Kristen Gale is the CEO + Creator of THE TEN SPOT® Beauty Bars, one of the fastest growing beauty services company with locations across North America. Starting with a single store in Toronto’s then up-and-coming Queen West neighbourhood, THE TEN SPOT® has become a beloved brand, channeling Kristen’s edgy, honest humor and commitment to excellence.

Kristen developed her winning business strategy by finding the middle ground. Before THE TEN SPOT® Beauty Bars, most major cities had two spa extremes: the affordable and fast (but unsanitary) ‘chop shops,’ or the high-priced, high-end spas that sold relaxation.

Kristen’s major insight was blending the efficiency of low end with the quality of high-end, mixing in a highly sociable atmosphere, on-point trendy-ness, and fun. Her first location, started when she was just 24 and had been fired from a job in graphic design, gained a fast cult following which continues to this day. Fast forward 10 years and Kristen has expanded THE TEN SPOT® by building new corporate stores and also through mastery of franchising, with over 20 locations in operation and more builds underway. The company’s goal is to be the most recognized and reputable beauty bar brand in the world, and Kristen now oversees this burgeoning operation as CEO and sole owner, splitting her time between franchise sales and relationships, and building a super culture across all locations.

Kristen achieved mastery in branding and business planning, as well as scaling up beyond the threshold of a $10+ million a year enterprise. Kristen’s been called ‘the godmother of Canadian beauty bars…who continues to influence aesthetic hotspots across the country’ by Toronto’s Rogue Stories, and has been recognized with dozens of awards for entrepreneurship, and acknowledged as a go-to commentator on the beauty industry in Canada’s top media publications including the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and others.

Kristen’s personal story is one of overcoming and taking a maximalist approach to life. Early on her father instilled in her a love for travel and for entrepreneurship. Bullied as a young woman in Winnipeg, Kristen overcame her anxiety and became an adventurous twenty-something, moving from home to live in New York and Montreal, working for Vice Magazine. After being fired from a graphic design job in Toronto at 24, she decided on a whim to strike out on her own and remarkably wrote the business plan for the first 10spot location overnight, quickly securing a location and loan, and opening within a few months.

Kristen is guided by her values of inclusiveness. Her company’s motto – ‘we exist to make everyone feel like a TEN’ – derives from a sense that every person has the right to feel great about themselves. Drawing on her father’s advice of ‘do whatever you want, just make it a business,’ Kristen encourages others, especially young women to follow their dreams and in practical terms make their ‘Plan A’ a reality. Kristen also speaks to how entrepreneurialism can help level the playing field for women. As a mother and business owner, Kristen has also mastered work-life integration as an alternative to work-life balance.

Kristen has spoken to various groups including DeGroote and Rotman, as well as the Economic Club of Canada. As a speaker, Kristen uses her naturally humorous energy, infectious confidence, and blunt honesty to engage audiences and convey important truths about what it takes to make your ‘Plan A’ a reality, how to achieve balance, and the importance of women’s entrepreneurship.

Salon Professionals, Beauty, Entrepreneurship, Women in Business, Lifestyle