YOLO Spotlight - Shauna Fox
Once upon a time, Shauna Fox opened a microblading business in Pleasanton, CA. How did that happen and what has happened since that opening day? And, an even bigger question, how has she been able to have a successful business in Woodland when she opened her place just one week before the COVID19 shutdown in March 2020?
It is quite a success story, but even more so for a troubled teen who grew up in Santa Cruz and had a baby at the young age of 16. Preferring a small town feel for her daughter, Shauna moved to Tracy. She ended up having three daughters by the age of 21. She lived in Tracy for 20 years before moving to Woodland when she married her current spouse.
Shauna loves living in Woodland and says she feels so welcomed by the people. Her daughters are mostly grown, but she also now has a six year old son and appreciates the small town feel for raising him.
FUN FACT #1
During her troubled teen years, Shauna actually failed all of her classes one time, but absolutely loved her art class. Before opening her first studio in Pleasanton five years ago, Shauna did many jobs, sometimes all at the same time, such as waitressing. The commute from Tracy to Pleasanton could be a pain, but worth it because she was finally doing something she is passionate about. She feels her business is a form of art and because of that she attracts many different types of people. She enjoys meeting them all and feels as if many of them become friends as well as clients. Shauna says, “I’ve been poor, I’ve had money, so I can always find something to relate to everyone.”
FUN FACT #2
Shauna is so passionate about her work that she never really winds down. She talked about loving nature, gardening, and meditating, but the conversation always returned to her work and how she feels she is helping people. Her bottom line mission is to make women feel confident and beautiful and she wants to make that happen for everybody. Shauna gets very excited with the idea of helping people enhance who they are. She doesn’t believe in changing you, just providing you the best version of you! Her thought is that people who feel good about themselves are more vibrant and will confidentally find other people with similar interests, making for great friendships and relationships.
FUN FACT #3
Shauna’s passion for what she does means she spends quite a bit of thought on where to head in the future. She recently added a location at College and Main in downtown Woodland to have enough space for everything she wants to do. In five years, she sees herself in the same location with more services offered and an established clientele. Shauna wants to be the “go-to” place in the region. She admits that there is more to owning a business than many people realize, especially when you have a brick and mortar establishment, but her eyes are wide open and she was savvy enough to survive so far under unique circumstances (pandemic, anyone?).
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT SHAUNA FOX PERMANENT COSMETICS?
1. Even though she opened her Woodland business one week prior to the COVID shutdown in March 2020, Shauna never slowed down and adapted to the changes needed. It didn’t hurt that she operates as a health department approved facility and already had in place standard safety protocols. She got creative and developed an online class teaching microblading that became very popular and successful.
2. Her original studio opened in Pleasanton five years ago, and she kept the Pleasanton facility for a while after moving to Woodland, but she has since sold the Pleasanton location because the new Woodland location is working out so well. Since the start of her business, almost 50% of her clientele traveled to her, some from out of state. Since her clients were always from all over a wide area, they were loyal enough to follow her to the new location in Woodland.
3. Because Shauna’s mission is to help women feel good about themselves, she feels the “sky’s the limit” as to how she can build the business even bigger and better. She has many ideas that’s she would love to implement in the future. She has added a makeup line to her website and anticipates adding in person classes as the pandemic permits. Keep an eye out in the future for body contouring services.
Shauna is a vibrant example of a confident woman whose goal in life is to instill confidence in others. She is proud to call Woodland home and pleased to be a part of downtown. Kudos to this small business owner who survived unusual circumstances this past year.