Shades Whiter Spotlight

Michael Gaddie  0:00  
As you're scheduling your pre wedding beauty appointments, are you thinking about that smile?

Kristina Stubblefield  0:05  
You want to be at your tip top best on wedding day. And let's face it, who doesn't want whiter teeth?

Sharon Rumsey  0:11  
Today, we introduce you to Brandy and Brandon Ray, the folks behind shades wider as they share the services they offer and how they can help engage couples look and feel their best on wedding day.

Kristina Stubblefield  0:24  
You got engaged. Congratulations. Happy. Yes. joyful time. Of course. Now what timelines to do lists and checklists. 100% Don't worry, you're in the right place. Welcome to The Ring The Bling And All The Things. Hi, I'm Kristina Stubblefield, one of your hosts, along with my two good friends, Michael Gaddie and Sharon Rumsey. We have over 50 years of wedding industry experience between us. We have seen it, heard it, done it and found the way around it. We are here to get you from down on one knee to down the aisle. Our podcast will cover everything from you saying yes to the I do's and all that happens in between. So buckle up and enjoy the journey. Now let's get started with this episode.

Michael Gaddie  1:34  
We're so excited today we've got some great guests on here. We've got brandy and Brandon Ray from shades wider. And me personally, I have used their cyber services. And I can tell a big difference in my teeth. So guys, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brandon Ray  1:51  
Well, welcome. Well, thank you guys for having us on. So I am Brandon and my wife is sitting next to me brandy. And so shades whiter. It is brand new business. So we started March of this year, March 1 COVID COVID business, if you will. And we just so far, I mean, the expectations that we've had the goals that we're setting for ourselves, it's it's been surreal. I mean, it really has it's been an absolute fun experience is trying to grow a business, and just trying to get our names out there. Figure out what we should do what we shouldn't do learning. I mean, the the experience, the, I guess the journey that we are going on right now. I mean, it's just been terrific.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:43  
So what made you want to get into this business? I mean, cuz I hear from Mike and also other clients that you've that have been your clients that just give nothing but great feedback. So what have made you I'll get into this industry,

Brandon Ray  2:59  
I'll take it back actually a couple of years. So Brandi and I, we wanted to be ultimately, like we had a thought or an idea that we wanted to be a part of weddings. And so we wanted to open our own venue. That's all inclusive, we actually got the idea from my cousin who lived in Georgia, they had a all inclusive wedding. And the venue. I mean, it was just super, super cool. And so we thought we wanted to do that. And then it just kind of rolled in expanded. And so how we got into this is I am some a part time real estate agent. And I'm in a lot of real estate stuff on Facebook. And the way I guess somebody posted one day and they said, Hey, this, you know, this is a real estate related, but it's investing related. So it piqued my interest, I reached out. And they said, Well, I've been building this business shades wider since last February, March like beginning of COVID. I said, Now I've got a family emergency, and we've got to get out. So brandy and I met with them. And really we were like, Who doesn't want to get their teeth whitened? This is a great opportunity. And so we took that we branded it more we planned out and here we are.

Kristina Stubblefield  4:13  
So did you immediately realize the connection you could make between this business into the wedding industry?

Brandon Ray  4:25  
I say no. Honestly, we not initially

Kristina Stubblefield  4:28  
Okay, you didn't initially think that? Yeah. What about you?

Brandi Ray  4:33  
I thought the option was always there. And we were we were wanting to get into the wedding industry. That was kind of our our goal. So when this popped up, it was like, well, it's not a venue but it'll work.

Kristina Stubblefield  4:46  
Well because I see it shows like there's people standing there really talking to them in detail about the service and everything that they offer. And Sharon is a wedding planner. I know that this is something that gets brought up, I created a list.

Sharon Rumsey  5:01  
It's a checklist of every single little bitty thing that a bride or groom need to do the 12 months before their wedding, you know, we go from as big as choosing your venue to as small as scheduling a pedicure. And I have teeth whitening on that list. And I'm asked all the time, where do I go to do that? And until I met you guys, I had it on my list, but I really didn't have an answer. So my job was like, you know, Walgreens, my that was my answer. I didn't know where to send people. So I was so excited the night that I met you guys, and you tell me what you did. Because I'm like, now I know. But I still I plan to come. I was waiting, I wanted Mike to go and see how he did. So now they want me to be the guinea pig. So but tell me exactly, so that I can give better information to my clients. what exactly happens, what the process like, yeah, the process.

