Sugared & Bronzed Founder, Courtney Claghorn
How did SUGARED + BRONZED get started, and what does it look like now?
SUGARED + BRONZED was started out of my Santa Monica apartment in November 2010 when I was 23 years old. I had a “corporate” job down the street and during the early days of the business, I would spray tan clients during lunch or after work. After a few months of seeing the business grow, I left my job to take clients full time and began to look for our first retail space. By May 2011, we opened our first retail space in Santa Monica. As time went on, we began to open more locations and added sugaring as our other primary service. We now have 13 locations and 2 pop-ups across 5 states, with many more openings on the horizon.
What makes your business unique?
At many spas and salons, there is a laundry list of services, which makes it difficult to offer a high level of expertise for any single one of them. S+B, on the other hand, only offers sugaring and airbrush tanning so that we are able to ensure an extremely high standard of experience and results. In addition, our stores have a very different look and feel than any other place you might go to for a wax or a tan. Walking into an S+B location you will likely first notice our welcoming and friendly team members, upbeat playlist, and Mediterranean-inspired decor, all with the intention to create a classy, yet casual environment that puts you at ease and turns a (sometimes dreaded) beauty errand into not just something enjoyable, but actually something to look forward to.
What has been the biggest obstacle you've had to overcome?
Bootstrapping for 9 years was really hard. (We didn’t raise money for the first time until November 2019.) We constantly had to manage cash flow and budgets very tightly- especially when looking to open a new location and spending money on a buildout. We couldn’t afford a lot of professional services that we didn’t know how to do ourselves (like graphic design, product formulation, etc.) and had to learn a lot of basic skills across different industries in order to continue to move the business forward.
What is one SUGARED + BRONZED product you can't live without?
I’m obsessed with our S+B Bronzing Mist! I use it all the time to cover dark circles under my eyes, when I don’t feel like doing a full face of makeup, etc. And since a face tan fades faster than the rest of a spray tan, it makes it easy to touch up the face and make the overall tan last longer. I use it at home a lot but I also bring it on every vacation too!
What have you learned through your experience as an entrepreneur that can be used by aspiring business individuals?
Have strong opinions, but hold them loosely. It’s incredibly important to be able to listen and take feedback from clients, staff, other entrepreneurs, etc. And I’m not saying “don’t have a backbone and take action on everyone’s opinions,” but in business, it’s crucial to be able to be flexible, be willing to pivot when necessary, and to hear out constructive criticism without getting defensive or taking it personally. □
Article Credits
Instagram: @sugaredandbronzed @courtneyclaghorn
Facebook: @sugaredandbronzed
TikTok: @sugaredandbronzed
Website: sugaredandbronzed.com