More Money Podcast - Getting Your Business to Glow - Founder of GLOW Beauty Bar, Ashley Cammisuli

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

This is a special mini-series of the More Money Podcast sponsored by Visa Canada to highlight the latest winners of the Visa She’s Next Grant Program.In this episode, I interview Ashley Cammisuli, founder of GLOW Beauty Bar, about her journey that started out in classical music and working at a record label, to launching a business in the highly competitive beauty industry. With her personal struggle with acne significantly impacting her confidence, she felt guided to a path where she could empower women through skincare, advanced aesthetics, and education. Starting out as a small mobile spray tanning service, Ashley’s business evolved into a now award-winning facial spa. Although GLOW Beauty Bar is growing today, Ashley shares how it nearly came to a halt because of Covid, and how pivoting her business ultimately saved it. Ashley shares the real-life ups and downs of entrepreneurship as well as her vision for the future — franchising.Learn more about GLOW Beauty Bar https://www.glowbeautybar.ca/Learn more about Visa's grant program https://visa.ca/grantprogramFor full episode show notes visit jessicamoorhouse.com/438Learn moreLearn more about GLOW Beauty BarLearn more about Visa's grant programFollow meInstagram @jessicaimoorhouseThreads @jessicaimoorhouseTikTok @jessicaimoorhouseFacebook @jessicaimoorhouseYouTube @jessicamoorhouseLinkedIn - Jessica MoorhouseFinancial resourcesMy websiteMy bestselling book Everything but MoneyFree resource libraryBudget spreadsheetWealth Building Blueprint for Canadians course Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, Lulu. Jessica Morehouse here and welcome to a special mini-series of the more money podcast, sponsored by Visa Canada. In this series, we're shining a light on some of the latest recipients of the Visa Shoes-Nex grant program by speaking with incredible Canadian women to learn about their inspiring entrepreneurial journeys. Now, each year, the Visa Shoes-Dex grant program selects 20 recipients to receive $10,000 in funding, along with access to an accelerated coaching and mentorship program through WISP at York University. Since the program's inception, Visa has provided more than $900,000 in funding to help empower women-owned businesses from coast to coast with the tools and resources they need to grow. Now, as a woman entrepreneur myself, I wanted to do something a bit different with my podcast and use my platform to share the stories of these women so we can all get to know and support the incredible Canadian businesses they're building. And if you'd like to learn more about the Visa Shoes Next grant program, head over to visa.ca.ca slash grant program. Please note the views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely my own and those of the guests and do not reflect the views of Visa or its affiliates. For this episode, I'll be interviewing Ashley Kamisouli, who is based in Mississauga, Ontario. She's the founder of Globe Beauty Bar in Etobico, a business that empowers women through expert skin care, advanced aesthetics, and education. They blend luxury with results-driven treatments, fostering confidence and self-care in a welcoming space.

Now, let's get to that interview. Welcome, Ashley, to the more money podcast. So excited to have you on the show. Thank you for having me, Jessica. I'm excited to be here. You're so welcome. First of all, super excited because I could actually physically go to your glow beauty bar because it's not too far away from me. So very excited about that. But more excited to learn a little bit more about your entrepreneurial journey. Your origin story specifically is so interesting. So I know you studied classic music. You used to work for a record label. A very different industry than what you're in now.

which is the beauty industry. And I know you had probably some personal experiences too that kind of helped with this big career change. Tell me a little bit about it. How did this all kind of come about? I did a complete 180 and I actually suffered with acne growing up. And that really impacted my confidence. And although I didn't plan to be in the beauty industry originally, my path kept guiding me in this direction. And I felt like entrepreneurship really resonated with me. And it allowed me to grow in so many different areas because you've got to learn bookkeeping and marketing. And you're learning and growing all the time, which I love that. And so it started with a mobile spray tanning business in 2014. It shifted into makeup. And now we're an award-winning

facial spa. So it's been up and down and it's been a wild ride. But out of all of the businesses and careers that I've had, I'd say this is where I'm meant to be. How did kind of the first iteration of your business start like how you know because again it's such a big difference from what you were doing professionally before what was that kind of first step and like okay we are like is it okay let's do a mobile kind of business and then shifting to brick and mortar that's also a big difference so yeah how how was the the steps from start to kind of where you are now what's that look like originally i was helping my ex-boyfriend built his business and so after two years of helping in with that. That's kind of where I think I caught the entrepreneurial bug. And I was like,