Brandi Ray  5:56  
So you walk in, you sit down in this big, comfy chair. And you kind of tell us about what your end goal is in terms of, you know, how white you want your teeth to be. And we can kind of gauge we have a shade guide, we can gauge where you're starting and where you'd like to end up. And we can kind of guide you. And we have several different appointment options timeframes, and that'll, of course affect how white your teeth are afterwards. And we do a lot of preventative to kind of keep the gums healthy and safe from the gel pins that we use. And then you just kind of sit back relax, while watch some Netflix, listen to some music. And by the time you're done, your teeth are shades whiter.

Sharon Rumsey  6:50  
That's awesome.

Kristina Stubblefield  6:52  
So it is a one time deal.

Brandi Ray  6:57  
It can be like I said, it's really kind of up to your goal. And we have a lot of people I mean, of course it depends on the type of staining foods you take. Or if you drink coffee, drink red wine. But you can go once if you're if you drink nothing but water, then you can walk in there, do it one time and be good for six months before you feel the need to come back. Wow.

Kristina Stubblefield  7:21  
I don't know if I'd necessarily realized it was something that you could go and do once if that is depending on what your goals are, like you said, or someone

Sharon Rumsey  7:29  
that might have a little more discoloration. How far out from their wedding. Should they come see you guys? When would be ideal? Well,

Brandi Ray  7:41  
I would say maybe start thinking about it. Four or five months before that way, if you want to come back and have multiple appointments and move that many shades whiter. You allow yourself the time to do that.

Michael Gaddie  7:57  
I'm gonna say it's the most relaxing, I wish it was longer than 3045 minutes. But he's talked

Sharon Rumsey  8:03  
about it so much.

Michael Gaddie  8:04  
I mean, you go in, like she said you go in and they first thing they do is they take a picture of your teeth. So you want they want to see before. And then they pull out this little chart and you can match your teeth up to where it is on that chart. And I'm not exaggerating, when it's over, they do the exact same thing. Compare it and you can tell how many shades you have went wider. And then they take your picture for the after picture. And they can they'll even send them to you on your cell phone. And you've got your before and after. I mean it's very easy. It's not painful. It's very relaxing. I could do it once a week. So

Kristina Stubblefield  8:44  
So when you're talking about red wine drink or tea, coffee, that type thing, is it something like where there's maybe a maintenance where you come every so often.

Brandi Ray  8:54  
Yeah, so I recommend I am I have to drink at least one cup of coffee a day. And depending on the day, I may need more than that. So I like to whiten every two to three months just because I I like to maintain the white that I have and I am not willing to to give up the coffee or the red wine.

Kristina Stubblefield  9:17  
Nothing wrong with that. And

Sharon Rumsey  9:19  
he's saying he goes every month or so you have a lot of people that come every month.

Brandi Ray  9:22  
And we do have several people signed up for our VIP. So they they wait and with us one time at full price. We have a rare mineral laser. So they we they have some options to kind of just test out everything that we have or everything that we offer. And then they get an invoice every month for $25. And they can choose their day and come once a month for 12 months. That's awesome.

Michael Gaddie  9:49  
It's amazing. It really is.

Brandon Ray  9:52  
Oh, and I was actually thinking about this recently. So one goal that I want to have is more like yes, you know this can last six months to a year. We'd like she said, we'd recommend every, you know, at least two to six months come in for I mean, we've got a 15 minute option if you want to just kind of save some dollars. I mean, you can't beat 15 minutes for $69 that's our Express session just kind of like a touch up. But as far as beauty goes, I mean, we're really trying to get into the beauty industry. Just like anything else. I mean, females they go get their their nails done their hair done. Sharon, I heard you mentioned something earlier about telling your brides Hey, this is what you should do your nails your hairs, get your manicures, pedicures all this? Well, we want to be a part of that conversation as well. And I know you do a great job at telling your brides and grooms and that's where we see ourselves is, hey, how do we get in front of more people? How do we get like that thought and more people's head? Hey, I've got to get my teeth whitening, because it's just not a familiar product. Juliette? Yeah. But that's our goal is to get a personal

