(revealing music) - [Narrator 1] Envista is pleased to support Working Capital.

Switch to empowered.

Switch to Envista.

Learn more at envistacu.com.

- [Narrator 2] GO Topeka's Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support Working Capital.

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Narrator 3] Additional funding is provided by the friends of KTWU.

- Good evening, and welcome back to another episode of Working Capital.

On this show, we introduce you to entrepreneurs, talk about their bravery, their boldness, and their business.

In tonight's show we'll meet a couple of business owners that work in some somewhat non-traditional businesses.

They have found some unique business niches that most of us are not familiar with.

As entrepreneurs, they have identified a business opportunity and a customer base that offers great growth potential.

We'll talk with them about their business, their entrepreneurial spirit, and how they recognized their opportunity.

Stay with us as we explore new opportunities in business with these entrepreneurs.

It's all about business and this is Working Capital.

(intense upbeat music) Hello there and welcome to Working Capital.

I'm Eugene Williams, your host.

It seems that every day we hear someone use the term amazing.

Typically it means something fantastical and out of the ordinary.

In this show, we will talk with two entrepreneurs.

One that runs a business that is self-proclaimed as amazing.

And one that runs a business that most of us might consider somewhat out of the ordinary.

Both are turning new ground in the business world.

So, without waiting any further, let's take a look at a business that is self-proclaimed, amazing.

(pulsing upbeat music) Amazing Lash Studio is a cosmetic enhancement in the retail category of fashion and beauty.

We have Chen Duncan, CEO, and Shayla Pennington, General Manager, joining us today to talk about this amazing business.

Welcome to Working Capital.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

(host and guests laugh) - I know you are a little bit nervous.

You've already told me that and stuff.

Let's talk about your business, all right.

Chen, I'm gonna start with you because I know that the business is you really, and your mom, is that correct?

- That's correct.

- So tell me how you came about this particular business, because it's so unique and it is in essence, amazing.

Tell me about it.

- Okay, I started with my mom.

She went to China and she got her eyelashes done.

So when she came back to the United States and she wanted continue to have that lashes done and she didn't find any eyelash places in Topeka.

So she went online and she found Amazing Lash Studio in Kansas City in Overland Park.

- Okay.

- So she went there and checked it out.

And when she described, when she walked into the door, it was like a wow experience.

- Yeah.

- It was just, there's no other word to describe as amazing.

- Yeah.

- And so she noticed that they have a franchise opportunity.

So right after that, I got a phone call from mom and say, "Hey, how do you like to be in a business as a family to work on this amazing opportunity."

- Yeah.

- So I cannot resist and say no to that.

- You can't say no to your mother, right?

- No, you cannot.

So, here I am.

And we got a beautiful Amazing Lash Studio in Topeka.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- And it just been amazing ever since.

- How long you guys have been in business?

- We started on end of 2018.

- Okay.

- Yeah, and then we've been operating ever since.

- Okay, all right.

Now, Shayla, you're the general manager?

- [Shayla] Correct.

- So that's everything.

All right.

So, I've been kinda, you know, thinking in my head and the question to you is, how do you categorize this, you know, in the business world, is this retail, is this beauty, is this specialty?

How would you categorize this?

- You got all three of the best, right there.

- [Eugene] Okay, all right.

- It is retail.

We have retail products that help extend the life of your lash extensions.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- We are in the beauty industry.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- So we offer the lash extensions.

We offer waxing, tinting services.

We do lash lift and it is a specialty because we have a patented technique that we have to send our stylists through on training.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- It's a special technique that they have to go through to apply those lash extensions.

- 'Cause that was gonna be one of my questions going through this interview is, you know, do you have to have a special license to do this in the beauty industry and all that?

I mean, how does that work?

- Yes, you have to have a licensed, a cosmetology license or an esthetician license.

To be able to work on clients.

- So when you put your staff through the training and stuff, what types of things are they specifically learning?

- So we do the training ourselves, - [Eugene] Okay.

- and we have a lash trainer also.

And they go through what we call extensive training.

- [Eugene] Okay, all right.

- And they learn about how to apply the lashes towards Amazing Lashes Technique.

And then we have them work on models.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- So we have so many models that they have to practice on before they can actually take on clients.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- [Shayla] We want them to feel confident before we put them out there.

- Okay, all right.

Chen, without getting too specific.

All right.

Talk about startup costs for doing something like this.

And I think you told me earlier, prior to this interview that this is a franchise opportunity and stuff.

So talk about startup for doing something like this.

- It's not cheap.

I would say anywhere about 500,000 to 750,000.

- [Eugene] Wow.

- Depends on how you take care of your costs.

And because the studio itself take a lot of work, to get it looking amazing.

- Talk about your mom's involvement in the business.

Since she was the one who kind of had this visionary thing happened to her.

