Today we’d like to introduce you to Gia Carter.
Hi Gia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I started in the Beauty industry in 2003 when I was supposed to be a senior in high school, but instead, I started cosmetology school instead! For as long as I can remember I truly loved the glitz, glam, and the freedom to express myself through my hair, makeup, clothing, jewelry, music, decor, and with my vehicles!
During my time in cosmetology school, I absolutely loved the creative and fun outlet of doing hair but I quickly became bored really fast and I actually didn’t love the culture I experienced often in this industry. Do you know the culture of “mean girls?”… more on that below! It really wasn’t until I was in a terrible life-changing car accident that actually made doing ANY hair significantly painful from the injuries I sustained. So, I stopped practicing and went back to work at the family business.
After working at my Parent’s company for several years, a client of ours was the owner of a New + Local Aesthetics School. She was very persuasive and was able to talk me into attending her “new” Aesthetics School in 2009. I completed all my training ahead of my projected graduation date in the fall of 2010.
It was there at that school that I found my passion. My passion for Brazilian Waxing and Skincare services lit my soul ON FIRE. I pushed myself out of my element #socialanxietysurviver and just went for it! All. Of. It.
I vividly remember the meltdown I had with my husband over the fact that I had to wax someone else’s intimate parts and cause them physical pain! I am such an empath and hurting people physically hurts my soul. After figuring out a method that worked decently with the school’s terrible wax, I ended up being the known Brazilian Waxer at the school and THRIVED on building a clientele and close relationships with all of my clients.
After Aesthetics School I had already secured a job at a local Salon that offered basic skin care. I was able to grow a clientele in a tiny closet of a room with minimal equipment and was offered a “level up” of a job at a NEW Spa and Salon just a few miles down the road. I jumped on the occasion and continued to grow a solid clientele. I, unfortunately, ended up taking a small medical break from aesthetics for about a year.
It has now been 14 years since leaving that salon + spa and I still have a handful of those clients that are now my friends and ride or die here at MY STUDIO OF DREAMS!!
After healing I came back with a whole new outlook and excitement about living and loving my life! I was so grateful to be and feel healthy enough to work and fulfill my passion for Waxing and Skincare. I continued to trial and error different waxes and techniques…. my OG’s can testify that I GREW THIS MAGICAL NUMBED BRAZILIAN WAX with their now, Platinum Vagines!!!
All of this was possible due to their sacrifice, love, and trust in me to “test and push” the “laws” of waxing! I found it my life mission to find the BEST Brazilian waxer + BEST Painless Brazilian Wax technique around. The results from my specific products and method are also top-tier and are unlike any other waxing place I have been to in my prior 14 years of figuring out this whole Wax life.
After traveling the country and experiencing Brazilian Waxes wherever I traveled, I was very mindful of what I experienced and observed during my visits to other spas/studios. I truly never found what I was hoping for (a clean + less painful Brazilian wax) and thought that maybe my expectations were too high.
It took me over 14 years before having the courage to go “big” by building and designing my first retail location, here in Spanish Fork Utah!!!!
I was almost forced to take the leap of going because I had outgrown my tiny 10X10 spa room in my former home and plus, I was expecting TWINS! I had a client base of over 500 Brazilian Waxes a month and it took a minute until I realized that I DID IT!!! Soooooo…..
HERE I AM!!! The PROUD CEO OF THE BRAZILIANAIRE STUDIO. Utah Valley’s Winner of The Best Med Spa 21′, The Best Day Spa 21′, The Best Spray Tans 22′, The Best Med Spa 22′, AGAIN! We are THRIVING with being known as THE HOME OF THE NUMBED BRAZILIAN WAX!! I can attest that I have continued to grind and grow my method to be even BETTER and once again… I DID IT!
My Magic Sauce Numbing was created, tested, and confirmed by ME and will be launching this Fall of 2022!
I employ a team of 14/15 little baddies that I absolutely manifested into my life. I am constantly GROWING and EVOLVING in every aspect of my life both here at my Palace, and in my personal life! The glow-up is real and I am so excited to announce some incredible and life-changing things here, soon!!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Truthfully…. The struggle has been real from the beginning and I honestly still have moments where I question my entire life choices, ha! I signed my life away on my New Retail Location 2 Days before the world shut down into a worldwide pandemic. I opened May 2, 2020, in the middle of the scariest part of Covid, and yet, I THRIVED.
Honestly, opening my Studio has been the hardest and most life-changing thing I have ever done. I opened up my Studio with the intention of wanting to help and save the world and ended up being taken advantage of on levels beyond my own comprehension.
I basically ran a year-long charity for the people I loved who eventually dropped me the moment I began saying, no. I quickly realized that I couldn’t sustain saying YES to everything no matter how much I loved giving to others.
Six months prior to opening my new location, I hired a spa manager to run my studio while I had my TWINS and while I recovered. I trained her to the best of my ability so I could continue focusing on the growth of the studio while juggling my newborn twins and my 3-year-old toddler.
