#16 - A blessing in disguise with Shonna Dexter

Shonna Dexter delivers countless tips she has learned along her journey in the sunless tanning industry! If you’re feeling stuck, needing an inspirational boost, or just wanting to learn from someone who has been there, this episode is for you. Shonna is the founder of Recreating Rays Spray Tan Studio in Kansas. Listen now to learn more about how to begin, grow, and strengthen your business today!

0:49 – Meet Shonna!
2:18 – Worst Entrepreneurial Moment
4:48 – Looking Up From Rock Bottom: “I tried to turn my worst moment into my best moment…”
6:35 – A Blessing In Disguise
12:15 – Shonna’s experience with her first paying customer!
15:39 – Adjustments with business growth (including daily game changers!)
19:42 – Abundance Mentality vs. Lack Mentality
26:02 – Expert Tips: “The biggest thing is to never stop learning and to never think I know everything there is to know”
30:13 – Equipment & Solution
36:08 – Training & Certification
39:03 – Shonna’s Letter to her 2011 Self
41:45 – Business Life, Life Changer Resource!
42:28 – Association of Sunless Tanning Professionals

Grant and the team at happy tans is the…

Grant and the team at happy tans is the absolute best! They make great websites and they also take great care of their clients. I trust them with my business and have had many of compliments on my website.

Pam Meyers

Happy Tans is the best!!

Working with Happy Tans has been the very best experience. Their expertise is second to none, as is their customer service and attention to detail. They really listen to what you want and suggest better options if needed. I made an expensive mistake having a friend design my first website - do it right the first time and have Grant and his Happy Tans crew create the most amazing website for you today!

Lisa

Great experience

I was referred to Happy Tans by my spray tan trainer Kelly. From the time I contacted them it's been a great experience. Grant got back to me right away and answered all my questions. After that I worked with Gary and had much of the same experience. They got my website done in a timely manner and it looks beautiful. They are professional and know what they are doing. Oh and the price is great too. I would definitely recommend them to any spray tan artist that's looking to get a website made.

Emily Northrup

Thank you for this website

Thank you for this website, it is exactly what I wanted. I am so happy I took this leap and decided to go all in. I appreciate your effort and dedication, thank you for getting back to my questions in less than a few hours.

Jena Mehlberg

More New Clients Than Ever!

I cannot recommend Happy Tans enough! I love their work so much that I have had multiple websites built by them. I've been working with Grant, the founder, for years and have had the pleasure of being a guest on his podcast a couple of times. I highly recommend listening to it as I learn something new every episode! In addition to working with Grant directly, I've also had the opportunity to hear him speak and learn from him about SEO. I have to be honest, even though I had worked with Grant and appeared on the podcast, I was still creating and managing my own websites. I now realize this was a huge mistake! Learning from Grant, I was able to see how much of a disservice I was doing to myself and my business by not fully leveraging the expertise of Grant and the Happy Tans team. Once I made the switch and launched my Happy Tans site, the results were incredible. I received more new clients than ever before - I estimate a 60-70% increase! My business now appears on the first page of Google search results, and I'm so grateful to Grant and his team. If you're considering working with Happy Tans, I wholeheartedly recommend them. Their knowledge, dedication, and proven results speak for themselves. Partnering with Happy Tans has been one of the best decisions I've made for my business.

Tessa Walsh

Happy Tans was there for me with my website

Happy Tans was there for me with my millions of questions and took the time to make sure I felt comfortable and had my website built to my liking. I am a first time business owner and felt very overwhelmed with what to do. Both Grant and Gary were there to help me along and answer all my questions and concerns.

Luke Miller Miller Tile and St

Fantastic experience from the…

Fantastic experience from the beginning! Very easy communication and setup was quick and painless!

Angela Fletcher

Happytan, Maypole, Happy customer

I went to enquire at the Maypole shop today as this is the nearest to where I live based on what I read about Happytan. Well I was greeted most pleasantly, friendly and welcoming, I was served by Kari, who went through my options, explained about the annual membership, length of each session, even the lotions available. It was very clean and modern and i am happy to say I joined up and started my first sun bed session today. I would not hesitate in recommending Happytan. Thanks Kari. Angela Fletcher

Myya pavone

I love my website!

I love my website!! Grant and Gary were wonderful! I am extremely tech challenged and they were so patient with me… super quick to respond and they got things done right away. Thank you for being awesome at what you do!

