Young beautician shines in business

IN THE midst of a global pandemic, young beautician Jaz Bratanavicius became a successful businesswoman.

By 17, Miss Bratanavicius knew what she wanted to do and wasted no time in setting out to do it.

Like many young people her age, she’d spent hours watching make up tutorials online.

But for Miss Bratanavicius this was not procrastination or aimless time scrolling. It was the spark of her passion for beauty therapy.
Now, at just 20, she is both a beautician and businesswoman.

“I was in year 11 when I realised I wanted to do beauty … I just dropped out, I didn’t do Year 12. I just went straight into it,” Miss Bratanavicius said.

A year later, in 2019, instead of graduating high school, Miss Bratanavicius graduated from the Elly Lukas Beauty Therapy College with a Diploma of Beauty Therapy.

Focused and ambitious, she was well on her way to establishing herself as a reputable beautician when her clear career path took a sharp turn when she lost her job in an established salon due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

But, instead of giving up on beauty therapy, Miss Bratanavicius set out to build her own salon, and at 19 she opened her now thriving salon, Brow & Beauty House, in Geelong West.

“I started the business myself out the back of a hair salon, just in a room there … and then it just grew so quickly from there. I was only there for four months,” she explained. “And now a year and three months later we’re as busy as ever, and I have an employee now.”

After four months, Miss Bratanavicius was already looking for a larger salon to rent, and when she found a place at 112 Pakington St in Geelong West she said it just felt right.

In just three weeks, with help from her business-minded mum and dad, she had set the space up and was ready to open.

“I loved designing each room and my beautiful reception area,” Miss Bratanavicius said.

“Mum and dad both own businesses so they have been really helpful with all the business things.”

And Miss Bratanavicius has navigated many challenges that come with owning a small business, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic.

“We had to shut down fully, we had to reschedule all of our clients. It was hard … it was so hard. In and out of lockdowns, they were booked in and then we had to cancel and then we had to catch up when we were back open and then we had to close again … just the catching up was really tough, and a very stressful time,” she said.

The young entrepreneur said she persisted because she loves her job, and held onto the thought of being back in her salon, chatting with her clients.

“You know you don’t expect anything like that to happen, but obviously we’ve gotten through the toughest thing that’s happened to the world so we know now we can get through anything,” she said.

Last month Miss Bratanavicius received the Timley Beauty Business Entrepreneur Award, presented by Elly Lukas.

Her salon is quickly establishing a solid reputation as her cliental grows.

“I’m so happy with where I am now,” Miss Bratanavicius said. “You go to school and you don’t think you’re going to get recognised I guess, and you just do your own thing … I always said I wanted to do this, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.

“My dream is to own several salons and possibly my own products one day.”

And she is well on her way.

To follow Miss Bratanavicius’s business journey or book an appointment, visit the Brow and Beauty House Instagram page @browandbeautyhouse.