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Leaving A Fully Booked Clientele For A Brand New State As A Esthetician · Honest Esthetician Education

0:00
Hi guys, I'm with Courtney.
0:01
She is a licensed esthetician.
0:03
We are in Nashville, Tennessee.
0:05
So excited to connect with her, hear all about her business.
0:09
She actually moved from California to Tennessee, started a new business from scratch, which is so inspiring to hear.
0:18
And I'm excited for you guys to hear about her story as well.
0:23
But as always, I just want to hear all about you and how you started in aesthetics.
0:27
Yeah.
0:28
Yeah, so as anyone can relate, acne growing up.
0:36
At 18, was put on birth control for it, kind of more of like, so it was like a band-aid.
0:43
But, you know, 18, not knowing anything about skincare or how to fix it.
0:47
My mom didn't know either.
0:49
Went to the doctor, put on birth control, cleared up my skin, and then around 2021, my skin just blew up again.
1:00
I tried everything under the sun to fix my skin and then went to my first esthetician at 21 years old.
1:08
And she really inspired me to get into becoming an esthetician, went to school for it, and now here we are.
1:16
The rest is history.
1:17
The rest is history.
1:18
Yes.
1:18
So when you were going through, I think a lot of people can relate, is when you were going through clearing your or managing your acne with birth control, what did that look like for you?
1:28
Did it get clear and then come back a little bit?
1:31
What did the journey look like for you?
1:35
I got clear.
1:36
I struggled a lot with the forehead breakouts, you know, probably just for like from hormones.
1:45
And in high school, you're not really taking the best care of your skin.
1:49
And like I tell my clients now, you don't know until you know.
1:51
Yeah.
1:52
Getting on the right skin care routine.
1:55
My doctor then switched me to the generic brand for birth control and ever since I had been put on that, it made me really sick and then my skin just blew up on my cheeks where I never broke out before and then it was just my whole face.
2:10
And then going from there, I was just buying every over-the-counter product, benzoyl peroxide.
2:17
I don't think I ever was put on a retinol, but, you know, just over-exfoliating my skin.
2:23
And then to the point where I almost went on Accutane.
2:27
And I remember I was getting a wax at Brazilian Wax Studio, and I was telling the esthetician there that I was going to be on Accutane soon, and she stopped me in my tracks, gave me a business card to a local esthetician, and said, you need to go see a facialist.
2:42
And at the time, I just thought, like, facials were just, like, fluff, relaxation, day spa vibes.
2:48
Yeah.
2:49
And went and saw her, was getting facials every two weeks.
2:51
She ended up clearing my skin, and it just, like, really inspired me just to get into the field.
2:57
Yeah.
2:57
Wow.
2:58
That is really inspiring.
2:59
I think obviously, as you said, that a lot of estheticians do struggle with their own journey.
3:04
And it's so cool that whatever you've been through in life, whether it's your skin, life, anything that you can make something beautiful out of it, out of something that like tore you apart and made you feel so insecure.
3:15
And just so cool to see where you are at right now in your aesthetics journey.
3:23
So once you got...
3:25
clear and you started seeing an esthetician and then it inspired you to become an esthetician how was that journey from going through the process and then becoming an esthetician yourself did you feel like you had the right tools what what was the whole journey when you started in two aesthetics so
3:44
Going into esthetician school, I never thought that I was going to be a solo esthetician owning my own business.
3:50
I really just wanted to work under a dermatologist.
3:53
Like that was the whole goal, getting my license and working under a doctor.
3:59
So I focused a lot on facials during school.
4:04
I knew I really wasn't going to be going into like waxing or eyelash extensions.
4:10
After I had graduated from school, I was applying everywhere for doctors to become, you know, like a medical esthetician under a doctor.
4:20
No one would hire me because before I went to esthetician school, I actually worked for construction in the construction business.
4:28
Wow.
4:28
Yeah.
4:29
So I worked in the admin department for a general contractor.
4:35
And then I worked for an apprenticeship school where plumbers and electricians go to get their licensing.
4:44
So they saw that on my resume.
4:46
No one wanted to hire me.
4:48
Um, my instructor from school actually reached out to me and told me that a acne clinic down in San Diego, not going to name any names, but that they were hiring for an esthetician.
5:00
And so I applied, I got a virtual interview and she scheduled me to go in to do like hands on.
5:09
I was practicing just the movements and everything on my mom for about a week and a half before I went there, you know, nerve wracking, like I really thought I was going to land this job.