Amanda Moore

Quick turn around time and great communication

Happy Tans did a great job with my website. They were able to capture what I had already done and then add more pages and content, while keeping the vibe I wanted to maintain. The team worked quickly, were very knowledgeable and communicated every step of the process. My website isn't spray tan related...but that didn't matter in the least. I highly recommend them! Let them work their magic on your website, I promise you won't regret it!

Kristen Spagnolo

Grant & Gary were so patient with me…

Grant & Gary were so patient with me during this process. I am not very tech savvy & they made it so easy! My site is beautiful and I can't wait to see how this boosts my business!

Tina

Happy Tans always!

I have been a Happy Tans user for years and would 1000% recommend to anyone for a user friendly, customer service oriented company to support. Grant is the best!

Sunless Shimmer

The best in the business!

I cannot thank HappyTans more for their continuous support. They are there EVERY step of the way. Their communication is top-notch & customer service is non-compete-able [if that's a word :)] I cannot imagine working with another company to help build, create, and stay on top of my business' website. I'll forever be a customer! (PS* Grant & Gary are my favorite!)

Megan Watts

Extremely knowledgeable and helpful

Happy Tans has been an incredible asset to my business. Their expertise and customer service is unmatched. I didn’t have to worry about anything but tanning because they had my website covered! Well worth every penny.

Body Glow New York

I can't say enough

My experience thus far has been fantastic. They do exactly what they claim. Collaboration has been seamless. I had a website to begin with and the transition has been smooth. 10/10

Jennifer Patterson/Nuda Glow

100/100 recommend Happy Tans

100/100 recommend Happy Tans. They are extremely helpful and attentive to my requests.

Lanna

Helpful!

Grant and his team are exceptionally helpful! I am happy that my Boss opted to use HappyTans for her website. I maintain our company's website and whenever I need help, Grant and his team always respond within 1-2 days. I like and appreciate how they'd respond with a video for me to follow if the instruction is not posted in their help center. Thank you for always assisting me and for making it easy.

TanMBronze

From the first communication to…

From the first communication to creating my website and all that is needed to purchase the domain Happy Tans' team guided me through. Knowledgeable, professional, and so friendly. They understand how hard it is to juggle all the responsibilities that fall on one person as a small business owner, and that we are all not tech savvy. They send step by step images on how to do your part. Oh and did I mention their affordable pricing? Again goes to their understanding of small new business owner's responsibilities and overhead. Only thing I would love to see change is being able to speak to your point of contact, especially during the website creation, it would help with too many back and forth email threads. But in the grand view I have nothing but amazing things to say about my experience. I absolutely would and already have recommended Happy Tans. Thank you!!!!!!

Karra

Exceeded my expectations!

I had a super experience with Happy Tans. They built an absolutely stunning website for my new business and were so flexible to work with. They gave me loads of helpful advice regarding marketing, reviews, SEO etc and always responded quickly to my questions. Happy Tans truly exceeded my expectations!

kaila van dyck

Best website experience ever!

This was an amazing experience because I have tried building my own website before with a different platform, and it was really complicated and didn’t have the look that I wanted. Grant and the Happy Tans Team made the process super easy, once I submitted all my information my new website was done the next day! I offer other services besides spray tanning but they were able to add them all in, they created a beautiful aesthetic to showcase all of my services, and my friends and family all had great things to say about the website they had designed for me. They even worked with my domains support team because my domain wouldn’t connect at first. Happy Tans is definitely my new recommendation for anyone, not just spray tanners, in this industry!

Lisa F

Happy Tans has changed the way I do…

Happy Tans has changed the way I do business now in my beauty salon. I was introduced last year to Grant and the team and heard Grant speak about happy tans and how much it can improve business, I instantly switched platforms and I couldn’t be happier. I love how quick and efficient the team is in responding about any questions or problems you maybe facing in your business. I am so happy and thankful for all of the improvements I have had in my business this past year when working with happy tans! I can’t tell you how much I rave about the websites, reviews and different business tools that happy tans offer and how they can help you achieve your goals! Ladies don’t wait to switch! Thank you grant and Gary and the whole team! Love my new website and my reviews are already helping so much

Alietha Hahn

One of the best decisions I have made…

One of the best decisions I have made with my business! Grant, Gary and the team have done such a great job with setting up my website and listening to all of my ideas. When I have questions about integrating other platforms to my website, they respond very quickly and give me resources to improve my business. I'm not tech savvy so when I started with other website companies it was very difficult for me and I became very frustrated. I cannot say it enough about how easy this process was and if you're like me and don't want to build it yourself, there is an option to have them do it for you, I promise you, you will not regret it! Happy Tans is truly the best! What's even better is they are always evolving to find ways to improve their services for their clients.I refer them to everyone!! My only regret is waiting so long to write this review! I would give them 10 stars if I could.