after we broke up, I'm like, I don't have a job. Now what am I going to do? And I had loved when I was younger, unfortunately, I was in the tanning beds a lot, unfortunately. But I discovered spray tanning. And I thought, this is such a healthier way to achieve a really nice glow. And I thought, well, selfishly, I kind of wanted to do it just so I could do it to myself all the time. And then I was like, I can just introduce everyone else to it. And so that's kind of how it started. Then everyone was like, oh, you're really good at doing makeup. Can you do my makeup?

And I was like, okay, maybe I should go to school for this first. And then like this whole mobile business just kind of took off. And I realized, okay, mobile is a lot of work. You're taking things. You're taking your business with you on the road, basically, right? Yeah. And you're driving everywhere. And I was like, hey, I need a brick and mortar space.

but I didn't want to open it just for spray tanning and makeup. So that's when I went back to school for aesthetics. Oh, wow. And got another diploma in aesthetics and then opened our space in 2017. That's amazing. And I know, especially because it started as that mobile business, I'm curious, and I've talked to a lot of other founders about this, did the pandemic have any impact on kind of the trajectory or the way you want to move

or grow your business because I know for a lot of people, it made them think, huh, maybe, maybe I have to do something a little bit different just in case this happens again. The pandemic happened right as we were about to celebrate our two-year anniversary. So as you know, as a brick and mortar store that's very early on, and I felt like we were just kind of getting the gears going and then it was dead silence. Nothing for 380 days, actually, we had to be closed for. But it was both a blessing and a curse because it forced me to look at what parts of my business was bringing me joy and profitability as well. So I was able to take a step back and I narrowed our services down to just facials.

And I've been so happy with that decision because we're really able to be experts in just one key area of the beauty industry. And the pandemic allowed me that time to step back and evaluate the bigger picture. And then I also, during that time, launched my own skincare line, Glotox, and pivoted to online education during that time, too, which helped me learn so much about myself. But it kept me really busy during those 380 days. Yeah, no kidding. Oh, well, also, too, it's interesting hearing that you were predominantly just a service-based business. And then integrating a product, what was that like? Because I'm sure that's a whole other, you know, situation. I mean, I started as also a service-based, started kind of adding a few more online products. I'm like, oh, this is a totally different

ballgame. I don't know what I'm doing here. What was that experience like for you? Going back to myself and what I wanted for myself, I was really looking for products that were safe to be used on acne-prone skin that wasn't going to cause people to break out. So I wanted to kind of focus on products that were kind of missing in the beauty industry. And my first product that I came up with was a dry oil that is, because you would think oily acne-prone skin, you don't want to put oil on it, but you totally can. And so I did a lot of research into what oils are appropriate for that skin type, that's safe to use. And now we use it in every single one of our services on all of our clients. It gives a fabulous glow and it has additional

benefits as well. So just personally interested because I also grew up with acne-prone skin. I feel like now as I'm in my late 30s, I finally sort of have a like handle on it, but it took this long. But I'm still, I've never figured out like what the solution was. I've just tried here and there and some things have worked for anyone listening and also just for myself, what are some like misconceptions or things that you should know about doing and not doing with your skin, especially if you have very sensitive skin? One thing to note is acne is not ever going to be cured. You have to manage it.

So that's one expectation that you have to manage for yourself. And some people think when they break out, oh, I got to exfoliate this off. I got to exfoliate more. I got to put something on it. And sometimes it's better to just take a step back and really simplify your routine. You don't want to over-explicate your skin and ruin your barrier because that's going to cause just more issues for you. So I know it's hard, but maybe just limit your product use. So you're really protecting your barrier and looking at your lifestyle too because stress, diet.

