CITRUS BEAUTY ROOM'S CRAZY JOURNEY

When I think about the fact that Citrus Beauty Room has officially been open since 2012, I can’t quite believe where that time has gone.

After digging out some old pictures on Facebook and thinking about how far I’ve come since then, I feel like it would be fun to tell you how it all started.

I’m not writing this on the pretence that I started off in a hovel and now I’m a giant salon making a million pounds, because realistically, I love being a small home business and quite honestly, it’s exactly the size I like it.

But Citrus Beauty has somewhat became busier and more well-known over the years, even if it took longer than the average high street salon. (They say slow and steady wins the race right ha-ha)

Last year I donated a massage voucher to a charity ball. Someone recently came to me and told me that the raffle winner, got a choice of picking a gift voucher from loads of salons that also donated and that the winner was so excited that there was one from Citrus Beauty Room, because she had been dying to come to me for ages. When I was told I literally felt so proud.

Like how did a tiny room in my house, that no-one just walks past and sees has created some sort of impact?

THE BEGINNING

The first day I ever started training in 2007 when I was just 16, I knew I wanted to have my own business, rather than working for someone else. I’m not exaggerating when I say I LOVED studying beauty therapy at college and sometimes I try to imagine life doing something else instead, and I literally can’t picture ever giving it up, because to this day I’m just as passionate.

Whilst studying at college, I had a part time job at a children’s soft play centre which was literally just to make money.

No more no less. Somethings I think “Vicky, why on earth did you do that for so long? because it’s not related to beauty in anyway,” however thinking back, I really learned a bunch of business and admin stuff, I probably wouldn’t have learned had I not had that job.

It also really got me into the whole customer service thing, because I was only a little spring chicken when I started that job AT 16 and man that was scary. I also met some amazing friends that are still very much in my life and I couldn’t live without them.

2 years into working there I decided it was time.

I needed to start heading towards my goal of having my own business, so I began taking clients for beauty, in my rented flat that I shared with my best friend on my days off and also evenings.

It was rather amateur looking back at my set up ha-ha, but I guess I just needed time to grow in taste. I was obsessed with the colour purple at that time, and somehow, I thought It would be a great idea, to really badly paint one wall purple. I also decorated this damn dining room chair I had purple, with zebra print material on the seat, which makes me cringe but at the time I thought I was trendy. My diary was also zebra print which I laugh at now.

Just for fun here is a picture of my zebra chair and also what my original beauty room looked like.

So Citrus Beauty Room Part 1, began to get busier and I would work 8am-6pm 4 days a week, at my day job and then run home at night and get straight into treatments.

I have no clue how I managed to do that so long, because I’m a workaholic now and even that would kill me now. I eat a lot of chippy’s that year, and even though the chip shop was a 2-minute walk from my front door, I used to order delivery because I was too tired to go pick it up. I received an Xmas card that year from them which is quite hilarious but you gotta do what you gotta do.

As you can see below, I designed my own leaflets which where all fruit themed because I had taken the Citrus theme too far. I also designed my own logo which again was based on fruit which I cringe at now but I remember being so proud of that damn thing.

NAMING MY BUSINESS

Before I go further, there is a funny story behind the name Citrus Beauty Room, because people always ask me where it came from. Quite frankly I’m going to be honest, I don’t think even I know.

I’d love to sit here and tell you that It’s because my middle name means Citrus in Latin or my Great Grandmother was the first lime picker in America, but I would be lying.

I think I just thought it sounded fresh and spa like and to be fair, it was between that and “The Only Way Is Beauty” because I was obsessed with The Only Way Is Essex, so can we just take a minute to appreciate that I DIDN’T pick that.

After finally deciding on Citrus Beauty Room, I ran downstairs, and excitedly told my mum and she literally said “it sounds like fairy liquid.” Thanks mum.

Seriously though, for a few years after that, I decided I hated it, and considered changing it, but after having a Logo Professionally Designed I’m used to it, and I think I can finally say I like it.

