What it Takes to Become a Sugar Goddess with Courtney Eddy

 Hey, sugar Pros, I have great news for you for the month of February. Sugar Goddess is offering 25% off all products, including warmers, and 30% off all cases of sugar. Never a better time to try out a new paste and see if sugar Goddess is a right fit for you, once again for the entire month of February, 20% off all products, including warmers and 30% off cases of sugar.

Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Welcome back to this episode of The Sugar Show, where I am going to introduce you to yet another professional sugar company. This time you're gonna meet Courtney Letty. She is the founder of Sugar Goddess. It is a. Beautiful line and she's located up in Minnesota. You're gonna learn all about Courtney and her journey through sugar and her successes and really what was kind of the most difficult part about starting a sugar company.

And so I'm really, really excited for you to meet Courtney. To be honest, she is genuinely. One of the nicest people in our industry and her husband, Ben, is by her side, and he does all the admin piece, and they really, truly are a very wonderful company that we can all support on our sugar journey as well.

Welcome to this sugar show. I'm Shannon O'Brien, body sugaring ex. Expert and licensed esthetician who's taken my own skincare business from zero to multiple six figures and has helped over 3000 students learn how to do the same. Now, let me tell you, it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the time, budget, and knowledge needed to grow my small business as a body sugaring pro.

If we were to press rewind, you'd see the many failed attempts and lessons learned that have helped me build the profitable business that I have today. One that runs on its own and gives me the lifestyle and freedom. I only used to dream of, I created the sugar Show to hand you my secrets and give you the simple step by step strategies to help you do the same.

So if you're a cosmetologist or aesthetician or wax professional who's looking to fill your books, make more money in your business and enjoy greater balance between your work and home life, you are in the right place. Let's dive in.

Courtney. You're on the Sugar Show. This is so exciting. We actually had Courtney on the Sugar Show a couple of years ago, um, but the recording wasn't right and I don't know, we just, we, it just didn't really kind of sink. And so we said, you know what, let's do this over again and start fresh and really have a good presentation.

And so here we are talking about Sugar Goddess. Welcome. Yeah. Thank you for so, so much for having me. Yeah, you're welcome. You know, I, I've said this in the introduction. You are by far one of the nicest sugar companies that I've ever spent time with. Oh, thank you. You and your husband, and we're gonna talk about your journey, but you and your husband really are something special, and I am really glad that you decided to pursue your dreams and, and become a sugar manufacturer, and it's, it's pretty awesome.

So cheers to you, boss. Thank you. It's been a journey. I, right, right. Okay, so let's talk about that journey. Let's get into it. Let's talk about the journey, and you're up in Minnesota and let's, let's go back actually to the very beginning of your story. How did you even become an esthetician? I'm actually a cosmetologist, so I went to school for cosmetology, and while I was in beauty school, I took a class on powder to sugar.

And thankfully that beauty school let us do sugaring instead of waxing if we chose to. So I got to perfect my technique, uh, while I was in beauty school. And then I started working at the salon that's, um, in my current town and was doing hair and then brought sugaring in and then did sugaring too. And.

And then I also was working as a nursing assistant at that time and still wanted to pursue my, pursue, another dream of, um, becoming a nurse. So then I went to school for nursing at that time too, and I was also having babies. And so I kept my license active, um, slowed down with hair and sugaring, but continued and got my RN degree and then I worked as a.

and then back in 2017, I was like, you know, I really. Sugaring, I really wanna be in the field again. So I reached out to the educator who taught me how to sugar years ago, and she was retiring, but she was still doing some classes at some, um, beauty schools. So she let me shadow her. And so then I started, um, doing classes and then got my classes certified, um, through the board of cosmetology in Minnesota so people could take my classes and get the continuing education hours that they needed.

And then, um, I was still working at the hospital then, and then I wanted to get back into the salon. So I had zero clientele. Found a salon with this amazing owner who had this tiny little room, and she's like, I don't know if it'll fit. And I'm like, my bed just has to fit. I don't care. But she charged me dirt cheap.

For the first six months so I could get my feet off the ground. And I started building my clientele and, um, built it enough. So then in July of 2021, I quit nursing. And then in January of 2022, I got my own space. And so, yeah, I've been in my own space here now for a year, and I have one employee and I'm looking to hire another one.