Julie Fox

Perfect Website

My website HappyTans created is perfect! I gave them my vision and they made it happen to a T. Communication is always quick and service is excellent.

Brittney Carniero

I will never use another company

I will never use another company! HappyTans has changed my life! They made the whole process extremely easy and boosted my business like i could never imagine!

Kristen

Happy Tans was so helpful in setting up…

Happy Tans was so helpful in setting up my Spray Tan website and keeping up with changes as my business grows and changes, I would highly recommend! I initially set up my website with Happy Tans in April of 2022 and I still get clients who say my website is amazing!

Kawan

I had been looking for help to build a…

I had been looking for help to build a website. And I’m so thankful happytans was recommended by a fellow artist. I can’t say enough about how great of an experience I have had. From the beginning the Happytans team was supportive, answered all my questions, and guiding me through the process. I offer a variety of services including spray tan, and they helped created my vision from scratch. Even now that my site is live, they continue to provide help and advice. 10 out of 10 in service all around, I highly recommend them if you’re in need for any website support. Thank you!!!

April

The service was so good!

The service! Nothing compares, the easy navigation, the response time is prompt and informative. I would highly recommend happy tans for your website! Price is so good as well!

Natalie Carollo

THE BEST

I am absolutely thrilled with the website that Happy Tans created for my spray tan business. Their exceptional work, customer service, and knowledge in their field has helped grow my small business so much in such a short time! Highly recommend!

Milina Windom

Unmatched experience!

This was by far the best money I have ever spent on a professional business website creation, as well as incredible support from happytans.com. The responsiveness in my communication with Happy Tans is out of this world amazing. Not to mention, everyone loves my website. This has been an incredible experience, Happy Tans truly made my dream of having an amazing spraytanning website come to life, for a fraction of what other website creation companies charge. Amazing value, very professional, always there to help with everything and anything related to helping me and my business grow! Highly recommend!

Ann Moore

You won't regret it!

My biggest advice if you are deciding DIY versus Happytans to create your website is to just have them do it! I attempted DIY first but honestly it took so much time and there was definitely a learning curve. With that being said, once I threw in the towel and upgraded for them to take care of creating my website, they did not disappoint! Gary did a wonderful job and kept in good communication with me throughout the entire process. I know that this is definitely a great investment for my business. It is evident that the Happytans company takes pride in the services they provide. Grant and Gary truly care about your business success! Thank you again!

Sierra Fredrickson

Grant and Gary made the website…

Grant and Gary made the website building experience so easy! They were very responsive and helpful at every step of the way and created a beautiful site for my business. I highly recommend Happy Tans to anyone looking for amazing site for their spray tan business!!!

Angela Keller

Amazing customer service and support!

Happy Tans made building my website so easy. They have great tutorial videos, and on the few occasions that I couldn’t figure something out, they responded quickly to my emails. I highly recommend them if you’re wanting to create a website for your tanning business!

Mary

Highly recommend!!!

My website game has completely transformed and the SEO help has helped my business so much!!! Customer service is phenomenal and I can't recommend them enough!!

Gina Opatovsky

Don’t even think twice… just do it!!!

Happy Tans made me a beautiful website. It was an easy process that I expected to be painful because web building is not even in my vocabulary! Their knowledge and expertise enabled me to focus on growing my business and not lose precious time on web development. Thank you!!! I am so proud to share my website!

Linda Shirley

Absolutely faultless process

Absolutely faultless process, love my new website. Gary and Grant are really helpful and professional. Bookings from website have definitely improved in just a week of launching. Definitely one happy customer ❤️ Thank you so much Linda Shirley FakeAway Tanning

Julie Niyaz

Grant and Gary have been very helpful…

Grant and Gary have been very helpful and accommodating throughout the process. Thanks for all your help!

Rachel Tyson

Look NO Further

Grant and Gary are great to work with. They took my vision for my website and exceeded my expectations when bringing it to life! Communication was great the entire process: when emailing them with changes, it was completed promptly, and we launched on schedule to coordinate with my second location. I have 2 different websites with Happy Tans and continue to refer everyone!

