Meet Shelby Schulte | Esthetician & Co Owner of S&S Spa

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shelby Schulte and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelby, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
To be honest, there never really was a thought process… it all just fell into place. Looking back, I was never certain what I wanted to do. What I did know was that I wanted to be passionate about whatever my career may be. This mindset led me to holding off from rushing into college unlike all my peers. After solely just working one full year post high school graduation, I accidentally stumbled into the world of Esthetics and never looked back. After I graduated Cosmetology School, I then obtained my Esthetician License. I moved away from the comfort of home, the city of West Des Moines, to small town Carroll, Iowa. I never planned to be self employed but I soon learned it was my only option, as small town Carroll did not have hourly wage jobs in my field.
New too Carroll and new to Esthetics, there were not many familiar faces around. Nothing was familiar to me as I headed into uncharted territory. I took a plunge and rented a small room in a hair salon. In this room, I learned, grew and really mastered my craft. Three years of growing, it was finally time to expand my business. In that time, I had met a Massage Therapist who quickly became a close friend, who shared the same dream and we came together and envisioned bringing a spa to Carroll. This lead us to purchase a commercial building to open our own business and that is when S&S Spa was born! 

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bare Skin by Shelby was built off the hope that I could create a safe place for my clients. A place of sanctuary, away from the fast paced movement in the day to day life. I wanted to create somewhere where my clients were free of judgment and where the weight of the world simply disappears, even if it is just for an hour. I wanted to provide not only a safe space but also a place that I was able to use my skills and knowledge to help address concerns and provide solutions, whether it may be acne, excess hair growth, discoloration in the skin, aging concerns, unruly eyebrows or even as simple to assist a bride feel beautiful on her wedding day. I wanted my clients to feel confident and feeling as though the services I provided were nothing like they had experienced before. I want my clients to leave with a boost of confidence and self love. One of my biggest prides is that till this day, my entire business has been built off word of mouth. That in itself to me, speaks volumes as too who I am as a service provider and small business owner. Word of mouth is one of the most underrated compliments to receive in any industry and I can never thank my clients enough for feeling like I was worth sharing with their friends, family, coworkers and even strangers on the internet simply looking for a service provider.
Being a small business owner is one of the most rewarding yet challenging things. Starting off, your goal is to grow and get clients, wanting to be busy and making everyone happy. Unfortunately, at times you do hit some rough patches. No one tells you frustrating it can be to be self employed. You find that you have to fully rely on clients to show up to ensure you can make a living and how negatively a no show appointments can add up over the course of time. It requires a back bone that I never had in my younger years. It is a balancing act.
The constant changes can keep your head spinning, scurrying around trying to fill openings and rearranging clients. You don’t get paid maternity leave, vacations, sick days, weather disturbances or paid holidays. When clients don’t show up, you don’t make an income. It has its ups and it has its downs. Some clients will value your time and other disrespect it. It’s a hard line to walk, knowing your time is valuable and having people not caring enough to that into consideration. It’s rewarding and taxing on the mind, being the control center of your entire lively hood. It is not a 9-5 job. It is constant.
Although it has its challenges, I would not change a thing. Eventually as time goes, you find your people and they find you. You get to watch and see your clients go through life and be there for them through big and small life events. Engagements, weddings, babies, losses and breakups, it has a way of imprinting on your heart. It becomes more than just providing a service, it turns into being that one part of someones day, week or month where they feel taken care if and can unplug from everything around them. Sometimes your treatment room is full of laughter, other times silence… it becomes what is needed for them and I find comfort in knowing I get to see some people in their most vulnerable state and they trust me enough to open up in that way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If anyone were to visit, there would be a few staple places I would show them! To start the day, I would take them to my favorite workout places. Platinum Fitness for a good lifting session and/or Relevè Barre with Keeley Young for a super fun workout class environment. I have known Keeley for years and she is such an amazing person and instructor. After that, I would highly recommend iced coffees at Grind, the 7th Street Salted is so good. Retail therapy is a must, so we would check out Glik’s to see my fashionista friend Lindsy Larson for cute outfits. After finding some clothes, another retail stop would be The Market Place in Manning. Jaime has so many options when shopping, home decor, clothing, smoothies/coffee and some yummy snacks. As for lunch and dinner, without a doubt a MUST have stop for amazing food and drinks, would be Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Sac City. This place is my absolute favorite restaurant. My must haves are their Wildberry Mules, Warm Caesar Salad, Filet Mignon with a gravy boat of Peppercorn Dipping Sauce (I am serious, it is SO amazing) and to finish, Cheesecake!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to dedicate this shout out to a few people… Firstly my parents, they were always so supportive in whatever I wanted to do in life. They have only ever loved and supported me in the decision to pursue my career in Esthetics, their support meant the world. They never questioned what I did, as long as it brought me joy and I now get to go to a job everyday that I absolutely love. Secondly, my husband. Without him, I would have never had the ability to take the time to grow myself or my business into the success it is today. Perfecting your craft and growing a clientele can take years. In those first years, he took care of us as I worked to grow my business. He provided me with encouragement that grew my confidence as a young business woman and owner. This helped pave the way to something that was bigger and more amazing than I could have ever imagined for myself.
Thirdly, my business parter Becca Scharfenkamp,
Becca first started as someone to exchange services with, she is a Massage Therapist and it was the perfect win win situation exchanging services. Over time, we both dreamed of something more for ourselves and sought to find somewhere we could evolve our businesses into something bigger and better. Together (and help with our husbands) we renovated our commercial building and opened our beautiful spa. Becca has been the back bone of our business, always keeping track of bills, keeping the spa perfect and supplying me with the occasional peach rings haha! I am so grateful for all she does. This dream would not have come true without her.
Lastly, Chelsea Houska (yes the girl from Teen Mom) funny enough, she was the reason I even discovered what Esthetics even was. After working one day, I happened to come home and my mom had Teen Mom on, a show we watched together. That episode, Chelsea had decided to quit Cosmetology and switch to Esthetics. I had never heard the term and decided to look up what it was. Immediately after reading about the industry and description of what an Esthetician was, I knew in my heart that was what I was meant to do. Within the month I toured schools and enrolled into the program at La James International College of Cosmetology.

Website: bareskinbyshelby.com

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Image Credits
Jenna Lambertz / Lambertz Photography & Design LLC