Okay. That's pretty incredible. Like you really like let's just have some babies. Let's just go and be an RN and let's get our cosmetology license. Like that's, no, those are no small feats. Individually, let alone all at the same time. Yeah. Are a dynamo. That's a lot . Yeah, it's a lot. You can do anything girl.

My goodness. So, okay, so let's back up. So you're sugaring away in your solo room and. I think it's a pretty big testimony to sugar that you quit being an rn, which is great money, great benefits, great flexibility, all the things. You quit being a nurse to sugar because you saw the benefits. I mean, you saw like your business was growing just by having sugar.

Did you do facials as well, or just sugar? Nope, just sugaring. No, I specialize in Brazilians. So the, uh, majority of my clients are mostly Brazil. That's it. I mean, think about that. Like that's what I did. I mean, we really mostly do Brazilians, we'll do brows and underarms and things like that, but we triple our income by just focusing on sugar.

It sounds like you did the same. Yeah, it's, it's so true. And I think it's so important, and I think you've said this before too, like how important it's to niche down and to find what you're good at, and so mm-hmm. , um, thankfully, This area, I kind of have the market. There's not a whole lot of people that, that sugar.

And so it's great because the word is spreading about how good sugaring is. And so, um, you know, everybody's telling their friends and yeah, they're wanting to try it versus waxing and then they don't go back to waxing, you know, they just stick with the sugaring cuz of the benefits of it. So, yeah. Woohoo.

It's working in Minnesota. Yeah. . But there's not a lot of people that sugar in Minnesota are. No, there is not at all. No, not in, it seems like the, just in the Midwest, there's not a whole lot. So I have a couple, um, I live about an hour north of the Twin Cities and there's. A handful of people in the Twin Cities that sugar.

So if my clients move to the Twin Cities, I have to do a deep Google search to try to find people. Um, and it's hard. It's hard. There's not a lot of people and I think it's just because it takes all that extra time in practice to be a good sugar. And um, and I think that's why people do so well that are sugar because they put that extra time.

Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I, I looked up in the Sugar Network, uh, the sugar directory, that, and there aren't very many, so opportunities abound, ladies and gentlemen who are listening from the Midwest because if you are one of the few people that sugars in your area, you really, you really can't kill it. And it just is better for your clients.

I mean, at the end of the day, it really is. Right. Absolutely. Let's just, let's just say, so. You're doing good for your clients. You're sugaring like crazy. You've got your own space. At what point did this beautiful little purple logo of sugar goddess in this beautiful jar of sugar paste, at what point did this come to fruition?

Because this is not a private label, just you've found somebody else's sugar and slapped your label on it. You are a sugar manufacturer. Okay, let's just add that to your resume. . How did you start to manufacture sugar and at what point did that start? So, um, we looked into purchasing a company, um, that was already a dis um, a manufacturer and distributor and, um, things kind of fell through with that.

So we were discouraged cuz we were really excited about starting that. And then we were like, well, let's just do it ourselves. It was my hu my husband Ben, and. Let's just do it ourself. You know, it's not hard. It's just sugar, lemon, and water, you know? Right. It's not the, the recipe is all over the internet for it.

We got this and we started, and it took three years for us to get the recipe down and Ben would get super excited cause he's like, I think I got it. We got it. And so then I would. Bring it to work and I'd try it and I'd be like, Nope, nope. Cause I would, I would do it on, um, full legs when I had full leg clients, cuz I had just more room and area to work and Nope.

And so then with tons of tweaking and refining, we finally got the recipe down. Um, but what's become kind of a little bit of a challenge over the, over the years is that we've tried to, Like double the recipe for our batches and it, it won't work. Like Jason had said when you were, um, interviewing him last week mm-hmm.

it's not just sugar, lemon, and water, you know, there's so much more that goes into it with like the humidity and temperature, just every single thing. So the batches that we make of the sugar, they're, they're small. It's, so we're, so every batch is like handcrafted, I guess you'd say. Um, Too perfection, and we've got it down.

And so yeah, we've made it so. I, I think it's perfect. I've been sugaring since 2005, so really dates me. But, um, , you know, and I've, I've been through a lot of, I've been through a lot of, um, sugaring companies and everybody is great in their own way. Mm-hmm.  and I just wanted something that would be really good for us.

