director

beauty manager

store director

team leader

beauty consultant

California Sun

This job is definitely 25/75. It is nice to have for a short period as it is helpful to be able to utilize the services for free, and you do learn some pretty great skills. There’s not much else great about this job other than that. The company preaches about growth within the business and promoting wellness, but do not provide ample resources.. They have unfair sales expectations and therefore prioritize a sale from a customer as opposed to creating a relationship. 

They also will dangle a promotion in front of you, then put you on a “PIP” for months, resulting in no actual promotion- but you doing the work that said position entails! 

Do not take this job unless you’re comfortable with guests belittling you and treating you like waitstaff. I’ve had a multitude of random jobs and I’ve NEVER met more disrespectful people in my life. 

Lastly, they also struggle with scheduling. When taking this job, they promise a 15-20 hour work week, then usually start you off with 5 hour work weeks instead. As someone who was wanting a regular part time job with set(ish) hours, this was really inconvenient for me. One week it would be 30 hours, the next, it’d be 5. It’s extremely inconsistent. During peak season, you’re also usually scheduled alone during the most busy times. Meaning, you are left alone to deal with a line of 15 people 10 minutes before closing, clean 20 dirty rooms, AND complete closing tasks. Oh yeah, with an expectation of being out 30 minutes after closing, no more. 

Don’t fall for the advertisement for this job. You never get time off approved, they do not follow your availability, they allow guests to treat you poorly, and they offer NO benefits. 

California sun is just a money hungry company with little to no care for their employees, or the customers. 



The job itself is fun, the services are awesome, but the culture is toxic. There are security cameras in the lobby and breakroom that have mics that are monitored throughout the day, meaning any concerns your team may bring to you WILL be listened to by corporate, but they don't tell you by who. They will never address anything directly to you and instead, passive aggressively make public comments in their leadsership meetings regarding things you or your team may have said. If your spa is not making goals, they have no problem shaming you publicly for that as well in these meetings. If not enough new members are walking through the doors, the Spa Director is blamed for not putting enough business cards on "nice cars" in neighboring parking lots, rather than their corporate marketing. They pride themselves on never letting anyone go but this is because if you are on their hit list, they will manage you out by making you uncomfortable enough at work to leave on your own, likely to avoid paying unemployment. They don't want leaders, they want followers. Their idea of developing leaders is sharing a Googled leadership quote once a month and asking YOU what they can do for you, instead of getting to know their individual teams and recognizing where development is needed. They don't lead, they manage. You'll frequently hear them say that "we've been doing this for 30 years, we know what we're doing." If that was the case, maybe their employee retention would be better and there wouldn't be reason to drive out good employees.

solidly the worst place I’ve ever worked in my entire life. everyone who works there Either takes a job way too seriously or They are extremely entitled and rude . you are only like this job if the managers/corporate likes you. If the don’t like you are subject to getting your hours cut being treated like trash by all of the other employees more physical labor than all the other girls and you are held to higher expectations/standards then the girls they do like . Also you can be doing some thing for months and months and one day they will decide at what you’ve been doing for Exemouth of time is wrong and incorrect and then not tell you how to fix it or what you could be doing instead and another thing along those lines that they will tell you that there is a problem or an issue and not tell you what the problem is how to fix it how to deal with it and how to correct the problem/problems. For the most part a lot of the girls they are very nice until you get on their bad side and then they go around talking about you and telling everyone you and your business (this happened on multiple occasions and not just to me)  I am painting one of the only good things about the job is connecting with the customers because a lot of them are very very sweet and very very kind but that is about the only thing that is worth it and this job and even then when you are constantly being treated poorly it’s not worth it and this place is not worth your time and energy 

The only reason I’m giving a 2 is because of commission and the people that I worked with. It was an amazing Team, but Corporate is awful. It’s a good starting out job, you do get a lot of experience with cashiering and customer service, but it’s gets too stressful for working at a tanning salon. They try to make you feel like you’re doing great at your job, but if you don’t bend over backwards for this job, you’ll just be another person in and out within a matter of weeks. It’s sell, sell, sell with this company. If your sales are bad, you are constantly being told to get them up, and if you’re good, that’s all they expect from you from there on out. Corporate is always looming over your shoulder about selling, and they’ll always try to push you out of your availability no matter what you set it for. Yes they will promote you, but it comes with them being way harder on you sales wise, and there no job-life balance, it’s all work or nothing really. The people that come in can either be really nice or really mean and demanding, you almost never have a shift without at least one nasty person coming in to give you a hard time. The commission you earn if you get memberships is nice, but only if you sell memberships and lotions constantly.