Kristina Stubblefield  10:56  
care product. Alright. Personal Care Service, sir. Sure. Yes. So

Sharon Rumsey  11:01  
when they see it on the checklist, so many of them will say, Oh, yeah, I need to do that. But they wouldn't have thought about it. If it wasn't on that checklist. So I think the fact that you guys are doing wedding shows, and getting brides thinking about that, and couples thinking about that, I know one of one of the people I sent to you guys was a groom, and he literally came up to me and he went pretty close to his wedding. And he came up to me at rehearsal and had this big smile, he looked at my teeth, you know, he was so excited because he was self conscious about it. And he knew his picture was going to get taken 18 million times and he felt better and more confident afterwards. So I think

Brandon Ray  11:39  
it makes a big difference and I think that's the thing you know, we give you the results that you can smile about

Michael Gaddie  11:47  
well and you know everybody talks about women but I think men me working with them as many grooms as I work with, with specially doing the suits also. I mean, the grooms are just as picky on how they look. You know, how they look in their pants, how they look in their smile, everything. They're

Sharon Rumsey  12:03  
also overlooked a lot. Everything is the woman needs to do this and the woman needs to do that. And, you know, my checklist I have the groom needs to get his hair cut two weeks out from the wedding. You know, and nobody ever talks about their appointments that they need to go to. I have a lot of my guys they want to go if they have a beard, they want to go get like a professional beard trim and get you know, prettied up. So I think it's great that you guys are out there. I think it's a great service.

Kristina Stubblefield  12:30  
Also, what I like about it, is they could start off as a client, because they're getting married. But it can carry on and on. It's, I guarantee just be for that day for that special day. But it also has the possibility to carry on

Sharon Rumsey  12:46  
the gram that I sent. He was so excited and felt so good about the way his teeth looked healed. I he's a client. I think it's a dict he'll be back.

Michael Gaddie  12:53  
Yeah, I mean, I really do. And both of y'all when you smile, you can tell you

Brandon Ray  12:58  
I was totally addicted at least once a month for me. I'm like, Can I can I wipe my teeth? How can I When can we go? Well, I

Michael Gaddie  13:04  
quit drinking coffee. Yeah, after I started coming to you all I used to drink. I can't I've got tumblers, at least two of those a day. I don't do it anymore. Ham goes. You're not drinking coffee. What? She didn't like coffee anyway. So we don't our coffee pot sits there. But that's it. Oh, I can't know. Okay, so

Kristina Stubblefield  13:21  
let's talk about details. So first of all, they need to make an appointment. Yes. Okay. And you'd set an express option. What what are let's talk about the options. Sure, absolutely. So

Brandon Ray  13:36  
we've got a couple different options. So we've got the 15 minute, it's the Express session. So that is designed more for just the touch up sessions. Like I said, that is $69 we have a 30 minute session, which that's what Mike does, that's what our VIP members get. That is our most popular session. By far, by far our most popular, you're gonna see some good results, typically about three to four shades lighter, and that is 125. And then our third option in this is just if you're doing a single session, or third option is an hour long session, and that is 179. So then we get into the fun stuff. So local wedding network, we have branched out, and we've offered a wedding party package and so of bride groom, groom, groom bride bride, you know, just couples nowadays, if they get eight people collectively to whiten than they actually get to white and for free for the bride and groom. The couple Yes.

Sharon Rumsey  14:36  
So your bridal party guests come in, and then your bride and groom would be free. That's amazing. Wow. Oh,

Kristina Stubblefield  14:43  
that's a that's Now you mentioned level wedding network. I want to I want to spin back around for just a second. You're a member of local wedding network. We are I think that's where you were going with that. Okay,

Brandon Ray  14:53  
so we got introduced. Mike, you did our wedding actually and Marguerite with Yeah, she designed our cake and cream lard cake for us. And then we've just met so many amazing people throughout the local wedding network. It's been I mean, we've been members for, I guess, four or five months now. And just the the turnaround for that, and the experience that we've had. I mean, it's been tremendous as well.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:23  
I paid for the wedding package. Is that what you called it? Like I'm packing wedding party package? Yeah. I mean, Sharon, you deal with that?

