Fighting the Pandemic with Beauty

Anastasia Christodoulou of Oh My Beauty tells us about offering unique, specialized, and quality beauty services.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Anastasia Christodoulou: Thankfully, my family and I are all safe and healthy. The positive side of this situation is that I can make the most of my loved ones. I spend as much time as possible teaching my 4-year-old daughter new stuff. It is also a great opportunity to learn how to handle family conflict in positive ways, which is something very common in the Covid days. 

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Oh My Beauty.

Anastasia Christodoulou: I believe that beauty should be every woman’s priority; it is a way of living, something unique. I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. So, I decided to create Oh My Beauty nails and more, a very cozy, warm, and full of love place. I wanted our clients to feel welcome, relaxed, and pampered. We offer a variety of services such as manicure, pedicure, waxing, lashes, makeup, and so on. We aim to offer unique, specialized, and quality services that only Oh My Beauty can. In the meantime, my university studies are the key in my decision-making throughout this difficult commercial situation.

How does Oh My Beauty innovate? 

Anastasia Christodoulou: We always try to stay up-to-date with the latest beauty trends, and we offer a wide variety of beauty services. We put great effort into customer experience, and we focus on being easily discovered. We do this by investing in digital marketing and specifically in SEO, ranking at the top results of all search engines. We also offer online booking on our website.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Anastasia Christodoulou: Covid-19 has obviously affected many businesses’ finances. Unfortunately, this is an unprecedented situation, and it is impossible to know what the next day will be like. At the moment, we keep the expenses low and save money for the coming days. We renegotiate with suppliers, we buy only the necessary products and consumables in low quantities, and we extend our spendings as much as we can.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

Anastasia Christodoulou: Fortunately, I’ve never faced difficult situations regarding our employees. We maintain a team spirit, and I must protect it. I try to pose an “all for one, and one for all” mentality and this is what keeps us strong, even in times like this.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Anastasia Christodoulou: Social media is our main weapon in our customers’ communication. We are active on both Facebook and Instagram, which gives us the opportunity to stay connected with our customers and provide any kind of help they might need.

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Anastasia Christodoulou: We have received government grants throughout the whole year, which is not the solution to the problem, but it certainly helps pivot the situation, at least on a short-term basis. We, as many other businesses do, need liquidity and governmental support to survive in this unknown crucial situation.

Your final thoughts?

Anastasia Christodoulou: I believe that while Covid-19 has presented all businesses with some real struggles, it is also a new opportunity to expand our mindset and ways of doing business. There are always hidden awards and ways to innovate, and our job is to find them and take advantage of every situation.

Your website?

Oh My Beauty