Why You Need To Show Up And Work With Micky Richards

 

If you want to achieve huge wins in running your business, you have to learn how to show up and do the hard work at all times. Dr. Sylvia Morris and Dr. Angela Walker chat with Micky Richards, owner of Sugar Lips Studio and a licensed esthetician, who explains the importance of consistency and commitment in driving your business forward. Looking back on how she started her beauty salon, she discusses how you can level up by pursuing continuous learning, leaning on a community of trusted confidants, and challenging yourself to aim bigger. Mickey also talks about the difference between waxing and sugaring, her self-care routine, and her favorite travel destinations.

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Why You Need To Show Up And Work With Micky Richards

Welcome back to Boss Leap. In this episode, we are going to talk with Micky Richards. She is the Owner-operator of Sugar Lips Studio here in Atlanta and a Licensed Esthetician. Angela, what’s on your mind?

I was wondering, and I’m so excited to talk to our guest and learn all about her and what she’s done. Hopefully, I will get some pearls for all of our audience. First, what’s on my mind? I’m grateful to be here in the midst of all that’s going on in the world right now. Hopefully, by the time this comes out, our sisters, brothers, friends, and family in California will be at some peace and have some level of security by that time but those are my prayers and my thoughts. Beyond that, a topic of interest that you might be able to give us some light on, Sylvia, and I know Micky will, is what’s a beauty secret that you have?

For me, I don’t have many secrets. I probably need some more secrets that I can write down. I would say water is one of my secrets, but something that I learned early on and I try my best to to hydrate. The only thing that came to mind in terms of a beauty secret that I learned is who knows when, but whatever you do to your face, do to your neck. Other than that, I need some secrets. This is shameful, but I’m the not-wash-your-face-in-the-shower-with-Dove-person when I don’t have time. It’s so bad.

I did not know that about you.

I am better about moisturizing, but other than that, I need the secrets. I don’t have a lot of secrets. How about you, Sylvia?

 

 

We listen and we don’t judge.

I judge. I do like a beauty routine, but starting with a good substrate. When you talk about water, sleep is critically important, and then having healthy skin that you can put your concealer on and all those other things. Before we dive too far into that rabbit hole, let’s go ahead and welcome our guest, Micky Richards, to the show. Welcome.

Thank you for inviting me.

I’m excited to have you.

Micky’s Biggest Beauty Secrets

Let’s just go ahead and get on into it. Any beauty secrets that you have or is there something that you wish your clients knew that we are not doing?

When it comes to the work that I do, I work with hair removal. The biggest beauty secret is to maybe ditch those razors, especially for the areas where you plan to come and get waxed with me. Also, exfoliation. It could be a chemical or a manual exfoliation. Those two.

Pearls right off the bat.

We can also incorporate hydration. Hydration is also pretty key in keeping your skin healthy.

You mean water. You don’t mean adult beverages.

Those are more dehydrating than hydrating.

How Micky Found Her True Passion

Micky, you are a peach or I consider you a peach, but tell us, where did you grow up and what did you want to be when you grew up?

I moved here to the Atlanta area from a smaller town in Massachusetts. Springfield, Mass. Not a whole lot of people.

That’s the capital?

No. Boston’s the capital. Springfield is in Western Massachusetts. I never even had a chance to go to Boston before we moved down South. I grew up in Jonesboro, Georgia, so maybe about twenty minutes South of the city.

South side. I did not know that. Clayton County.

Clayco. I grew up down there. I’m sorry. What was the second half of the question?

I’m not sure there was a second half, but I am curious, when you grew up in Massachusetts, at an early age, did you know this is what you wanted to do in life? Did you have an idea of what you wanted to be?

After we moved down here, it was my mom and her girls. I knew I needed to help out. Very early on, I knew I wanted to work. I started by hustling candy. From there, you start to get insignificant income, but income at the time.

No income is insignificant.

Especially going through high school, I knew I wanted to be maybe like an accountant. I took accounting classes in high school. They start with the basics of the debit and credit of a checking account and writing all that out. When I first started undergrad, that’s what I was studying. I studied undergrad all the way through maybe my 2nd or 3rd year when I got my first D in Cost Accounting. From there, I switched over to Marketing and still graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration. I ended up with a concentration in supply chain logistics. I think that was because of where I was. I thought it was a good career for someone. It wasn’t.