This epiphany, you know, how much is she still involved in the business?

- At the beginning, she was kind of the, behind the thing and kinda, she kinda directed what we just, we really just have a meeting.

we talk about what is going on?

What we can do?

What we can improve and what is going on with the studio?

Is there anything that we need to pay attention to?

The rest is just about knowing your numbers and knowing how the business works.

And you'd be shocked, what kind of nuts and bolts that you have to learn in a business.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, I've got a lot of other questions and things that I wanna ask you guys.

And so we'll get to those in just a little bit.

It's time for a break.

Please stay with us.

As we talk more about the personal care business.

We'll be right back.

You're watching, Working Capital (technical music) Welcome back.

According to Vogue Business, eyelash extensions are so popular, they are spawning whole new product categories.

We're talking with Chen Duncan and Shayla Pennington about the unique attributes of their business.

Let's go back a little bit to you saying that the employees that you have for this business have to be trained and you have to be licensed and all that type of stuff.

Tell me about how you recruit and how you find employees for this.

Pretty special area.

- Yes it is.

And so a lot of our recruitment is word of mouth.

- [Eugene] Oh, okay.

- And by the stylists that we currently have, and they recommend a lot of their peers to come check the place out.

We use Indeed to advertise.

We also use Facebook to advertise and we get quite a few applicants that are coming through on those.

- Are most of them, you know, young men or women who have actually gone through cosmetology school?

Do you have to have that kind of training as a background before you get into this?

- Yes, they have to be licensed before we will even continue with the training on them.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- And I have had both male and female apply.

- Yeah, yeah.

And you probably don't have too many guys at this point.

- Not at this point.

We have more females apply than male.

- Yeah, okay, all right.

How do you guys promote this business?

How do you get customers?

What do you do?

- Lots of word of mouth.

We advertise on Facebook.

We have an advertising agency through Amazing Lash and they will promote ads for us also online.

- So, you have some national assistance.

- [Shayla] Yes.

- Because it's a franchise, - Yes.

- type of thing.

All right, okay.

That makes sense.

Let's talk about your customers, okay.

Give me a profile of a typical customer.

What is he or she like?

- Very friendly, they come in.

They're wanting to look and feel amazing.

They want to feel confident.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- They wanna get up in the morning and not have to use mascara to get ready.

They're like, just get out of bed, ready to go.

- Are they younger?

Are they older?

Are they male?

Are they female?

- We actually have quite a pretty good diversity of between, we have teenagers with parental consent anywhere from 18 to 40.

We do have probably a good percentage, maybe 30% between 40 and 60.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- If I'm a customer and I come in.

Very first time, okay.

What should I expect?

Okay, you know, service-wise and from a pricing standpoint?

What can I ask for?

What's the menu?

- So when our clients come in, we greet them with a friendly face.

We guide them through the services we offer, which we actually offer more than just lash extensions.

We offer waxing services.

We offer tinting.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- Lash lift.

We can even tint your eyelashes.

- Yeah, so tell me what tinting is.

Tell me like, you can do like colors on your eyelashes?

- Yeah, so like how you color your hair, you can color your eyelashes and your eyebrows.

- Okay, all right.

And I'm all over the place with this, okay.

Because this is so fascinating to me.

It's amazing.

But, you know, you said that these, actually attached to your own eyelashes, is that the way that works?

- Yes, so the application process is they will attach a lash extension to each individual eyelash.

- That's a long process.

- [Shayla] Yeah.

- A few hours?

- Yep, so the start, the initial first appointment is I can take up to two hours and then they'll apply those.

And a lot of our clients fall asleep during the service 'cause it's really relaxing.

- Okay, all right.

I'll trust you for that.

Chen, tell me about competition, okay.

Starting a new business.

Who's your competition?

- I would say, in Topeka, we're really kind of a one and unique kind of a store here.

I know that there might be people doing eyelashes, but I don't necessarily think that they are trained or they might not be having a license or they might be doing it at their home or basement, - [Eugene] Gotcha.

- which I don't recommend personally.

Because there's a risk factor when it comes to have your eyelashes done.

- As quickly as you can, from your perspective, from your mom's perspective, and from Shayla's perspective, is this a good business to be in and why?

- It is a great business because I believe and empowering women and have them have the beauty and long lasting beauty that they have.

And I think it's just overall, just great.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, thank you guys so much for being here.

I really appreciate it.

- [Chen] Well, thank you.

- [Shayla] Thank you.

- It's time for a short break.

When we return, we'll meet a business owner that is literally and figuratively tilling some new ground in business.

Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back.

You're watching, Working Capital.

(technical music) Welcome back.

Emerald Acres LLC is tilling some new ground and growing some new products.

Let's take a look at their crop.

(intense upbeat music) Dustin and Ashley Feuerborn are the owners and operators of a licensed Kansas hemp growing and distribution business.

