Today we’d like to introduce you to Bianca Briscan.
Hi Bianca, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I think my entrepreneurial story started long before I knew what the word entrepreneur meant.
I grew up in Romania, and at about five years old I already had my first little “business.” I would gather wild herbs and greens and sell them before school. My three-year-old sister was my marketing department. I had her yell, “Fresh salad! Good price!” to attract customers. Of course, she didn’t work for free. I had to bribe her. So technically, I had my first employee before I even started school.
My view of the world changed dramatically after the Romanian Revolution in 1989. I was nine years old when the communist regime fell. I remember watching Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu’s execution on television. I was a child and couldn’t understand all the politics behind what was happening, but I understood that suddenly a much bigger world was opening in front of me.
We began having access to things that had previously been restricted or extremely limited. Foreign television, radio, books, magazines, information and even colorful clothes fascinated me. I wanted to see what existed beyond Romania, and at nine years old I started saving money because I knew that one day I wanted to leave and experience that world for myself.
I also understood very young that if I wanted to go somewhere else, I needed to be able to communicate. I learned English and French in school, but on my own I started teaching myself Italian and Spanish. This was long before language apps and online courses. I used library books and television. I read, listened and practiced because I knew languages would give me choices later.
The moment I turned 18, I got my passport. I still needed to finish high school, so I stayed until graduation. I was almost 19 when I was finally ready to leave.
Leaving Romania legally for Western Europe in 1999 was not as simple as buying a ticket. I knew people who attempted dangerous illegal routes through the Balkans, through areas that were still unstable after years of war. One friend was caught and had her legs badly bitten by a military dog. I knew that wasn’t the route I wanted to take.
I eventually obtained a visa. Getting it cost me $1,000, an enormous amount of money for me at that time. After everything was paid, I got on a bus to Italy with one bag and $28 left in my pocket.
I had finally reached the world I had dreamed about since I was nine, but the beginning wasn’t glamorous.
I was poor. I lived with multiple immigrants in very difficult conditions, including a house with rooms without windows. I took the jobs I could get and learned very quickly how to survive on my own.
But I kept looking for opportunities to learn.
I signed up for every free class the local government offered that I thought could help me. Some of the immigrants around me would actually make fun of me for constantly going to school. They would say things like, “Why are you trying so hard? We are never going to make it.”
I understood why they felt that way. When you are poor and struggling every day, it can become difficult to imagine your life being any different. But I couldn’t accept that where I was at 19 years old was where I was going to stay.
So I kept going.
One of those paths eventually led me to beauty school. I trained as an esthetician in Italy and turned education into a profession. Slowly I built a career. The girl who had arrived with $28 now had skills that belonged to her, and nobody could take those away.
I spent many years in Italy building my life and my career. Later I met my husband, who serves in the U.S. Air Force, and my life changed countries again. Our journey eventually took us to Guam and then, in 2018, to the United States.
And then I fell completely in love with Old Town Alexandria.
I remember having lunch on the first block of King Street shortly after moving to the United States. I was looking around at the historic buildings, the businesses and all the people walking down the street, and I told my husband, “I want to work here. I want to open a business here.”
His response was basically, “Baby, it’s too expensive.”
He wasn’t wrong.
I did it anyway.
In 2019, I opened Wink Lash Art at the corner of South Washington Street and Duke Street in Old Town Alexandria.
I opened it with a lot of fear and a lot of hope. Once again, I was starting over in another country, except this time I was putting everything I had learned into something that belonged to me.
I didn’t have a large company behind me or a guarantee that it would work. I knew my craft, I knew how to work, and I believed that if I became exceptionally good at what I did and treated every client well, I could build something.
That’s essentially how Wink grew: one client at a time.
I kept learning, improving my techniques and listening to what my clients needed. Over time, I wasn’t just building a clientele anymore. I was building a brand and eventually a team.
In June 2025, Wink outgrew our original studio and we moved into a larger location on King Street.
That moment meant much more to me than simply moving into a bigger space. Years earlier, when I had just arrived in America, I had sat at lunch on King Street and told my husband that one day I wanted my business there. At the time it seemed almost unrealistic.
Then one day I was unlocking the door to my own studio on King Street.
I still remind my husband that he told me it was too expensive. He was right. I was just too stubborn to let that be the end of the conversation.