Sharon Rumsey  15:31  
I mean, I know that because I'll start mentioning that now. Because I've always I've just been sending the bride and the groom. But I think,

Brandon Ray  15:37  
and what's super cool about that is we have the availability to come to them. So let's say they're getting ready at their house in the morning or the venue or wherever we have that capability to come to them.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:50  
Yep, doesn't even have to be the event date. If it's just a get together for the wedding party. Yeah, I mean, we, and we

Brandi Ray  15:57  
would recommend before the date, not necessarily the day of right, yes. Okay, girls night, guys night, we can show up. They can be watching TV, eating snacks, whatever, we would just want to have enough room of course to set up have our light, and then somewhere or a sink. That's really the bare minimum.

Kristina Stubblefield  16:23  
Well, that makes me think about these questions. What about what you're supposed to do before you get whitened? And after? Are you not supposed to drink? Or do you have to be careful about colored liquids or anything after the whitening or before?

Brandi Ray  16:36  
So great question. Um, yes, so we typically tell people to avoid eating and drinking and up to an hour after water, of course, doesn't count. And then try to maintain a white diet for up to 24 hours after whitening, so really staying away from the staining foods. And but we do have a room generalizer which we can apply immediately after whitening. It takes 10 more minutes under the light and it will completely seal your teeth that you could walk out and have a cup of coffee if that's what you wanted to do.

Michael Gaddie  17:12  
I do that well and

Sharon Rumsey  17:13  
honestly, he's gonna say I probably would need that

Kristina Stubblefield  17:16  
I drink flavored water you know, I'll put some kind of flavoring in my water although that's about all I drink. But I wondered about you probably don't want to have do that and drink a glass of red wine right after.

Brandi Ray  17:30  
So the ceiling I swear by it, I I cannot force myself not to drink a cup of coffee. It just doesn't happen for me. So it's not even it's not even a question I get the sealant every time I widen an option.

Brandon Ray  17:44  
I mean, personal story. So I got done whitening. And one time I didn't do the sealant because a client was coming in and I just didn't have enough time to do it. And you know those cherries with the seeds in the middle? Oh no. So and this was after the appointment but I went home and I ate one of those cherries. It stained my teeth. My teeth were red and I was like oh boy, what do I do when brush my teeth is still didn't want to come off and I was like oh what do I do? So I just brushed a couple more times finally came off but that was without the sealant so

Sharon Rumsey  18:16  
so the owner Harley rider had red teeth Yeah.

Michael Gaddie  18:20  
The house for a couple days.

Sharon Rumsey  18:22  
One thing that I found really interesting I had a dental appointment recently and I was talking to my dentist about going she was 100% for it. She was like Absolutely. You know but she was telling me if you're going to have any dental work done say you need like a crown or something like that. That you need to whiten before you have that dental work done. So that was just something that kind of shocked me but she's because she said they're going to match any dental work they do to the shape of your teeth so you don't want to do that dental work and then get your teeth whitened because it won't match so

Michael Gaddie  18:53  
well. That's good question or topic to bring up. If you have the nears, say I have one veneer in the front does that that that doesn't work on that.

Brandi Ray  19:04  
The veneer is never going to be wider than like she said the day that the dentist put it in and they do they pick a shade so she's 100% right you would want to whiten before that way what they're putting in or the bonding or the veneer whatever you are having done. They're matching it to your your new white teeth and not you know they match your coffee stained teeth or your your wine stained teeth and then you go in white and that's the one tooth that doesn't whiten. Now we do we do tell people, you can still apply the gel to the veneer to the bonding. It's not going to hurt anything and if it's something that you've had for years and years and years, it's very possible a topical stain might also lighten up from that but it will not never be wider than this day the dentist put it in. That's a really good point he shall