Two weeks after opening, she bailed on me due to wanting over 100K a year after opening as a start-up. That was unsustainable to me as a new business owner. She took all I taught her and opened up locally as well. This was the first big betrayal within my company and sadly not the last. I never knew how cutthroat and “ugly” this industry is. I will never understand so instead… we are changing the whole game. Love always wins.
At that point at the beginning of opening, I was in the depths of postpartum and emotionally trying to push through a worldwide pandemic, losing people I loved rapidly due to my newfound boundaries. I was hurt beyond repair and hit rock bottom just months after opening.
I was the only service provider for months handling 1800 clients a month solo. I was so grateful for the people that entered my life shortly after. I have risen over and over again. I have been in therapy religiously since July 2020 and I can honestly say, my studio and therapy have saved my life and have gotten me to where I am today and I am beyond grateful.
On October 28, 2020, My entire PURPOSE and FIGHT FOR MY LIFE was changed. I had just finished sending a text message to my Girl Boss Studio girls: “The Brazilianaire Studio. Who are we!? It’s laughing uncontrollably. Supporting each other unconditionally. Allowing space for each other to grow and make mistakes. Constantly reminding each other that they never have to be perfect, but to always be themselves. Their weird, flawed, quirky, sassy, beautiful, and magical self.”
Moments after hitting send I received a devastating and life-changing phone call from my older brother. My big Sister, Tahna was horrifically and brutally murdered by her husband here in Utah and her sweet two babies were also involved.
The thought of them being a witness to this day still brings me to my knees whenever I think of it. I truly have zero ideas about how I was carried through to continue working through the depths of my grief and fully gutted soul. My entire being has changed since that traumatic night. I have pulled myself out repeatedly from the darkest of the dark.
Knowing now that she didn’t have a choice and yet, I DO!! I have chosen to LIVE for not only my late sister and my late parents. The three of them died so young. I have found MY PURPOSE in LIVING FOR THEM! Choosing LOVE. Choosing KIND. Choosing GOOD. That is both for ME and for THEM. I CHOOSE to live every day as a blessing. I owe myself, my kids, and her children that. LIFE IS A MF BLESSING!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I like to say that I am a boss babe in all areas, ha! I am a mom boss, a girl boss CEO, a wife, a self-built interior designer, a creator, a developer, a visionary, a fighter for justice for all Domestic Violence victims, and a Cancer advocate and supporter.
I do everything as Boujee, FUN, BIG, and full of life as possible! I truly search for the best things in life and share them! If I can’t find it, I manufacture and create it! I have created some amazing solutions for Anti-Swass (stinky booty), Anti Stank Workout + Baby Stank Safe Laundry Detergent, Brazilianaire Studio Makeup remover cloths, in-house boujee exfoliating mitts, tweezers, lash spoolies and so much more.
I recently dropped my newest line The Gia Carter Collective. It is a beautiful collection of all the things I love! Numbing Cream, Wax, Jewelry, Boujee Lounge Wear, Comfy shoes, Key chains, CBD products and SO MUCH MORE!!!! Come see this amazing stuff for yourself!! I thought of every single detail possible for MY boujee brand.
What are your plans for the future?
I have some incredible HUGE things coming for my company. I get offered DAILY to franchise my Studio. I tell my girls all the time… blow my mind, prove it to me and I would absolutely franchise to any of my Mini Brazilianaire’s here.
As long as they continue to choose the studio and push for our dreams collectively, we got this! One thing I pride myself on is being a debt-free company. I have little to no debt with this Palace of mine. Growing my service menu is something I am constantly pursuing as our revenue grows, so does our service menu. Machines and equipment are mind-blowing expensive and cost more than a literal car, ha! I am so grateful for the hard work my husband and I pushed through to get to this point in our lives to live however we want!
My biggest venture right now is that we are currently being scouted by a TV Producer for all the HUGE Networks WorldWide to have my very own Brazilianaire Studio Reality TV show!
Through this next adventure, I can only hope to spread my message of choosing HAPPY. Choosing YOU. Choosing to work through whatever your hard is and knowing everyone’s hard is valid, it’s just up to you on how to move forward.
Choosing to show up for YOU. Choosing to grind until YOU are satisfied. It is all a mindset and also who you surround yourself with daily. I too suffer from mental health. Get help, surrender, and give yourself freedom from your own self-bondage.
Magical things have begun to happen once all of my Brazilianaire Baddies collectively embraced my vision of love, goodness, and the best beauty services around! I am a full believer in energy and full circle karma so whatever comes out of my mouth or in my actions, I know will come back to me. So choosing good, the kind with boundaries is where I am at and I have honestly never loved myself or my company more than I do now. Finally!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebrazilianairestudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrazilianairestudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebrazilianairestudio
- Other: https://g.page/thebrazilianairestudio?share
Image Credits
@BRITANEE JEAN PHOTOGRAPHY
@DANA SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY
