FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #72 From Corporate to Confidence: How Bliss Beauty Bar Became Fredericksburg’s One-Stop Aesthetics Destination
Ready to trade comfort for purpose—without leaping blind? We sit down with Layonna Collado, the founder of Bliss Beauty Bar Aesthetics in Fredericksburg, to unpack how she left a steady 9–5 and built a two-time award-winning, all-inclusive spa during the most uncertain time in recent memory. From the earliest YouTube tutorials to opening her doors post-quarantine, Layonna shows how a clear plan, relentless education, and client-first service can turn a passion for beauty into a sustainable, standout brand.
We dive into the truth behind real skincare results and dismantle a stubborn myth: treatments alone won’t fix everything. Layonna’s fitness-coach analogy lands the point—professional, advanced treatments only reach their full potential when paired with a consistent home care routine tailored to your skin. She explains how Bliss crafts custom treatment plans and home regimens to target acne, discoloration, and premature aging, and why specializing in multicultural skin matters for safety, efficacy, and confidence. If you’ve ever wondered why your products plateau or how to stack services to get ready for big moments—weddings, travel, milestones—you’ll leave with a smarter, simpler approach.
Education threads through everything. We talk trade shows, partner trainings, and how to separate hype from real innovation so clients benefit from proven techniques and melanin-safe protocols. And we map the tactile details of a great client experience—the music, the scent, the seamless scheduling—that turn results into loyalty. Thinking about a career pivot of your own? You’ll hear practical steps to move from idea to action: validate demand, choose a specialization, invest in learning, and design a service model that matches your market. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review telling us the one change you’ll make to your routine—or your career—this week.
Layonna Collado
Bliss Beauty Bar Aesthetics
Info@blissbeautybarva.com
+1 540-685-5071
4820 Southpoint Dr. Suite 201, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 02:Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. Joining me is Layonna Collado of Bliss Beauty Bar Aesthetics. Layonna, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for having me today. Well, I am excited to get to know you and learn more about your business. So let's start there. Share with us a little bit about your business.
Speaker 00:Of course. So Bliss Beauty Bar was established here in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2020. We are a two times award-winning spa. We have won the best esthetician practice in the city of Fredericksburg for 2024 and 2025. We pride ourselves on being an all-inclusive space. We specialize in advanced skincare treatments, eyelash extensions. We also offer waxing services, lash lifts, vegatials. So we are that one-stop shop where you can get multiple beauty services done in one space.
Speaker 02:Amazing. I was doing my research and checking out your website, and I was surprised how many services that you offer. So congratulations on your success. Congratulations on your awards and hitting that five-year mark this year, that's a really big milestone in business. So applaud you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Yeah, of course. Well, I would love to learn more about you and your background. So tell us about your journey and what led you to starting your business.
Speaker 00:Yeah, it's so funny because before I ever became an aesthetician or owned Bliss Beauty Bar, I actually worked a corporate job for nine years. And I definitely appreciate my journey that I had there. There were so many, you know, tools and things that I've learned that actually have been able to really help me have a successful business now. But I just have always loved beauty. I used to do a lot of like hair tutorials, makeup tutorials, skin tutorials online. And I would share it like on my social media platforms and YouTube. And I would just have so many people be engaged with it and ask me questions. And um it made me just realize like, you know what, I'm never gonna genuinely be happy until I have a career in beauty. And so I kind of just started doing some research on a career path that I could um do that would be beauty related. And that's when I came across an aesthetician. And so I ended up going to school and getting my basic um aesthetic certification, enjoyed it so much. I went on and got my master's certification. And um, when I went to school, it was with the intent of knowing that I wanted to open up a business one day. And so in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, right after we got out of quarantine, I decided to go ahead and open up Bliss Beauty Bar. And it has just been a success ever since. You know, when I first opened up Bliss Beauty Bar, I wasn't sure on what was gonna happen. I'm like, hey, we're in the midst of the pandemic. I don't know if people are gonna come, but this is something that God is calling me to do. So I pushed forward. And um, it's funny, when I first opened up Bliss Beauty Bar, I was a solo aesthetician. I had no intentions of growing a team or having a bigger space. But um, as the business continued to grow, the business continued to evolve, I continue to evolve. Um, we just I went ahead and grew a team. We went ahead and got a uh larger space, and you know, this is where we are now.
Speaker 02:So I'm amazed by your story. So you went from the corporate world and you had a love for beauty and you really wanted to do what you love, and you took a leap during the pandemic and started a business, you are truly living the dream. So uh congratulations on that success. I love your story so much. And I wonder for people listening who are have uh you know something that they love and maybe are thinking about leaving their job, or you know, with all the you know, the shakeup going on right now, we've got a lot of government contractors and government workers in the area that might be thinking maybe it's time to chase that dream. What advice would you give them?
Speaker 00:I would definitely say follow your purpose, follow your purpose, follow your passion, and just have a plan. That's the biggest thing that's gonna make the whole transition um become easier, is just making sure that you have a plan for where you want to go and how you're going to get there. I feel like that's one of the things that really helped me with the transition. Um, especially when you're in a corporate job, you have that comfort. You know, I get my my um my medical insurance and I get my you know nine to five hours and I get all the benefits and the 401k. And so when you're deciding to leave that and really um jump into a whole new world and follow your passion and purpose, it can be very scary. But as long as you have a plan, it can make that transition be uh so much easier. And um at the end of the day, when we're not really doing what we're passionate about or what we're happy about, we're never gonna feel fulfilled, you know? And so just go after what it is that you want. Um, you'd be so surprised when you take risks and you take chances that everything that you want is on the other side of that.