Where were you?

I graduated from Clayton State University at that time. That’s what I thought that I wanted to do, and then I transitioned to aesthetics thereafter because I still had a hustle on the side where I was washing hair for my cousin, who had a hair salon. At the hair salon, there was an esthetician, and she was waxing and doing facials. I decided to go back to school after that, shortly after graduating from college, and here we are.

How did you take the boss leap to know that the supply chain is not for me?

At the time when I graduated in 2008, I want to say that was during the recession. I just could not find a job. The job that I was able to secure was at an insurance company that my older sister worked at. They essentially hired me on the spot, knowing that I had a degree and they knew my sister. I had some good references, and that was it.

She vouched for you.

Yeah. From doing that to then doing aesthetics and working for other people, after working for other people, I was like, “I can do this. I can do this myself.”

I can’t tell you how many times I have told my kids, “No matter what you want to do, a course in business is going to serve you well.” It sounds like for your business as an entrepreneur, having some business background puts you in such a better position. Can you speak to that? Maybe what you think was most valuable about your business background, education-wise, in what you are doing now?

All of those smaller jobs that I had up until even becoming an esthetician, like a licensed esthetician, probably contributed. Especially keeping a tidy back office, making sure that you are doing your taxes, making sure that you are keeping receipts, making sure that you are doing the clerical stuff, like calling and texting your clients back, and having good customer service skills. All of that contributed to where I am now. Yes, I’m an entrepreneur, but I have 100, 200, 300 mini-bosses, and I’m okay in that particular role.

 

 

Are you trying to say that I’m your mini-boss?

Yeah. I’m okay with that. If your mindset is like, “I’m a boss and nobody can tell me anything.” I can accept criticism. I can do all of that if it’s going to make my business better.

The Importance Of Putting In The Work

At this point in your life, what would you tell that younger esthetician or the esthetician who’s in training or wants to be one? What advice would you give her back then?

Do not be afraid to work for someone for a few years before stepping out and leaping. You need to know the order of things before you can do it on your own. Share on X

I would say, “You got to put in the work, even if you don’t think that it’ll be significant later.” All of the skills that we may have learned in esthetician school, I don’t necessarily use them every day, but later down the line, you’ll figure it out. I wax. I don’t have to worry about a whole lot of skin irritation, but when I do see it now, I know how to correct it and then give some feedback to the client thereafter. Don’t be afraid to work for someone for at least a few years prior to stepping out or leaping out. You need to know where to order things from or how to do client booking. The flow of the business itself, you won’t know that if you are going from esthetician school straight into your own business.

What I’m hearing is that it’s valuable to have that experience. That’s a common theme that’s run throughout a lot of our episodes, learning from the experience, whether it’s from years of experience or from mentors, people doing what you want to do. Learn that and appreciate the value in that before you step out on your own.

It’s because they have already done a lot of the hard work. I can even look back, when I was working for someone and think, “She’s crazy. Why would she do it that way?” Now that I’m in that position, I’m like, “You’ve got to be a little crazy,” just a little bit.

Financial Freedom Through Consistent Hard Work

Micky, you talk about realizing that hard work and consistency, and I’m reading from your bio because I don’t want to mess it up, “Hard work and consistency allowed me freedom and the ability to make my own money.” Can you share with our audience what you mean by that?

Literally just showing up. Even though you yourself have told me I need to take some time off, I rarely take any time off. It’s because I know that if I show up, then everyone else will do what they are supposed to do. Through that, you build a clientele. The people around you respect you as a businessperson, and they will continue to send clients. Ergo, you’ll have money in the bank, and then I can do whatever I want to do on the other side of it. Keeping consistent, not letting off because it’s my birthday. I don’t want to come to work, or it’s my birthday. I don’t want to reply to emails. I don’t like that mindset. You can’t go on the other side of it and then complain, “I don’t have what I want in life, but you haven’t put in the work prior to that.

You have to put the work in to get the results, and that’s so important, particularly in your industry, a service-type industry. I don’t know that younger women get that because of what we see largely in media and even social media. There’s instant gratification, and what you are saying is that no, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes that went into getting you to where you are. It’s not just the work that went into it. It’s the continuous work you are doing to make your business successful.