Sharon Rumsey  19:57  
I have to have a crown Why? too much information. I know, but I have to have a crown. And she was telling me I'm 100% in support of you doing it. I think you should do it. But do it better before we do your crown? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So how can guys find you? how can how can guys so guys or girls, how can clients find you guys on social media? How do they schedule an appointment? What's the scoop? Yeah, great,

Brandon Ray  20:23  
great question. And before that, I want to just make a disclaimer, like, we are not dentist, either brandy or I went to dental school. And so to explain the process, and I know we kind of went over this earlier, but it's all self administered. So we're going to walk you through the process. I can't go in your mouth, Brandy can't go in your mouth. If we did that you could sue us. So we would like not to be sued. And so that's why it's all self administered.

Kristina Stubblefield  20:47  
You guide them, you guide them through.

Brandon Ray  20:51  
Yes, absolutely. So we're I like to think of us as the best whitening teachers and lowville. And that's what we're going to give as a premier service. But yeah, great question. So the easiest way is definitely shades whiter, calm. So just checking out our website. If you go to a social media, we are heavy on social media, we're trying to like I said earlier, we're trying to really get out there push ourselves. So Instagram, we're shades wider ky. And so you'll find us on there or Facebook, we're on there. We've created a tick tock, we're still learning talking. We're still learning the ropes on that one. But, yeah. So we've got, we've got those three forms of social media. And then our biggest one, like I said, just go to our website shades whiter, calm, you can call us our phone numbers. 502-444-0634.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:43  
He said that a time or two before? He's got it down, Pat.

Michael Gaddie  21:47  
So are there other companies around? I mean, that you know, this is not just locally. So I mean, are there other shades wider around the United States, we are the one and only they want to know. Okay, so are your mobile,

Kristina Stubblefield  22:02  
we know that you can necessarily go to several states away, but people can always reach out. And I love the fact about being mobile. I mean, there, it doesn't even need to be wedding related, even

Sharon Rumsey  22:13  
though that's what we're talking about. I mean, it could be family related. For the first time a client comes in asking for a friend, the first time they come in, do you sit down with them? And tell them like, how many minutes you recommend they do? Or do they just have to pick? I wouldn't know

Brandon Ray  22:30  
what to pick? That also a great question. And so I do like when people call or they have questions, they come in, I'll sit there and I'll because I love questions, I'll sit there and ask them. Hey, have you ever done anything like this before? Have you done crest white strips have? You know, tell me about that process? What What's going on? Like, how did? How did you experience that. And that way I can kind of get a feel for if they've done this before. And then I'll typically say my recommendation, if you're a first timer, let's do the 30 minutes, that way, it's, you're still gonna see good results. It's not just the touch up because typically, you know, people for the first time, they just want to see what it's like for the experience. And I want to give you the full we'd like we want to give you the full experience. And so we want to make it fun. We want to make it relaxing. And so that's my first suggestion to people.

Kristina Stubblefield  23:18  
I love that you asked that or went into that detail. Because it's not like you have to go to your website. I'm gonna pick this package. This is what I'm doing. I have to know all of this before I even come in and have a conversation. I think that's really important. I

Sharon Rumsey  23:30  
know I was talking to Mike after he went cuz like I said he was the guinea pig.

Kristina Stubblefield  23:34  
Sharon was Have you went yet? No, Sharon, I'm going next.

Sharon Rumsey  23:38  
But anyway, he told me that you guys were you know, you came in with him. And you explained what to do and how to do and made sure he was doing everything right. And I think that's something that would be important to me. I know if I came is don't just put me in the room and like, tell me to figure it out.

Michael Gaddie  23:52  
I mean, they'll sit you down. I mean, there's a step to go step by step. And I like what he said is they don't touch you. Don't they don't touch your mouth. You do at all. But I mean, it's very, very easy. As soon as you're done you sit there I fell. I usually fall asleep.

Sharon Rumsey  24:07  
I was gonna say she was saying watch Netflix. And I'm like, if you let me not have my phone, and just sit in

Michael Gaddie  24:13  
that you can't read your phone.

Sharon Rumsey  24:14  
Yeah, just sit in the quiet I'ma go sleep.

