Meet Stacey Laricchia

We were lucky to catch up with Stacey Laricchia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stacey, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

When thinking about the big picture of who I am, I swear there should be stamps all over me. Like a high end designer logo, except my logo says something along the lines of “hot mess” or “fraud”.
I learned at a very young age that how you present yourself will determine how others see you, how they view you. My mother, a Southern Belle from Texas moved to the East Coast after high school and immediately dyed her curly orange hair black and worked with a speech therapist to lose her southern accent. “Nothing says slow like a ginger with a drawl”.
That has stayed with me my entire life. It does not matter what you are but what people perceive of you.
Challenge Accepted!
I opened The Birthday Suit in 2011 after being fired from a big box waxing franchise. I knew I could open a business that I would want to work for, I just didn’t know how to open a business. But with blood, sweat and lots of tears, 4 months later, The Birthday Suit opened their doors. I denied being the owner 99% of the time. I was waxing & working the front desk 7 days a week. I didn’t feel like an owner, I don’t know what I felt like but being a spa owner was not it. I knew people would look at me and think “Really? She owns this?”
Our success was instant and overwhelming. I still pretended I was not the owner most days to the public, I even gave her a fictitious name! Our publicist finally “encouraged” me to accept being the face of the brand. I made my husband do it. I just never felt “enough” for people to appreciate I was the driving force behind all of the success. And when a guest of ours said “if you can do it, anyone can” and I know it was said with respect and adoration but it didn’t feel like it at the time. I now look back on it and interpret it as I was relatable. A new mom, an esthetician, a black leggings wearing, Walmart shopping, hot mess everyday woman. Not a business conglomerate like the other waxing establishments in Vegas at that time.
Suddenly one location was two, became three, into a fourth… media appearances, interviews, podcasts, awards and three reality show offers and all the while I am still over here trying to use the word “juxtapose” in a sentence properly. (It’s a thing for me, I have a list of words I carry around and try to learn to use them properly and appropriately in a sentence.)
I am a regular contributor to a magazine, speaking at beauty schools, training at trade shows… All the while it was like looking down on someone else’s life. Every day telling myself “do a good job!”
I would chat with my staff in the break room, like I was one of them until I remembered I am not. They look to me as leader, the captain of the ship and my behavior should reflect that.
When we began our journey into Franchising The Birthday Suit, I think that was really when I felt like an imposter. I am suddenly on calls with Private Equity firms, national media: podcasts too magazines to television segments. It was a lot and I kept a notepad next to my computer so during the podcasts, interviews or zoom calls I could write down words, phrases, abbreviations I was unfamiliar with. My publicist was brilliant at getting questions or talking points ahead of time for me.
I watched my mother, while an executive at a big tech firm, go to Hilton Head to learn to golf, because that’s where all the deals were made and she was tired of missing out on it. Nobody knew she had just learned. That is how I approached everything in the beginning. You would never know how much I didn’t know when it came to owning & running a multi-million dollar “mom and pop” shop.
I credit much of my sanity to my humor. I am funny and have zero issue with laughing at myself. I am also brutally shy which is where my humor became so essential to my day to day interactions. When someone says “you really own all of this?” I will spin my reply to a cheeky, fun response which shows I am unbothered by the comment & often times evokes some form of apology from the person who said it. But my humor and ability to see the comedy in every situation has really become a staple of my personality.
I think that in the beginning I was so determined to be the Boss. Act like one, dress like one, went to all of the parties and events. After a while I was comfortable admitting that is not who I am. I would rather be on the couch with my two munchkins watching a movie.
I attribute the longevity & success of The Birthday Suit to my vulnerability that I now display in public. I am not afraid anymore for people to see me with the messy bun, black Walmart leggings, probably with wax stuck on my shirt somewhere. I think coming off as relatable makes it more appealing to guests. My kids go to school with their kids. We shop at the same grocery store, the same Walmart!! I am an example that yes, you can do it.
So no, I have not overcome any version of imposter syndrome. I work daily to be educated in all things current and relevant but I am no longer embarrassed if I don’t know the answer, what a word means or an abbreviation.
I still have no idea what I am doing most days, but I have surrounded myself with those who do.
So imposter syndrome, somedays yes. Will I ever get over it? Nope. And that is ok.
Life is so much easier knowing you’re where you are because of who you are. Not who people think you are!!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My aesthetics journey began as a child when my mother would gift me her mini beauty product
samples and my love for make-up and skincare blossomed throughout the years, prompting me to seek an education in that industry.
Following graduation from The Rob Roy Beauty Academy in Boston in 1997, I refined my
knowledge while working as a freelance makeup artist, a nail technician, a specialist at a high-end
spa as well as an educator & artist for Christian Dior. Determined to become a female entrepreneur with
a family-centered waxing spa I can build from the ground up, the bustling businesswoman, I
founded The Birthday Suit.
Creating a spa where our services are considered “affordable luxury”. We are family friendly, with a “Children’s Lounge” in each location to allow our busy parents the opportunity to maintain their self care servcies.
The Birthday Suit remains strong in our dedication to give back the community that has given us so much. We continuoulsly partner with The Ronald McDonald House, local Veterans charities as well as our local food banks.
As a mother of two kiddos, I appreciate everything I have and I know they appreciate it too.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