Welcome to Working Capital, guys.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, Eugene.

- So you guys are a number of husband and wife teams that we've had on the show before.

So tell me about how you guys met and then we'll talk a little bit about the business.

- Okay, my name's Dustin.

And we met back, right out of high school.

And so we've known each other a long time and we've just kinda... - We've been together a long time.

So we've been together 11 years, married 6 years.

- Yeah.

We'll let her tell the story.

She knows everything.

- Yes, just out of high school.

So, I don't know, we just make great partners.

- Okay, all right.

- So.

- Tell me about this business, because this is an unusual business, especially for Kansas, okay.

Not so much for some other places in the country, but definitely for Kansas.

So how'd, you guys arrive at this particular business, what brought you to it?

- So we started back in 2019 when the Kansas got on board with the Kansas Industrial Hemp Program.

It went under a pilot program for the first two years.

This year they've actually went to a commercial.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- So we started, we were one of the first 17 in Kansas to receive our license.

- Oh, nice.

- and started doing research for the state.

Since then, it's just been a learning experience.

And we've learned a lot along the way and kinda, you know, we've grown a lot and we're constantly learning.

This crop's never been grown in Kansas.

- [Eugene] Right.

- So there's been a lot of data received through all the people that's been helping pave the way.

- How do you guys consider your business?

How do you categorize it?

Do you categorize it as a retail business?

Do you categorize it as kind of a health?

I mean, what industry do you think you actually fall into?

- You know, it's more retail at the moment.

The plant has a lot of health benefits.

- [Eugene] Right.

- And more people are getting educated on what this plant can actually do for people.

You know, there's new cannabinoids being explored on a daily basis.

And I think there's still a lot to learn.

- Now, you guys said you started with a pilot program, correct?

All right.

And in that pilot program, I'm assuming you had to be licensed to be in that program.

- [Dustin] Yes, sir.

- Now that, that is kind of taken on a different level I'm assuming, you know, talk about the licensing process.

How does that work?

Because you are in kind of a specialized business.

- Yeah, there's a lot of, so the license process, you have to go through an application process through the state, through the KDA and then once you get approved through there, you go through background checks, - [Eugene] Right.

- fingerprint checks.

I mean, it's a pretty strict process to get involved.

So you have license fees, background fees, fingerprint fees.

You know, there's a lot of little steps.

- Yeah, all right.

Of the two of you, who's the entrepreneur?

- Oh, that's a tough question.

I think we both have strong area.

- I'd say Dustin in this category would probably be, this was kind of his thing he's really passionate about, so.

I'd say for sure, Dustin.

- Okay, all right.

So you handle, we talked about this a little bit before we started the interview.

You kind of handle the day-to-day stuff, huh?

- [Dustin] Yeah.

- Yeah, is that a lot of work?

- It is.

It's a lot of work and this market's constantly changing on a day-to-day basis.

You know, there's a lot of marketing out there.

There's a lot of competitors out there.

So one thing that we try do is we try to offer, you know, products that others really don't carry.

- Yeah.

- That's gonna have the benefits people want.

- Yeah.

I don't think a lot of people realize that even in something like this, that is somewhat relatively new, especially this area of the country.

You know, there's still a lot of competition because everyone's kind of in a startup phase.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Talk about the cost of starting something like this for starting your business.

- It's a costly startup.

I mean our first year we ended up paying almost $8 a clone and then had to drive to Colorado to get genetics.

- Oh, yeah.

- [Ashley] Got to do your research for sure.

- A few years ago, it was definitely, the startup was gonna be definitely more than would have been today.

Since then prices have went down quite a bit.

- So it's not only a cost with a cash infusion, a capital investment, but it's a lot of time and it's a lot of head game too.

- Yeah, and then once you get, you know, your everything set up, you have to prep your fields.

So you have fertilizer expense, dirt expense, irrigation, water tanks.

I mean its... And that's just the growth side of things.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- So then you get into the marketing side, you know, and the wholesale side.

- [Eugene] Yeah.

- It's a very costly.

- I wanna dig at that a lot more.

Okay, all right.

- There;s a lot that goes into, - 'Cause there's a lot of people who look at this and they say, oh you know, that'd be great to do.

It's kinda like owning a bar.

- [Ashley] Yeah.

- Oh, I'd love to own a bar.

- [Ashley] Right.

- You know, until you own a bar.

And then you're like, well, you know, I need to get out of this thing.

- [Ashley] Yeah.

- Okay, It's time for another break, but there's a lot more to come.

We'll be right back.

(intense upbeat music) Welcome back.

We have Ashley and Dustin Feuerborn of Emerald Acres, licensed Kansas hemp grower, and distributor with us.

You know, before I get into a competition, which we talked about a little bit and stuff like that, you are a grower and a distributor, okay.

