I am owner and manager of Antioch’s European Wax Center. The business is typical of what my whole life has become because my life is all about people and family...

I first became interested in European Wax following 15 years as a paralegal, working with Family Law in Walnut Creek. The opportunity to be my own boss and to accrue wealth for myself came from my cousin, James, and his wife, Shawnee, who are regional developers with the company and have over 40 development projects in the Bay Area. Shawnee first enlightened me about the business opportunity, shared with me details about the business plan, and showed me the ropes. The opportunity was too good to pass up so I decided to start my own European Wax Center.

I appreciate the family-based nature of the business. Another cousin has a Daly City Center and is planning to open a second one soon. My father is a partner with me in my business. The family nature of the company is apparent at the corporate level, as well. Shawnee connected with the family that started the business right at the beginning of the European Wax story when they were launching the adventure on a shoestring budget. Shawnee said that they were down to their last $12,000 and blew the whole wad staging a celebration for potential investors on a 100-foot yacht in the Miami harbor. Shawnee noted that in her opinion the yacht was a waste of money, “because by the time the presentation was over, a number of us were sold on the idea.” Then she added, “We didn’t need any yacht, but it was fun.”

My Story

I was born and raised in Kansas City, and spent a lot of time during my growing up years on my uncle’s ranch where I developed a passion for horses and for the outdoor life. My dad was a professional in the title and escrow industry. When I was 12 years old, he got a job in a Bakersfield office. We were tired of those savage Midwest winters and, like millions of people before us, were glad to move into California’s sunshine. After only two years in Bakersfield, an opportunity opened up for my father in Walnut Creek, which I thought provided some great opportunities for me, as well. I enjoyed being a Walnut Creek resident from the first day we moved into our new home. I attended school in Concord and graduated from Clayton Valley High in the class of ’87.

My husband, Rick, was from Delta Junction, Alaska where there were 50 people in his high school graduating class. The two of us met through a mutual friend when we were 19 years old. At the time, we were both in a relationship with someone else, but over the subsequent two years developed an incredible friendship. Our romance should have blossomed before it did, but things finally moved to a different level when he bought me my first drink on my 21st birthday in a little Mexican Restaurant Bar & Grill. We had a great time over that margarita; it was the beginning of the rest of the story. We were married on June 28, 1998 in Lake Tahoe. Our home life is wonderful — and made even better because Rick and I each love our respective in-laws almost as much as we love our own parents.

We have two kids — Taylor 7 and Josh 5. Taylor was born nine weeks early in an emergency C-section, and weighed less than three pounds. She turned out to be an amazing little fighter with a strength that overflowed from her tiny body. I had been warned before the birth that the baby would probably be born gray and that she wouldn’t cry, but Taylor actually came out looking the pink of health and bawling her lungs out. They let her go when she was only four pounds, which was earlier than policy recommended, but they decided not to keep her any longer because she was so obviously healthy. She’s our little all-star. She loves baseball and started playing soccer when she was only three years old. She was beating the boys, so they advanced her into a league beyond that of her age group. Taylor especially loves playing softball, and has an offer to join a traveling team. Even though she excels in sports, Taylor’s goal is to one day be a waxer in a European Wax Center. (I don’t know where she got such an idea.)

Following Taylor’s birth, the doctor warned me that future births might be problematic, but 21 months later we had a perfectly normal, full-term child. Josh is racing to catch up to his older sister. He’s another star and shares Taylor’s passions and abilities — embracing life with her enthusiasm.

As appropriate to his Alaskan heritage, Rick is a pipe fitter. His dad and brother are both in the industry, which is how the family ended up in Alaska. Rick works in local refineries. He was involved in an explosion in the pipe racks of a Shell refinery during the 1990s. He wasn’t injured, thank God, but said that he almost died of fright.

I had begun working as a receptionist in my father’s office during summer breaks from school and, following graduation, worked for him full-time for four years. I secured my Family Law Legal Specialization, and spent the next 15 years with a legal firm conducting interviews, attending trials with attorneys, and submitting court pleadings. I enjoyed working with the law and with those lawyers. In fact, I was passionate about the work. However, when I began to have children of my own, the issues began to bother me. We, of course, adopted the position that our clients’ positions were infallibly correct and would fight passionately for them, which forced us to defend some people who really were evil and to support some positions that were just wrong.

We congratulated ourselves and our clients whenever we helped them to win money or custodial rights to which they really were not entitled or to escape some punishment or judgment that they fully deserved. But, especially after my kids came along, the suspension of personal integrity that was necessarily involved in those things began to wear on me. I was ready to do something different and began searching for a career change.

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