And within Min in Minnesota we have different, you know, we have four seasons, so, um, working through all of different climates has been hard during those three years. But, um, right now actually, it's. We're, we're working on the humidity level in the, in the salon. And so, cause I was like, we have smooth paste and the smooth paste is our softest paste.

And so that's what we designed for doing legs, because legs are the hardest on our body, you know, cause they take so long. And so I wanted a a, a nice soft pace that was easy on our wrists and fingers. And so got this smooth and it was great. And then, um, this summer it's been, or excuse me, this winter, it's been a little bit colder here.

I'm like, what is going on with the sugar? It's just I'm having to swap out my ball more than I've liked. And Ben's like, well, what's, we need to look at the humidity in your room? And so then he got, um, a temperature thingy and put it in the, in our room, and it's at 20%. And so I'm like, oh, that's interesting.

And then two weeks ago it rained here. The, it was like 35 degrees and it was raining, and then the temperature jumped up to 37. , I don't, and at that point I noticed like, okay, the smooth is great. Like this is really good. So we found like if you can regulate your room between like anywhere from 35 to 45% humidity, that is when your sugar is going to be perfect.

So, I mean, we're still tweaking it a little bit, but that's what I have found so far. That works good. But it's just like, Throw another thing into it, you know, like trying to be the best with your sugar paste. But it's good cause I don't know if everybody knows that, like to be able to monitor your humidity levels in your room, and we know about temperature, but the humidity piece, like I wasn't really taking that into account before, but.

Thankfully, Ben being the brainiac that he is, was like, oh, throw a temperature gauge in your room, . And then we'll, and temperature gauge. You can easily get on what Amazon, or, you know, just get at the, at the, you know, at the store. There's, they're not uncommon. And in fact, lash artists really focus on the humidity when they're doing lashing.

So to put the, you know, what do you find as kind of the sweet spot for humidity based on your, like what are you kind of looking. Anywhere like that, 37% that day that it was raining, it was really good. I'd say Ben was thinking like 35 to 45 is usually it, it, he's thinking like that's a good, a good chunk there.

Um, we'll see when it starts to get warmer, I'd actually just bought a humidifier and put it in in my room, so I'm trying to, I have a big room too, so that's gonna. Tricky to kind of play with that too. So that's kind of just a new learning curve that I'm dealing with. But what a difference it makes that humidity level, cause it's just you're wasting so much sugar when the, like at that 20%, you know, normally I can use a ball of sugar for at least a full leg, you know?

And so, but I'm using like three ball, three, four balls. It was like, this is ridiculous. It's such a waste of money. That's a good, that's why we sugar, you know, so it's super cost effective and yeah, it was. That day, so, yeah. Yeah. So that's with your soft pace. So did you just add a little medium to it, maybe a little firm to it to kind of have it hold up for you?

No, so that, so being that the humidity level was low, so the, when I was having to swap 'em out so much with the lower humidity, that sugar Pace was getting firm, so it was Oh, was getting too firm. Gotcha. Yeah. Gotcha. The other way I thought you were saying it was getting too soft. Gotcha. . Yeah. So. Yeah, so the summer, that's when it gets, so it'll be interesting this summer when it gets super humid.

Mm-hmm. , um, what it, what it would be like, so mm-hmm. , you know, I get that all the time from students and I think it's fascinating too for those folks that have really big humidity differences. You know, to really be mindful of not only the paste formula like we're talking about soft, medium firm, but also the humidity in the room.

And really working with that and understanding your room. It's not like wax where you can just dip your sticks in, stick in, slap it on, you know, rip it off. It really is an art. Mm-hmm. , and, you know, we really need to understand what the, what the temperature is in the room. And what the humidity is. So I I love that.

You know, we don't worry about that here in California. We don't have those big fluctuations. So, um, it's, you know, super important to be mindful. Um, and so I am interested in like how you think that you could really. Like balance that it like, cuz you know, we, we talk about humidity all the time, especially in like the southern states where it gets superhu in the room.

Is there a way to control it when it does get really high? Um, so I don't know that yet. Um, if my temperature in my room, like if my. Thermostat is set. So the, the AC is, is higher than the, the humidity level seems to be at a decent spot. So then it's not an issue. But there was one time last summer my AC um, broke.