5:18
And then I reached out to her to confirm, because I hadn't heard anything in like a week.
5:25
yeah like no like email confirmation nothing so I reached out to her just to confirm that we were still on for the interview and she texted me saying sorry like we filled the position we just feel like you need more practice and like to me like that was a gut punch because like
5:43
you didn't even give me a chance to like show you like my touch or like even just like meet me in person to, so for her to say I needed more practice, like I knew, I know that my touch is good.
5:56
Like not to like toot my own horn, but like I've heard it over and over again from my clients and for her, not even to like give me a chance.
6:02
Like that was my light bulb for me to go out.
6:06
So like, if nobody's going to give me a job, I'm going to make a job for me.
6:09
Yep.
6:09
Yeah.
6:09
And I think that's a lot of, uh,
6:12
A citizen's journey, especially going straight out of school, is I hear time and time again that it, especially now, I mean, I've been in the industry now for 10 years, and I feel like even 10 years it was so different than even five years ago.
6:26
And so that's like a common thing that I see in this industry is like nobody wants to give you the opportunity, which...
6:33
um in my eyes i think that a fresh esthetician or somebody who's hungry i think like it's a fresh esthetician that is eager and hungry is a beautiful recipe for absolutely becoming a it's like they're you're so moldable at that point you can train them however you want them to be trained because like in school we just learn the basics and then you get on to like the real world with like aesthetics
6:59
And you have that opportunity to mold them exactly how you want because you don't have to untrain them on how they've been taught elsewhere.
7:08
So, yeah, I totally agree.
7:11
Yeah.
7:11
And there's so much that when I went to esthetician school and I graduated where I felt like I was like, oh, my gosh.
7:21
I feel so overwhelmed.
7:23
I think that I need more hands-on experience than I already, you know, developed at that point.
7:28
And I think that the best thing that a person, somebody who's looking to hire an esthetician, like the best thing you could do is hire somebody who is fresh out of school, not somebody who's stuck on their own ways.
7:38
They think that they know it all.
7:40
So how is that transition going from, okay,
7:45
I tried to work for others and now I'm going to go out on my own.
7:49
Did you feel like you learned a lot?
7:51
Do you feel like there's things that you wish you would have known when you first started?
7:56
So another thing that I forgot to add too was...
8:02
That was right before COVID hit.
8:04
Ooh.
8:05
Yeah.
8:05
That was a hard time for everyone.
8:06
It was right before COVID hit.
8:08
So I was about to open, but then decided, you know what, like now's not the time where everything is shutting down.
8:17
So I then was just a virtual esthetician.
8:20
I created my skin page.
8:23
I luckily have always had a very good support system with friends.
8:27
Yeah.
8:27
So I was able to just help my friends out.
8:31
They spread the word.
8:33
They sent people to me.
8:34
Everything was like strictly virtual.
8:36
That's when I was also introduced to Glymed and like they have their affiliate link.
8:41
So like that helped me out tremendously to make a little extra money.
8:45
And at the time I was doing this, I was working as a beverage cart girl at a golf course.
8:51
So like marketing myself at the golf course, like marketing.
8:55
I mean, you know, you just you can't stress marketing to like everybody just, you know, to get clients in no matter where you are.
9:04
So.
9:06
I was virtual for about a year and then things started to calm down with quarantining and stuff like that.
9:15
So I was like, okay, now's the time I got the opportunity to become a solo esthetician in a hair salon.
9:23
One of my good friends, Liz.
9:26
She introduced me to a salon owner that was looking to fill an extra room in a hair salon, reached out to them, had the interview, got it right away, and then I started with zero clients, zero facial clients.
9:40
I had my virtual clients, which I had one client, Brittany, who started as a virtual client, and then was with me up until I left California.
9:50
Yeah.
9:50
So like just marketing yourself, getting the word out there.
9:55
That hair salon was one of the biggest blessings, because even though I started with zero clients, I was then two months booked out within three months of opening my business.
10:06
Wow.
10:06
That's incredible.
10:08
I know is so rare.
10:09
I was very blessed, very grateful.
10:13
So I was able to take all those clients when I moved out of the hair salon into a different studio.
10:18
And it, I mean, it was great.
10:20
I had the best clients.
10:21
Yeah.
10:22
In California.
10:22
Incredible.
10:23
Yeah.