Those are all things that can affect your skin. Yeah. And also, I think the big issue, especially with skin care specifically, there's so many, you know, influencers online that, you know, are talking about products. And sometimes you see these skincare routines. There's 20 things you have to do. But it sounds like what you're saying is like sometimes less is more or, you know, and what would just for anyone interested and, you know, maybe if they're interested in, you know, using some of your products or just, you know, looking at some of your educational content, what does like a healthy routine for your skin look like? Definitely, I would recommend sunscreen for everyone. That helps prevent pigmentation, but that also helps prevent aging as well and dryness in the skin.

So definitely a sunscreen. If you want to have a simple routine, that's great. Like you don't have to have 20 steps, like you said. You can have just a gentle cleanser that you can use every morning and night. And that's just going to help strip away any, like, dirt, makeup, pollution from throughout the day. just wash that off without stripping and drying your skin. And then if you want to have or treat certain things, you can put a serum in there to help treat things like maybe pigmentation or acne. And then just a simple moisturizer to help protect your barrier, lock everything in. And that's it.

That's it. Yeah. Simple. We don't need a million different things. It's about keeping it simple. now you know it's i think it's such a success story that you have you know glow beauty bar it's been doing so well but i also know the beauty space in particular is very competitive hard to hard to crack in what are some of the obstacles that you faced along the way especially since you really started like learning you had to go back to school a number of times to really become an expert in something that you want to include in your business what were some of the things that you learned along the way that maybe someone listening could take some advice from. I try not to focus too much on the competition. Yeah, I guess that's good. Yeah, because that can get you like, you know,

focus right in front of you and just try to do your best at what you can do and what you love to do. But from day one, I made sure that we were offering something different. We focus on results-driven facials in a luxury spa-like environment. So you can still relax and still get the results at the same time. I felt like that was really missing in the industry. Of course, there's going to be challenges along the way, including financial setbacks due to things like pandemics. But staying true to your unique approach and your values as well will definitely help guide you over the years in your business.

Kind of speaking of trends, because, you know, again, we see them all online or even some businesses kind of offering some services that are kind of trendy. Are there any things that you've seen, you know, as a business owner that you're Oh, that's, that's a bad practice. I would never put that on my face or please don't try this at home. Well, it's different for everyone because everyone's skin is so different. It's like diet. Like some people can eat like just meat all day, every day. And that doesn't work for everybody. So it's hard to say like one thing is going to work for all people and all skin types because we're all just so different. If you want to do the research around those trends and try it for

yourself and see if it works for you, but definitely I would recommend consulting a professional. So go to your aesthetician and mention the trend to them and ask them if it's something that would be beneficial to you and your skin before you dive in. I know, and I love this, one of the pillars of your business is women empowerment and boosting, you know, people's confidence and using beauty as a tool to, it's really about the beauty within, but also, you know, when you feel good on the outside, you feel good on the inside. So why was that such an important element that you want to always integrate into your business? Well, because I've been there, right? Me and you have both been there. So we know

how it feels to not feel good in your own skin and how that affects your confidence. And when you feel confident, it ripples out into every area of your life, your relationships, your career, how you show up in the world. Because when you look good, you feel good, you do good. And I feel like that's something I can really get behind. And I feel like that's more of an important goal to track in my business. Like, did I make someone feel amazing today? Yes. Okay, then I did my job. No, absolutely. And kind of getting to some of the particulars of your business, you mentioned, you know, we started with the mobile business, then it's a brick and mortar. And then you, you know, didn't have really customers to serve for almost, for over a year, which is incredible. On the kind of

financial side, you know, what was that, how did that look like? Did you get funding? Did you bootstrap? How did you, you know, deal with some of the kind of financial struggles that every founder and business owner may face along the way? Yes, you definitely have to scale back. And now, because it was so early in our business, too, we were only hitting the two-year mark. So it's not like we had a ton of savings saved up for things like this. Now I know better because You, who would have ever thought like, oh, pandemics, you should save up for that for a rainy day, right? It's like, you know those are a thing, really? Yeah.