Recommended Age To Get Micky’s Services

I have a personal question, but as a mother of daughters in general, what age do you recommend? Women of color, which I deal with in the office often. As OB-GYN, there are young women coming in complaining of hair growth, and they think that there’s something wrong. Most of the time, there’s not something hormonal. It’s the ethnicity. Women of color tend to have more hair growth, sometimes more on their face and other areas, but at what age do you recommend, or at what point in life do you recommend somebody coming in to have your services?

I would say the youngest that I have ever serviced is maybe a 13- or 14-year-old, and that’s if they are on a gymnastics team or they are a swimmer or something like that, and their mothers don’t want them to necessarily start with a razor. It depends on the client, but as young as 13 or 14. We’ll do things like an underarm. Sometimes, I have done a lip and a light eyebrow cleanup. Very light. We have done legs, like a half leg. Whatever’s going to make them feel most comfortable about everything that’s changing in their body, but also sets up a routine where they can continue it even through college and afterward.

Have you had to draw the line? There’s a lot of pressure on women and girls to look a certain way and the pressure of beauty. Have you said to clients or mothers, “I don’t feel comfortable doing this,” or, “Your child is X?” How do you navigate that?

When it comes to something like bikini wax or something like that, I usually steer them away from it. If they are especially under the age of sixteen, I will give them alternatives. Even though I don’t want you to necessarily use a razor, I can say, “How about a trimmer with a guard? You are not going to touch the skin with the razor. I would rather you do that.” If it comes to lip wax, I always say, “Does it bother you?” It’s more money in my pocket, but if it doesn’t bother you, then don’t worry about it. Don’t start that off right now. Sometimes, it’s not always about the money. It’s about your confidence and being able to be okay with yourself.

That’s great advice and as an OB-GYN, sometimes it’s the moms. A lot of times, it’s the mothers that are more bothered by the hair growth, and I can get into more details. It’s important to ask the girl and for women in general, “Does it bother you?” It doesn’t matter that other people are doing it. Does it bother you? If it doesn’t bother you, you don’t have to follow some norm. In reality, the hair is there for a reason, but if you don’t want it there, then that’s perfectly fine. It does serve a purpose. It’s not like you are more hygienic if you remove that hair. That’s a valuable piece of information you share. I appreciate that.

How Women Should Start With Entrepreneurship

Micky, as the proprietor and owner of Sugar Lip Studio, what advice do you have for women in particular who are getting started on their entrepreneurial journey?

To repeat what I said, make sure that you have some experience. You don’t want to leap out there with nothing, at least knowing where you buy your products from, having some experience even working with clients. I went from maybe doing about twenty clients a day, but if I didn’t have that volume of back-to-back services, I wouldn’t know that now, on the other side of it, when I don’t have to work, it’s hard, but the pace of the day.

Pursue continuing education. Get further experience even if it means to hunker down and work for someone else. Share on X

Getting the experience, and if that means you have to hunker down and work for someone, that’s best, and then continuing your education. After you’ve gotten your aesthetics license, the beauty industry is so wide. There’s so much that you can learn, so don’t just stay with your license. Get some extra certifications.

Can you tell us what that was like? How long did it take you to get your aesthetics license, and what was the process like?

As I was working full-time and going at night and weekends, it took me about a year and a half. The state of Georgia requires you to do about 1,000 hours of onsite training but then also perform 1,000 services. In other states, it’s a lot less, maybe 600 hours, but 1,000 hours in order to become an esthetician and then you take a state test. You take a practical and a written exam but if you don’t go at night, then it takes about 6 to 8 months because you are going full-time every day.

The Right Time To Venture Out On Your Own

You have worked in multiple different places. How do you know to take the boss leap from one opportunity to the next? Also, can you share with us when you know, “It’s time for me to go out on my own.”I know you moved from a suite situation to having your building or what?

Storefront. Going from the first place that I started working, which is where I met you, going from there, even getting that particular job, when I was in school, there was a teacher who, on the side, she waxed. She saw my interest in waxing. When it was time to get a job thereafter, she put in a good word for me and then trained me even more once I got to the first place where I started working.