So as the salon started getting busier, my husband (boyfriend at that time) and I had been in a relationship for 7 years and we finally decided we were ready to buy a house. I realized if that was to happen, then I needed a full-time income for the mortgage to be accepted and took on an extra day at my day job. I was too scared at this point to just rely on salon money. I don’t know how I did it but I carried on working like a nutcase in both jobs. I can’t remember if I had a social life at this point but I’m guessing not, because every last waking moment felt like work or business.

TAKING THE LEAP

I feel like this is the point where I should just skip this part of the story, but I’m someone that feels like the majority of things that happen in life, usually have a reason and there is no point telling you all the other stuff, If I don’t mention this, because quite frankly it got me where I am now.

Long story short, a new manager started at my day job and she was not the greatest of managers to put it politely. I absolutely adored the owners and still do, to this day, but this woman was too much to handle. I’m someone that can basically make friends with a box of rocks, as I can usually find something in common with someone, but I would go home after work EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and cry because was awful.

I felt trapped, because we had just got a mortgage accepted on the basis of me having a full time job there, but I didn’t want to go find a new job, because I knew if I started again, I wouldn’t be able to continue Citrus Beauty Room, as I know how hard it is to find set hours in a new job.

There was no way in hell I was giving it up after all the hard work I had put in gaining clients, and I waited 7 years to move in with my other half, so I didn’t want to lose out on that either.

And then I made the best decision I have ever made in my entire life and I quit my job in 2014 and decided that it was now or never.

On paper that was pretty stupid, because we had just taken out a mortgage and my last day at that job, was the first week on moving in to our new house. I feel like it almost gave me the drive I needed, because I knew, if I didn’t make money, then I would be up the creek with no paddle and there was no way I was allowing that to happen. I’m really lucky that my hubby was so supportive, because he so could easily have said it was a bad idea, and I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did.

CITRUS BEAUTY ROOM PART 2

On my last few days at my day job, my mum and auntie painted and decorated Citrus Beauty Room Part 2 and I hoped and prayed it would work.

Ironically enough looking back, it was meant to be because I left the day job in June and it closed down for good in October, and I would have had to find a new job anyway.

I remember thinking that I needed to sort this room quickly, so I picked a generic brown paint and bought a few decorative items from Asda and bobs your uncle. Luckily, I already had all the equipment and products I needed to work with.

The day this picture was taken, I was everything but excited but terrified!!! I persuaded hubby to take some pictures on his professional camera, which to be fair he did a good job of.

MARKETING MAD

I literally spent that year teaching myself marketing, and trying to come up with cost effective ways to grow my business, and I look back and laugh, because I had made my own loyalty cards. I had this genius idea to start loyalty accounts, so If clients spent so much in one month, they would get rewards. I’m laughing, because I don’t know why I thought one person alone could manage Tesco Clubcard type scheme at my salon. Every time a client would spend money, I would stamp their card and add it on my spreadsheet then manually message client’s over at the end of the month to tell them what they earned.

This was great for about 2 years, until it was physically impossible to keep up with all the admin on my own. By now I started having too many clients to keep track of, that I gave up and just had normal loyalty cards made.

As you can tell below these were complicated ha-ha. Just for fun here are my old gift vouchers as well.

I’ve lost track of some of the years, but I think it was around the same time I thought to myself that I needed to up my game, and have a professional logo designed. Most people probably would do that from the beginning, but apparently, I was slow on that side.

I was so excited when the designers sent me it over, because it looked so glam. I actually still love it to this day. I also went a little mad and had it embroidered on my towels because why not right? You can see how much better my new loyalty cards and gift vouchers here are right?

I also designed my own website at this point because apparently, I get carried away at 1am sometimes and just start projects.

HURDLES TO OVERCOME

When I think about it now, I don’t know how I kept going, because it was about this time, I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune liver disease and I know it sounds like I’m going to start a pity party, but I promise there is a point to bringing this up.

One of the main symptoms of it, was horrendous fatigue and I wanted to sleep constantly and I wasn’t eating properly because I had no appetite, but my business was almost my escape.

