This Mom’s Postpartum Breakouts Inspired a 70-Location Facial Franchise

Michele Henry built a strong business, then wanted to sell it and start over with something new. People thought she was nuts.

“My family and friends asked, ‘You’re going to leave a great business to do something that
doesn’t even exist? There’s no proven concept?’” she remembers.

But this wasn’t just about business to her. It was personal.

Her first business was a chain of clothing boutiques called Primp, which she’d grown to nine locations. But then, in 2017, Henry gave birth to her third child — and her face kept breaking out. Estheticians were helpful, but pricey at $350 a month. She wished there was a simple place to go and take care of her face. So she came up with the idea for Face Foundrié, a facial bar.

“Back then, we didn’t have ‘skinfluencers’ on TikTok or social media,” she says. “You were on your own unless you went to an esthetician.” 

So she sold Primp, opened Face Foundrié, and has proven her hunch correct: There are now 70 Face Foundrié stores across 24 states, with projections to hit 100 by the end of this year. Here’s how she did it, and why franchising was such an appealing way to grow.

Related: This Florist Saw 3 Problems In the Flower Industry. Now His Business Is Growing Like Crazy.

Did you still own Primp when you opened Face Foundrié?
On December 14, 2018, 10:30 a.m., at the Starbucks in the Galleria in Minnesota, I signed over the purchase agreement to sell my shares in Primp. At 10:35, I walked downstairs and signed the lease for what would become our flagship location with Face Foundrié. I didn’t want two businesses at once. I wanted to be all in.

Wow. Just five minutes in between the paperwork?
If I had given myself a day or a week, that’s a lot of room for self-doubt. But not so much with five minutes.

When you opened your first location in 2019, did you get everything right from the start?
You don’t know what you don’t know with version one. We opened with five beds and a juice and wellness bar, because good skin starts with what you feed your body. Long story short: Juice has the shortest shelf life, and nobody wanted juice. People just wanted facials.

We shut down and reopened less than 30 days later with eight beds, and already had a lease for the second site. If you listen to your customers, they will tell you exactly how the business should look and what they want.

How do you choose franchisees?
We go through a pretty strenuous process. We bring them up to Discovery Day. If you can make it through a Minnesota winter Discovery Day, we already know you’re tough as nails. But do they have a track record? Have they been part of another system? We like when they’re not 100% new to franchising. Then again, some of our very best franchisees didn’t have that prior experience, and they knock it out of the park.

Also, it’s attitude. Are you positive and uplifting? That’s what the brand is about — making people feel confident. And if you just want to own a concept that you can operate from a distance, then you’re not aligned with our mission. That’s my biggest red flag.

What are new things the brand is trying? 
When we were mandated to shut down during COVID, we created an at-home facial kit that saved us. We’re launching it again as a $24.99 package. It doesn’t exist on the market as an esthetician-backed step-by-step. You can do a facial with your friends at a cabin or at the beach. 

We’re also launching an AI skin analysis tool. It’s in-store. It magnifies your skin, uses AI to determine pore size, hydration, wrinkles, and then analyzes what services are best for your skin in the moment. 

Skincare is so personal and ever-changing. Ultimately, you have to innovate in our industry.

Related: Why Young Entrepreneurs Are Flocking to Franchising — and What It Means for Your Brand