So now we've all learned that we should have some savings put aside. We had to get some financing assistance from whatever the government was offering from other Canadian banks that support Canadian businesses. Yeah. So we really had to kind of lean on that because we didn't know when we were going to open. we thought, oh, two weeks from now, two weeks from now, we kept thinking eventually it would happen. But because we were so localized on treating the face, we couldn't treat the face unless someone was wearing a mask. And you can't really give a facial like that. Yeah, with half the face not available. Yes. What's it been like since, because now we've already, you know, realized that

the five year kind of anniversary of the start to the pandemic, five years, a lot can happen. what was, you know, the life after? What's it been like since then? And were you able to kind of integrate some of the lessons you learn so you can be more secure and more, you know, future-proofed? We created a recession plan. So if anything like that comes up in the future, we have something that we can fall back on, whether it's scaling back inventory, having savings, tips like that. But crossing our fingers. I mean, we had a big boom when we did open, which was nice. Everyone needed a facial because they hadn't had one in so long. But yeah, we're just keeping on trucking and keeping those lessons learned in the back of our mind. Absolutely. So I know you are one of

the recipients of Visa's She's Next Grant Program. Congratulations. What has your experience been with that? Because I know part of that comes with funding. Part of it comes with mentorship. What's that been like? And yeah, what have you learned along the way? It's honestly been such a blessing beyond the financial support. I've had the opportunity to connect with other incredible women entrepreneurs across Canada, and they're so inspiring. I was honored to be chosen as a part of this group, honestly. And I was also matched with a mentor, like you had mentioned, through the program,

who's helping me shape the next phase of our business, which is franchising. Oh, that's exciting. That's big. Yeah. Yeah, we're really excited about that. But I feel like Visa didn't just write a check. They're truly taking the time to understand and invest in the female entrepreneurs who are growing and reshaping the Canadian landscape, which is huge. Yeah, that's very exciting that you're franchising because that's, yeah, that is kind of my next question is, where do you see the business going in the future? And expansion sounds like it.

Is it expansion kind of locally or do we have bigger? plans across the country, global, what's that look like? Or what's your dream? At first, I want to stay within Ontario. Eventually, I would like to go across Canada, but I do love building things when they're small. And I know, like, being a female entrepreneur can be so daunting. So I would love to help other women and guide other women and having their own businesses, but with having that support system as well. Speaking of being a woman and a business owner or a founder, an entrepreneur, I know, you know, we do often, there are sometimes some obstacles, some barriers that we specifically face. I'm curious, especially too, as you are now kind of on this journey of, you know,

wanting to help other women and, you know, start their own businesses with your franchise was just so exciting. You know, is there anything you encountered that you had to learn or overcome or, you know, what were some of the maybe difficulties at the start that you had to realize, okay, well, the rules are different for me, I guess, but I'm going to keep on going anyway. Initially getting the funding was a bit difficult. And having people take you serious, like, oh, that's cute. Like, people would think, like, oh, you have your own little spa. That's so cute.

How's that going? You know, like, it's a business. It's not a hobby. We got a team of, like, eight people now. it's growing, yeah. So when people are kind of shocked to hear that, like, okay. So constantly having to kind of maybe not prove yourself, but expect people to maybe doubt and you having to kind of reconfirm, no, we, this is what we're doing and we've got to keep on going. I mean, that's, that's definitely something that, I mean, I've experienced. I think most women have

experienced, but you just have to keep moving forward. So for anyone listening who is maybe thinking about starting their own business or, you know, becoming an entrepreneur, whether it's now we're into the future, would there be any kind of pieces of advice that you've learned from your experience that maybe you wish you did differently or this is something you absolutely have to do and no one's saying this right now? Well, one thing is make a solid plan, but expect it to change. Yeah. So, you know, mine has changed drastically, but also be so passionate about what you're doing because it's not always going to be glamorous. You're not going to be a millionaire from day one. You're not going to have your family and friends supporting you.