After accepting I was going to have crappy health for the rest of my life, I realized that I did not want it to stop me achieving my goals and I didn’t want it to define me. I was quickly lucky in a way, because there are others with the same disease, that aren’t able to do that and are really sick with it, but whilst I was well enough, I was going to keep going.

Looking back, I like to think that my crappy health has made me more humble and understanding towards other people’s situations. I have since been diagnosed with more autoimmune diseases and had a horrendous fertility battle which is still ongoing, but my amazing clients keep me getting up every morning and being excited to go to work.

CITRUS BEAUTY ROOM FAMILY

I like to think of my business as one big family instead of just somewhere to have a massage. I put my heart and soul into each client as if they were family members, because I’ve said this before, but you can have smooth legs anywhere, but I strive to be more than that.

I want my business to be the place clients can come and feel comfortable having someone to talk to, vent to, or even just lie back and snooze and enjoy peace in silence.

My clients are more than money to me, they are people I will think about at the end of the night and hope they are feeling better, if they have had a crappy day, or excited for them when they get a job promotion or other exciting events. If they are sick then I worry about them because I truly care.

It’s rare that you find a job where you can be professional but also make close friends and I’m so lucky to have that.

I CAN'T SWITCH OFF MY BRAIN

I can honestly say Facebook has made my business what it is, because all my marketing is literally from there. Facebook and word of mouth.

Thank you, Mark Zuckerberg, and thank you mum for having me a time when the internet was available and I didn’t have to stand out in the rain with a sandwich board ha-ha!

Sometimes I’m convinced I’m crazy, because my brain is always in business mode and I come up with the most insane marketing ideas off the top of my head.

Some of them crazy, like I’ve said before with the Tesco Clubcard idea ha-ha! Another one of them, “Vicky why did you think this was a good idea?” ideas, was an Easter Egg Hunt. Basically, it involved having a list of treatments worth so many eggs, and if you collected so many eggs in a specific time period you would collect little free treatments.

To be fair It worked in the sense it was very busy and popular, but It was also a massive admin headache again, (you think I would have learned from the first time,) but I was so proud of that crazy idea.

In 2017, I decided I was bored of the slap dash décor, from when I first moved in and I redesigned Citrus Beauty Room. I’m not going to lie; I love the grey so much now, basically every room in my house is the same colour. I always joke that my house is fifty shades of grey, but actually it’s just one, the same damn colour. I remember looking at inspiration and thinking I needed a massive sparkly mirror for my wall and for months and months I searched and searched for the perfect mirror. Eventually I found it in Pagazzi and it was something silly like £250 and never in my life have I spent that on a damn mirror, but I had to have it.

The day I bought that mirror, I literally felt like someone with a Louie Vuitton handbag and I went home and realized it so stupidly heavy, that I had to get my brother in law who is a joiner, to put it on the wall. Thanks to him I can be a hundred percent sure its secure and it will never fall off the wall.

I think you will agree below that it is pretty glam.

I also turned into a psychopath to find the perfect chair, which I finally found in TK Max and we had to drag it through The Merkat in Kirkcaldy like a pair of lunatics. It annoys me now, because I love this chair so much, but it’s not COVID friendly, so she lives in my hall with my cleaning checklist on it at the moment. She does look very glam sitting there though.

THANK GOD FOR TECHNOLOGY

Fast forward to a few years later and I discovered how much technology saves my brain, because I discovered the online booking system I use now. I no longer had to carry a diary around everywhere with me and it automatically figures out reports for me which is handy because I am awful at math’s and it saves me so much time sending out text reminder messages.

I love the idea of clients being able to book their own appointments through it, which is an option but I don’t use IT and I have a couple of reasons why.

The first being my crappy health as I mentioned before, because I have to schedule everything around my damn hospital appointments and its just easier to do this myself, and also because I like to speak to the client myself through message rather than an automatic response.

I like them to get the feeling that I’m friendly and approachable, so new clients don’t feel nervous coming to someone’s house for a treatment, you know, in case they get worried I’m a serial killer ha-ha!

I’m not saying Ted Bundy didn’t pretend to be friendly but I can confirm I definitely not him.

