May Member of the Month

For owners Debbie and Mike Burns, opening an indoor tanning business was about so much more than making money: It has been a way for the couple to take control of their careers, treat others well and show the community what a professional tanning salon looks like.

Before indulging their entrepreneurial spirits, Debbie was the administrative assistant for a law firm and Mike was the assistance parts manager at an automotive dealership. With a young son, they tried to find flexibility in their demanding schedules. While Mike was working 50 to 60 hours each week, Debbie was fighting a losing battle to work one day a week from home. At both jobs, overbearing management made each day more difficult than the last; they knew they had to make a change if they wanted to be happy.

At the time, Debbie was tanning at a gym. Although she wanted to get some color, she realized that the staff had no idea what they were doing. After being told she should wear sunblock in the tanning bed, didn’t need eyewear and could set her own time, she realized that just wasn’t right. After doing som research,both Debbie and Mike realized that they were perfectly capable of creating a better place to tan.

“I held my position for 11 years, and Debbie worked at law firms out of high school,” says Mike. “This was a third of our lives! Looking back, it seems like we must have been crazy to quit full-time jobs with benefits.” Debbie was the first to say goodbye to her steady job. It was their most courageous decision to date: They lost half of their income, benefits, took out a second mortgage on their new gome and were determined to make it work.

But success wouldn’t come overnight. Island Sun Tanning opened in October 1995 — right in the depths of slow season. Although that first year was tough, Mike and Debbie spent the next 17 making it into a well-oiled machine.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.