Why I'm All In On aglow: Transforming the Beauty Industry Through Memberships

The US$250B+ global beauty services industry is ripe for a business model revolution, and I couldn't be more excited to help lead the charge as aglow's new Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder.

For almost a decade, I've been immersed in the world of "beauty-tech" - B2B SaaS companies serving this vibrant, growing market dominated by savvy (mostly) female entrepreneurs. From Timely to Kitomba to Xero, I've seen firsthand the challenges these businesses face: unpredictable revenue, over-reliance on fully booked calendars, sensitivity to economic recessions (in some sub-categories) and a history of being undervalued and taken advantage of by deal/discount sites promising new clients at the cost of profits.

But I've also witnessed their incredible resilience, ambition and desire to build respected brands with loyal customers and exceptional experiences. The key to unlocking this? Transforming their business model.

Enter aglow: the world's first dedicated platform combining membership management software, integrated payments, a brand community and deep industry expertise. By empowering beauty professionals to offer custom memberships, aglow helps them generate predictable recurring revenue, increase customer loyalty and build truly valuable businesses. It's a powerful value prop - one I wholeheartedly stand behind.

Some might see memberships as just a feature to be tacked onto booking software. But the reality is far more complex. Properly implementing memberships requires robust T&Cs, tailored contracts, sophisticated billing and debtor management, thoughtful automation and hands-on support. It demands a singular focus and deep understanding of the industry's unique needs and desire to transform their business model.

That's why I believe aglow is perfectly positioned to own this space. With a platform purpose-built for beauty memberships and intimate knowledge of the market, aglow can champion this business transformation in a way generalist software simply can't. Building on this and deepening our competitive moat is what I am laser focused on.

In our first year, we’ve already

• Onboarded almost 5k members and 600 beauty and wellness businesses
• Generated $1m ARR for our business, and made it possible for one of our customers to do the same!
• Seen customers wrap their arms around this model and run with it, including one who added 40 members in her first month of using aglow
• And another who is adamant that aglow saved her business!

When I first connected with Karl and the aglow team, I was struck by their passion, focus and early traction. But what sealed the deal for me was the potential to change the business health of our customers, and do so against the backdrop of the sheer size of the opportunity. Again, this is a $250B+ industry that's largely untapped when it comes to memberships, but with an entirely motivated target audience who are ready and willing to make this transition - with the right support. And aglow is poised to support beauty and wellness businesses and capture this opportunity.

So I'm going all in - not just as chief revenue officer, but as a co-founder, with skin in the game and a deep commitment to aglow's mission. Together, we're going to redefine what a successful beauty business looks like, empowering hundreds of thousands of female entrepreneurs to take control of their financial futures. And we're going to build an iconic, industry-defining company in the process.

The revolution is underway - and I couldn't be more excited to help lead the charge.

About the author

Jo has more than 15 years strategic and operational experience in early stage SaaS startup and scale up companies including Xero (Head of Product Marketing for Mobile and SMB), Timely (Chief Product Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Revenue Officer) and CarbonCrop (CEO, Director). Nine of those fifteen years have been building market leading booking software and business management solutions for the beauty and wellness industry (including at Kitomba).

Read about Jo’s experience and key learnings at Timely.

Reach out to Jo on LinkedIn.