Great at first... Free tanning, commission, fun staff, etc. Then they changed the free tanning policy and commission. Checks were way smaller than before even with my "raise" and the same amount of hours. Also, once you are on an action plan to be promoted they like to move people locations (farther from home). Sometimes moving salons is the only way to get promoted... Not worth it (the raise is not much). Most of the staff in salon is great with an exception of a few managers that seemed to follow a different set of rules with no punishment (leaving early, always calling out, not following dress code, having phones on them, not reaching sales goals, etc.). The corporate office does not like to address any issues when they are brought up. However, if you are VERY good at sales you have the opportunity to tan for free. But if not, you get punished with only a limited amount of tanning in the base beds per week. I don't recommend, especially if you are looking to promote to management.

It’s a cute job! You learn how to sell expensive lotions and spa products. It’s an easy job, hardest part is learning about the products plus the computer system. You’ll get the hang of it in around 3 months. The cool part is you are constantly learning something new which is nice. All the girls support one another from what I’ve experienced. However the catch is that they tell you that you get commission. Yes, you do, but it’s not easy. You have to sell around 200-300 dollars worth of lotion, memberships, etc. It’s super uncomfortable since you see the same customers everyday and you’re trying to convince them to buy a product that is supposed to change their results. So it is possible, but you really need to convince your guests you know how this lotion, package, or membership  is going to change their lives. The best part is you get to use all the saunas, red light, massage beds, and if you like to tan that’s an option too. 

This job is NOT for people who are looking for a full time gig to cover bills! This is a great side gig … sometimes. It’s great during the summer months, a little hectic but hours and commission are usually pretty good. The other 9 months of the year though … your hours can be cut down to 3 hours per work, the commission calculated is never accurate so you have to know the ins and outs of how it’s calculated and stay on top of it. The environment is really fake, you’re expected to “empower” other teammates by typing in a team chat your entire shift, the sales expectations are outrageous and if you’re a closer just forget about it. There is ALOT of pressure to make sales and you are punished in the form of cut hours if you don’t meet their sales goals. I have a full time career so this is a side gig for me. I am a very hard worker and even I think this job has way too many expectations to be a minimum wage job.

A typical day at California Sun starts off with clocking in and depending if you open the salon or not, depends if you stock the shelves and do inventory and out away the mop from the night before. if you work a mid day shift you just clock in and take a spot at a computer and start helping guests tan. The sales associates run the salon. You do everything from balancing the register to cleaning the entire salon from the baseboards to the ceiling vents to tanning the guests to their greatest potential. California Sun is very very sales oriented. Their motto is up sell. Management is very strict on selling to goal and making sure the salon is exceptionally clean. The most enjoyable part of the job is having customers ask for you by name.

What a horrible company. The owners are amazing people, but the company is ran on the fact that young people are completely replaceable. They ignore requests for days off, they don't train well, their ability to manage schedules is horrible. They really need to revamp their business model, and their lack of customer care is awful. I had several customers who had valid reasons for a refund (employee error) and was told to not help them. I would have to give the customer corporate numbers so they could call because it was more likely to be resolved. This company even went so far as to deny medical treatment for an injury that happened at work and was reported to a manager, all because the manager didn't notify corporate. Just an awful place filled with miserable, unappreciated employees.

It can be a fun place to work if you get along with your team. But in the end everyone only cares about themselves. Your forced to sell products or your hours get cut. Your manager acts like your best friend but only so you’ll feel comfortable so she can get the inside scoop. The higher ups, wow, literally mean girls who talk nice to your face but are always looking for a reason to fire someone. The turn around rate is crazy. Being there a year is a really long time for them. People usually only last a few months. If you decide to work there, good luck! Never share personal information with your coworkers and just go to work to make sells to literally the same customers you see everyday. Remember, if you don’t…say bye to your hours. They’re always watching you. Oh yeah and for your commission if your percentage doesn’t stay over 5 you won’t get any of it. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Director 155 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Beauty manager 92 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Store director 35 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Team leader 22 salaries reported	$16.73 per hour
Beauty consultant 6 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour

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