10:23
And I think that, I mean, even the whole, it's, it's weird to think about years later that COVID was even
10:32
a thing like I mean it was such a it's like a fever it was yeah it was so crazy that that actually happened and how it affected so many people's lives within their uh they were I've heard so many stories where somebody was about to start their career and it was taking off and then COVID hit right like I had just gotten a job and COVID hit and I had to make it work so I think that a lot of the virtual aspect of being an esthetician was huge
10:58
at that time, which I think is so awesome and opens up to the doors are endless that you can make money outside of the treatment room to have affiliate opportunities to be able to build your business on virtual consultations.
11:14
I think that's the beauty in any industry is that there's so many different avenues that you can really...
11:21
um pivot towards in the industry like you have your main of course physical in-person business but there are so many different avenues that you can go like we talked about virtual consultations um affiliate links and just really building your business in any industry that you're in which is awesome yeah
11:41
Definitely got really lucky with that.
11:45
And then just really took that time as a virtual assistant to just really focus on continued education too.
11:50
Yeah.
11:51
So like when I did finally open up, like I had as much knowledge as possible to pour in to my clients.
11:58
Yeah.
11:59
And how is the virtual process?
12:02
Did you find it?
12:04
uh easy did you find that you like what was your your go-to system when it came to virtual consultation i didn't have a system i did facetime calls and then gave you your recommended um products yeah and then i either shipped them to you or you use the glymad link yeah um and
12:27
I feel like how I was able to gain a lot of trust with those clients too is I wasn't selling the product.
12:37
I was educating clients on their skin and what these products, how they'll benefit the skin.
12:44
And I feel like even, I mean, that's a big thing in the treatment room too.
12:48
Yeah.
12:48
Like educating versus selling.
12:50
Yeah.
12:51
Because that you'll just you're just going to gain a ton of trust.
12:55
Yeah.
12:55
And then taking that from being a virtual esthetician into the treatment room like they were actually then that makes them excited to come and see you.
13:03
Yes.
13:04
For a facial because you now have their full trust.
13:08
100%.
13:09
Yeah, I, that's so inspiring to hear, like, because it's so true is if you're just selling products and you don't have any true reason, like you're like, oh, you have dark spots.
13:23
Here's the vitamin C or whatever it is that you're trying to sell.
13:26
It's like the way that you create that trust with your clients is through the education aspect of like, okay, you're coming to me with something.
13:35
of breakouts.
13:36
Like, here's why this is happening in the skin.
13:39
Like, your poor functions differently than an average, you know, person.
13:44
And I think that there's always, like, this light bulb that goes off with your clients that they're like, oh, this finally makes sense.
13:51
Like, somebody's not...
13:53
throwing antibiotics at me.
13:55
Somebody is not throwing like a bunch of different skincare products at me.
13:58
And of course, the root of good skin and the foundation is products, but it's like this different level of connection where somebody is taking that extra step and that level of truly like understanding my skin and really like getting to know me.
14:15
Number one, as a person, because I think that there's a level of personal connection, but also like,
14:21
why, why is my skin acting this way?
14:24
Right.
14:24
Like why, why do, why, why is my skin different than everybody else's?
14:28
Right.
14:29
And I think that's where like, again, that light bulb kind of goes off for your clients.
14:32
And when clients understand what they're putting on their skin, it makes them excited to actually do their skincare.
14:38
Yes.
14:39
Absolutely.
14:39
It feels less of a chore.
14:41
Yes.
14:42
And
14:42
I always tell my clients, like, just romanticize your skincare routine.
14:46
Yes, absolutely.
14:47
Don't look at it as like, oh, I have to go do my skincare routine now.
14:51
Like, this is actually something that is good for you.
14:53
It's going to make you feel good.
14:55
And when you know what you're actually putting on your skin and how it's benefiting you and you know what order to put everything into, it just makes your life and your esthetician's life so much easier.
15:06
100%.
15:07
And I also think simplifying to like the average person is like, oh, you're experiencing these bumps under your skin.
15:15
Like, here's why you need mandelic or salicylic.
15:18
Like this is...
15:20
those bumps that you're feeling under your skin, this is what's going to help with that.
15:23
Or like, you know, those red, painful cystic breakouts that you're getting, this is why, you know, that benzoyl peroxide, retinol, whatever you put your clients on, um, they, that light bulb goes off.
15:35
So the more that you can like really simplify and like relate to the average person, um, like somebody like you, who's been through it before, you're like, Oh, that makes so much sense.
15:44
Cause it's,
15:45
Instead of like going into this huge scientific thing, you're like, oh, I relate to that too because I dealt with like those pebbly bumps under my skin or those red inflamed breakouts.
