A Suttle Reminder Of Why We Are In This Business!

[TTSUN]

A few weeks back, early one evening I noticed and elderly man piering into our front windows. As he smiled I gently waved and smiled. About 2 minutes later he walkes into our store with a few questions. "Young lady, what exactly do you do here?", he asked. "Were a tanning salon where people come to get a tan", I replied. "Well, can you just paint a tan on me?", he asked. "We most certainly can!", I replied. He replied, "Here is my situation. My favorite niece in the whole world is getting married on Saturday and I look like an old man and I feel like an old man. As you can see I have not been kind to my skin and I'm paying the price now. But, I don't have the heart to have my favorite niece walk down the asile with an old man! She has to look at the pictures of her wedding for a life time and I don't want her to be dissappointed by asking this old man to be beside her." After explaining how sunless worked he decided to have his face and necked sprayed. We prepared him for the application and he was a pure joy to work with! He explained to me that it's amazing how one day you look in the mirror and your youth has fadded. You are reminded of the things you should have done to better preserve one's self. We applied his sunless and went over the do's and don'ts and how to take care of his skin with sunless applied. As he turned and looked in the mirror at his newly tanned complection he stated, "My dear you are an angel! I can not believe how much younger I look!". He was elated and very thankful. He left the salon walking a little taller and he appreared to have an extra bounce in his step. There was more satisfaction in attitude and I was so proud of his response! I was reminded that we are in this business for a reason! We all need to feel better about ourselves as we age. Everyone walking in our door is looking for the same thing. With a society that judges us by our looks it teaches us to look a little deeper into the hearts! I was taken back by this man and reminded that were all longing to feel and look as we did in our youth. A refreshing insight that changed my attitude with alot of my customers! When they feel better they treat people better. They look at things in their life a little different. I guess this is our way of changing the world a little at a time. Thank you Daniel for popping your head into our window and reminding me why I love this business so much!

[Laney]

That is a beautiful story...and it reminds me of the two young ladies who came into our salon inquiring about sunless. You could see by talking to them that they were not just physically but also mentally challenged. They explained to me that they had gone to another salon in our town and asked about being spray tanned. They were looked over and treated very rudely. They are not stupid by any means, just wanted information on the airbrush tanning. Because of the way they were treated by the other salon, they just walked out. When they found us, they came in and I talked to them about it the same way I would any client. They made appointments, we did the spraying they both looked great!
The next day I got a telephone call from one of them who told me that she had never felt so beautiful in her life, and her tan looked wonderful. She was so happy and she wanted to thank me for making her so pretty and being so nice.
So, as you said TTSun, it is a gentle reminder that we are in this business for a reason. And people like Daniel and my two ladies make it all worthwhile!

[COCONUT]

you seem to forget the postives sometimes..i had a client who is a little on the heavier side she was going to the prom and decided to put on a spray on sunless tanner herself.What a mess she had!Well she came in here as i was leaving(i am the only one who airbrushes)and she was crying asking if there was anyway someone could fix her.Meanwhile had to pick the kids up at daycare in 15 min I told her to just hold on and i will see what i could do.I got someone to pick up my girls and i stayed for her.She came out pretty good(heck of alot better then what she had going on).The following day she came back with the most beautiful card and said she really appricated(sp) what i have done for her.It was a GREAT feeling to know that i made someone feel they way she did.

[pam]

Thanks for sharing those stories. It is easy to get in the middle of a big 'ole pity party this time of year. Before tanning I was in hair/nail biz for many years and these 'feel good' stories keep you going when you have those days filled with 'no shows' and biatchy women.

[TTSUN]

Hi Pam, I sure do miss you girl! Hope your trip went well and you doing well! I knew that you would enjoy this story! Funny that I made that post and today in the mail I receive a card from one of my air-brush clients. A beautiful young lady that has tanned with us for about 4 years now. She has been air-brushing for about 6 months now after finding out that her many years of bad tanning has taken its toll! Prior to doing business with us she use to salon hope 2-3 per day. Burning and blistering was the only way she new to tan. When she bacame a client of ours she was floored by the education and realized that she had done it the wrong way for so many years. Never wearing her goggles or using good lotion and always burning and going for the full time her first time out tanning in the season. No spf outside and constant skin problems. Her doctor even told her that it was the result of tanning in the wrong way. Well about 7 months ago she found out that she has many skin cancers and doctors testing her blood and her eyes! We were frightened for her! Good news is that she came up clear on eyes and blood! But, she had to have 7 spots on her sholders removed. She loves to be tanned and has become a great sunless customer. Whe is 25yrs old and lives in a social circle that judges on how one looks. She is truly beautiful from the inside out! This card was so touching she made me break down and cry! The card read as follows: When I found out that I was a victom of skin cancer my world came to what seemed a screaching hault. Would I ever be bronze and beautiful again? Yes there was hope for me and that hope was you and your wonderful air-brush abilities. You have not only changed the way I look at myself but given me the encouragment to warn others on how to tan properly! If I would have only known earlier that I was tanning in the wrong way. I thank God that I entered your salon a few years back. Thank you for taking the time to educate me and keep me feeling and looking beautiful. I thank you every time I look in the mirror! That card is priceless to me! Sunless has it's rewards!