Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to create wealth through franchising podcast and Kim Daily TV. I am your host, Kim Daly. I want to educate, motivate and inspire your business ownership journey by interviewing ceos, leaders, sales coaches, and exceptional franchisees to learn their valuable insights and strategies that we can apply to our own business ownership dreams. Now onto the show.
Welcome back to Kim Daily TV and create wealth through franchising podcast. I am your host, Kim Daly. And today we have a new friend to me as of 2023, but she's going to be a lifer. Her name is Melanie Richards. She is the founder of a franchise called Go Glow. Melanie, welcome to the studio of Kim Daily TV.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Kim Daly, I just want to say I'm so excited to be here simply because your content is like, I don't miss a single video. You have so many amazing words of support and wisdom and just badass. Let's be real. So I'm so excited to be here and to talk to you and to just be in this moment.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: That's awesome. I remember the moment that I met you. Remember at the end of one of our mix and match sessions, and I was like, you. I got to know you. So, you know, my listeners here know that I'm not here to represent a brand. So we're not going to talk specifics about the go glow franchise opportunity today. But what we do want to talk about is who is Melanie? How did she start as a businesswoman and develop this concept, and why did you turn it into a franchise? And what have you learned during this amazing journey? Because franchising ultimately is all about people, not widgets. So welcome, my listeners, I guess, to your story.
How did this begin?
[00:02:04] Speaker B: It's very kind of a different path, I would say, to any sort of entrepreneurship or ownership. I started my career out of college working as a probation officer, and I started out in San Diego, and I started working with the Young Boys unit, which was ten to 15 year old boys. Really wonderful, great experience.
And I moved back home to Minnesota. From that, I started working in investigations, working in domestic violence.
I created a caseload of battered women who were brought in as defendants. Sometimes the police can't figure out what's happening at the scene and they will take them both in. Well, the criminal justice system is not built for victims of violence. And so I saw a problem there, created a caseload for these women so we could remove them from that sort of rigamar role of the criminal justice system. Granted, some of them, they have to stay in the system. But through that, I wanted to support their safety and make sure that they get on a nice, clear, safe path. I did that for about twelve years. I was involved in writing stalking protocol for the state of Minnesota as it relates to Department of corrections. I was in a limited specialty unit for domestic violence, and I worked with a prosecutor and police officers. And what had happened, and that kind of just changed my course was I was working with a woman who was being stalked. And he ultimately, over the week, as we were trying to find him on one of our warrants, he ended up murdering her mother and her grandfather. And it was extremely traumatic.
It just sort of shook my world. And around that, I was changing. I was getting married, I knew I was going to have children, and I just was like, okay, well, let's maybe think of something more in a different field. And I went to the Veda Institute, studied escheology, which is a study of skin. And through that, when I graduated, I was just looking for a spray tan because I was going to go celebrate in, you know, as you can see, super, super pale Minnesota girl. And the options at that time were mystic tan booths, where they put you in that. Basically, I call it a human car wash. And they're just firing solution. You don't know where it's going to go. And honestly, we've all seen a bad spray tan. Some of us have actually been through the trauma, right? You're shaking your head. You're like, honestly.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Why this time?
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Right? And it honestly was just a simple beauty move. I wanted it done. I found somebody that she was a makeup artist, so she is a very small airbrush, but at the same time, not orange. My hands weren't screwed up, my feet weren't, and I was just like, this is great. But I was also almost $100, and that was just something I couldn't do at that time, but I wanted it done all the time. So I ended up maxing out my credit card. So this business actually started with a $5,000 max out of my little credit card at the time. And I bought the equipment and I bought some solution. And from there, I just started spraying. My friends and family started processing. Maybe this could be a business. Maybe it's a side hustle. And I set up a booking site, and I would take my machine and all and my pop up tent to probation work. And at 05:00 I would jump in my car and I'd go do mobile appointments in people's homes. But the people were so great.
It's more of like a healing and access to a different set of demographics. And a different set of people, really. And I loved it. And I was. I got married that year. I had a two week honeymoon. And so a friend of mine who I went to aveda with, she was like, I'll jump in the car and I'll do this. And so when I got back from my honeymoon, she's like, oh, my gosh, Mel, I love this so much. Can I do it? And so know I didn't understand at that time, but from that moment, I was pulled out of providing the services and started working on the business. So all of my dreams and all of these things, I'm like, oh, we should do this. And this, it just kept growing, right? And so I kind of laugh and I just think I just have been keeping up with go glow. Really?
That's a lot, right?
