Six years ago, Mobile-native Alison Brown was working in Huntsville as a lawyer, specializing in business litigation. She enjoyed working with small businesses at the law firm so much that she decided to open a business of her own and one that Huntsville didn’t have: a Brazilian wax studio.

In 2018, Brown left law behind and opened Cabana Wax, a full-body wax studio specializing in safe, affordable waxing for women and men, in Twickenham Square in downtown Huntsville’s medical district. Two years later, she opened her second location, on University Drive near Madison. Despite challenges, like being temporarily shut down during the COVID pandemic and encountering increased competition, Brown has grown her business and is proud of her team and their services.

The Huntsville Business Journal recently talked with Brown about her business and her secret for growing from five clients to almost 14,000.

How did you get the idea for your business?

I had been getting Brazilian waxes in Birmingham throughout college and law school, and waxing had long been a part of my personal lifestyle. When I moved to Huntsville in 2017, the only places offering Brazilian waxing were large spas, and it wasn’t their main service, so they weren’t “specializing” in waxing.

I set out to create what I personally wanted in the market: a dedicated wax studio offering affordable waxing where I could get in and out on my lunch break and still have quality results.

How has your business grown?

I’ve grown my business from five clients on opening day in August 2018 to almost 14,000 today by keeping it small: one appointment at a time, a small staff I can provide adequate business for, and two locations I can personally manage while also being a wife and mother.

What is your favorite part of being a business owner?

Being an employer. That’s the most meaningful part. I started working when I was 16. I’ve had a lot of really great bosses, but I’ve also seen some leadership styles that I think are not conducive to the best workplace; things like yelling or embarrassing people while they are trying to learn.

Negativity does not bring out the best in people, so trying to develop and encourage employees has been one of my main morals as a business owner. Since 2018, I have almost doubled our starting hourly pay for waxers and receptionists. I want my staff to know that we all benefit from what we’re creating together.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

I’m still working on that. I love work, and having an appointment based business where I have the scheduling app on my phone is both good and bad. I probably look at our store schedules 80 times a day. I always know what’s going on in both stores. I don’t hire professional marketers. I do all my marketing myself.

I want Cabana to feel small and accessible. If you message our Instagram @thecabanawax, you’re only talking to me. But I have a 2 year old daughter and a 4 year old son, and one day when I look back at this time I want to remember them; I don’t want to remember being lost in my phone.

I try to be mindful of the important stuff while trying to be a strong provider. It’s a daily practice of learning to balance.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering starting their own business?

Be aware of your community or the community where you’re wanting to open a business. Take note of what’s already there. I needed a wax place. I didn’t have one, so I created the one I wanted.

What is something that you are personally interested in that you want to be a consumer of, and does that match with a need your community has? If you want to open a bakery and there’s already 15 bakeries, that’s a really bad idea. That can ruin your life. It’s really important to think about this before just getting excited about an idea.

Also, you have to be genuinely passionate about whatever you’re offering; if you don’t love it, no one else is going to love it.

Did you encounter any significant obstacles and how did you overcome that?

We were one of a kind when we opened and, for three years, we were the only dedicated wax place in Huntsville. During those years we were able to establish relationships and build a strong presence on Google with a review rating of 4.9 at both stores.

So, by the time the hail storm hit with all the competition (a national chain moved in and opened three locations and others are coming in or looking to come in), we were already established.

From 2022 to 2023, we saw a three percent decrease in business and that’s with about 10 waxing-only competitors coming in. I’m really happy to see us hold our own as a small, Huntsville-founded business.

What is the secret to your success?

Personal involvement. A lot of business owners, by necessity, work another job or just have their business on the side. Or they have a business that’s theirs but, for a variety of reasons, they have a manager running it. I don’t really use managers; I train our staff to be “self-managing” under the principles that are important to me.

I’m present and involved every day in some significant way. How that looks has changed over the years. For the first year and a half that Cabana was open, I worked reception every day. When I had my son in 2019, I replaced myself as a receptionist with a client who loved Cabana like I did.

Now, in 2024, I work reception twice a week, do the Twickenham laundry every night at my house, still speak directly to our clients through email and social media, sweep, wipe the windows: whatever Cabana needs. Personal involvement is a big difference between a chain and local business. Being the one whose name is on the lease, whose house is on the line, you’ve got to be the one that is there and that cares.

The other thing is shaping my business from the consumer’s (my) standpoint. I was a longtime consumer of waxing services before I had this business. What were my priorities as a consumer? Affordability, thoroughness, speed, safety, cleanliness, convenient booking.

As the owner of a waxing business, I keep those core elements in mind, and they inform our training, our process, everything. When I hire a waxer, whether new or with experience, we go through “Cabana” training, and the final test for waxers is Brazilian waxing me. I need to know for myself, when I go to sleep at night, that you can do this and you can keep people safe.

My staff also carries this mindset as consumers of our business: we actually all get waxed at Cabana. We make sure the experience we would want for ourselves is what the public gets.

For more information, please visit www.cabanawaxstudio.com.