APPARENTLY I'M COMPETATIVE

Thinking about this as a write it, but I didn’t really think I was a competitive person, but I must be a little, because I always have this sort of ongoing competition in my head that every time I have a client, I’m determined that I want them to feel like it’s the best massage or treatment they have ever had.

I think it must be working, because I’ve recently had loads of new clients tell me this which makes me super happy.

SCARY TIMES

Moving onto 2019 and the end of the year was horrendous because my best friend was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and words can’t describe how worried I was for her. It sounds daft since I’m trained in skincare but until Amy’s diagnosis I had just no idea how dangerous it was.

After panicking and crying my eyes out to her mum, then fixing my makeup and going to Amy’s to try make her laugh or smile to take her mind off her worry, I realized something had to be done, so I as a beauty therapist could learn more about the early signs of Melanoma and other skin cancers.

Can I just add here, I have no idea how Amy got through this time, but she turned into boss mode and researched the crap out of everything and literally called me one day laughing because she had to have a photoshoot of her leg done to check for another mole and she was laughing at the silly pose she had to do. At that moment I remember thinking how freaking amazing and brave she was.

Luckily, she got the all clear and I signed up to an online course for Beauty Therapists, to spot the early signs of skin cancer. I now feel confident at being able to spot something that doesn’t look quite right and can sensitively encourage them to go see a doctor. This is so important because I spend my life massaging people bodies and the quicker you catch melanoma the better chance you have before it spreads.

Amy and I organized a charity event called Massage for Melanoma in February 2020 and along with my amazing friends Sarah and Louise who are also trained in massage, we managed to raise over £500 for Melanoma Me, by doing back to back massages all day. We were dead at the end of the day but it was so worth it.

Here is a picture of us all on the day before we began our massage fest.

COVID 19 AND 2020

So, this brings us to 2020 and the terrible time that was and still is the COVID 19 Pandemic.

In March I got the news that due to my bad health I had to shield and a couple of weeks later salons had to close.

This was devastating for the beauty industry and that was the longest period of time since I was 16 years old, that I hadn’t done any treatments.

Citrus Beauty Room closed for 5 months. I’m very lucky in the sense because I work at home, I had minimal overheads, whereas, so many businesses that rented buildings and rooms were stuck with massive losses. I can’t even imagine being in that position and really take my hats off to the large salons that have managed to open back up, and also, I have so much love to all the therapists and makeup artists that had to get other jobs to get through this awful time.

I remember at the start of shielding thinking; I can let this get one of 2 ways. I can let it break me or I can find something productive and fun from this otherwise horrendous situation.

I felt like if I didn’t let a world pandemic break my business than nothing would break me, so stuck inside for literally 4 months without even a walk outside, I started making comedy videos.

I started it mainly, to fill my time and amuse other people stuck inside, but then I realized It was a good way to keep my Facebook business page going. Somehow my videos became really popular and I gained loads of new followers, friends and people that would message and say my random videos amused them and when I was back, they would book in with me. I didn’t originally try to make that a marketing thing, but it actually managed to get my business name out there. Funnily enough I ended up in the Dunfermline Press so that was probably quite good for business too.

When I reopened the salon with all my COVID precautions, as well as being stupidly excited to see my regular clients, I’ve had so many new bookings and reviews.

FUTURE GOALS

Anyway that Is where we are at now, I have a lot of clients ask me if I’ll ever expand, but to be honest although that would be wonderful , I need to be realistic with my health and it can be fairly unpredictable and the last thing I would want to do, is have to let people down or even worse not be able to make rent for a shop if I had a period in which I was too ill to work.

I'm also kind of glad I’m just small during the pandemic too.

I love all my clients and it’s good to be able to be part of their support network through the good times and the bad, especially if they feel alone. It goes without saying whatever we talk about is kept in the room between us.

Hopefully my little room will continue to grow, and another lockdown is avoided, because I’ll be twiddling my thumbs if I have to be jobless again and I’m not sure my hubby can cope with me making him helping me film music videos.

Remember you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. I am proof of this.

Vicky x