If I had to look back on three qualities that were most impactful in my journey, I would have to start first with my sense of humor. I have come to realize that most situations are not as dramatic as they have been presented to me. Being able to not take everything so serioulsy had been an essential key to both my stabilty and my mental health.
I feel my organization is top of the list for important qualities too. Not necessarily a neat desk but being able to tackle a situation and disect it layer by layer and addressing each individual concern, task, or problem one thing at a time. It usually makes the issue much smaller than it was originally presented as but also allows for a thorough and satisfactory resolution when each “item” is addressed singularly, not as a whole.
I feel that being relatable is such a fantastic quality I often here I have. I never present myself as “more” or better. I might be more educated or experienced in a specific area but there are 1,000 things I have no idea about. I am a working mom and can relate to other working moms. When it comes to The Birthday Suit’s pricing structure, our Children’s Lounge, our hours of operation. I love that people look at me not as the business owner but just as Stacey. I am respected within the community and I honestly feel appreciated every single day.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I think 99% of my feelings of being overwhelmed or stressed comes in my role as a mom.
I think any working parent can relate to feeling overwhelmed. Business owner or not.
I have a young teen and a tween and besides their rigorous academic schedules, they both compete in high level/elite sports. I don’t know the last time we were all home as a family for dinner.
There are days when I look in my laundry room and cry or my sink seeing breakfast dishes, dishes used to make lunches or even left over from the night before.
I am only one person and I am only capable of so much so patience and grace are two things I give myself daily.
When I am overwhelmed with laundry, I will not try to tackle it all at once. Who has whay practice/game coming up in the next 2 days. I will pull out those items specifically and just address that. Enought school uniforms for the next few days? Who has what practice where and when or what projects are due. I have a huge planner in our kitchen so everyone can see it and I write everything down!
I no longer criticize myself if dinner for my kids consists of Caines in the back of the car at 10pm on the way home from cheer or McD’s drive-thru at 6am on the way to hockey practice.
I think too many parents hold themselves to an “instagram” standard of parenting and that is unhealthy.
Most days I wake up at 4:45 am so I can have 15 minutes of quiet time to drink my coffee and chill. It’s ok to be messy. It’s ok to take a moment to cry. I have a boxing bag in may garage and there are days where I will go out and just throw punches for 5 minutes or a 10 minute run around the block for some fresh air and sunshine.
There is no parenting handbook as far as I know so doing my very best on that day is the best I can do.
I think the quickest way for me to regain control is the “one thing at a time” that I use for everything in my life. Reduce a major challenge into smaller layers and take one thing at a time!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://TheBirthdaySuit.com
• Instagram: @TheBdaySuit_Waxing
• Facebook: The Birthday Suit Body Waxing
• Linkedin: Stacey Laricchia
• Twitter: @TheBdaySuitLV
• Yelp: The Birthday Suit
• Other: The Birthday Suit, MN – our Woodbury MN Facebook
  @TheBdaySuit_Summerlin
  @TheBdaySuit_Henderson
  @TheBdaySuitMN
  (additional IG for corporate locations)
  @TheBdaySuit – TikTok

Image Credits

Adam Trujillo
Nicole Spangler