It was like 84 degrees in here and I had a full day sugaring and it was, my clients were comfortable, thank goodness, you know, cause I had my fan and everything, but oh my gosh, I was going through hard pace like you wouldn't believe, you know? Mm-hmm. , like, I'd never use hard. I'm in a sticky situation, you know, when I need to get unstuck.

But yeah, I, that was it. That was a tough time. But yeah, so I, I'm not sure that'll be interesting, but being that the, you know, my area is so climate controlled. That was one of the things that I, when finding this, this space, I chose this, this place because of the temperature. And there was this other place that I was looking at was the house and it was a really old house and I was wanting to, um, Fix it up while I was wanting banded eggs and make it super cute.

Yeah, exactly. But he's like, no, that's baseboard heat. He is like, no, that's not gonna be good heat for you. You know, we need it more consistent. And he didn't, I don't think it was central air, so he's like, that's not gonna work. So that's why we chose this space, because it was consistent temperature. And I'm so thankful that we did, because I can't imagine having ups and downs because your sugar changes, you know?

And then if your client is cold, you know, , you have some clients that are cold, some people run warmer all the time. So that's why I always have three sugar pots. You know, I have a medium smooth and a soft all the time going, and then I have my heart that I just have sitting on the counter in case I need it.

I don't need that in a warmer, but cuz you just never know what each client is going to, you know, have for their body temperature. And if I'm cold then I need to get a different, you know, a firmer, or excuse me, a softer pace if I'm cold and. So much comes into play. Yeah. So let's talk about your line for just a minute.

You have nice big jars of paste and let's talk about your pace and what you are loving about it, and I'm really enjoying it. So thank you for letting us play with your past. And so talk about your pace and then we'll talk about your pre and post. Okay. So we have hard paste and like I said, like I don't use that a whole lot.

That's what is used for. Mainly when I, if it's in the summer that it's hot and I get stuck and I need to get unstuck mm-hmm. . And so then I'll grab a little hard and then easily, um, be able to rip that off. Or somebody that a sugar runs at a really warmer temperature that hard is gonna be more like they're medium.

Mm-hmm.  and so they're gonna use that more. And then the medium, that's our basic pace that's. The, just our basic all around paste that we use and soft, that is, that's what I use the most. Um, I do mainly Brazilians and so I use soft for that. It's just that it's like that spot. It's right between the smooth and the medium.

It's just for the more experienced sugar. Um, to just work more effectively. Mm-hmm.  and then our smooth paste, that is the softest pace that we have. And so that is mainly for legs and backs and chest area. Mm-hmm. , get that glide. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay, so let's talk about your pre and post. I have here in my hand for those people that are on the podcast, I'm showing up.

Soothing gel, but that's post. Let's talk about your pre and post. So you have a beautiful witchhazel and rose pre cleanse. Yeah. Yeah. So with our line, like we wanted everything just simple because sugaring is so simple. It's, you know, it's just sugar, lemon, and water, and. , we just wanted to just to have the most minimal ingredients as possible.

So that's why with the cleanser it is just witch hazel, a little bit of rose and distilled water, which Hazel has a great cleansing, um, properties to it. And then that rose oil, that's ki we have that in the soothing gel as well. It just helps with soothing and just helping the skin feel clean and, um, it's great, um, for the post, but it's also you, or excuse me, for.

Cleanser, but then you can also use it as a tonic afterwards too. Mm-hmm. . So it's kind of a two in one. So use that for the cleanse. And then the powder that we use is Arrow rip powder. Mm-hmm. . So, um, we do sell the jars of the arrow rip powder, but mm-hmm. . But the nice thing, um, we like to be, it's nice to have cost saving methods too.

So it's like you could easily refill that with Arrow Ripon that you. In bulk somewhere. Mm-hmm. . Um, and that's what I do just because it's, it's all natural, it's edible, just like the sugar, you know? Mm-hmm. . So, um, that is the powder that we, nobody is, I haven't had anybody have a reaction at all to the arrow of powder, so that's great too.

And, um, and then our post then, depending on the area is when we use that soothing gel. So the soothing gel is a hundred percent aloe vera and. The rose essential oil. And so that is used for the Brazilian area and the underarms. Mm-hmm. . And so that is actually, um, and it's really amazing for sun sunburns actually.

