, you're building trust. It's easy to build trust if someone has recommended you versus them finding you on social media. Normally when someone finds you on social media, they'll follow you for a while to try to build that trust from you, and then they'll book. But if someone came to you was like, and they had a service done by you, and they just brag about how great the service was, they'll book instantaneously.
Danielle Lewis (13:07):
Yeah, that's so true. I think people trust other people, like their friends, their family, way more than they trust us going, look at us, we're amazing. Trust us.
Sparkle Grose (13:17):
Exactly. Exactly. I mean, because the reality is you ought to think yourself as amazing, so you need more than just you thinking you're amazing.
Danielle Lewis (13:27):
Yeah, that is so true. I love that. I love that. Now, before we hit record, you said something which I loved, which was that 2025 is going to be amazing. Now we're at the start of the year. I couldn't agree with you more by the way, we are at the start of the year. So what are you bringing into 2025? What's your game plan for the year?
Sparkle Grose (13:49):
So I didn't per se, write goals. I know everybody writes goals for the New Year's, and I've come to find that typically when you write goals, majority of the time, by February you stopped, you sucked. So instead, I have focused on building positive habits and breaking bad habits,
(14:12):
The don'ts that don't benefit me in any kind of way. And for my game plan this year, my goal is I'm trying to find several different grants to try to get funding so that I can bring these salon suites to life. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my community saying this is something that they would love. It's something that I would love and I'm extremely passionate about. So I'm working towards that. I applied to several different grants. I'm in a mentorship program currently, so all of this is too for the next thing. Now, I don't what the year is going to bring financially. So I haven't planned anything financial wise, but I'm focusing on the things that I can control.
Danielle Lewis (15:00):
I think that is so smart. So I'm doing something similar. I'm like, instead of looking at that big goal and being disappointed every day that you haven't hit it, what can I do today? Can I just focus on the small actions that I know will get me to that goal one day and then almost feel the success today? I did the thing. I did the thing, and I know that's contributing to that goal.
Sparkle Grose (15:24):
Exactly. I don't know if you have ever read the book Atomic Habits, but it's such a
Danielle Lewis (15:29):
Great read. Oh, yes. I love that.
Sparkle Grose (15:30):
Yes. It's such a great read and it has so many good points in there. I do feel like a lot of people focus on the bigger picture, but it's the small details that get you there. And I think that's the reason why many people don't reach their goals is because they're so focused on that big goal and it gets overwhelming. Instead of breaking it down to tiny little pieces, every little thing that you do contributes to this bigger picture.
Danielle Lewis (15:58):
Yes. I love it so much. You are absolutely incredible. I could talk to you all day, but I always love to wrap up these podcasts with one last piece of advice. So reflecting on all of your time in business, what would be a piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her business journey?
Sparkle Grose (16:18):
Do the research. I feel like when I first got into business, I kind of jumped into things without doing a lot of research and a lot of different things, particularly finances and making money is one thing, but being able to manage money, that's a whole different story. And so I would say take some finance classes, really learn how to manage your money because if you can't manage your money, your business is not going to be successful no matter how much money you make.
Danielle Lewis (16:49):
Yeah. I love that tip so much. I think every first time business owner goes through that where they're like, oh, I'm just going to sell this much stuff. And it's like, yeah, but you have taxes and you have expenses and all these things. You're like, oh, there's no money left.
Sparkle Grose (17:03):
Exactly. Exactly. And that's how you get yourself in a hole.
Danielle Lewis (17:08):
Yeah, it's so true. And I think we are all on social media, so we all think the selling and the marketing is the big stuff. And so I think we focus so much on how do I create a viral reel and not on the business skills that we need.
Sparkle Grose (17:24):
Exactly. And that is the most important part.
Danielle Lewis (17:28):
Oh, you are absolutely incredible. Sparkle, thank you so much for jumping on the Spark podcast today. It was such a pleasure to hear your story and share your wisdom with the smart community.
Sparkle Grose (17:40):
Thank you so much for having me. It was my pleasure.
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