I ended up going to a second facility not too long after, maybe two years later. Going from the first one to the second one, the first one, I learned the beauty of a space and taking on different types of clients. I had only worked in Black communities, and the first place that I worked was in the middle of Edmond Park. Working with different backgrounds and seeing clients of different ethnicities was eye-opening.

Going from there to another place not too far away in Virginia Highlands, I was there for a little bit. What made me make that leap is I didn’t like the way they were necessarily doing business when it came to me. I felt like I showed up to work every day. The same thing that I mentioned. I showed up every day. I almost treated all of my clientele like I had my own business within the business. I would continue to get referrals.

I didn’t like the way that I was treated. I felt like it turned into almost like a cult-like environment, and it was toxic. I decided, “I can do this.” It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made. I remember crying in the shower one day when I said, “I can’t take this. This is not what I signed up for.” I heard about the whole salon suite life, which gives you the ability to step out on your own but without the huge burden of overhead. I did that and I did that for about seven years, and every year, you continued to grow. Time passed so quickly. It wasn’t until right after the pandemic that I still did pretty well during the pandemic.

We had to get our brows and our wax in.

Masks on. When I was there, it was also good to see other entrepreneurs. Everyone else inside these 33 suites, they all had the same idea. I want to work for myself, but I’m going to start small. I did that for seven years and then transitioned to a larger storefront from about 100 square feet to now, I want to say, about a 1,200-square-foot space. That one, I said, “It is time. I want to see what it’s like to have more than one room.”

Sugar Lip Studio in Grant Park. Beautiful space.

Micky, you are going from a suite, and there are 33 entrepreneurs in that suite, but you have made the leap and stepped out on your own. There’s a difference. There’s something in you or something that someone instilled in you that gave you that wherewithal to say, “I can do this, and I can do it on my own.” What do you think that was? What do you think the difference is?

I needed to challenge myself. I’d done it for seven years. I always had an ongoing waitlist, and I felt like I was missing out if I didn’t at least step out. I worked in places where there was a multi-room, so why can’t I do it? If they have done it, why can’t I do it? That’s exactly what I did. It’s three rooms. I went from 1 room and now it’s 3 rooms, plus an eyebrow area, plus a waiting room, plus a reception area, plus a bathroom, plus a break room/storage area. I felt like it was time.

There’s parking. Easy to get to. Sugar Lips Studio in Grant Park.

 

 

When I stepped out, I said, “It has to have all of them.” I remember making a list and giving it to the realtor, saying, “I have to have all of these things.” She might’ve shown me two, and this one had everything. Thankfully, most of the walls were already up. The only thing I had to do was make it pretty, clean it up, and tell the clients, “Go ahead and start booking,” and get more stuff in there as well.

How Micky’s Mom Inspired Her

Can you tell us about anyone in your life that you feel has been important along this journey to either inspire you or lift you to get you where you are? There may be more than one.

I would say, primarily, my mom. To this day, inspiring all of us. I was telling Sylvia about how she was a wild child growing up, but she’s always managed a way for all of us to keep going and to be inspired. I’m 1 of 5 girls. We are all stair-step kids. Starting at the age of 18, she had all of us, and then the baby came maybe about 7 years after the 4th child, but we always knew that it was us. She never wanted to make us feel any different from one another. She genuinely is a kind person. All of her life, she has always been an LPN. This is why she inspired us to keep going. She had always been an LPN, and being an LPN with five kids, I don’t know.

Licensed Practical Nurse.

She had always gone back and forth between wanting to get her RN license, and because she had been an LPN for so long, she said, “This year is the year that I’m going to do it.” She did what she needed to do. She found a school where she could do essentially part-time. It was in Florida. We live here. That woman was hopping on a flight at least once a month down there to do her classes and then come back to work. That’s what she did. She now has her RN license.

While managing, my grandmother lives with her, so she pulled everyone together. “I have to go down to Florida during this time.” She made all of the family come in and say, “You choose a day. If she has an appointment, somebody has to step in.” We formed a community for her because she was able to take care of us for so long.

How Women Should Support Each Other

She is fantastic. Along those lines, Micky, your mom, and your sisters are all a tight unit and are examples of women supporting women. How can women support other women better? In particular, I’m thinking about intergenerational. Angela and I are in our 50s, and you are in your 30s. How can we better support each other?