Speaker 02:I love that. That's really good advice. Thank you for that. Of course. So tell me this: do you find in your industry that there are any myths or misconceptions?
Speaker 00:Absolutely, especially when it comes to skin. Um, so we do advanced skincare treatments here at Bliss Beauty Bar. Um, we do a lot of corrective skincare. That's one of the things that I love doing, is helping people reach their skin goals, especially when they want to correct things like acne, discoloration, premature aging. And I find a common misconception is that people think that they can just get the skincare treatments, and that's going to give them the results that they want and need with their skin. Um, not realizing that you also need a solid home care regimen and that when you get professional skincare treatments and you have that professional home care regimen, they work together to really see those results that you want. Um, I like to always relate it to my clients, similar to us as petitions being your like fitness coach. When you go to the gym and you work out with a fitness coach, they're gonna have certain workout routines that you do when you're there with them at the gym, but they're gonna give you a meal plan for when you're at home. They're gonna give you little mini workouts that you need to be doing in the meantime when you're not with them in the gym. And so I like to relate it similar to um when you come in for your skincare treatments. You gotta have the solid skincare treatments that you're getting here that are gonna be your professional skincare treatments, more advanced ingredients that you're not gonna get at home, but you still have those solid products that are gonna help support the treatments that you get here so you can really see those, see those results that you want to see at home and correct those things that you want to improve with your skin. And so a lot of times when we explain that to our clients, they have a better understanding. And when they start seeing that success with having both the treatment plan here as well as the products at home, they're like, okay, I completely get it now. I can't just come in for the skincare treatment. So it's a whole system that works together.
Speaker 02:I really love that analogy so much. And I imagine it helps your clients realize too that just like the gym, you have to keep it up, you know. Uh, and so having that uh daily routine. So I imagine your your clients appreciate you for that. So what I I'm curious, what is sort of your um your your bread and butter? What are you finding most people are are coming to you uh for in terms of service?
Speaker 00:Definitely the advanced skincare treatments that we offer. Um, one of the things that really set Bliss Beauty Bar apart when I first opened up in 2020 is us specializing in multicultural skin. That's something that really helped us uh stand out, is that we specialize in helping um ethnic skin reach their skin results using the right products, doing the right treatments that are um effective for certain skin types. And so we get a lot of uh skincare clients that come in and we're able to just really help them with feeling confident in the skin that they're in. Um, so that is one of the number one services that we offer because again, we offer the advanced skincare treatments, we offer uh the professional skincare products here as well. So they have everything that they need uh to see the results that they want to see with their skin. We give custom treatment plans, we give uh custom home care regimens, just so that the client has a clear understanding of what they need to reach their skin goals and they feel more confident and um, you know, everything that we're doing to help them with what it is that they want to improve with their skin. So definitely skincare treatments is our number one service that we offer here.
Speaker 02:I love that. I love that. And so tell me this. I imagine in your industry that there are um new products that come out, new treatment types. What are what do you do to kind of stay on top of maybe trends in education?
Speaker 00:Yes, education is so important to me and to the Bliss Beauty Bar team. I'm so big on it. So I like to make sure that we're always involved in any type of trade shows, um, any type of educational seminars that are coming up with the uh skincare partners that we work with here at Bliss Beauty Bar. We always make sure we attend those. We're very big on online education. Um, the professional skincare partners that we work with also have a lot of continuing education on their platforms. So we definitely like sure to uh we definitely like to make sure that we maximize on um utilizing those resources so that we continue to grow, learn, and just give our clients, you know, the newest things that are coming out so they can really reach their schedules.
Speaker 02:Yeah, so important. I I love that you go the extra mile in that area. That's awesome. So, what is something that you wish the listeners knew about your business?
Speaker 00:So at Bliss Beauty Bar, we really pride ourselves on the client experience. That is something that is so important to us from the moment that, you know, when you walk through the door, how you feel when you walk in the door, from you know, the music that's playing, the scent that's in the air, uh, you know, the the treatment that you're receiving, the service that you're getting, how you feel during the service, how you feel after the service, the confidence that you have, you know, you feeling more beautiful. Um, we really pride ourselves on the client experience and we really go above and beyond to make sure that you're satisfied and that um everything that you need is here. We want to make things easier for you. Uh, that's one of the reasons why we offer multiple services here at Bliss Beauty Bar. Our clients really love the convenience of being able to get multiple services done in one space. You know, we have clients that are getting married and they love that they can get their eyelash extensions and get their, you know, skincare treatment so their skin is glowing for that special day. Uh clients love when they have trips coming up, they can get their waxing services done and their eyelash extensions done in one appointment. So our clients really love the convenience of being able to have multiple services done in one space. But more than anything, we just really pride ourselves on the client experience and going above and beyond. Um, you know, that's one of the reasons why we are a two times award-winning spa. We have over 135 five-star reviews on Google because the client experience is everything to us.
Speaker 02:That's amazing. That's amazing. So important. I love that. Yes, absolutely. If the listeners want to learn more from you, learn about your services, connect with you, how can they find you?
Speaker 00:So you can find us at our website, www.blissbeautybarva.com. You can also connect with us through our social media platforms. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Blissbeauty Bar VA. We're always uh posting different treatments, behind the scenes, educational tips and posts. So that's one way to stay connected with us. If you follow us on our social media platforms or even check us out on our website, we have um VIP text lists and email lists that you can be a part of so you continue to stay updated and know everything that's going on with Bliss Beauty Bar.
Speaker 02:Amazing. Amazing. Layonna, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Bliss Beauty Bar with us.
Speaker 00:Yes, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 01:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.