Renee Harmon first got to know Glo the way thousands of people do: as a customer.
A location had opened near her hometown, and she quickly became a regular. She loved that she could move between differing skincare and other wellness services in one place, and the store itself had the kind of polished, high-energy feel that made an impression. But after enough visits, Renee began noticing something else. The place was consistently busy.
For someone who had spent years talking with her husband, David, about eventually owning a business, that was hard to ignore.
David was intrigued for another reason. A pharmacist by profession, he had long been interested in emerging technologies and had already spent time learning about red light therapy. So when Renee started talking about the Glo she had been visiting, he wasn’t hearing about just another concept. He saw a business built around services and technologies he already found compelling.
Before long, the conversation shifted from we like this place to could we actually own one?
That question would eventually take the Harmon family from one Glo in Oxford, Mississippi, to a rapidly growing business that now includes Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with Starkville, Mississippi, coming next. And at the center of it all is their son Seth, who went to college planning to become an educator and unexpectedly found an additional passion running the family’s first location.
Building Something of Their Own
Renee and David were not looking for a dramatic reinvention. Renee had spent 35 years as a dental hygienist and David 30 years as a pharmacist. By their mid-50s, both had successful careers, but they had also carried an ambitious streak for years.
They had explored business ideas before. The challenge was finding one that matched the life they actually wanted.
They wanted ownership and the chance to create something valuable for their family, but neither was interested in spending the next decade reinventing every process, learning every lesson the expensive way or working 18-hour days simply because they had decided to become entrepreneurs.
That was part of what made franchising attractive. It offered a chance to build something of their own without having to build every system from scratch. And once they began looking seriously at Glo, the combination of an established operating model, a broad service mix and a concept they already believed in made the opportunity increasingly difficult to dismiss.
Oxford became the natural place to begin.
Their son Seth was attending the University of Mississippi, which gave the family a connection to the city and a feel for the market. They also saw something promising in the college-town dynamic itself. Glo’s mix of tanning, spray tanning, skincare, red light therapy and wellness services had an obvious audience among students and young adults, while still appealing well beyond the university population.
Seth stepped in to run the location and quickly became a major part of the story.
He had gone to Ole Miss to pursue education, a field he is passionate about, but operating Glo revealed another side of what he wanted his future to also look like. He learned the business firsthand, took ownership of the store and found that he genuinely thrived.
For Renee and David, that was a big part of what they had hoped for from the beginning. They wanted a business that could create something lasting and meaningful for the family.
When Oxford Became a Blueprint
The first location also did something else: it showed them that the model could work for them.
Oxford grew so fast that the family ultimately expanded the size of the store in less than 12 months. By that point, the question was no longer whether Glo would remain a one-location venture. The more interesting question was where they should go next.
Their answer has become a clear strategy.
The Harmons recently opened their second location in Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama, and they are preparing to open another in Starkville, home to Mississippi State. Three markets, three major college towns, all within a region the family understands.
The approach plays to what they learned in Oxford. College communities bring a large population of younger consumers who are already interested in many of Glo’s services, while the breadth of the concept means the business does not have to live or die by a single category or season.
As the Harmons have expanded, they have also come to appreciate the support behind the brand. Renee and David have been particularly impressed by the accessibility of Glo CEO Onyi Odunukwe, whether they were looking for advice or sharing feedback from their own experience as operators.
They have also seen that feedback move beyond conversation. When they raised ideas that could make the system stronger, the Harmons have watched Glo listen and, when appropriate, put changes into practice.
For two people who specifically wanted entrepreneurship without having to figure out every piece alone, that relationship has mattered.
For the Harmons, Glo has become more than the business opportunity Renee and David were searching for. It has become something the family can build together.
Interested in building a Glo business of your own? Learn more about Glo franchise opportunities and available markets here. Glo Tanning: Premier Tanning Salon Franchise Opportunities
