Swisher, a Waynesville resident, stresses that her business is not dentistry. Customers walk into a Maui Whitening salon — 117 dealerships have been sold around the country, including the flagship salon in Centerville — and essentially brighten their teeth themselves with a laser and gels, under the guidance of an employee.
The model is a step beyond the immediacy of over-the-counter whitening, yet stops short of a more expensive visit to a dentist.
“I wanted to create a national brand in this middle market,” Swisher said.
The idea appears to be taking root. The dealership model gives partners more freedom than franchises, at what she called a “nominal” fee, $5,000 to $10,000 to open a salon.
And freedom is something Swisher appreciates. In a recent conversation, I asked her about that.
Q: Tell me a bit about your life before Maui Whitening.
Swisher: "I graduated with an education degree, and I taught elementary school for about five years. I attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and finished up at Wright State at the end. …
“During that time, I opened up my first business in the real estate appraisal industry. … Because I had evenings and weekends free, I started a business on the side in real estate appraisal.
“Then I opened up my next business, which was in HR (human resources). I did that for a couple of years. I opened up several businesses. My next business was in marketing, digital marketing and branding, and I started that at about 2007. It’s still open to this day. I just don’t take on customers. That marketing company now just serves Maui Brands International completely.
“That company is what led me to kind of have a bird’s eye view of different industries and where there were voids in certain industries.”
Q: When did you seen an opportunity for the company? Tell me about that "Aha" moment.
Swisher: "I had a personal experience in teeth whitening back in 2013. So the marketing hat coupled with the personal experience just led me to the conclusion that there needed to be something out there besides the dental offerings and besides the drug store Crest white strip offerings. The over-the-counter offering and the dental offering — in my opinion, there was a middle market that needed to be served, the non-dental salon market.
“I discovered laser whitening, which really in technical terms just means light-induced whitening. I got into that and loved how it worked. I decided that I wanted to open up a business in this and see if I could offer it.
Q: What inspired you ultimately to do all of this?
Swisher: "Well, two reasons. I wanted to make sure I had a flexible schedule for my children. Being a single parent, with as many activities as they (her children) are involved in, I wanted to make sure I wasn't having to go report somewhere 9 to 5, with all the demands of a single parent. Having that flexibility was huge.
“Secondly, I wanted to make sure that obviously the income level was there. That meant going into an industry where there was a huge demand with a high-income potential.
“Very honestly, when you start off as a single parent, you often financially struggle. There are just no bones about it. And I incurred that seven years ago. So I always told myself that if I didn’t get to a point where I wasn’t financially struggling again, that I would help other people, especially other single parents, get out of that same issue. And it really worked. That’s the guiding force behind it.”
Know someone who can handle Three Questions? We're looking for behind-the-scenes-but-still fascinating Miami Valley residents with something to say. Send your suggestions to tom.gnau@coxinc.com.
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