ist magazine August 2021

Salon of Distinction

ELECTRIC SUN SALON Gaylord, MI

idea and could tell by the look on her face that she was not excited about it at all; she had just started her career as a cosmetologist. Well, the next day was Thanksgiving and we both got up after getting very little sleep, thinking about tanning. Later that day, my girls came over and talked more about it and that Saturday, we toured the salon. That next Wednesday, we had a meeting with my boss and signed the papers. So within less than a week, we went from not even thinking about starting a business to be coming business owners. We took over January 1 2021. We are now six months into this and love every minute of it! IST: Having a salon with a variety of different services can be a challenge. Tell us how you focus and overcome it. JG: You have to grow the business. As we all know, the “JASON” months in the back half of the year are hard for many salons to survive – we are going through our first one. So, we diversified to offer more than just UV services. We offer BleachBright Teeth Whitening, red-light therapy, a massage chair and we really market our spray-tanning.

AS we continue the process of returning (somewhat!) to normalcy after a crazy 2020, we’ve missed a lot of the industry happenings. The annual expo events have always been great battery chargers for salon operators. After a long layoff, Missouri-based distributor Heartland Tanning created a novel method to give a “group hug” with their first-ever Networking Retreat. In June, “Mind Your Business” exclu sively for salon owners and operators was held at The Elm Hotel & Spa in Excelsior Springs, MO. I was honored to serve as the emcee for this event and it gave me a great opportunity to chat with a wide variety of tan biz folks. Attendees included many first-time owners with two years or less in the business. I always enjoy seeing “veteran” operators (you know who you are), but think it’s a good sign to see fresh faces, as well. Enter John and Kristine Grish of

Electric Sun in Gaylord, MI. I had some great conversations with them during my stay at The Elm and they, of course, are proud graduates of IST Magazine’s Sun is Life® Training & Certification program. Enjoy the details! IST: The Elm is a really cool place to have this event and perfect for our inter view. So, let’s begin with the basics. Tell me about your start in the tanning industry. JG: It’s kind of a funny story. I was at lunch with my boss who owns quite a few properties and he told me that I should buy his tanning salon. I thought he was joking, but he said it would be a good investment and a great place to put our daughters to work and in charge. Well, my daughter Emylee was sitting right next to me and of course said, “Dad, you should!” So, I reviewed the financials and thought, “not bad.” That night, I told Kristine about the

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August 2021 istmagazine.com