Today I’m proud of what Wink Lash Art has become, but I’m equally proud of the people I’m able to help because of everything I’ve learned along the way.
I love helping other small-business owners. Sometimes that means talking someone through how to start their business, helping them think about where to locate it, sharing marketing ideas or simply telling them what I’ve learned from my own mistakes. I want the small businesses around me to succeed too. I’m still growing my own business and my team while helping other people build their dreams when I can.
Maybe part of that comes from remembering what it felt like to be the young immigrant who kept going to school while people around her said, “Why are you trying so hard? We’re never going to make it.”
I never believed that had to be my story.
When I look back now, there isn’t a straight line connecting the five-year-old girl selling wild greens in Romania to the woman who owns Wink Lash Art on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. There were different countries, poverty, fear, education, hard work, mistakes, opportunities and many moments when I had to start over.
But one thing has stayed the same: I’ve always believed there was another possibility, and I’ve always been willing to work for it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that a difficult road doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the wrong road.
Starting over as an immigrant multiple times taught me that very early. Every move meant rebuilding a life, learning a new system, finding work, creating relationships and proving myself again. By the time I came to the United States, I already understood that being uncomfortable or afraid didn’t mean I should stop.
When I opened Wink Lash Art in 2019, I knew the beauty industry and I knew my craft, but I also understood that being excellent at what I did didn’t automatically mean I knew how to build a successful company.
So at the same time I opened Wink, I enrolled in a Syracuse University business program focused on new business development and the critical first three years of building a new business. I was learning while doing it in real time.
Those first years were intense. I was working approximately 12-hour days, six days a week, building a clientele from zero, and then spending another three or four hours a day studying. I wanted to understand how to run the business properly rather than simply hope that being good at lashes would be enough.
I didn’t grow up in Alexandria. I didn’t have generations of family here or a large local network sending people through my door. Every client mattered. Every review mattered. Every person who came back or recommended a friend mattered.
And then COVID happened.
Wink had only been open for about a year when suddenly we had to close for three months. I was terrified. I had immigrated to another country, invested everything into starting this business, worked incredibly hard to build a clientele, and suddenly I wasn’t even allowed to open the doors.
For a beauty business, there was no working from home. Our work is hands-on and performed inches from a client’s face. I had no idea what the industry was going to look like afterward or whether the business I had worked so hard to build would survive.
But we did survive.
And when we were able to come back, I made a decision that might have seemed crazy at the time: instead of operating from fear and trying to make everything smaller, I reinvested.
I invested in better equipment. I invested in marketing. I hired. I focused on giving clients an even better experience and on positioning Wink for growth rather than simply trying to get back to where we had been before COVID.
And we doubled our revenue.
In a strange way, what initially felt like a curse became a kind of blessing. I would never wish for what happened, and it was an incredibly frightening period for small-business owners, but it forced me to look at the business differently. I stopped thinking only about survival and started thinking much bigger about what Wink could become.
Of course, growth created a new set of challenges. Building a team has probably taught me as much about people as running the business itself. Finding talented people is one thing. Finding people who share your standards, work ethic and commitment to clients is another. I’ve had to learn when to teach, when to be patient, when to change something and sometimes when to let someone go.
Growth itself can also be scary. Moving Wink to King Street in 2025 was a dream I had carried since I first fell in love with Old Town Alexandria, but a bigger dream also meant a bigger lease, more expenses, more employees and more responsibility.
I’ve made mistakes along the way. I’ve trusted the wrong people. I’ve spent money on things that didn’t work. I’ve worked incredibly long hours and questioned decisions. I’ve had days when being the owner meant solving everyone else’s problems while quietly carrying my own.
But I’ve learned not to be embarrassed by mistakes. I analyze them, fix what I can, learn from them and try very hard not to make the same mistake twice.
Probably the biggest lesson from my entire life is that I don’t wait for everything to feel safe before I move forward. If I had waited until I wasn’t afraid, I probably would never have left Romania, moved between countries, opened Wink or eventually signed a lease on King Street.
Fear has been present for many of the biggest decisions of my life. I just stopped treating fear as a stop sign.
The road hasn’t been smooth, but sometimes the obstacle that looks like it might end your story becomes the thing that pushes you into the next chapter.
