Deka Lash Founders Journey From Love to Lashes

CANONSBURG, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#beauty–24 years ago a sweet hometown girl from Pittsburgh walked down the aisle
as Maid of Honor, paired up with the Best Man who was the groom’s best
friend since high school. There was an instant attraction between the
two, and two days later a first date. Six months later they moved in
together, and within three years married. In year four they became
parents to the first of their four children. But what makes this story
unique is the love at first sight that eventually would lead them to
their greatest union, creators of one of the most in-demand beauty
brands in the U.S. today. This is the story of Jennifer and Michael
Blair and how Deka Lash began.

Jennifer and Michael Blair both grew up in Washington, Pennsylvania, a
small town south of Pittsburgh. After Michael graduated with a business
degree from college he immediately followed his entrepreneurial desire
starting AllPointe, a mortgage finance company. Several years
afterwards, he launched TrueClose, a mortgage software platform that was
successfully purchased by a larger firm. After the acquisition, he went
on to attain his Master’s Degree from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon
University. “That was a crazy time as Mike was going to grad school,
working fulltime and baby number three was on the way but he was very
driven and I knew things would calm down, or so I thought,” Jennifer
remarks.

An incredible business opportunity across the country was presented and
The Blairs packed up their three small children and off to San Diego
they went. “We were living in the same town we grew up in so moving
2,500 miles to the west coast was a huge transition but we were excited
about it,” says Michael. “I was recruited to help lead a banking
software company that had an incredible amount of potential and I was
very excited about the challenge.” Then it happened—the banking crash of
2008. “The company lost about 80% of our client base; devastating is an
understatement of what we went through.” After working to downsize the
company, the Blairs opted to move back home. “I cried when we left
Pittsburgh and I cried when we left San Diego,” says Jennifer with a
laugh. “I was anxious to move back home to be with friends and family
but leaving San Diego—what’s not to love about San Diego?”

Back home Jennifer was busy with kids, and Michael began a consulting
business with tremendous success. “I was doing what I knew best,
building teams, strategizing, utilizing innovation; all areas I had a
proven track record in.”

Jennifer loved all aspects of being a mom but it was 24/7 as Michael’s
work took him away from home each week. “I began looking for something
to do for myself and wanted to pursue my dream of doing something in the
beauty industry as this was something I always wanted, ever since my
modeling and beauty pageants as a young teen,” Jennifer said. Introduced
to a teeth whitening concept, she launched her own brand called
NeuSmile, opening inside a kiosk in the local mall. It was instantly
successful and she added a second location inside a local salon. The
business quickly grew but with baby number four on the way, she slowed
down the business growth so she could regain time and be with her
children.

When Michael turned 40 everything changed! “We were heading to Las Vegas
and I wanted to have a bit of glam so I looked into eyelash extensions,”
says Jennifer. “I was surprised how hard it was to find a salon that
offered them and how expensive it was.” She finally got them in Las
Vegas and a light bulb went off—if she was having such difficulty
finding access to this service, other women certainly would too. Then
she thought, why not make this service convenient and affordable for
women everywhere! After taking an eyelash extension training course and
a great deal of practice she learned how to do eyelash extensions, and
the business was up! “I quickly had to hire and train employees because
the concept took off so fast.”

This sparked Michael’s interest, “What are you doing again?” he asked
Jennifer. “He knew I was onto something,” Jennifer says with a grin.

They were all in. They named the business based on the first two letters
of their two daughters, Demi and Karli – Deka. They trademarked the
name, signed their first lease, put up signage and did what they did
best: Jennifer as the visionary of the beauty brand, guiding the
consumer experience, while Michael took on the role of CEO and
strategist creating a scalable, efficient business model. In 2016, they
were operating four Pittsburgh locations and were ready to launch Deka
Lash nationwide — immediately building a franchise team and signing up
the first franchise in Salt Lake City, UT.

“Our brand is unique as we focus on being experts at one thing, eyelash
extensions. Our cutting edge use of technology, including a
no-receptionist iPad check-in supported by a dedicated customer care
center, allows our lash artists to focus on a better experience and at
the same time provide our franchise owners with lower labor costs,” says
Michael. “From the modernized studio design to the music, the ergonomic
beds, and even a custom aroma inside the studio, it is all designed to
be a WOW experience.”

The Blairs are proud of the 40 studios that are operating but it’s only
the beginning. “We are opening a new studio each week and have an
aggressive growth plan with 300 studios in the next three years—a goal I
am confident we can achieve. Jennifer’s passion and focus for Deka Lash
will make this a known brand nationwide,” Michael says beaming with
pride.

About Deka Lash

Deka Lash was founded in 2011 by Jennifer and Michael Blair, with the
vision to create everyday confidence through beautiful lashes that are
affordable and accessible to everyone. Deka Lash studios are modern
retail salons which apply semi-permanent custom eyelash extensions by
highly trained lash artists to the clients’ own lashes, providing a
variety of unique looks and styles. The leading eyelash concept in
innovation, Deka Lash began franchising in 2016 and to date has 40
studios open in 17 states. For additional information visit dekalash.com

Contacts

CH Media
Barbara Carrera Holland
602.404.7561
chmedia@cox.net