[00:05:58] Speaker A: But it's so good. I didn't even know the correction story. I mean, maybe I did as you said it, but wow. And that's just like, what a heart you have. And it's so fun. And you're so right.
You gave to all of those women, and now you're in a different environment, still giving to women, but in both in empowering ways. This is just a little bit softer and lighter and a little bit happier. So not as like, taking your life into your hands potentially. Right.
It's so good.
Okay, so you've been on this journey now for how many years with Goglo?
[00:06:35] Speaker B: We're into our 13th year.
[00:06:37] Speaker A: Okay, so 13 years. And Kim Daley only learned about this as a franchise last year. Right? So a lot of things happen before a business is mature, which is so funny when people call me and they're like, well, I have two locations, and I'd like to turn it into a franchise. Can you help me, Kim? Which is not even what I do, right. But they don't know. But I'm like, look, that's not ready to be a franchise.
So you kept growing with go glow.
How did you then decide, or why did you decide to officially formalize this and turn it into what it is today?
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
From the beginnings. The way my brain works is I'm just a real long game player, so I can see the end and I work my way backwards on it.
When it clicked in my brain, it was like, this is huge. People want this. There's a demand for this. I've perfected it during the course of it, started looking at the solutions I was using, and those are the solutions that most spray tan artists are using. And I didn't like them. I was like, they're still sticky. They smell. There's tons of alcohol that they're drying out skin. So first thing I did was like, okay, well, how could I do this? So I started working with a chemist and built my own solutions. And then from that, it was like, okay, well, the skincare line, I want better ingredients. I want cleaner ingredients. I want EU standards, right? So we have organic, and then you have EU standards, and we meet the EU standard of organic, which is even cleaner.
Know, our United States organic FDA system.
And also with that, then it was. The equipment wasn't great. I was seeing that overspray was kind of going everywhere in the room.
I wanted to make sure we had a very clean, number one environment for our employees and for the clients. So I created an overspray booth that's patent pending. And with that, it controls the air around you, and it also controls and filters it out. So it's clean air in the salon. So our salons, which is completely unheard of, are all white. And I did that in a sense of like, this is a flex. Everybody is so sick of going into their spray tan providers, and it's just a brown and gross, and you're just like, oh, I just got to get this done.
That's where I saw from the beginning. And as I'm building it, I'm not looking that I'm going to franchise this. I just was perfecting it for myself and making sure that my businesses were healthy and strong and providing the very best top service.
When I got to the point where I was adding new locations, and I'm just like, whoa.
I say it's a simple business, but it's just that we've got processes that have built down to make it so simple.
And as I'm talking to candidates, their brains, they're coming from multi systems, like different brands, and then they look at Goglo and they're just like, oh, my gosh, this is the easiest, right? So I'm like, that's great. That's exactly what I wanted to hear, because that means that we work down the processes, down to really simple business concept. Really. But anyways, yeah. As far as franchising, I wanted the right partners. I think that go glow has the legs and it has the heart, it has the soul to become an absolute iconic brand. And I didn't want to do that with just anybody. And so when I was listening to Eric Van Horn and he has the podcast, but it's franchise secrets, I joined his mastermind because I just wanted to know good, bad, or ugly. So I emailed him. Was Van Horn, you know, can you just look at my business and tell me what you know? Am I good to go? Am I not? And then that's when he brought in his partners and I got to meet Jeff her. And that whole experience has been, honestly, the greatest. And it's so meant to be because they are the partners that you need to have when you want to build something like this.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: Hey, daily Coach fans, if you're loving this episode, please do me a quick favor and leave me a five star rating and a short review. Your feedback fuels my growth and rankings and shows others that this podcast is valuable. Now back to the show.
It's such a great story, and you are 1000% correct on you found the absolute best people to bring this beauty retail brand to market. Even though they're guys, they know how to do this right. They are very powerful people in franchising with great track records, and it's awesome. And at the risk of, I don't want to be too promotional about it, but I'm super excited. I would love to be a client. I joke with all my people when I talk about go, go, like, this isn't a real tan.
But every time I go in the booth, I do go, what is this doing to my lungs and my liver? I'm a nutritional biochemist. I only put organic products in my body, on my skin. And then I go in this Bray tan booth, like, once every seven days. At least right now, I got my teenage boys going, because when you're a parent, you realize you get what you are. They see their mom tan, they're like, we want to be.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: And that's. That's exactly where this entire category is going.
And I firmly believe that Gogo is going to lead it in the sense that if you talk to any woman and men are catching on, but they'll get there, but we're all doing it. At some point, you're either doing your mousse at home, you're doing a self tanning at home, you're jumping into your booth, and you're just tolerating it.