Doing things like this. When you told me that you were doing the show, and eventually you would ask me, I was intimidated by it, but this is a way for me to get myself and my business out more/

You are a natural, anyway.

The best way for women to support each other is simply by showing up both in real life and on social media. Share on X

Doing things like this promotes one another among me and my friends. I have a friend whose mom owns a restaurant that’s not too far away. I have promoted her even on my page. Telling each other to support each other, whether it’s through a social media post or going to their place of business showing up.

Micky’s Favorite Travel Destinations And Travel Tips

Micky, I know you are a big traveler. Do you have a favorite destination? Is there someplace coming up on your list of places to go?

You and I have discussed this. Lagos, Nigeria, is probably one of my favorite locations to travel to. One, seeing so many Black people in one space and not being the minority in where you live. Nice and also seeing Black people with money is everything.

Beyond comprehension.

Seeing Black families getting on and off private jets is a normal thing out there. Not everyone has it, but you should see it more than you see it here. As far as coming up, I’m turning 40.

Forties are great. I’m telling you. Enjoy it. Embrace it.

I’m thinking of going to Greece. I have never had any thoughts about going to any European country. However, Greece is on the list. The Santorini area, maybe. Is Ibiza in Greece?

Yeah. That would be a good place to go, too.

I know. Just those for the 40th.

Santorini is number one in mine and Greece, but I have so many. What advice do you have for women who may not have traveled? In terms of getting out there, do you have any specific advice? Have you ever solo traveled? Do you prefer to travel with a group? How do you determine that?

I have traveled solo. I enjoy it because I like to move at my own pace. It is when I have done girl trips. They are fun. I usually travel with my sister, plus a couple of our friends. Me and my sister always revert to us at ten years old, and we are just yapping and having small arguments and then we get back best friends thereafter.

Solo travel is great. I have found that YouTube and TikTok are great sources for finding solo destinations for women traveling. I always go to super-safe places. If it’s a little more expensive, it’s well worth it for your safety. Keep your head on the swivel once you do get there. Solo travel is great. I did a solo trip to Costa Rica, and it was beautiful. There was one day where I don’t think I even left my room. They had some American TV, and I was watching some Criminal Minds, but that was my way of relaxing with a beautiful view in the background.

How Micky Practices Self-Care

I’m a big fan of that, so give me some room service. I’m good. You are a guru when it comes to wellness and self-care, but how do you practice self-care?

As I am in the industry and I grew up with sisters, I tend to do everything myself. However, I do splurge when it comes to getting my nails done. I will get a massage as well, every so often and that’s mainly from standing and the type of work that I do. I don’t have to squeeze in some time for a good massage. Massages are great. I take off a Sunday or a Monday.

I am a proponent of days off. It’s so wonderful. You get tired of me because I’m always like, “Have you planned your vacation? It’s the holiday.”

Micky’s Plans For The Future

No. It’s a good and welcome reminder that I do need to take some time for myself.

I know that you’ve made it this far in your career. Do you, at this point, have any ideas of what this will look like for you 5 to 10 years down the road? Any aspirations?

I know that I will still have the business for sure. I probably won’t be working in the same capacity, where I’m working every day for hours on end. It’ll probably be more toward the teaching side of it. I do it from time to time. If there are estheticians who are straight out of school who need advanced training in the waxing department or the sugaring department, simply because, like when you are in school, even though we would have had to do all of those hours of training, in order to get good at any one of them, you need additional training.

Doing that more, but because I’m in the industry of hair removal, hair grows, and everyone’s hair grows, I’m going to be employed for a while. That’s the best thing about what I do. Hair continues to grow even with lasers, and I have had clients that I have seen for years. They decide to stop waxing, they go to lasers, and the hair grows back, even though they spent thousands of more dollars than they would have if they continued to wax and I see them again.

Difference Between Waxing And Sugaring

I have a follow-up question for you. What you do is fascinating and very pertinent to me. I have two daughters, and I have heard about sugaring. My head was buried in the sand, but my youngest was like, “I love. It’s nicer and easy.” Can you tell us the difference between waxing and sugaring for our audience, who may not be aware?

