Kelly Gillis traces her start in the tan biz back to 1997 and what she calls a “family affair,” when she joined her brother and mother to open three separate spa facilities near the Athens, TN area. Kelly had gone to school to focus on neuromuscular massage and that was the only service she offered at the time. However, she had seen how strong the demand for tanning was in the area and brought in her first sunbeds only one year later. The service quickly became popular and her clientele soon topped 5,000. Shortly thereafter, Kelly met William Owen and in 2003, he convinced her to relocate near High Point, North Carolina. She kept all of her message therapy certification up to date, and it wasn’t long before she opened another massage salon. She soon added tanning services and the business blossomed into two locations.
Locations: High Point & Biscoe, NC
Owners: Kelly Gillis & William Owen
Staff Members: 7
Lotions: Australian Gold, Devoted Creations, Hempz, Ed Hardy, Pauly D, Snookie, Kardashian Gold
Salon Software: TanTrack
Other Services: A variety of detox services including Ionic foot bath, Cocoon Wellness Therapy, paraffin skin glow, 5 massage types: Swedish, deep tissue, therapeutic, reflexology and neuromuscular; teeth-whitening, smoothies
Salon Training: Sun is Life®
Distributor Partner: Four Seasons Sales & Service
Best-Selling Lotion: Ed Hardy & Kardashian GoldMost Popular
Tanning Package: Phase III $35 One-month
Knowing that education plays an important role in success with tanning services, Kelly turned to Sun is Life® Training & Certification to get her salon team up to speed. “Our staff finds it really easy to understand,” she said during our recent phone conversation. I went on to discuss with her some of the core concepts of SIL online certification, including the short quizzes offered at the end of each module. “That’s a great strategy for reinforcing the information just learned, and I’m sure my daughter will enjoy the program when she takes it,” she said.
Kelly has also found that providing a diverse service menu has been a key factor in her salon’s success. “It’s very hard to make it by just offering tanning sessions,” she said. “We really try to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for our guests.” Sun’s Edge offers many spa services – Kelly is passionate about the benefits of massage therapy – as well as a variety of fruit and energy smoothies. The list of services will soon include spray-on hemp tattoos, and her daughter will also be offering permanent body art.
“Our lives are so stressful,” Kelly commented. “Everyone can benefit from detox therapy and the ways it can improve your system.” I told Kelly that I work out a lot and asked if that helps to detox my system. “Joe, not if you don’t drink at least 32-64 ounces of water to flush it out,” she answered.
Feeling slightly chastised, I was quickly off to grab a jug of water!
