Where It All Started...

When I was a teenager, I tanned at Carolina Tan. Having no idea that if I could have seen a glimpse of my future, that same place of business was not only going to completely transform, but it would be owned and operated by… me.

Working at the Radio

Me, the girl with ADHD. The one who was a jack of all trades, but felt she couldn’t master anything. The one who was always late, naturally lazy, an A/B student in high school but then was overjoyed with the few D- she got in college because that meant she PASSED. BARELY.
What I could do was speak. The stage was my home, my comfort, my joy. Public speaking was my jam, but even with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, there were ZERO jobs that gave me a microphone or a stage. So I convinced the owner at a local AM radio station to let me sell ads right out of college.

Big Girl Job

Excuse me, I hid in the sound room making faux commercials and recording my own pretend show, not selling a dang thing. Not having a paycheck couldn’t last long so I got a big girl job at a Chiropractic’s office as a Community Relations Director and personal assistant to the doc. This job lasted a year, before I was fired, but it did allow me to make many connections in my community and make incredible professional and personal relationships.

My First Car

With the help of some of those professional relationships, I was able to quickly find a marketing position with a yogurt company and rose in the ranks. I had health benefits, a steady income, got promoted and even drove a two seater convertible.

Out of the Office

But I was so bored. I absolutely hated sitting in my cubical and found every reason I could to get out of the office. I would volunteer to drive the yogurt van to events that I coordinated from the office. I would make videos outside for the company showing how close we were to the cows that provided the milk for the yogurt we were making.

A Cubical Life?

Was this my future? Were the cubical walls what would greet me. Everyday. For the rest of my life? Did I really have to wait until retirement to spread my wings and be my own boss?

My Calling

Well I think God knew, and He knew for a long time, that those cubical walls were not my future. But they were what I needed to light a fire under my butt. So the fire was there, burning, ready for something, when HE placed on the Howards’ heart to come to ME about purchasing Carolina Tan.
ME? I was 24. I had only been out of college for two years. I was on the struggle bus of adulthood still trying to figure out how to be a grown up in the real world. But Randy and Tammy Howard still came to me, asking me to purchase the salon from them that they had purchased only three years before. They had another, multimillion dollar company that was beginning to suffer because their focus was being adverted due to Carolina Tan.

YES!!

My husband and I both were shocked. But once the surprise wore off, we really discussed it. Could I do this? We agreed that yes, I could do this. BUT if I did do this, I shouldn’t slowly wade in, getting used to the water. I would have to run, jump, grab both legs and make the biggest splash with my biggest cannon ball ever. Which meant I would have to quit my job, lose my benefits, sell my car, and rely on my husband as the ONLY income in our home. I wasn’t going to have a paycheck. Any money made was going to have to go right back into paying for the company I just purchased, pay the lease and pay the staff. The goal is to get through the first year without a paycheck. Work my tail off and sacrifice financially, but just for one year.

Life as an Owner

Well, I didn’t get a paycheck for eight. Eight years.
And crazy me decided to buy a second tanning salon located in Terrell, NC just 6 months after purchasing Carolina Tan.

Uphill Battle

That ended up being a flop. I gave it a year, but it was sucking the life out of the already suffering Carolina Tan. So I closed up shop and brought the higher end equipment up to Carolina Tan. So upset that it didn’t work. So upset that I had to close a business. So mad at God.
But then, shortly after I made the decision to close and began the move up to Carolina Tan, I got the news that Planet Fitness was moving in. Right. Beside. Carolina Tan. Sharing a wall. With SIX tanning beds. I was in shock. I would have NEVER been able to compete with that without… high end equipment. The same high end equipment I was bringing up from closing my business in Terrell.

Supportive Hubby

I believe that was my first big realization that God had this business in His hands. And while yes, I still had to work hard and fight some of the hardest battles, this business was worth it and it had a purpose.
My husband being the biggest support system for me, both financially and spiritually, was another huge realization that this business meant something.

Better Together

While we were scraping by personally, I was also scrapping by in the business. I couldn’t pay the lease AND the staff. So my staff got paid and I missed several months of paying my landlord. I had to max out some business credit cards just to get by, digging myself into the biggest, deepest hole of debt. So I couldn’t pay myself. But my husband never made me feel guilty. He never once told me to give up. He never once told me to get a full time job and just work on the business on the side. He would just tell me, “One day, babe. It will happen. One day.”

Business Owner & Mom

We started having babies less than two years later and because of not having a full time, 8 to 5 job, I was able to stay home with them. And because I owned the business, I was able to bring them to work with me. I was and am still able to take them to school, pick them up, and take them to gymnastics or T-Ball. While some days are hard; I am either physically at the salon later or earlier than usual or I am mentally not present with my family at home due to stresses that the business carries. But it has been such a blessing to my family, regardless of the lack of income. We have time. And that has been the most precious thing to this career-minded business owner. Time with my family.

One Day...

God held my hand, wiped my tears and gave me peace. He gave me strength. He gave me a vision and helped me achieve it. He provided a team that I have prayed for from the beginning. And that “One day” finally came.

Carolina Tan & Wellness

I think back on those first years, remembering that I somehow knew I couldn’t remain just tanning, tanning and tanning. That tanning was an incredibly seasonal business with a very small niche of clientele. That the business wouldn’t survive. That the business could give so much more. At 24, I started going to expos and seminars, met the big guys in my field, found trustworthy mentors and began molding a place where my community could come for self-care and a clearer mind, body and spirit.

And here we are. From Carolina Tan to Carolina Wellness Spa.

Ten Years...

A place that originally only catered to the vacation goers. To where we are now; a place where a Strong, Healthy, Beautiful lifestyle can be achieved. And that lifestyle of self-care is overflowing throughout our community. Because of our wellness options, we have clients who have been able to put down their cane. Clients who have continued their journey of sobriety, successfully, because they use the services as a tool to fight with. Clients who can properly care for their mother with dementia because they are pouring into themselves a few times per week. It is a beautiful thing.
I am so blessed to have been asked to purchase Carolina Tan in September of 2012. To have agreed and officially become the owner on April 1st, 2013.

Growth & Success

To have went through the heartache and the tears. To not have a paycheck for 8 years. It was all worth it. A small business is flourishing, even making it through 2020 (which is another very interesting story that I need to share with you one day). I have an incredible staff who has become my family. They love the salon as much as I do and it has been such a journey watching them grow. Without them, Carolina Tan wouldn’t be what it is today! And what used to be a part time job or just summer gig has turned into career opportunities with lots of growth potential. What once was a job where someone would quit because there was no room to grow has now turned into a position at a company where the employees ask for raises and look forward to promotions.

This here is our "made it" picture. The point in which I am able to actually pay myself, my husband quit his job and was able to take control of TIME without having to work for someone else 24/7 because our business is able to support us financially. A picture in which, right before it was taken, we are both in tears, grateful for how God blessed and how Keith never stopped believing in me.

Onwards & Upwards

And it’s only just begun! Carolina Tan & Wellness is still growing, still evolving and still finding ways to enhance a Strong, Healthy and Beautiful lifestyle for its community. You don’t want to miss this!