The biggest difference is the way it’s applied and removed. Everyone is very familiar with how wax is applied. It is a thinner, warm layer of wax that’s applied in the direction of the hair growth, and then, typically, you use a piece of muslin or pellon to remove it in the opposite way. However, with sugar, it’s a paste that is literally made out of sugar, water, and lemon.

There’s a woman that I used to work for, and her whole stick would be to get the sugar paste and lick it because it is literally sugar, water, and lemon. When you are applying it, it’s a thicker consistency that you are applying with your hand and not with a stick, and you are applying it against the grain of the hair growth.

As you are working it against the hair growth, it itself seeps into the pores to help loosen up the hair follicle, and then you essentially do a flicking action in the same direction as the hair growth, and that action pulls out the hair. You do that quickly. You move. You can use that same bowl of sugar for an entire area. You can use it for an entire underarm, bikini, or legs. Once it gets too tough, you toss it out, and then you get another handful. A lot of people like it because it is all-natural. I never sell it on the pain aspect. However, there are some clients who prefer it over traditional wax, and some people like it because it doesn’t have to be as warm as wax sometimes is.

She essentially said those things in terms of it being an easier experience. Thank you.

 

 

Episode Wrap-up And Final Thoughts

Micky Richards, thank you so much. You have shared so many pearls with our readers, and we want to encourage everyone to seek you out at Sugar Lips Studio in Grant Park. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Where can our readers find you on social media or your website? What information would you like to share?

Directly on our website. It has all of the necessary links. You got your booking link there. There’s even a Google review page there so you can see all of our great reviews. All five stars. We do have social media. We have Instagram @SugarLipsStudio, and then our Facebook as well as Sugar Lips Studio Atlanta, but you can find ways to book directly on any of those, honestly, or call directly. I am down. I’m very responsive. I’m so glued to my phone all of the time because I want to make sure to get in as many people as possible and take care of everything.

As a good business owner would be. You are so beautiful. We have you on the show, so thank you so much. I look forward to being at Sugar Lips Studio.

You know where I am.

Until we meet again, may you be well.

Thank you. Thank you for having me, you all.

May you be well.

Thank you.

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Sylvia, I thought that the interview with Micky was fantastic. She is beautiful, like I said, outside, beautiful inside, and a beautiful work-life experience that she was able to give us. I thought she has made many boss leaps that exemplify what we are trying to show and shine a light on, from getting her business degree and esthetician license working in the industry and getting experience and guidance from those that she learned from, whether it was good things and bad things, and taking that to leap into her own business and a studio. From there, realizing she still had a lot more potential, and expanded into her own storefront business Sugar Lips. Lots of boss leaps that she’s had, and the pearls that I would take away from this episode would be, one, order to be a good friend or support another sister by showing up for that person.

That’s my favorite thing that people do. Show up for me.

If I’m doing something, I’m having something, I’m talking about something, or I’m somebody, you need to show up. If you can be there for me, be there. Whether you are sending me a message or calling me, or if I’ve got a business, come patronize my business. If I have a talk, come and show up and listen to that, but showing up is a lot more than just lip service. We have these communities, wonderful people in our lives, and not being afraid to lean on them when you need them and asking for help if you need help. That’s one thing.

Lastly, her travel bug, her love for travel. My kindred spirit in that regard and enjoying traveling solo. I learned a lot. I loved what she had to say and learned the difference between sugaring and waxing, but at any rate, it was a great interview and I loved it. Sylvia, I will leave it to you to give us what you had.

Micky Richards of Sugar Lips Studios here in Grant Park, Atlanta, provided us with so many gems. Micky Richards talked about, how if I show up and I’m consistent, then I can achieve. The other gem that’s important to remember is that it’s not always about the money. Sometimes we have to make decisions that are in the best interests of our clients and also in the best interest of our long-term goals.

Micky Richards of Sugar Lips Studios has been making some boss leaps, and we were thankful for having her on our show. We want everyone to know that. Thank you so much for reading, liking, subscribing, and following, and we want you to continue to do that. Please share this show with your friends.

To our audience until we meet again. May you be well.

 

Important Links

• Sugar Lips Studio
• Sugar Lips Studio on Instagram
• Sugar Lips Studio Atlanta on Facebook

 

About Micky Richards

Owner | Operator | Licensed Esthetician