As you know, we’re big fans of Wink Lash Art. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Wink Lash Art is a luxury lash and brow studio in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. We specialize in customized lash extensions, lash lifts, brow laminations, tinting and shaping, but what we are really known for is creating results that fit the individual person.
I never wanted Wink to become a place where every client walks out with the same lashes.
We look at eye shape, facial features, natural lash health, lifestyle, age and what the client actually wants to see when she looks in the mirror. Sometimes that means a beautiful dramatic set, but very often it means creating something so natural that people aren’t quite sure whether they are extensions at all.
Natural-looking lash extensions have become one of our signatures. We work extensively with brown lashes, very fine extensions and handmade volume techniques that allow us to create fullness without making the lashes look heavy. We also work with mature clients who may have sparse or changing natural lashes, and clients whose lashes need more thoughtful correction or customization.
Lash lifts are another major part of our work. We offer traditional and Korean-inspired techniques and customize the lift rather than simply trying to make every lash stand as upright as possible. The health of the natural lashes and how the result will grow out matter to us just as much as how it looks the day the client leaves.
What sets Wink apart, though, isn’t one technique. It is our attention to detail and the experience we try to create around it.
I am obsessive about education. The beauty industry changes constantly, and techniques and products come from all over the world. I still research, test and learn, and I expect my team to continue learning as well. My European training gave me a strong foundation, but I don’t believe you ever reach a point where you know everything.
We are also very honest with our clients. Sometimes the best service is telling someone that what she is asking for isn’t right for her natural lashes, or that she needs something completely different from what she originally booked. I would rather lose a sale than perform a service I don’t believe is appropriate.
I’m extremely proud of the team we’ve built. Growing from one person taking every appointment to a team of artists has been one of the most rewarding and challenging parts of building Wink. I want the experience to feel consistent no matter which artist a client sees: technically excellent, welcoming, personal and never rushed.
I’m also proud that our clients have allowed us to become part of important moments in their lives. We see women before weddings, major professional events, vacations and pageants, but we also see them on completely ordinary Tuesdays when they simply want to feel a little more put together. We’ve had the opportunity to work with women across generations, from teenagers getting their first lash lift to women in their 60s and beyond.
Wink has been recognized as Best of DC multiple years, and we’ve had the privilege of working with and supporting local pageant organizations, including Miss Virginia USA and Miss DC. Those recognitions mean a lot to me, but what means even more is having clients who have trusted us for years and continue sending their daughters, friends, coworkers and family members to us.
In June 2025, we moved into our larger King Street studio in Old Town Alexandria. I wanted the new space to reflect what the brand had become: elevated and beautiful, but still warm and personal. Luxury to me isn’t about making someone feel intimidated. It is about making her feel taken care of.
That’s probably what I’m most proud of brand-wise. Wink has grown significantly, but I don’t want it to ever feel like a factory. I still want us to know our clients, notice the little things, remember what they like and care about the quality of every service leaving our studio.
We don’t sell everyone the same lashes. We try to give every client her lashes.
What makes you happy?
Happiness for me is actually in very simple things.
Time with my husband and time at home with my cat make me happy. I love traveling, good food, learning something new, working out and feeling strong. I love my espresso every single day, and I love ice cream probably more than I should.
Even grocery shopping makes me happy. I love walking into a grocery store and being able to buy whatever I’m craving. That might sound completely ordinary to someone else, but because of where and how I grew up, I don’t take abundance or having choices for granted. There is still a part of me that looks at a full grocery store and appreciates it.
I genuinely love working too. Creating something, improving it and watching it grow makes me happy. I love seeing one of my employees become more confident and successful. I love when a client looks in the mirror and immediately smiles. And I love helping another small-business owner with something I’ve already learned the hard way.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that happiness isn’t one big achievement. It’s having freedom and choices, being surrounded by people I love, doing work that gives me purpose, coming home to my cat, having my espresso in the morning and getting the ice cream when I want the ice cream.
I worked very hard for this life. Being able to enjoy the ordinary parts of it is probably what makes me happiest.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://winklashart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winklashart?stkn=MWNqa3NncjZ1NDJwMw==
- Other: Wink Lash Art (eyelash extensions, keratin lash/brow lift/lamination) https://share.google/sM5XnrRkgnZCvEcsC
