Article By Smart Company, Jounalist Jamie Almond.
Lash Envy, a Melbourne-based lash salon, has overcome its growth problem by elevating employees to become co-owners of new locations.
Most small businesses stay small. It’s not for lack of ambition or opportunity — scaling requires solving a tricky equation: how do you duplicate yourself without sacrificing quality or burning out?
Growth is a huge challenge for small businesses. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 88% have four employees or less, with 62% being sole proprietors. From a revenue perspective, 96% never get over $2 million in revenue.
When speaking to small business owners, the same problem comes up again and again. People. It can feel impossible to find, train, and keep great people. And that’s if you can afford them.
Lash Envy, a Melbourne-based lash salon, has overcome this problem by elevating employees to become co-owners of new locations. And it’s an effective strategy — the business has grown to $4 million in revenue with five salons, and a sixth is opening soon.
It started in 2008, when owner Angela Kennedy, started the business from the front room of her house. At the time, lash extensions were new to Australia and no employees were available with prior lashing experience. Facing skyrocketing demand, she trained people as she grew and in 2012 moved to a commercial space in Oakleigh with four employees.
Scaling through co-ownership
For Kennedy, franchising wasn’t an option. She felt the model was impersonal and lacked the strong leadership needed to maintain her brand to the same standard. She also had employees leave over the years to start their own salons and didn’t want to keep losing great people.
In 2016, her salon manager Kryshina Hodgson had an entrepreneurial dream too. But instead of leaving, she approached Kennedy about a partnership and together they opened the second Lash Envy in Moonee Ponds as equal partners.
Owners drive success, not employees
Initially, when the new salon opened, Hodgson stayed at Oakleigh and continued her role as salon manager. After a series of issues, it quickly became evident that the success of the new location required a full-time owner to run it, not an employee.
Once Hodgson started working at Moonee Ponds full-time as a co-owner things took off. Within 10 months, the location had covered its initial start-up costs and hit profitability. Following this success, Kennedy began earmarking employees with leadership potential and the drive to own a salon. When the timing was right she offered them a path to ownership within Lash Envy.
Lash Envy’s co-ownership model
Kennedy wants every Lash Envy location to deliver the same high-quality experience. To achieve this, every co-owner begins as an employee at the Oakleigh salon, learning firsthand the techniques, standards, and culture that define the brand.
Once a new partnership is created, she wants the buy-in to be achievable.
“I never wanted the investment to be a barrier,” she says. “If someone has the right mindset, work ethic, and drive, I want to give them a fair shot at ownership.” She describes it as a “Willy Wonka golden ticket” opportunity.
Here’s how she structures her partnerships:
- A 50-50 ownership split with the co-owner for their location.
- Both put up 50% of the funds needed to fit out and open the new salon.
- Kennedy charges a goodwill fee to buy into Lash Envy’s brand reputation, systems, training, and built-in clientele.
- Ongoing daily mentorship from Kennedy, allowing the co-owners to run their locations independently while getting the support they need.
One of the advantages of Lash Envy’s business model is centralised admin, marketing, recruitment, training, and payroll. These shared services and costs help all locations operate efficiently and keep overhead costs low. All bookings for every salon are also handled at the Oakleigh headquarters keeping the customer experience consistent.
This model means Lash Envy can scale faster while Kennedy can still sleep at night knowing that the extra locations are being properly managed.
People are still the hardest part of the business
Despite being a natural leader, Kennedy has learned hard lessons. She’s constantly looking for staff who take initiative and can solve problems. But, she’s had to become ruthless. When shortlisting new hires, if she sees any red flags, they’re out.
Training is key
The Oakleigh location is now more than just a salon and administrative headquarters — it’s also home to Lash Envy Professional, the brand’s dedicated training academy. In addition to training employees, the academy offers courses to the public and has its own brand of lash supplies that are sold globally to other lash professionals.
Kennedy believes in continuous skill development to stay ahead of the Australian lash industry. Last month, she flew in international lash master, Elena Asher from the USA to provide advanced training for her team.
“If you want to be the best, you keep learning from the best,” Kennedy says.
“I never want my team to feel like they’ve plateaued — there’s always something new to master.”
With all this in mind, it’s no surprise that in 2024, Lash Envy won the Global Lash Salon of the Year at Lash Con in Anaheim.
An unconventional partnership model
Kennedy’s success proves that scaling a business doesn’t have to mean giving up control. Instead of franchising or bringing in outside investors, she’s built a pipeline of co-owners who care as much about the business as she does.
“Seeing my team succeed and build their own businesses within Lash Envy is the most rewarding part of what I do,” she says.
“It’s not just about growing a business, it’s about changing lives.”
And profits aside, this has kept Kennedy passionate about continuing to grow the business.
Lash Envy is a potential roadmap for other small business owners who want to scale, not by working harder, but by building the right team and creating ownership opportunities from within
