“It’s a privilege to work with your children, have family meetings and build a lasting legacy together.”

Susan Stieber is a licensed clinical social worker, the mother of three and a business woman building a legacy. While she and her husband, Larry, raised their family in Roseville, she worked in the mental health industry in Sacramento for 15 years – passionately focusing on strength-based recovery therapy, and working with people for their personal health and recovery. As gratifying as this work was to Susan, deep down she wanted to be an entrepreneur and set off on her own.

When she was introduced to European Wax Center in 2008, she was impressed by the positivity of the company and fell in love with the brand. It was here, at this small company with a growing promise, she found a springboard where she could expand her skillset in a business venture and spread her wings.

In 2009, as an early franchisee, she opened her first European Wax Center in San Ramon, CA. With the success of that launch, she was invigorated. It solidified her confidence in the brand, which triggered the addition of European Wax Center franchise stores #14 and #15 – in Roseville. For reference, there are now over 750 centers open in the U.S., of which Susan now owns 11.

Susan’s youngest daughter, Julie, lived in South Florida and had been a guest at European Wax Center and also loved the brand. When she moved her family back to Roseville in 2016 after 18 years working in Human Relations for multi-million-dollar corporations, she was looking for a new chapter. Not only did she face the challenge of transitioning from the corporate world to a family business environment, she had to learn the business from the ground-up, literally. She started at the front desk as a guest services associate. Working under the management team who had been together for 6 years, Julie had to prove herself. Now Julie proudly works alongside her mom. She has garnered the respect from other employees who knew the path to regional manager was hard-earned.

Mom and daughter are a strong team. As businesswomen, they take joy in helping associates feel good about coming to work. And that includes putting the right tools in their toolbox to make them feel successful every day. They pride themselves on training and growing their staff. In response to this nurturing, many employees have gone on to create careers with Susan and Julie at EWC, re-paying the opportunity to the next generation coming up behind them and keeping the cycling flowing.

You might think that as a successful businessowner, Susan can sit back and say, I’ve got this. But this is not the case. When a new opportunity arises, Susan shares that they respond and remodel their business accordingly. Guest challenges are more different today than they have been. The personal grooming culture has different DNA and they feel responsible to evolve along with it.

The majority of EWC’s clients are still women, however, the men’s segment accounts for 5% of business and is growing annually. Usually encouraged by their wives to book a service, men are using European Wax Center as part of their grooming routine and are now incorporating hair removal, waxing and skin care products into their personal grooming routines similar to their female counterparts.

European Wax Center is a family affair. In addition to Julie, her siblings Caryn and Jeffrey, and her dad are all franchisees. Susan says it’s a privilege to work with your children, have family meetings and build a lasting legacy together.