When Samantha (Sam) Corujo needs quiet time, she’ll relax on the balcony of Summer House Realty, overlooking Augusta National. It’s a welcome retreat from her traditional real estate office downstairs and three other businesses she’s built.
So, how does she juggle all four companies?
For the highly energetic entrepreneur, it’s a combination of discipline, exercise, micro-bursting, and creating think time.
” I get up, I go to the gym early, and then I come home, and there’s that little sacred two-hour window of time where I can handle all my content (social media for her 4 companies), return emails, and all of that.
She’ll use her calendar alerts to check on her Real Estate, Coaching, Salon, and Event-Type businesses.
BUSINESS #1: Real Estate Sales and Leasing
Sam and her husband, Tony, are about to celebrate their 5th year as one of a handful of husband-and-wife real estate teams in the CSRA. The couple utilizes different strengths from listings or buyer’s representation to the closing table.
He transitioned from the military, and they went to Real Estate School together.
Sam loves the commercial side, and Tony favors residential. They organize a different group text chain for each client they represent. “We go to listing appointments together. I do a lot of the upfront work, and then Tony takes over when it comes to the contracts”. She then supports his efforts until transaction day.
Sam has a pair of high-profile, commercial clients she’s been helping. A mom, daughter, and granddaughter team at Villa Europa just ended their 35-plus-year run at 3044 Deans Bridge Road. Sam got the listing and is actively trying to sell their building. “They are phenomenal women,” she said.
As a buyer’s representative, she leased part of a 7,000 square foot space to Fresh Water Design. They run a local gift shop and a manufacturing business that ships products to L.L. Bean for resale and to golf shops across the country. “I don’t think a lot of business owners know that you can have someone represent you in a lease scenario, the same as you can with a buyer’s agent” (for a residential sale).
BUSINESS #2: Business Coaching
Sam’s passion for commercial real estate and her salon business created a natural opportunity to develop her “Not Your Average Coaching” business. Some clients spend an hour a week with her, and other clients are project-based. Some need help with policies and others with people issues.
“We’ll also look at their profit and loss statements together. I also work on their mindset around it. I’m checking up on them. How are you sleeping? How are you doing? Okay?”
When she started her hair styling business in 2016, and throughout the years, fellow salon owners and entrepreneurs had questions for her. “And once I got into commercial real estate, it was like every other day. It was like, hey, Sam, can I pick your brain for a minute? And I sat on it for probably two years. Everyone around me was telling me, Sam, you really need to coach. You need to find a way to mentor professionally.
And I finally got rid of that imposter syndrome and launched it.
So, it’s been really good, “she humbly said.
“I work with people who are looking to open their own brick-and-mortar, but they’re not quite ready. But I have also found my niche with service providers. I myself was always a great service provider (with hair), but I found I struggled as a business owner for probably the first three years in business, just trying to figure it out, feeling like I couldn’t get my head above water. I didn’t have a website for the first couple of years that I was open. I didn’t have my Google Business page built out. I had no digital footprint whatsoever except for Instagram and Facebook. And that was doing not only myself a disservice, but my staff a disservice, and the clients who couldn’t find us. I’ve got one girl right now, we’re building out her Google Business page together, and we’re building an online booking platform together. I help those who want a sounding board put the missing pieces of the puzzle together.
And I wish I had had a me whenever I started.”
BUSINESS #3 DAHLIA SALON & SPA
Sam has been working behind the chair for more than 15 years, including nine as owner of Dahlia Salon & Spa, a 2300 square foot sanctuary on 4336 Washington Road in Evans.
2/3rds of her team focuses on the hair styling aspect and 1/3rd on lash extensions.
Technically, business #3A is also part of Dahlia.
“I became the Nova Lash Trainer for the state of Georgia about three years ago.
So, we operate as a training space for others to travel and get certified as well.”
Dahlia might just be Sam’s happy place. Besides her two-hour morning routine, she spends most of her time in the salon working on clients’ hair in the chair and acting as the glue for a group of creative women.
“That connection piece is very important to me. So, on the days that I’m not working behind the chair, I spend time in the salon in some kind of way.”
At one point during her explosive Dahlia growth, Sam, the coach, visited with other salon coaches at different conferences.
“They told me to find your niche. Are you a blonde specialist, are you this, or that, and I’m like, no, I’m a people specialist, so to me, everything is muscle memory. So, it doesn’t matter if I’m doing a highlight or a gray root touch-up; I care about the
conversation, so I enjoy having, you know, so-and-so come in on Tuesdays every six weeks. I work on (the heads of) a lot of other business owners, I just love the movers and the shakers in our community.”
They learn from each other.
She’s not much for small talk in the chair.
“I’m not the person that’s like, oh, how’s the weather? I’m like, no, tell me your deepest, darkest secrets immediately, but I will tell you mine so that we’re even, she laughed.
I think that our specialty is really the fact that everyone is just welcome. I want someone with lime green hair to be able to sit next to someone who has highlights, and everyone enjoys each other. That’s been my goal from the beginning is just to create a place where everyone is welcome.”
BUSINESS #4 “CREATE SPACE”
If there was one of her 4.5 businesses that would be a philanthropic endeavor and combine many of her skills, it would be CreateSpace, a 1,100 square feet spot nestled in Columbia County. In January, Sam celebrates one year in this business.
“It is the cutest little old building at the Grovetown city limit. It’s right across the railroad tracks,” said Sam.
Sam is restructuring her business model. It will be a place that people can use for up to $50 per hour for content sessions, and event rental prices vary. With a small “Create Club” membership fee, entrepreneurs will also be able to use the building as a co-working space, when events are not on the calendar.
“I have other business owners come in and host their workshops. Really, it is a space to just kind of let your imagination run wild. I’ve got people who come to record their podcast. They can also take good photos and all of that in the meantime. So, we’ve done everything from creative workshops to yoga. I had someone rent for a slumber party one time. That was really cool. All the furniture is movable. Everything can be swapped around to make it what you want. Really, the idea was born out of working with people you find out that you can’t yet afford to go brick and mortar.
And I have equipment for photographers to be able to do hourly rentals with clients.
So, the idea was to provide a space for the community to be able to rent out, that alleviates the risk of going into your own space just yet.
Create Space is a give-back. I hosted meetups for other business owners for years and would always just pour my own money into it. So, I have no issue providing brick and mortar space with the hope of it just meeting my overhead. It’s not something that I am looking to cash flow off.
I really am passionate about, you know, offering a space for those who need it.”
What’s Next for Sam?
Eventually, Sam would like to expand “Create Space”. Before opening the Grovetown location, Sam worked for a few years on a project she called “Collab”. She wrote multiple business plans with the end goal of combining her salon into a creative retail incubator of sorts, featuring a dozen or so tenants. She looked at locations on Washington Road in Evans that she could build out.
Unfortunately, financing became impossible due to SBA requirements.
As for Sam’s coaching future…., “I think where I’m going with my coaching is building out an online platform to be able to reach more business owners outside of Augusta.
Sam is interested in creating group meetups online so anyone can access them.
Will she add more businesses now?
“There’s only one me. So right now, I think I’m good on opening businesses!”
Advice for Entrepreneurs:
Well, that two hours in the morning are very key. That is the time when no one else can bother me. So, I always tell people, if you want to own a business, wake up early and get up before everybody else is up.
For me, having Tony and having such a good support system is really, really important.
To pick Sam’s brain or to learn about her businesses….
Call her direct line at 706.589.2886
