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Pennie Curet is a former Electric Beach customer who bought the business in 2005. Since then, we have grown to multiple locations and developed a reputation within Orange County for giving our clients the best tanning experience.

The following article appeared in the Orange County Register in 2007. We feel it tells you every thing you need to know about our company and the woman who makes it all happen.

If asked to describe Pennie Curet, acquaintances probably would say enthusiastic personality, energetic work ethic, beautiful. "Disabled" wouldn't come up. Yet a childhood accident left Curet with half a foot. She hid it well: no open-toed shoes, the leg brace thrown in the back of the closet at age 14, a string of cheerleading assignments in high school, college, for the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins. However, in the past decade the pain escalated to excruciation.

Curet's foot was disintegrating and actually led to her leap into business ownership. She could no longer wear high heels she thought necessary for her corporate leasing job. An owner can get away with wearing tennis shoes and boots.

So in 2005, she bought two tanning salons in Costa Mesa and Irvine using the name Electric Beach Tanning Spa. But this isn't a column about how nice it is that the disabled can run businesses. Longtime readers know there are no perfect small-business owners. The successful are those who adjust for imperfections and recover from mistakes. Most small businesses depend for their survival on the presence of the owner. Few successfully structure the enterprise to run smoothly through an owner's extended absence. In this, Curet is not the least bit disabled.

Business ownership came naturally to Curet. Her parents own a pet clinic in South Dakota. But colleges in the '80s pointed toward the corporate ladder so Curet climbed on. When her high-heel days were over, "I was ready for a new challenge," she said. "I needed a more flexible schedule for doctor appointments. . . but also I had the work ethic of an entrepreneur."  She and husband Luis considered fast-food franchises and hair salons. She liked the tanning salon because of the association with health and fitness and her ability to add extras —like a mint on guests' towels —to differentiate from competitors.

Luis said he was unfamiliar with the industry "but the population is aging so anything about looking better is a growth industry. I attended. . . the business track at a trade show and once I got the details about how this business worked, I never looked back."

Pennie Curet bought one in Costa Mesa, preferring an existing business that already had customers instead of a startup. The owner of the Irvine salon called her five months later about buying his shop as well. The business expanded rapidly to 13 employees. Curet worked 12 to 18-hour days. Each night she soaked the swollen half-foot.

"There's a finality about amputation, but I was ready because of the pain," Curet said. "It took my husband longer because he always thought some doctor would recommend something better." She would be away from her business for two months following surgery. She waited until May 18, so that all her "ladies," her word for employees, would be out of school for the summer. The night before surgery, she did six spray-tan procedures.

"It was prom weekend," she explained. "I gave my ladies the ability to make decisions, and they stepped up and acted as if this was their business," Curet said. "Was it difficult? Yeah, but the pain was enough that I knew I had to do it."

One of those ladies is Allison Ossowski, who has worked at the Irvine spa for four years. "Pennie had us handle every situation we felt comfortable with even before the surgery," Ossowski said. "She always gives off positive energy to customers. We tried to keep that same presence while she was gone."

Luis handled the spa's financial records, but greatly increased his participation following his wife's surgery. "I put in long hours at my regular job and an extra three, four hours a day (at the spa)," he said. "But in times of need, it's easy to chip in. Everybody did."

Pennie did nothing related to the business for a month. Doctor's orders. By mid-July she had an artificial foot and calf, but could only wear it a few hours a day. "I had to plan my day around when I could wear the prosthesis," she said. By mid-August, she was wearing it from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
But the experience has changed her attitude toward hiding her imperfection. She now wears sandals and capris that end above the knee.

"I'm in the beauty industry and Americans tend to focus on imperfections. I have guests who apologize for scars," Curet said. "I want to redefine what beauty is. I have guests who have had breast cancer. Now they know that I understand what they're going though."

Jan Norman - Business Columnist, Orange County Register

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