Meet K. IRIS Williams | Esthetician & Lash Gal Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with K. IRIS Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi K. IRIS, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I’ve been doing lashes for over 10 years and has always been a passion of mine. When Covid hit my business was affected and I couldn’t lash due to the shut down. I needed a way to pivot my business and create a way to make what I call “sleep coin”. Without compromising the quality of the eyelash extension industry or taking away from the intimacy and therapy of the lashing experience. I also wanted to be the go to for all things lashes, lash extensions, lash lifts, and strips. Hating the process of going to buy strip lashes looking through a window on a box, just to get home put the lashes on and hate them! I wanted to create a luxury experience where clients could guarantee 100% satisfaction, comfortability, and fall in love with their lashes in store before reaching their door step. That’s how the Lash Gal experience was born.

What should our readers know about your business?
Lash gal is THE ultimate lash + beauty experience for the elite lash lover,… from everyday lash looks to bridal! I wanted to create a lash brand that was known for its extraness luxury and quality, if you know anything about getting eyelash extensions you know it isn’t for the weak or the basic and by that I mean its a lifestyle, req maintenance w the upkeep of lash fills, following your after care instructions and unfortunately negating favorite beauty products bc of ingredients (like oil) that can breakdown the adhesive that adheres the EYelash extension to the Natural Lash.
So I wanted to create alternative lash looks for every type of lash lover out there. Options for simple everyday luxury that allows you to be cute on the wake-up + if you need to get glam’d quickly it’s easy to do so with one of our signature eyelash enhancement treatments. We offer 3 diff types of lash enhancement services Damage free EE, Gentle keratin lash lifts, + my faveeee The Lash Lab by Lash Gal! Which is a one of a kind customizable experience that allows our lash gals to feel, try on, + love their falsies before purchasing. I think the worst thing ever is going to Sephora or ulta picking out a pair of lashes from a peekaboo window through a little lash box only to get home and find out how ridiculous the lashes look on your eye! Problem solved with our signature lash lab by lash gal.

I got introduced to lashing about 9/10 yrs ago, one of my close friends mom was a trainer for Novalash. Without hesitation She put me on to lashing and I’ve pretty much been lash obsessed ever since! After I started lashing, It sounds so cliche but I had a rock bottom moment, it wasn’t a moment actually it was like years, and it sucked bc me being in that dark space was coming from people that I trusted, who’s role in life is to protect me. After I started getting serious with lashing I decided to open a lash business in my hometown and I asked a family member to help me with the idea and it went all the way bad to say the least! WE turned into I, and I choose to say goodbye it was so heartbreaking and I got so depressed, the situation broke me to make a long story short. So I decided to start over like literally packed my daughter and my life into my car and moved to a whole new state with 2 nickels to rub together. It took me 14 hours to drive down here and the whole time I’m talking to myself like how can I be different in such a saturated market how can I be unapologeticly me and different… and I came up with the lash gal experience concept.

It was really hard to get the courage up to start another business after the big F, failing. But Now being aware of how bad things can go within a business, I promised myself that I’d change that horrible experience into a lesson learned. Turning those personal pain points into a luxury experience for my clients. I’m big on customer service and luxury vip experiences, that’s a huge selling point for me when I’m trying something new. I want to feel important, cherished and catered to so I wanted to incorporate that into the founding principles of the brand.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I don’t go out much since having my son, but I do love to eat! I’d start with dinner at Umi, Le colonial, or brunch at south city kitchen, if it’s a girls night out take me to magic city I’m a classy girl but the Atlanta strip clubs are so much fun to me! Plus I know I can get a client or two out of the night because like what dancer doesn’t wear and love lashes!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My children and my man. I had my daughter at 16 and my son is 10mos, his father has been in my life since my daughter was 2 and has been a voice of reason, motivation, my loan officer throughout this entire process..it’s not easy putting yourself out there and wanting to create something that no one has ever heard of before, they help me BTS when it counts most to get things done. My 16 y/o keeps in the know of all the new trendy stuff and My man is my own personal motivational speaker it’s the perfect balance and what I need to keep me focused in the entrepreneur life.

Website: Lashgal.com

Instagram: LashGalWorld