Most, yes. And then for the bigger areas, we use the, I just the, um, cleanser again, you can use that for like the tonic for like the chest and the ab abdomen, and then the back area too. Mm-hmm. . And we do have a lotion too as well that we. I love it and what I really. Enjoy about your company is that you really do work hard to make sure that your people are educated and you make sure they're certified properly.

And, you know, that's, that's my sticking spot. I love that when people like, you know, have the really, the understanding that you need to be certified in this art because, you know, it's not easy to sugar. We make it look really easy, but it's not, it's not. So, um, you know, we are, we're really proud that you require certification to purchase your products cuz I really think that, you know, it's doing the industry a service when you have a certification program.

So thank you for doing that. Um, yes, absolutely. Yeah. And so talk about like, So this isn't just, you know, like you stuck your label on a jar of paste and we talked about like, you know, this was a long journey for you, but you know, you're not making it there in your private salon. Like you have a facility to make this sugar, right?

Correct, yes. Yeah. Yeah. So like I had said before, Ben, he makes every single batch. , you know, and he, and it's a small batch, so he's, he's busy , he's, he's busy with making in sugar. But, um, it's just so much tweaking and refining and hard work when it went into it. We're just so proud of where we've come.

Mm-hmm. , we've just come so far. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Okay, so what's next for Sugar Goddess? You're hiring more people at your own salon, which. Which is always exciting and scary and amazing and time consuming and all of that, right? Um, you're a go-getter, but you're a smart go-getter. You take things in baby steps and make sure you do things the right way before you kind of move on to the next thing, which is really nice.

So you're bringing more people on it at in the shop, and then you have educators as well, for sure. Yep. So I, I don't do it myself anymore, but we do have, um, a few educators, um, throughout the United States that offer education as well to become certified in the sugaring. That's awesome. So I'm so proud of you.

I love being around strong mamas. Thank you. Thank you. I love it. I love it. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your line. We will be doing some unboxings and, and letting people know more about, uh, your availability. I love that. You know, in the central North, what are you considered mid? You're not Midwest.

Are you considered Midwest? Midwest. Yeah. Northern Midwest. Northern Midwest. Um, that you all have an option for sugar up there now that's, you know, kind of supporting someone local. So that Northern Midwest area, um, you know, is, is, is served by sugar goddess. You can get sugar goddess all over the country.

Um, but I love that you're bringing it to Minnesota and you're training more people in the, in those areas that. Just don't have sugar education or have sugar. So I think that's, Ugh. Thank you. Thank you. Cuz there's plenty of bodies and plenty of education that needs to be, um, taken care of. So there's plenty of room for more than one sugar company.

I tell people like this all the time. Yes. Um, but really make sure, you know, um, and would, we talked about this in the, in the intros, make sure you, you know, do your homework and, and find a company like Sugar Goddess that. That has the professional manufacturing and education and you're getting properly trained, you know, make sure that you're, you know, with a company that stands for that and you're not just, you know, buying it online and training yourself on YouTube.

So, uh, thank you so much, miss Court, and I wish you nothing of it. Sweet success. It's, you're a su sweet success story too. I should have, this should have been like a double episode Sweet success story. Courtney led, led. Slash uh, interview sugar manufacturer. So you're like, you're like my double whammy of goodness,

Aw. Thanks so much for having me, Shannon. I appreciate it and thanks for all you do in the Sugar Tribe. It's so fun being a part of that and re being able to read everybody's questions and the answers that everybody has, all of those questions. And so it's nice to go to one spot. You know, have some answers to those questions.

Yeah. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. And everyone, I am looking forward to, uh, sharing a little bit of the sugar goddess life, uh, with you very soon. I hope that you enjoyed spending time with Ms. Courtney Letty. She is, as you can now hear, uh, really a, a positive, kind, uh, resource in our sugar industry that I really enjoy spending time with.

She and her husband Ben are wonderful, wonderful humans and I'm glad to have had the chance to introduce them to you. You will find all of their information in the show notes. You will be seeing unboxings of their products. You'll be hearing me talk about Courtney and Sugar Goddess and everything that they're doing in their community as well as, um, in our sugar industry as well.

So, uh, you will see that purple beautiful label, uh, on and around the love to sugar, um, trainings and different things. And I just wanted to make sure that you met the Queen, miss Courtney for. I hope you have a beautifully sweet week, and I look forward to you hearing the next episode real soon.