Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Hafer.
Katie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was a little girl while all of the other girls wanted to play house or school, I always wanted to play business. I would pull family members aside for very important pretend meetings. You could say my entrepreneurial spirit started at a very young age.
Most people don’t know that I started my first business when I was 21 years old. While my friends were away at college I was passionately pursuing my dream job. I owned an event management company that produced special events, concerts, workshops, shows, and conventions. We also owned part of the Miss United States Franchise and produced their state pageants. I became a proficient problem solver and learned so much along the way. I was constantly and obsessively educating myself and my team on the latest and greatest marketing and PR strategies. I was riding the rollercoaster of owning my own business and felt like the luckiest girl in the world most days. When I was 26 I had my daughter Brooklyn and my whole world changed so quickly. My priorities had changed and my business that had been my baby up until that point was no longer sustainable. I was heartbroken that I was giving up and that all of my years of hard work ended with me saying goodbye to the business I was so passionate about. But I moved on to the next chapter of my life as a stay at home mom.
I had no intentions of what happened next. The business part of this was 100% a fluke! I had personally been airbrush tanning for 8 years at the time. I have very pale Irish skin naturally and a family history of skin cancer so sunless tanning has always been my only option. There were no sunless options in the area back when I was a teenager so I had ordered a machine and had been doing them at my home since I was eighteen years old. And let me tell you they were not pretty back then. Sunless tanning has come a long way in the last couple decades. Spray of Sunshine came to be in a very organic way.
When my daughter was about 9 months old, I was feeling very isolated. Don’t get me wrong my daughter is absolutely the greatest joy of my life, but I was seriously missing feeling like myself. In an effort to get out of the house a couple nights a month, bring in a little extra money and have conversations that were not about Mickey Mouse, I decided to start doing mobile spray tan parties for bridal parties, homecoming, and ladies nights.
I wanted to get the word out that I was available for mobile parties and put a website up and it all snowballed from there. Spray of Sunshine was born and the entrepreneur was back. The intention of a couple of appointments a month quickly grew to over 100 appointments a month. I enlisted the help of my good friend and fellow beauty and spray tan guru Kristen Martin-Buerger. I needed a partner who loved sunless tanning as much as I did. Kristen and I are both masters certified sunless tanning experts and had years of experience when it came to custom airbrush tanning. The demand of our customers grew fast and we knew it was time to take the leap and open our first brick and motor location.
Since 2009 we have grown to become Chicagoland’s favorite sunless tanning company. We have truly seen, tested and experienced the good, bad and ugly of sunless tanning over the years. We have perfected customized, safer methods of tanning teaching everyone they can be smart and beautiful! There are now 4 Spray of Sunshine locations and our mobile division still is in operation as well. In early 2017 I and a team of skincare, sunless tanning, and health experts launched The Beauty Doesn’t Burn Foundation. The BDB is a non-profit organization on a mission to bring massive awareness to skin cancer education, prevention, and early detection.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being an entrepreneur is kind of like like riding a rollercoaster. The highs are high the lows can make your stomach drop but you have to enjoy the ride. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Growing quickly was a big sacrifice we personally took on. We have chosen to keep our company self-funded and debt free which meant every time we grew, took on new projects or opened a new location we had to be financially prepared for that. Reinvesting in ourselves and the company we wholeheartedly believe in was always the right decision but a challenge especially as a startup.
As we grew to have multiple locations and more employees we became really good problem solvers. Things break, situations arise, and the unexpected gets thrown at you all the time. We have good days and bad but our team really excels at taking on the challenges that come our way.
I think personally one of my biggest challenges is the work/life balance. I tend to have workaholic tendencies and I struggle with finding time for everything in my life. Being your own boss does come with perks of making your own hours so I am lucky that I am able to make time to make it to the gym and make it to almost every game or recital for my daughter. I also am guilty of being in my office at 2 am making up for it and then some.
Spray of Sunshine – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Spray of Sunshine offers the most advanced airbrush technology. Streaky, orange sunless tans are a thing of the past. With us, you never have to worry about uneven blotchy applications or un-natural looking hands and feet. Each client’s experience is customized specifically for them by their certified professional tanning technician.
We always have your safety as our priority. Each of our rooms come standard with a state of the art overspray extraction booth. The booths instantly filter the air so you are never breathing in any particulates. Our formulas are also fast drying! You will always be dried with warm air and ready to dress right away. We are true experts who specialize in all things sunless tanning! Our solutions use eco-certified organic DHA. They are paraben free, sulfate free, gluten free, 100% vegan and cruelty-free. Our products use only the finest all-natural ingredients available. They work for all skin types and provide a completely natural looking color. Our solutions contain cosmetic bronzer that provides an immediate result. The solutions are also formulated with a skin firming blend that builds and restores the skin’s matrix. It is this proprietary blend that reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for skin that feels good and looks great.
The sunless specialist at Spray of Sunshine is dedicated to giving you the best sunless tanning experience you have ever had. Our mission is simple; to provide our clients with consistent, flawless, gorgeous results every time!
Our philosophy is simple. Focus on one thing and be the best at it!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I have talked to a lot of people over the years who hate their jobs or dread going to work on Monday. I consider myself so fortunate that in this journey of life I have had the opportunity to spend so many of my years excited for Monday and head over heels in love with my job!
I set a lot of goals and numbers to hit. Monthly sales numbers, client numbers, and once we reach them I am always pushing them for more but at the end of the day, nothing compares to the smiles on my client’s faces when they see themselves in the mirror after their service. Their confidence just beams and knowing that we just brightened their day really can’t compare to anything else.
Since starting this company in 2009 we have had the privilege of helping over 30,000 clients prepare for the big and small moments of their lives. First dates, school dances, cheerleading competitions, vacations, reunions, bachelorette parties, weddings, funerals, baby showers, anniversaries, swimsuit season, bodybuilding competitions, 1st communions, graduations, holidays, and so much more in between.
We are so lucky to have a team of perfectionist who not only believe in our mission but bend over backward to help us reach our goals. They genuinely care about our clients and want everyone to leave with a perfect spray tan and smile on their face.
Spray of Sunshine is blessed with the amazing support of our staff, clients, and friends who continually refer us out to their friends, families, co-workers, and neighbors as their best-kept beauty secret. To which we owe so much gratitude.
It is our joy to bring a little bit of happiness to their day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sprayofsunshine.com
- Email: info@sprayofsunshine.com, katie@sprayofsunshine.com
- Instagram: www.intsagram.com/sprayofsunshinecorp
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sprayofsunshinecorp
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/sostanning
- Other: www.beautydoesntburn.org
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