- [Dustin] Yeas, sir.

- Those are really two different things.

Am I correct?

In the way that we're licensed in Kansas?

- Yes.

There are two separate licenses.

- Talk about that, all right.

- So your growers license is going to be all infield.

That's the produce the plant, to get it now.

Also your distributor license, what it involves in is you could sell your clones to other farmers, licensed farmers.

Distributing, but you don't have to have a license to distribute a product that's already labeled, you know, you'll see stores, gas stations, you know, selling, which I.. you know, it's all through that process there, so.

- Okay, all right.

Now the Kansas Department of Agriculture regulates all of this stuff.

And so every time a new, if you wanna say a competitor, you know, kind of rears their head, they have to go through the same process that you have to go through or has it gotten easier over the years.

- You know, to grow it and distribute it on that level as a licensee.

I mean, you really only need that distributor license if you're actually selling the plant material itself.

So I mean to be like a competitor to sell the white label products and stuff like that, you know, and a lot of people, anybody could do it.

But, you know, it's all about getting the product, you know, quality products.

I would say more than more than anything.

- Tell me about your customers.

- So our customers are number one, of course.

You know, we're always getting one feedback on and on, and we have great people are just loving our products that either if they're having pains, migraine, anxiety, depression, I mean, we've had great feedback on a lot of our products, so.

- Okay, all right.

When you talk about your competition, you know, what's your major concern there with competition.

- So, the CBD industry, it was valued at $2.8 billion last year.

It's estimated to hit 3.5 billion this year.

So, I mean, if you've noticed CBD, popping up everywhere, you're not imagining it, and it's gonna get worse.

There's gonna be a lot of people carrying this product.

- Yeah.

- Now what's gonna stand other people out from just your basic products is the quality of the product.

'Cause there's a lot of products out there that they're not gonna be near the quality as something grown and processed through a licensed grower.

Because we know exactly what's in our products.

- Yeah.

How do you differentiate yourself other than that?

Okay, I mean... - So we offer a cannabinoid called CBG and a lot of people don't carry it and we believe this is a better, it has a lot better benefits.

- Now, is this something you developed yourself?

- [Dustin] No, it's been around.

- Okay.

- It's a little bit newer.

It's a little bit newer than CBD.

I like to call it CBDs Big brother.

- [Eugene] Okay.

- It's the people that don't get the benefits from CBD.

They'll get it from the CBG.

And it's an antiviral as well.

- Tell me about your growth potential.

You know, do you see yourself on some type of trajectory that, you know, takes you maybe beyond the borders.

- So kind of where we're at right now.

These plants require constant nurturing and, you know, there are a lot of work, so.

And we're kind of a small boutique farm.

We liked to give that attention where, you know, where it's needed.

No plant goes, you know, unneglected.

- Gotcha.

- So to really expand, you know, we would definitely need to get more hands on deck and upgrade some equipment and stuff.

- How large is the farm and how many employees are you utilizing right now?

- So this is strictly a family business at this time.

So myself.

We have just some family members helping my wife and I, and I think there's four of us total and our daughter even helps out every now and again, so - Pretty good.

- Yeah.

Is it relatively profitable at this point?

- Yes, it is.

If you have quality products and people are seeing, you know, this product really does what you're offering it does.

I mean, absolutely.

- I know that probably your answer to this is, you know, it's a high cost industry to kind of be in at this point, but you know, what advice would you give to someone else who's thinking about this?

- Definitely do your research It's a constant changing market and I mean, - [Eugene] Sure.

- it could change overnight.

So, I'd say definitely do the research.

There's a lot of competitors out there.

- Well I liked this.

I liked this a lot.

Yeah, I mean, it's a new industry.

It's something that a lot of our audience don't know.

They just haven't been aware of this.

Yeah, so I appreciate you guys come on the show.

- Thank you.

- [Eugene] Thanks a lot.

- Thank You.

- That's it for now.

We've come to the end of our show.

I'd like to thank Dustin and Ashley from Emerald Acres.

I'd also like to thank Chen Duncan and Shayla Pennington from Amazing Lash Studio for being with us.

And as usual I'd like to thank you for watching.

It's been an interesting show.

I hope you have enjoyed it.

And as always, if you know of a unique business or unique management technique, we wanna hear from you.

So give us a call or drop us an email.

We look forward to seeing you next time.

It's all about business and you've been watching, Working Capital.

(intense upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] Envista is pleased to support Working Capital.

Switch to empowered.

Switch to Envista.

Learn more at Envistacu.com.

- [Narrator 2] Go Topeka's Entrepreneurial and Minority Business Development is proud to support Working Capital.

We share the vision to assist local entrepreneurs with growing their business.

- [Narrator 3] Additional funding is provided by the friends of KTWU.