Also, what's been happening over the past three years is we're seeing that people are really concerned about ingredients as they should be. We are all looking at the back of our labels, and that's with go glow, is we're very educational. And that's just a whole nother piece of our business, is that we're a skincare business because we're teaching people what you're putting on your skin counts. Right. We have hormone disruptors, all these different products that they're pushing at people that are truly bad for their skin, bottom line. Right. And so not only are we making sure that you have a gorgeous go glow, but we are making sure that your skin is healthy, too. Whether you're coming in once a week or you're coming in once a month. Fine. Right. But we want to make sure that our clients are educated on that skin and those products and what's happening with your skin. And when you talk about what you're breathing in, that is also extremely important when you're looking for a provider. I just got a spray tan in a tent, and I couldn't even believe it how much of that is going in when your clients are standing there breathing it. And I'm just like, I'm so used to being in our air purification booths, so it's something really to consider. I think people are going to. I know, I'm sorry. Kim will be there soon.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Now somebody open a go glow in New Hampshire right now.
Listen, my teenage boy is 17. If he was, like, going to state school in, like, maybe 18 or 19, 100%, I'd be opening a glow glow because I'd be a customer numerous uno. But he would enjoy running this business. It would be a great little experience for him.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, absolutely. And it's just very important. I think we have a very intelligent consumer, and we need to be delivering a better service for everybody.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: I love it. I really do. I love everything you're saying. So let's just focusing more on kind of like, the business conversation, because that's how I want this episode to be viewed as just kind of like, wow, how does a brand get started? It's not like you started out with the intention of franchising this. It's just evolved to that because you just kept being curious and kept trying to solve for the problem and getting better at it and growing, which is an awesome organic story in and of itself. Right.
If you could think back to 13 years ago when you started to where you are today, kind of go back and forth and think, gosh, what are the biggest lessons or aha. Moments you've had along the way? Do you have a couple that immediately come to mind in terms of being a business owner or running or developing a business?
[00:14:45] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that I've been sort of talking about this, women in business and entrepreneurs and how really women are. We're creating our own space at this point in life because we have children, we have huge careers, all of that. And the model of being a boss, the model of being a business owner is modeled after men and males in their relationships, in their fields. It's a completely different game when you are a woman, when you are the boss, when you are the business owner. Because we want to create relationships. We want relationships with our employees. And so I think that had I known truly the intricacies of being a female leader and a business owner in the space that I'm in, I would be terrified. But honestly, it's hard because my heart has been broken so many times because I'm creating relationships. But at the same time, you have your personal relationships, and then the business has their own needs. Right. And it's difficult. It's a conversation, I think, that women need to keep having and making that it's okay. You're going to actually go through a lot of loss in business as a female business owner, but that your business does deserve and needs its own path as well. So I love this conversation.
I would love to keep having it with other business owners because I think we all need to be supportive of each other. And truly, some of the things that we go through that are not even set up as males, that they don't have these issues.
[00:16:24] Speaker A: Really awesome.
[00:16:25] Speaker B: I just went on a tangent.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's really good. And even just taking it out to just sort of like, failing forward in your business. Right. Imagine if you were the owner that you were 13 years ago today. You can't be the same owner because the day that you start a business, you have one level of knowledge. And then it's like when you're a mom, right? When you're a brand new mom with an infant, you're one level of mom versus when you're at the other end, like I am, teenagers nearing college and thinking of your babies leaving the house, you're like, at a whole nother. And you have all these words of wisdom that you could impart along the way to the mom that you were 17 years ago or the mom you were not. Right? Same thing when you own a business. Right? And so your growth, I always say, you follow me? You know, I always say that.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: The.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Business reflects the owner. It's in part why when people say, can I make a certain amount of money in a business, I'm like, I don't know, can you? Because it depends on the personal and professional growth that you are willing to go through and how when you fail, you keep moving forward or how you don't. Right. Because as business owners, both of us women. I've been doing this for 26 years, longer than you've probably been alive.
Is it easy? No. I may make it look easy. The business I'm in now because I've been doing it for a really long time, but it's because I've been doing it for a really long time and I didn't quit every time it got hard.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Right. Right. And my brother in law in my life, he's like, mel, see, the problem is people think that this is easy because you make it look easy. Nobody sees the behind the scenes. Nobody sees the struggle and just the pick yourself up and just keep going regardless.
