StyleSmart Visual Assistants
Time management is a critical skill brought to the entrepreneurial endeavor.
It's either spent efficiently or it's wasted. And the way people allocate and use their time affects their productivity, well-being, and overall success. In this sense, time is a limited and valued resource.
Time is a precious commodity.
It is for this reason that Jacqui Wilson and Shawna Murphy have brought to the marketplace StyleSmart Virtual Assistants, a time management platform for beauty professionals.
A StyleSmart virtual assistant handles the administrative tasks of communications with clients such as booking appointments and enforcing policies. The company appears to be garnering a reputation for delivering reliable and affordable service. To date, StyleSmart VA client list has grown to 20 across the U.S.
“I'm a business owner, a single mom, passionate entrepreneur and I often found myself struggling to balance my business and building a successful business, the administrative tasks, and living my personal life,” Wilson said by phone. “And, so, by hiring a virtual assistant, it really helped me hone in and able to put my focus into the things that truly matter: building a successful business and living my personal life a little more intentionally.
“What we do is we solve the problems of beauty salon owners, beauty coaches, and independent artists in the beauty industry. By hiring a virtual assistant, they can focus on their key objectives. When you call our salon, you don’t get a front desk. You get our virtual assistant — a real person. She handles all of our booking, all of our client communications, all of our policies, all of that."
Wilson and Murphy own a salon, Chair and Beyond, located in the Historic Southside of Fort Worth across the street from the soon-to-be National Juneteenth Museum.
I saw Wilson and Murphy at TechFW’s pitch camp last month. That daylong seminar coached emerging small businesses on how best to present their cases to investors.
“We have bootstrapped everything up to this point. We have done everything ourselves. We have put in as much sweat equity as you can possibly imagine,” Wilson said. “We're a two-man team and we have developed it from the ground up.”
Wilson undoubtedly brought some of what she gleaned at the TechFW seminar to the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Business Pitch Competition last month. Pitching StyleSmart VA, she placed second, winning $2,000 for the business.
First-place finisher was Anthony Perez of That Eye Place, winner of the $3,000 grand prize. Placing third was Juan Acosta’s Big Dawgs Hot Dog Co. Acosta won $2,000 — $1,000 for third place, plus $1,000 as the “Community Choice” winner. The extra $1,000 was raised from the audience, which had the opportunity to purchase and cast votes for their favorite pitch.
The competition was conducted in two parts. In the first round, 10 contestants made pitches. Three finalists were selected.
The Hispanic chamber started the competition during the pandemic as a way to provide additional avenues of encouragement for startup and aspiring business owners.
“We recognize that after an economic downturn there is a spur of entrepreneurship,” said Anette Landeros, the Hispanic chamber’s president and CEO. “The pitch competition was our intentional effort to build a platform for those new entrepreneurs to speak their dreams into existence with a supportive audience.”
That first event was held virtually. The past two have been in-person, which “really helped the contestants feel welcomed and connected to our family of entrepreneurs.”
Wilson and Murphy plan to use their winnings as part of a strategic marketing campaign targeting major publications within the beauty industry. They are also fundraising to continue to build out the infrastructure and the legal elements “we need to implement.”
Wilson said they have raised about $14,000.
Wilson also said the owners are exploring the possibility of expanding into other service industries like auto services and the plumbing industry, among others.
The original idea for StyleSmart Virtual Assistants was born out of Murphy’s experience in real estate, where she witnessed the effectiveness of virtual assistants in boosting efficiency and growth.
“Our virtual assistants go through our proprietary training program, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills to deliver consistent results and provide excellent customer service,” said Wilson, 30.
StyleSmart’s pricing is reasonable. It’s $99 upfront for a team of five beauty professionals. That covers onboarding and training of the virtual assistant. It’s $12 an hour after that and the company recommends starting at 10-15 hours a week.
Bigger salons would be slightly more expensive.
There is also no fear of being tied down to long-term contracts. All StyleSmart requires is a 14-day notice that a company intends to quit the service.
“Our goal is to earn the business of our clients by providing exceptional service,” Wilson said. “We believe in giving salon owners the freedom to choose and decide if our services are the right fit for their business.”
