True Colors Tanning Owner Awarded Small Business Person of the Year Brooking Recognized at Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center Event

JEFFERSONVILLE, IN – After starting her own tanning company following a 17-year retail career, local business owner Lisa Brooking, President of True Colors Tanning, earned the Small Business Person of the Year Award at the Leaders in Entrepreneurship Awards Day Southern Indiana (LEADS) in November. LEADS Indiana is a 13-county, regional Entrepreneurial Success and Champion Awards Ceremony that is organized and hosted by the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center. In addition to the regional award, recipients will go on to compete at the Small Business Development Center State award program.

Brooking’s award received the most nominations of any awards category at LEADS. Brooking is involved with Goodwill Southern Indiana, the Horseshoe Revolving Loan Fund and Silver Creek Little League. She also serves on the Board of Directors for One Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development organization that serves Clark and Floyd counties. “My involvement in the community really helps put validity on the face of True Colors Tanning,” said Brooking.

The staff at True Colors Tanning is Brooking’s most passionate aspect of her business. “I want [my staff] to come up through True Colors and go on to do bigger and better things.” “I want them to leave True Colors with something. I don’t want them to walk into [it] thinking ‘Oh, this is just another job’. I want them to leave with some customer service experience, interpersonal skills, sales skills. So, my commitment is to have a footprint on this community [if] I sell this place to my daughter or … to my employees. When I walk away, they’re going to have a true footprint on how to run this business.”

Brooking also takes pride in her business technique of educating the salon customers. “The sun exists. We’ll teach you how to tan in the sun as well as in a tanning salon. We’re here to teach you how to tan the right way.”

This is one of many awards that Brooking has won in recent years, including the 2012 and 2008 City Voter Louisville’s A-List Tanning Salon and 2010 Smart Tan Industry Achievement Award and also named Business of the Year in Southern Indiana. True Colors Tanning was a finalist for the Southern Indiana Rising Star Award in 2005 and has been recognized by a tanning industry publication as the number one choice for tanning in Kentuckiana. Congrats, Lisa – ist