There's just a simple, I don't know what it is that sets people apart or who's able to take the punches like a business owner does, but just to have that inner tenacity of, yeah, I might take some punches, I might learn some lessons. I don't call them failures. I don't. They're just like, great, learn that. Now. My franchisees don't have to go through that because let me tell you, I just took all those punches and this is the best way to go about it. Right? And this is how I can build better. And that's how you learn and that's how you move forward and being a role model also with employees and people that you work with and such. But your analogy of holding the baby, because that's the thing is when I first started go glow, I mean, that baby was so tight to me.
And as she grows, I call her she, of course, and as she grows, she's going off to college now and I have to have more of a mentor relationship with that and making sure she makes the right decisions, that sort of thing in that space. As you're going from me when I was just mobile to all these locations and franchises, there's different relationships and some people aren't going to make it to that next level with you. And you have to go with that. And it's hard. But at the same time, go glow is growing up.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Hey, daily Coach fans, if you're ready to begin your own journey to find the perfect franchise, please email me right now at inquire at KimDaily TV. My services are totally free for you. That's inquire at Kimdaily TV. Now back to the show.
It's so good. It's so good. I hope everybody listening to this goes, this is so good. I mean, it's just real business talk. Those of you who follow me know my real heart at this point in my life is in the business coaching side to franchisees. Coaching your mindset, because there's so many people who say yes to the dream to own a business, and then it's sort of like what I call the second yes, which is showing up to your dream. Right. And not to overdramatize that. It's going to be harder than you think, but it is going to be harder than you think. Because I don't know what you think, but it's pretty darn hard some days, right? And it makes me think of when I'm a fitness girl and the things that you do, people see a nice body and they're like, wow, you look great, or I'd love to have your body, and it's like, you see what you see. But I know the years I've put into the gym and getting up this morning when the alarm went off and I was like, I don't want to go to the gym. Right. Or the choices you make on the weekend when everybody else is eating certain food and you're being disciplined because you have goals and dreams. And it's the exact same thing when you own a business. It's the story you're hearing from Melanie. It's what makes business owners successful or not. And we're not judging those who are struggling. Because here's the thing. I just made a little video about this.
It was actually about a cash flow issue that someone called me on. And I'm like, look, welcome to business ownership, because if you've never found yourself in a cash flow crunch before, you haven't really owned a business for too long. Right, Melanie?
[00:21:42] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: Having a credit card.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: You have to have an abundant mindset. And that's something also I learned coming from my background and my childhood. I was raised by a single mom, and it was welfare and it was food stamps to move through and actually become a business owner, which I never saw. I didn't have it anywhere in my background. But to now, where I have to change my mindset, I have to change it to an abundant mindset. I have to change it to, look, you have to bet on yourself damn near every day on your business and make those investments and know and have faith that what you built is strong and it is good, and you just have to keep reinvesting into it. And I personally, having that mind shift with this franchising and the enormous response we've gotten is incredible. I was saying earlier this morning, I'm like, I feel like I'm just on the edge of like an avalanche here, which is exactly what you want, but it's terrifying. I'm not going to lie and say this isn't terrifying. It's terrifying, but it's fun. And this is what we were set up for.
But just to change mindset through different phases and stages of your business, you have to keep going with it and have the strength, have that tenacity, have that confidence. Regardless if you're feeling in that moment. You know what, girl? Fake it. You got to get through it because, you know, what you have built is good. It's on solid ground. Things might terrify you, but kind of have this thing. Like, if it's not scaring you, it's probably not big enough. Like, let's go.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Cheryl, all I got to say to wrap this up is I'm betting on you and I wouldn't mess with you.
This girl means no bs. She is all grit. That is the absolute best word. And I recognized it in you the first time you stood in front of me in that mix and match. And I thought, I got to know that girl because she's going places in franchising. So those of you who are listening, you heard it here first. If you haven't heard of the brand, you heard it here first on create wealth through franchising and Kim Daily TV, Melanie Richards. Thank you for coming into my life and for being a guest today on my show.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Thank you, Kim. I have chills. This is amazing.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: You're amazing.
Well, for anybody who's inspired to begin your journey, whether it's with Goglo or just to figure out what's the next or the best franchise investment for me, you know that I want to be your daily coach. Please follow the email on the screen right now or reach directly out to inquire at KimDaily TV. That's inquire at KimDaily TV. And until next time, my name is Kim Daly and I want to be your daily coach.
You can find more content just like this on my YouTube channel channel at KimDaily TV. And if you're inspired to take the next step to explore franchises match to you, please email me right now at inquire at KimDaily TV. That's inquire at KimDaily TV.
