HER STORY ⟡ Anna Dey

Apr 17

Today, we are meeting Anna Dey, owner of goGLOW Mentor & Clean Eatz Mentor/Westlake!

Hi there! My name is Anna Dey and I've been a Northeast Ohio entrepreneur for almost 15 years. I have a passion for all things female empowerment (peep the GRL PWR tattoo on my arm) and love seeing women succeed in business - so Beauty Boost seems like a great place to be! I live with my husband, Mike, and our two rescue pitties, Roo & Tootsie, in Kirtland Hills, Ohio.

I started my entrepreneurial journey with an Anytime Fitness franchise back in 2012 that I successfully sold almost a decade later. That business was my foundation and the catalyst to an endless continued commitment to business ownership. I have since opened over ten additional businesses, including several that I still retain - Clean Eatz in Mentor & Westlake, Smoothie King in Mentor & Painesville, goGLOW in Mentor. I also created a consulting business, The franSPOT, where I help others hoping to pursue entrepreneurship through franchising!

WHEN DID IT START:

I have had an entrepreneurial "bug" from childhood. I was always creating childhood businesses - most of them fairly comical (like when I'd offer personalized drawings featuring my customer's favorite hobbies/accessories despite having zero artistic skill or when I'd create lemonade stands that simply sold Capri Suns for half the price my parent's purchased them for). In childhood documents, we found a business plan I'd made for a "Tea Party" concept that I confidently presented my Mom at age 9, influenced by an article I'd found in the local newspaper. It seemed to be fairly destined.

WHAT DOES BEING A WOMAN IN BUSINESS MEAN TO YOU:

I am incredibly proud of what I've accomplished, and I've admittedly become a bit of a hard head when it comes to pushing back against old status quos that assume women are less likely to be in a power position. Assume my husband is the Principal on our accounts just because he's male? Please redraft them, or else we won't be signing. Assume my husband should be the primary on our business credit cards for no reason beyond his gender? Not the bank for us. Address a letter to me as Mrs. Michael Dey? Oh lord, you're past the point of no return! Haha. Lucky for me, I have a supportive husband who understands the challenges women business owners have historically faced (and, unfortunately, still sometimes face), and he champions equality alongside me. Being a woman in business means doing what I can to ensure that the path to do so only gets easier for the generations behind me.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT BEING A BUSINESS OWNER:

I love the opportunity to fill a vacant storefront in my community, to offer a product or service that consumers are excited to purchase and that brings them joy, and to create a livelihood that I'm in control of.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CELEBRITY:

Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles, and if cartoons count - Mulan!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE:

My favorite business quote is, “You have to take risks to get ahead, but no risk that can wipe you out is ever worth taking" followed by, "Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there. But keeping money requires the opposite: humility, and fear that what you’ve made can be taken away just as fast.” It's a good way to look at risk (an often essential element of entrepreneurship) and fiscal management.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:

My biggest accomplishment is the charity I founded in 2015, The 24 in 24. The 24 in 24 is a 24-hour running event, where participants attempt to run one mile, on the hour, every hour, for 24 consecutive hours. They do this to raise funds for children battling life-threatening illnesses, and the event has raised over $3.2 million for NEO kids since I created it in 2015.

FUN FACT:

I got married on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa after a 6 day climb!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE BEAUTY BOOST MEMBERS TO KNOW:

I would love to support your women-owned companies and attend your events, and I am proud to be a part of a group that does just that! I am offering The Beauty Boost community a one-time use 20% off discount code on Clean Eatz Meal Plans and a $10 first time goGLOW Spray Tan! For Clean Eatz, use code BEAUTYBOOST at www.cleaneatz.com/healthy-meal-plans/ and for goGLOW use code COMMUNITY at goglow.co/mentor.

Where our community can find you?

Websites: www.cleaneatz.com

www.goglow.co www.thefranspot.com

Instagrams:

@annadeyrawr

@thefranspot

@goglow_mentor

@cleaneatzmentor

@cleaneatzwestlake

@smoothiekinglakecounty

@the24in24