Meet Danielle Bankz: Owner of a Lash & Brow Beauty Lounge

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Bankz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My thoughts towards taking risks has changed many times over the past few years as I have taken more and more risks to grow my business . At first, taking a risk or making a leap from one stage of your business to the next can be terrifying. BUT, I have learned that if you don’t take the risks you are presented with you will never know how far it will push you and how much you can grow from it. You have to think about ‘risk’ as an opportunity for GROWTH instead of a possibility for ‘success OR failure’. Because in each risk there can be a little bit of failure and a little bit of success which in the end results in growth!

For me personally, the first ‘risk’ I took was the scariest… It almost always is. I quit my management job at Nordstrom, went and worked full time at a salon while putting myself through beauty school. After working for a salon for about 2 years I decided that I was capped out financially and capped out creatively. It was time for me to move on & grow again. I opened my own studio and immediately grew 10x. Nowhere in my plan did I expect to then open a whole salon 1.5 years later, but when the opportunity presented itself in my life I took it! My salon has been open for about 6 weeks, and it is already thriving.

Moral of the story is that making that first decision to quit your corporate job, or to expand and hire help, or to branch off on your own from your current employer is well worth the risk because if you reach your desired outcome you’ll look back and say that you wish you’d done it sooner. You are definitely more capable of succeeding than you think you are ,and too often we let fear get in the way and stop us from growing or taking risks we are very capable of conquering. Sometimes you just need to put yourself in a position with some positive pressure for you to truly see how capable you are.

Once you take your first big risk, it will get easier and easier. Risks that seem like mountains will start to feel like little hills. My advice is: CLIMB THOSE MOUNTAINS, TAKE THE RISKS, YOU’ll SURPRISE YOURSELF I PROMISE!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
One of the biggest lesson I have learned is that you have to be authentic! Niche down, and find what you truly love about what you do. I started out doing any service I could offer (facials, waxing, lashes, & so much more) and I would practice on anyone I could get my hands on. Once I did that, it made me realize what I enjoyed doing, and what i didn’t enjoy as much. In my industry we are so saturated with so many women (and men) doing the same thing that you have to understand your style and stick to it.

You have to understand that you cannot attract every single type of client, and you have to be true to yourself about who you are, who your business helps, and why!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
OMG. Tampa is the best place to visit! We would definitely grab brunch at Oxford Exchange, followed by a chill day on the riverwalk and then hit up Hyde Park Village for dinner & drinks. We could get some great workouts in at CAMP Tampa and then grab a fresh pressed juice or smoothie at one the 100 smoothie shops we have in town! We would also share a trio dip & some mega margaritas at Green Lemon and then on the Friday or Saturday evening we could hang at the exclusive Meat Market Lounge & enjoy their live sax player!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband! Although I have opened this business solely on my own I have to give him so much credit for having a huge impact on my mindset. I have always had a very independent/entrepreneurial side to me, but he has taught me how to have a strong mind throughout this whole journey. Sometimes the things we have to do for our biz arent necessarily hard, but just having the motivation to stay consistent and to just get it done is the hard part. He has always stayed consistent and put in ALOT of work on his own businesses and it has really inspired me to do the same. He has pushed me to take risks that I don’t think I would have taken without his support.

Website: beigebeautylounge.com

Instagram: beigebeautylounge

Facebook: BEIGE Beauty Lounge

Yelp: BEIGE Beauty Lounge

Image Credits
@the_gadabouts_captures