Meet Kristen Drakulic of Glam Beauty Lounge and Glam Aesthetics in DTC and South Broadway

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Drakulic.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kristen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Left her five (5) year position as an Operations Manager for a Fortune 500 company to follow her true passion and calling into the Beauty and Wellness industry. After successfully becoming licensed in Colorado, I started working for a Facial and Massage franchise. Like any start-up, initially,the money was little and the clientele was very slim, so, I found myself in those early days questioning my decision to walk away from my previous career.

However, I made the decision and was determined to follow my passion. I took more certifications and started a mobile business for eyelash extension and airbrush tanning (Lashes and Tans). It was successful but would soon be interrupted when I became pregnant with my second child. It was at this juncture that I decided I needed my own space and was ready to take an expansion leap.

I opened the doors to Glam Beauty Lounge in April of 2014. Because I wanted to continue to grow the business, by 2017, I moved into an even larger location and hired additional professional staff, all while continuing to provide the exceptional service Glam clients have come to know and love.

Feeding off the continued success of our DTC location, Drakulic wanted to offer more cutting edge technology and focused on expanding the brand towards more advanced cosmetic procedures. By early 2019, the vision of what Glam Aesthetics could and would become was officially born. Today, Glam Aesthetics is supported by an Advisory Board and Medical Director and has expanded into the advanced world of medical cosmetics and also carries medical/pharmaceutical-grade skin care products.

Glam has joined forces with other giants in the field, such as Allergan, Evolus, Galderma and Merz. GLAM’s staff have followed this upward growth towards greater excellence and have all gone on to achieve advanced clinical education in all areas of wellness and beauty. By 2020, we began to offer Cosmetic Injectables, High-Frequency Needling, Micro-needling with PRP, B12 and advanced laser procedures. With the opening of Glam Aesthetics in mid-2020, my goal is to offer a one-stop-shop for all of our client’s beauty and wellness needs.

Has it been a smooth road?
A smooth road? I must laugh a little at this question. Just look at what we are living through now to get the answer to that question. But even without Novel Covid-19, in business, just as in life, nothing is ever smooth sailing but you have to persevere and understand that it’s a marathon; not a race. It’s those bumpy runs that create your story; it’s the many setbacks that truly define you. I have become the person I am today because the road has been so arduous and because I have had to make tough calls. I’ve learned a lot over the years. In the year past, alone, I have had to set into place an expansion strategy, finance the growth, find new suppliers, combine forces with a medical director, hire additional staff, begin strategizing for what growth would mean for my employees and more recently, close down my business due to a state mandate.

The last year has revolutionized the meaning of being a woman solopreneur. I have shed many proverbial blood, sweat and tears, faced many setbacks, late work nights, suffered with minimal sleep and worked long days. I am lucky to have such a forgiving and loving family. The life/work balance of entrepreneurship can put strains on that life. My family is supportive of these new endeavors. You often find them helping me at work.

I suppose I am luckier than most in that I have grown this enterprise to the point where I can hire staff and do not have to be the lone person doing it all. That helps, obviously. Of course, finding the right employees and retaining them presents its own, different challenges. There’s this constant push-pull struggle of dealing with the slow and fast times in the industry; all while staying afloat.

Added to all of this is the vastly different landscape in which my business needs to operate. I am talking here about social media, of course. There are a myriad of online platforms I must stay on top of to remain competitive. Many of them in use today are alien to me from the early days. Staying up to speed with the technologicaly advances of the new social landscape requires grit, tenacity and constant knowledge building.

All of these challenges I’ve discussed can and often are overwhelming to the small business entrepreneur. Again, I am lucky to have a supportive network around me. That support has been key in keeping me grounded and focused. I must recognize my Amazing advisor, whom has been the backbone to the expansion of our business. She has been one of the most influential and selfless Women I’ve ever met. With her guidance I was able to bring GLAM’s vision to reality. Dr. Nelia Viveiros, LLB, EdD University of ColoradO, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Operations. She has been the true definition of a mentor, a teacher and an Angel in disguise. Thanks to her for not telling me but instead teaching me the building blocks to achieve success.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Glam Beauty Lounge and Glam Aesthetics story. Tell us more about the business.
We are known for the superb relationships and connections we have with our customers. Some of them jokingly call us their “weekly therapy session”. We always strive to create meaningful relationships with each person we meet in effort to meet their unique needs and aspirations for beauty and wellness.. We specialize in all aspects of advanced skincare, botox, filler, eyelash extensions, permanent make-up and laser hair removal. I am very proud of the team we have at GLAM and where we are going. These are such exciting times for us. So many have joined me along that road and contributed to our success. I am fortunate. I think that support network, that laser focus on providing a unique customer experience, and determination and grit sets us aside from others.: At Glam, we are a one-stop-shop for all your beauty and wellness needs. We always have our customer in mind when we create, even down to offering amazing cost-savings memberships to help them save money. These memberships are run like a beauty savings account. They don’t expire!! They are part of our commitment to offer high-end treatments and services at an affordable price.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
There are always new advancements in technology, maybe one day we will find the magic pill we have all been searching for… ha, ha, ha… For my sake, I hope we don’t… I may be out of a job!

In all seriousness, I anticipate five years from now, our industry will be focused more on the overall health of the skin by educating clients on nutrition and having an overall healthy lifestyle. We focus a lot on education at GLAM and how to be more preventative so we don’t have to do as much correction down the road.

In ten years in our industry, I have seen that the current generation is much healthier than we were 10, 20 and 30 years ago and much more willing to tackle preventative wellness and beauty maintenance than older generations. Today, we live in a world of extremely health-conscious individuals. So I believe in ten years we might find more natural remedies for the correction of facial lines and aging skin. I do believe the industry is trending into a more natural/holistic approach. So, while technology and neurotoxins produce amazing results, I anticipate more natural solutions becoming prevalent. Watch this space because GLAM will be leading that trend!

Contact Info:

• Address: Glam Aesthetics
  1321 S. Broadway
  Denver, CO 80210
  Glam Beauty Lounge
  9745 E. Hampden Ave. Suite 300
  Denver, CO 80237
• Website: www.glammedispa.com www.glambeautylounge.com
• Phone: 303.264.7435
• Email: kristen@glambeautylounge.com

Image Credit:
Botox before and after, Filler before and after, lash sets, the day we took ownership of Glam Aesthetics (prior to opeining), the lobby of Glam Beauty Lounge.

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