How a Horrible Job Motivated This Founder to Start Her Business with Only $500 & No Business Plan - Courtney Claghorn, Founder of SUGARED + BRONZED

Courtney Claghorn is the founder of SUGARED + BRONZED, the
nation’s largest all natural sugaring and airbrush tanning
destination. 


Shortly after graduating college, Courtney moved back home
without a job and was confused about her next steps. She
eventually got a job in Fintech and moved to Santa Monica. Even
though she was living and working near the beach, she rarely
spent time in the sun since she worked indoors which meant she
frequented tanning salons. Courtney was done overpaying for spray
tans at underwhelming locations and decided to create a solution
that would not only be affordable, but keep people coming back
for more, and that’s when SUGARED + BRONZED was born. 


In this week’s episode, Courtney shares her journey of starting
the business as a side hustle, initially with only $500 from her
apartment, to now overseeing 23 locations across the country. She
candidly discusses how miserable she was in her FinTech job, the
pivotal moment when she decided to take the leap, and how
she discovered herself when she was the most confused. 


Courtney dives into how she bootstrapped the business in the
first nine years, the stress that came with keeping the business
afloat during COVID and what she did to overcome such challenging
times. Lastly, we chat about about how not having a detailed
business plan was key to her success, and so much more.


In this episode, we’ll talk to Courtney about:


* Courtney’s impactful childhood memories. [3:04]


* Feeling lost in her early 20s and her self-expectations.
[07:35]


* Graduating college, moving back home, and landing her first
job. [10:28]


* Working in a FinTech company and discovering herself. [13:19]


* How the idea of SUGARED + BRONZED came about. [16:34]


* Courtney’s motivation to start SUGARED + BRONZED. [18:49]


* Courtney's early business journey. [20:28]


* Leaving her full-time job to focus on creating the first retail
location. [21:38]


* What propelled the business during its early stages. [23:22]


* Lessons learned from securing their first location. [25:10]


* Advice on having a minimum business plan. [33:6]


* Managing SUGARED + BRONZED’s growth. [36:52]


* Bootstrapping for nine years and finally bringing on an
investor. [38:53]


* Being comfortable in the uncomfortable. [40:51]


* SUGARED + BRONZED during the COVID-19 Pandemic. [43:50]


* The business's toughest challenges. [50:18]


* Balancing business and family after having a child. [53:47]


* The concept of first principles thinking. [58:27]


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Follow Courtney: 


* Website: https://sugaredandbronzed.com/


* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugaredandbronzed/


* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneyclaghorn/


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