Welcome back to the Chagrin Falls Merchant Association Podcast where we’re talking all things Chagrin Falls and the businesses who reside here.
Martha Vucsko joined us in studio this week to share not only her business story but also her holistic approach to business and life.
This episode was produced by Megan Moran at Mompreneur Co. Studio.
Did you know there’s a beautiful meeting space and podcast studio right here in the Falls? Take a virtual tour to see for yourself.
Why Martha has built her business for 30 years in Chagrin
I've been in the industry over 30 years and was one of the very first Med spas in the country.
There's day spas, there's hair salons and there's Med spas.
A Med spa works with either a physician or a nurse practitioner bringing in more medical grade products like Botox, Fillers, Laser Machinery etc.
We specialize in facials. So our main focus is, perfecting your skin.
We might tweak it with Botox or fillers or some laser.
They’re all tools in our tool belt.
I’ve always had an interest in skin, health, beauty and fitness. So I thought it all would go hand in hand.
Your skin health starts from within
You are what you eat- everything starts from the gut.
A lot of times people will come in and they'll have skin issues and I look at their skin and then I ask what are you eating?
A teenager will come in and they'll have these broken out areas on their forehead.
And I'll say, do you eat a lot of dairy before you go to bed? Do you have cereal before you go to bed?
And 90 percent of the time they'll be like, yes, I always eat cereal before I go to bed. And that's creating those issues.
We take a holistic approach when somebody comes in. It's not just you're here for a facial in, out, done we really take our time with it.
"Your face tells the story of what's going on internally"
It's called face mapping. It's like foot reflexology but for your face.
There are a couple of tried and true problems like:
women with their hormones
chin breakouts
breakouts on your neck
Everything has, something that correlates with something going on on your face.
Facials are key because you can inject your skin with anything but if you don't have good skin, it's not going to make a difference because that's just a band-aid. It's not getting to the root and the foundation of everything.
Continuing to make people feel and look beautiful with shoes
I always had a love for shoe and purses. And I realized there really wasn't a shoe store in town- we had one, but unfortunately during COVID it closed down.
So when a space opened right around the corner from La Look I grabbed it and it all just fit together.
My clients would always comment on my shoes and now they had a space to get not only those but we also carry:
some apparel
belts
purses
jewelry
and we have a beauty bar as well where they can find products that are totally different than at La Look.
The Evolution of Martha’s Brand
I rebrand all the time because everything changes. When I moved out of my first La Look location in Tanglewood, I was there for 23 years and it was a different time.
It was 2010, we hit a drastic point with the economy- people were broke and the spa industry had changed.
People weren't doing the whole spa day anymore so I went into a boutique feel.
It became about coming in, getting a facial, not spending the whole day, not spending a ton of money.
And then since COVID, Amazon and new technology, that's been another inflection point.
It went from a boutique mentality to focusing my spending on only a few unique products.
You have to make the right choices as the business owner. I have products that you can't find on Amazon- I look for things that are special.
I have a line from Italy called Vagheggi that I'm the sole importer for. So you have to come to me for that product line.
I make wise decisions for my clients- it's part of the service within the boutique.
I don't talk them into a million different things because that happens nowadays, right? And who wants to be sold that way?
I like to have them come in, let them look around, and I like to give them the best service I can give them.
The way things are trending
You know we're all changing. You see how the groceries have gone up. We’re all changing our spending habits.
So you can't expect them to come in and spend thousands of dollars when the groceries are so much more- you have to adjust.
That’s why I'm always thinking ahead. There's so much technology coming, like medical types of technology, new facials.
I've already introduced a new facial with a new microcurrents.
We have a new plasma facial coming.
We're getting away from as much plastic surgery. People are still doing facelifts and things like that but people don’t want as much cutting.
No one wants downtime. They want to be in and out, not under the knife so much.
And at Cipok we’ve added some new clothing lines. Before I was just with shoes and accessories, but now we're adding a little bit of apparel.
This year we're doing a lot of like the purples, reds, very vibrant greens.
A lot of that jewel toned.
Square toes
Platforms
Still seeing the loafers.
Well, this has been fabulous. I love hearing about your time in the industry and the impact that you're making here in Chagrin.
I think what I'm taking away most is your dedication to your people and how it's a hand in hand with what you love and how you can support them. And now you're not supporting the community with just one business, but two and just really taking that beauty from the inside out approach. And I think it's beautiful.
Thank you.
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