One UTK student, two businesses, and multiple ‘Graves Competition’ wins
The UT, Knoxville senior is quickly approaching graduation with degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Connor Langford is launching into East Tennessee’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with full force. He is a senior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), quickly approaching graduation with degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Even more impressive though, is his already-packed portfolio of businesses, marketing clients, and successful ventures.
“When I was nine years old, I was knocking on neighbors’ doors asking if I could mow their lawn. Entrepreneurship came naturally to me,” Langford said.
Then, in high school, he picked up a gig detailing cars. Once Langford realized the margins available in the industry, he purchased equipment and launched his own detailing business. This provided him with cash flow through college and the confidence to launch another business more in line with his degree.
That’s essentially how MedSpa Growth Solution came to be.
MedSpa Growth Solution
“I realized early on that specializing in a niche is key to success in marketing. As someone who has struggled with acne my whole life, I’ve always been interested in and passionate about skincare and the health industry. So, it was kind of a no-brainer to launch this company,” he said.
Langford identified a significant gap in the market: medical spas often struggled with marketing and advertising. Much of the lead generation and promotion comes from individual aestheticians’ social media pages, network activity, and referrals.
To better understand the challenges med spa owners face, his customer discovery journey started by knocking on doors, just like he did to mow lawns in grade school. He visited dozens of local med spas to get a glimpse of their marketing strategies and sent a plethora of cold emails and phone calls.
“What I’ve found is a lot of these owners got into the business because they love skincare, but most of them hate marketing – they view it as a burden and necessary evil,” he said.
MedSpa Growth Solution addresses this need by providing tailored marketing strategies that focus on lead generation, customer retention, and enhancing brand visibility.
“Our goal is to free med spa owners from the marketing grind so they can focus on what they love – helping clients feel confident and beautiful,” Langford explained.
After pitching his idea in the Graves Business Plan competition at the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI) at UTK, Langford won first place in the Lifestyle Category. He took home $5,000.
Continuing to scale MedSpa Growth Solution is Langford’s plan after graduation. But it’s not the only plan.
Pink Apron
He is also a co-owner of Pink Apron, a business that has already achieved significant recognition.
“Pink Apron is the team that finished in second place this semester in Graves, winning $3,000,” he revealed.
The Pink Apron team, comprised of Langford, Grant Coggin, Zach Barron, and Wesley Pitts, also won first place in the Lifestyle Category in the Spring 2024 Graves competition, taking home $5,000.
Langford and his co-founders used the prize money to officially launch the business. One of their notable clients is a big-name coffee shop in Farragut – Summer Moon.
Pink Apron specializes in selling authentic European-style pastries to local coffee shops, helping elevate the quality of their food offerings. To ensure the highest quality, Pink Apron has hired a specialized baker from Belgium with over three decades of experience crafting authentic European pastries.
Langford attributed a lot of his success in starting these two businesses to the Anderson Center.
“It has been a great resource for me, and I think that it’s helped me tremendously. Just being surrounded by other people in college who are pursuing their businesses has been eye-opening to many possibilities,” he said. “Plus, the pitch competitions are a way to earn money, which was crucial to getting these businesses off the ground.”
While Langford still has a few months before graduation, he wants the business community to know that he is open to any potential partnerships, connections, and marketing opportunities – across industries.
“My ultimate goal is to help people – however I can do that,” he said.
Learn more about MedSpa Growth Solution.
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