Every Friday my Abuela calls a stranger for manicure/pedicure they've known for years that she heard about from another friend, from another friend... Word of mouth, like most things in LatAm. They're not certified or anything, but they do a decent job.
I've always wondered about their background because they seem to hang out for too long at the house, and it sketches me out.
On my end, finding a good barber shop or beauty salon for my hair has always been a huge pain. The quality of cuts is extremely variable and online reviews are scarce, aside from maybe Facebook. There's no scarcity for cheap $10 cuts but the variability is incredible in quality. Some dude at the $10 barber shop could be a fantastic, trained stylist. But then next time you come in some other asshat ruins your hair.
Aka it's a bit of a crapshoot but it's all you know and what's accessible. I'm a broke college student and can't afford much more than that.
You're damn right that the beauty industry in LatAm is a bit of a wild west. I have a quick question: what are costs for customers like?
Down here in Puerto Rico a mid-range haircut is minimum $20. A low-tier, make-do barber shop cut is easily got at $10. A higher end cut can go up to $40.
$18 sounds like a great price, especially for a vetted professional. Rooting for you folks, let me know when the Puerto Rico beta opens ;)
In Latam, lack of regulations and licencing means that people struggle to access quality beauty and wellness services. Beauty salons and spas also offer very poor working conditions to professionals, who live mostly off tips or low commissions. As a Latin woman I always thought this was normal, but when I lived abroad I realized that it has more to do with lack of licensing standards. Latin men and women spend significantly more on these types of services than any other region. We deserve better!
Our platform connects customers with vetted, trained independent beauty and spa professionals. We allocate each appointment to the best suited professional in our network according to availability, distance and skills. We also train our professionals based on standardized protocols that we have developed, so we are becoming the quality standard in the industry. Most startups in this space in Latam are SaaS solutions for salons or spas. We believe in empowering who really matters in this space: the customers and the professionals. And it's really both: happy professionals are as important as happy customers.
Some of our best customers are working mothers and business owners who have little time to take care of themselves or go to the spa or salon. 95% of our network of third-party professionals are women who can decide when and how many hours they work at Glitzi, therefore they can continue with their professional careers when they become mothers. Not only that, but they can earn a lot more (as much as 3x more) than in salons or spas.
Comments, questions, and feedback are welcome!