Michael Gaddie  24:16  
I'm gonna take a nap. Cuz you got these red glasses on yours you're laying by,

Sharon Rumsey  24:21  
I would totally go to sleep. I do. Love it.

Brandi Ray  24:24  
We've had two or three people already fall asleep in the chair. And what's nice is when when you're done, it beeps atcha so it's not like it's gonna wake you up. It's gonna wake you up. So I mean, take a nap.

Michael Gaddie  24:35  
You do drill a little bit?

Sharon Rumsey  24:37  
Well, you know. I'm gonna say that but yesterday, a lot of people have sensitivity afterwards.

Brandi Ray  24:46  
And so we do a lot of preventative things to try to avoid any sensitivity. And we have a vitamin E pin that we actually have people applied to the gums to avoid that. You know, everybody's teeth are different. So we we have had people come in. If they have sensitivity, then again, I kind of refer back to the sealant because it is, it's a blue gel that stays on your teeth afterwards. And not only does it help your teeth, it seals them up. But any sensitivity you might have experienced on your gums, it's going to take care of those two. Okay, well, I've

Michael Gaddie  25:25  
done it four times, and I've never had sensitivity. Oh, awesome. And, you know, some I've talked about the crest strips or stuff. I use those. And I'm not kidding. I mean, it tears me up, I'll deal with it, because I want my teeth white. But I've never had that experience from you all.

Brandon Ray  25:42  
And I think that's the beauty of what we've created is because that's what we've heard, just from people's experience, you know, if they go to the dentist number one, it's expensive. Number two, it really, really painful. On the flip side, you get the stuff like the crest white strips, and yes, it's a little more cost effective. But yes, you get that sensitivity. And it's a long commitment. Like you, you have to keep up with doing it every night for a week or two. And it's like, Who has time for that? So the beauty of us, we're painless, we, we pride ourselves on being quick, friendly, you know, and just really giving you a great experience.

Sharon Rumsey  26:19  
When I know when I talked to my dentist, I expected her to say you should do that at a dentist office. She should and she said they're going to do exactly the same thing that I would do here in the office and they're going to charge you probably 25 to 50% less. Then I realized it was even a bigger discount than that. So yeah, and me she was in support of it. She goes I don't blame you at all. I would absolutely go. That's great

Kristina Stubblefield  26:43  
question. I have a cool dentist. We're Where are you located?

Brandon Ray  26:48  
We are located in the mall of St. Matthews. It's inside sola salons. Have you ever heard of that? No. Okay, so there's a couple different salons in our I guess around Louisville and it's a really cool concept. So if you walk in, there are 35 different little studios and so they've got everything from nails to hair to Botox to tattoos, teeth whitening, of course. So really is such a cool concept. And it's just being able to be in that kind of environment because we've all kind of created a little bond a little friendship in and of just small enclosure like that. It's you'll have come check it out.

Sharon Rumsey  27:29  
So you could come and get your nails done. Get your teeth white and get a massage any that kind of one

Kristina Stubblefield  27:33  
stop shop essentially. It's inside the mall, St. Matthew

Unknown Speaker  27:36  
hotness.

Sharon Rumsey  27:37  
So it's Tina, and I'll be there. They're right across

Michael Gaddie  27:40  
the hall from Sam Myerson. They're a member of the liberal wedding network also.

Brandon Ray  27:45  
Yep. So it's close to the dillards as well.

Kristina Stubblefield  27:48  
Okay, awesome. Anything else that I mean that

Sharon Rumsey  27:52  
this was very informative, like I'm ready to go over here. Thank you. Well,

Kristina Stubblefield  27:56  
thank you guys for inviting us. Absolutely. So make sure you go check out their website. shades wider shades wider.com. Just making sure I got it right. And you can find more information there. Reach out to them to schedule an appointment, contact them with any questions, but also don't forget about following them on social media. As Brandon said they are active on social media and building their following. So take a few minutes to do that. Until next time, everyone. Take care. And if you like what you've heard on the podcast, make sure you go and subscribe on your favorite and leave a glowing five star review. Thank you can subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or you can always visit our website. See you later.

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