MKUP The Beauty Studio
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Michael Williams
Maggie King believes just a little bit of grooming can make a person feel a lot better. She’s felt this way since middle school, when her friends would come over for photo shoots and let her help them get ready for school dances.
“I was never like overtly girly. I just feel like I had a knack for things like styling.”
Maggie’s grandmother and mother were both artists, and her great grandmother ran a beauty salon in her basement. Maggie believes this helped establish her eye for color and style at a young age. Working at a bridal boutique in York when she was older, she learned to recognize and appreciate that women of diverse ages have different personal styles.
“What is beauty to me might not be beauty to everybody, but I like to find specific beauty in each person.”
After college, Maggie landed a job in Nevada with Gucci. She loved working for an international luxury brand company, but family responsibilities brought her back to Pennsylvania.
Maggie King
“When I had to come home I definitely thought that I would relocate to the King of Prussia area or work for Gucci again. It just didn’t happen like that.”
Maggie ended up back in York at the bridal boutique where she offered makeup services to bridal parties, young women preparing for homecoming dances, and similar clients. She loved it, but she noticed there was a new kind of business starting up in bigger cities. Companies like Glamsquad and Blushington weren’t doing the typical cut and colors; they offered a wide range of beauty services specifically designed for nights out, bridal and bachelorette parties, and individuals who just wanted access to an expert make-up artist.
“I wanted to bring something like that to small town York. There were cool women here that wanted to get made up and look beautiful to go to specific events and they didn’t want to go to the run of the mill hair salon.”
Branching out on her own, Maggie was soon booking wedding parties of six to 14 women. She needed to expand her business but wasn’t sure how to do it. Her cousin suggested she talk to the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Shippensburg University. It provides no-cost business consulting for small business owners and potential entrepreneurs throughout Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties.
Maggie spent hours researching companies with similar objectives, then figured out how she would be different from regular salons and her competition. Armed with a draft business plan, she called the SBDC. She still had a lot of questions.
“How do I make a profit and loss sheet? How do I budget? How do I even come up with how much money I need to put into this or invest in a business loan? Do I need a small business loan?”
When Maggie worked for Gucci she had a corporate handbook that explained how things were done. Starting her own business, MKUP The Beauty Studio, she didn’t have a handbook. Thankfully, her friends at Shippensburg helped her to learn about team building and good business leadership. Working together, Maggie and her SBDC consultants found answers to a lot of her business questions
“Shippensburg’s SBDC can really help you with your business objective and give you a lot of insight. They’ll help you with business research and they’re essentially hand-holders.”
There have been tough days, but Maggie has no regrets. She appreciates the support she’s received from The Small Business Development Center at Shippensburg University and recommends that other entrepreneurs take advantage of their various resources.
“When you’re a brand new business, you don’t know how to plan ahead. Essentially you just hope and pray that you’re going to be profitable and not only profitable, that people are going to like you.”
Clients definitely like MKUP The Beauty Studio. Maggie is already considering opening a second location.
Transcript:
Maggie King was working for a major fashion brand on the west coast when she decided to return to Pennsylvania to be closer to her family. She found work doing makeup and fashion consulting at a bridal boutique.
Maggie King: I loved it because who doesn’t love to be able to be creative and get paid for it?
She noticed a new kind of business was opening in major cities, where beauty sessions were personalized, and customers were treated like celebrities.
Maggie King: I wanted to bring something like that to small town York. Like there were cool women here that wanted to get made up and look beautiful to go to specific events and they didn’t want to go to the run of the mill hair salon.
She decided to open her own luxury studio where clients could have hair and makeup done, get styling consultations, take classes, and even book photo sessions. Armed with a lot of questions, she went to Shippensburg University’s Small Business Development Center for help with her dream.
Maggie King: How do I make a profit and loss sheet? How do I budget? How do I even come up with how much money I need to put into this or invest in a business loan?
The staff at Shippensburg helped Maggie develop a business plan that was specific to her goals and objectives. Today, MKUP – The Beauty Studio is a successful business.
Find more information about MKUP The Beauty Studio at https://mkupbeautystudio.com/
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Shippensburg University provides no-cost confidential consulting and low-cost training to small business owners and potential entrepreneurs in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties. Learn more at http://www.ship.edu/sbdc/
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Innovation U is a project from WITF, where we share stories of entrepreneurs and Pennsylvania universities who are working together to make new ideas come to life. Learn more at witf.org/innovation
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