After working as a probation officer for 12 years, Melanie Richards brought her passion for inspiring confidence in women to the beauty space in 2010 when she founded GoGlow, a sunless tanning concept she began franchising last year.
Being a parole officer had its rewarding moments for Melanie Richards, but helping people caught up in the criminal justice system and fighting for women in the vicious cycle of domestic violence also took a heavy toll.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminology and sociology, Richards spent 12 years as a probation officer for Hennepin County in Minnesota, where approximately 1.3 million people live.
“I worked very hard for victims of domestic violence, for their children. I fought in courts for their safety,” Richards reflected. But sometimes, the fight couldn’t be won. One story turned tragic while working with a woman and her mother, who were victims of sexual assault and violence at the hands of their probation officer.
“We issued warrants and tried to find him, but in the interim, he found them and murdered them all,” Richards said. She developed PTSD, “dealing with tragedy and the most horrific things, people don’t need to see or shouldn’t see, but it became where I was really worried every time I left work if one of my clients was going to be murdered.”
About to get married and knowing she wanted to start a family, Richards recognized she needed to find a better work environment for her mental health.
While still working full time, Richards also realized her passion for helping and empowering confidence in women could be translated to the beauty space, so she began attending Aveda Institute’s Esthiology program at night. Though she didn’t intend to start a business, an idea sparked when Richards looked for a quality spray tan for her Aveda graduation and had trouble finding one.
While in Mexico with a friend, Richards found someone using a tiny spray machine to provide sunless tans that actually looked natural—not like Snooki’s tan from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” or the orange hue of a certain former president.
“That was a game-changer. I said, ‘I gotta have this,’ and it pushed me because I wanted it and to not pay $85,” she said.
Richards maxed out her credit card, bought an airbrush spray tanning machine and launched Glowmobile out of her car in January 2010. She traveled to clients’ houses with her Schnauzer pup, Baxter, until one day when he jumped up on a customer after the service and left two paw prints on her. “I said, ‘you’re fired,’” Richards joked.
Renamed GoGlow, she opened her first location in 2014 inside a Sola Salon studio that was just 100 square feet. “Packed” and “bananas” were two words Richards used to describe the experience.
The next year, she built her first storefront in an upscale area near Minneapolis with three spray rooms. Within another year, she had to demo the building and add three more rooms. “We doubled business in the first year,” she said.
“I always bootstrapped this business. I don’t have any investors, and as soon as the company made money, we would do another location,” Richards noted. She opened a second location, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, in 2017, plus two more in Minnesota, and began franchising in 2021, though she hasn’t sold one yet. The cost to open a GoGlow franchise is between $296,200 and $474,000.
A GoGlow custom sunless airbrush tanning service starts at $50 for one person, but new clients can book a “Tantini for 2” and pay $45 each. Asked why she doesn’t offer memberships, Richards said she wanted to “stay far, far away from the traditional tanning industry,” though they do have a loyalty program. “Memberships kind of get me sketched out, like why do you need to hook me like this? It makes me uncomfortable.”
A differentiated service is one benefit for franchisees, Richards said, which includes a proprietary tanning solution she helped develop after her dissatisfaction with the options in the industry that left skin feeling dry due to alcohol levels. Four other proprietary skincare products—plus a few other retail offerings, such as an exfoliation mitt—can provide another sales channel for owners.
Though 2021 was their biggest sales year yet, Richards noted GoGlow is already up 48 percent year-over-year as of August.
“I am incredibly resilient, and I will problem solve and will keep pushing forward,” Richards said. “It’s just my character and nature to strive for success.”