Like even seven years later, like a lot of my family and friends still haven't come to my business. And you could go years without getting paid. You're going to cry. It's going to be hard. So it definitely is going to be a rewarding journey. But a lot of people think, oh, I'm just going to open my own business and I'm going to be rich and rolling in the dough. But it's not always, I hope it is like that for you. Yeah, that would be great. And if you're unsure, like working for someone else is totally okay. And you can learn by watching them or get a mentor or join some amazing programs that are available to help you learn and grow as an entrepreneur. And I guess another thing that I kind of learned from you was if you

want to do something, but you know, maybe I don't have those skills right now, but I know I need them. It's great to keep learning and to educate yourself. I mean, even for me, I've been self-employed for eight years and I've been in school off and on this whole time. I'm always learning. that's your superpower is to stay ahead of everything by by being the expert and then acknowledging when you're not and then getting those tools right exactly you have to be a constant student which i love and you don't because as soon as you think like you know everything you you don't and so but that's kind of a problem for me i have to stop doing all these courses and so that's my goal for this year is just to like finish all the courses that i'm enrolled in and you know

What are you learning right now out of curiosity? What new skills are you trying to get into your toolbox? Developing products. Yeah. And, yeah, ecom. Ecom is big. So, yeah, learning a lot about that right now, too. Any other kind of products that you want to launch? Is it in skincare or outside? Or what are kind of, maybe you can share a little bit if you want, but I'm curious what's on the horizon. Yeah, we're working on a hydrating serum right now. And because everyone, especially in the wintertime, needs that water in their skin, yes. And potentially an eye cream as well. So yeah, it's so fun. So speaking of the kind of mentorship program that you're a part of, has there been any kind of light bulb moments or anything that you've learned that you're like, oh, wow, I never thought of it like that. Yeah. Well, it's great because they customize the mentorship program based on you and your business goals. So we had a

whole call discussing like what's next for you in your business. What do you? you want to learn more about, and I brought up franchising, so they sought out a franchising coach for me. I love it because I get to ask the stupid questions that you feel maybe embarrassed to ask somebody else about, and you get to be a student with them too, and they can walk you through and teach you and give you homework to do, which, you know, as a lifelong student, I love the homework. So there's lots of homework and lots of learning and you feel supported in this new journey. Like you're not doing it by yourself, which I love. Because if I had just gone and decided I'm going to do this franchising and try to do it by myself, it can feel so overwhelming. But now I feel

like I have a partner and teammate that I can kind of learn from and that can guide me along the way. I'm actually curious too. What were the specific things about franchising that you're like, oh, I didn't know that. Because for me, that sounds like a big, you know, taking on for a business of, you know, we've got our business or brick and mortar. We know how it operates. But then to kind of replicate that and have someone else run it, what were some things that you learned about this is what you should do? This is what you should not do. There's so much. But there are specific laws, especially within Ontario, the Arthur Wish Arts Act, I believe it's called. And so one thing that I learned is that you they could actually rescind their contract up to two years

within their time with you. So yeah. Got to prepare for that, I guess. Yeah. Just kind of understanding these are kind of the real risks and the kind of legislation or the kind of legal aspects of franchising depending on the location we're talking about. And I guess the same as if you were to expand throughout Canada, different provinces. It's a whole different set of rules. Exactly. Yep. And just having all your disclosure in place and what that looks like. So yeah, you learn a lot. Well, before I let you go, is there anything that we haven't touched on or any other pieces of advice that you'd like to give listeners, especially ones that are interested in maybe falling in your footsteps? Well, I would say you don't have to have it all figured out. You just need to be willing to start and

stay consistent. I think consistency is very important. And don't be afraid to ask for help. There's amazing programs out there, like the Visa. She's Next program that exist to support you. So learn what's available in your local area. Yeah, take advantage of those programs because so many people may not know they exist, but they do and they can make a world of difference, right? Exactly. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Ashley, for joining me on the show. It was so nice chatting with you. Thank you, Jessica. It's been so much fun. And that was my interview with Ashley Kamsuli, founder of Glow Beauty Bar. You can learn more about her company at glowbeautybar.ca. And follow her company on Instagram at Glow Beauty Bar underscore T.O and Glow Beauty Bar on Facebook. And if you've

been inspired by Ashley's story and are a woman entrepreneur interested in learning more about this grant program, you can find more information at visa.ca slash grant program. A big thank you to Visa. for funding this amazing grant program, supporting Canadian women entrepreneurs, and sponsoring this special series on the More Money podcast. Thanks for listening and watching on YouTube. Until next time. The More Money podcast would not be possible without the amazing talents of video editor, Justice Carrar, and podcast producer Matt Riteout, who you can find at MRAVCanada.com.