Maria Black

I am beyond thrilled with my new…

I am beyond thrilled with my new website created by Happy Tans! The whole process was so great and they did everything I asked. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I absolutely would recommend them to anyone!

Ceci Roman

Customer Service and Support

We built our site with Happy Tans back in summer of 2021 and have now gone through several iterations with Grant and Gary. Their response time is truly second to none. More recently, I was so thankful for Grant and Gary going above and beyond for us after I was clicking around too much in Google Domains and inadvertently made our site go down. Even though this was self inflicted, they came to the rescue quickly!

Lauren Abrams Spray Tans by La

I am melting over my website!

Happy Tans blew my expectations out of the water! From the very start, all my questions were answered in detail to make the daunting task of starting a website actually to be not that daunting at all...thanks to Happy Tans! Grant started me off with all the info I needed. The video chat and tutorials are an really excellent feature. Pricing was transparent, no hidden fees. Gary was my direct contact for design and he went above and beyond. I submitted everything right before the Holiday's since I had a little down time and did not expect them to be as fast as they were during that time. I am forever grateful. Did I mention my website is GORGEOUS?! Thank you so very much Happy Tans! Highly recommend to anyone in the biz.

Mandy Langon

I love my new website !

They had great communication and response times. My website is everything I wanted and they turned my vision into reality. I 10/10 recommend!

Regina Garcia

I would absolutely 10/10 recommend…

I would absolutely 10/10 recommend Happy Tans and their expertise to build a website. I have no experience in this area and they walked me through each step. Never once did they make me feel rushed even after asking the same question 10 times. Very personable and professional. Now that my site is up and running they are still a email or phone call away if I need anything at all. If your looking for someone to guide you and very knowledgeable Happy Tans will not disappoint!

simona vega

Thank you so much for my website I love…

Thank you so much for my website I love it. I had a great experience with Happy Tans team. Highly recommended to anyone!

Tressa Jeffreys

Happy Tans was amazing to work with

Happy Tans was amazing to work with! Gary was super patient in making multiple changes for me while setting up my website. The turn around is much quicker than I expected and their passion shows through their work!

Hannah Borrie

I can not say enough about grant and…

I can not say enough about grant and his team.I had happy tans build my website almost 4 years ago and within a few months, I was the first spray tan salon to pop up on Google in my area. It was definitely a pivotal point in the growth my business and clientele. And over the years one of the main things I hear all my clients say is that they loved the professionalism of my website and that’s why they chose to book with me. Grant has been by my side ever cents as I grew my business and rebranded. Grant helped change my website and update it multiple times. He is so kind I can reach out to him and he personally gets back to me within a day, he has now designed many websites for my friends in the beauty industry, and as even now designing a website for my husband’s construction business.I’m forever great full for happy tans they are stuck with me for life!

Ducote Lane Studio LLC

The Happytans team listened and…

The Happytans team listened and implemented everything I had in visioned for my website. They have Excellent customer service. I highly recommend Happytans!

Veronica Flores

The entire happytans team was phenomenal!

The entire team was phenomenal! Gary always answered any questions or concerns and gave me great ideas. Very smooth process. I’m extremely happy with the end result.

Ana Hoang

The best !!

I strongly recommend Happy Tans. Grant and Gary are the best. I have been with happy tans for over 3 years now, not only did they do an amazing job designing my websites, but they also provide me with ongoing support. Every time I need assistance with something related to my website not only are they fast to respond but fast to help! I’m so happy to have them running my website it’s such an important part of my business. I’m glad to have such amazing support! Thank you Gary & Grant for being the best and always keeping my website up to date.

Wendy DelRio

Hype For Happy Tans

Happy Tans created a beautiful website for our new business. I'm so glad that I chose to have them build it for us rather than try to build it on our own! They helped guide us step by step through the process of getting the site live. Even after the website was finished, they continued to help and answer questions. The customer service is absolutely the best there is! Gary is super patient and able to understand what was needed even when we were not sure ourselves! The best part is that they know the beauty biz. They are working with businesses just like yours and can offer insights in a way that other website builders can't. I 100% recommend Happy Tans!

Marnie Larkin

Super helpful

Super knowledgeable, patient (as I had a lot of questions) and response time is incredibly quick! Fantastic experience - truly!!!

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