15:54
It's like, okay, how can you relate to the person that you're speaking to, which goes back to...
16:01
educating yeah not selling which is really important um so for you building a whole business in california and you being in um you went from the hair salon to then you went into your own solo practice yeah so uh the girl that i actually had my very first facial from jessica
16:23
Um, she, it was a, it was an office space.
16:26
Um, so she didn't own the space, but she then rented it from the landlord.
16:32
Yeah.
16:32
And then she leased out the rooms to other beauty professionals.
16:37
So it was an office space with three rooms, a waiting room.
16:39
Um, yeah.
16:41
I went in there for a service from another esthetician and I noticed that one of the rooms was empty.
16:47
Yeah.
16:48
And it was bigger than the space that I was in.
16:50
I was kind of feeling like I needed more because I get a hair salon.
16:54
It's great for marketing.
16:55
It's great to meet other girls in the industry, but I needed something a little bit more quieter and a little bit more, I guess, zen.
17:03
Yeah, because it's loud in hair.
17:05
It is loud.
17:05
I had a.
17:06
big window in there which I loved the window but after a while I was like I want my room to be more dim and with the window it was a little bit more hard for that yeah so I moved into the I contacted her and I said hey I noticed that you know one of your rooms is empty what do you plan on doing with that I am interested in moving into it if you don't have somebody already lined up and then within a month I put my notice in at the hair salon and then I moved in there and
17:36
And from there, it definitely became more of a facial room.
17:43
Yeah.
17:43
If you know what I mean.
17:46
So going from the hair salon to a room like that, it was kind of an adjustment because I was just so used to like the loudness and like, you know, the energy from the hair salon.
18:00
But my clients, I was talking to Chris about this the other day.
18:05
It doesn't, it does matter about the noise when you're getting a facial, but when you're getting a good facial, you can zone out the noise in the background because you're just so relaxed.
18:19
Yeah.
18:19
So my clients, they never complained at the hair salon, but they said that they definitely felt a difference in the energy.
18:26
Yeah.
18:27
So they were still able to, they were almost able to relax a little bit.
18:30
more yeah so it was a change but I loved being in the hair salon and I loved being in like the more private space yeah it's almost like you don't know what you're missing until you had it it's like yes of course the experience is in the hands of the provider but then when you get into a different atmosphere you're like oh wow like yeah I didn't know that this world existed
18:52
Yeah, yeah.
18:53
Which the marketing aspect of working in a hair salon, I'll have new estheticians come, like, reach out to me, even when I was in the hair salon and be like, do you have any advice on building a clientele?
19:03
I'd be like, you have to market yourself and you have to put yourself in a space where you know the marketing is almost going to be done for you, too.
19:10
Like, going into a solo salon is great.
19:13
Yeah.
19:14
I feel like it's almost better if you already have a little bit of an established clientele going into a hair salon.
19:20
But if you're fresh off the streets, making your business a thing right then and there.
19:27
Yeah.
19:28
Going into a hair salon or even like the space that I'm in now.
19:31
It's a house with other beauty professionals, which I was looking for something like that because coming to Tennessee, I know some people here.
19:40
Yeah.
19:41
But I needed more like marketing.
19:45
Yeah.
19:46
Being surrounded by other girls in the industry to kind of help me with that.
19:50
Yeah.
19:50
Because it's hard when you're doing it alone, especially when you're building something fresh or even just going solo.
19:58
I will say like from personal experience, being at a solo salon shop.
20:04
right out the get-go of building my business was really hard.
20:10
And I think that if you can have an advantage, like you said, to have people in your corner where you can almost have like a referral partnership or you just have guaranteed people in the door to really just...
20:21
have brand recognition of like, oh wow, I'm getting my hair done.
20:25
You never know who's sitting on that hair salon's chair that's struggling with breakouts and they want to feel confident with their skin.
20:31
And the more guaranteed referral is such a beautiful thing.
20:36
And I think, and I hear that a lot with salons building their businesses and how they have like almost this like referral partnership, which I think is beautiful.
20:45
was a little bit crazy and we went to a salon suite.
20:48
I thought that being surrounded at a solo salon suite that I would have like a guaranteed referral partnership.
20:57
But when I got into the building, I realized like, Oh, these girls aren't that nice.
21:02
I shouldn't have better on that, you know?
21:04
And so I had to figure it out myself.
21:06
Yeah.
21:06
And then what I learned in esthetician school too was your,
21:12
I don't want to say enemy, your biggest enemy going through all this, but I guess I'm just going to say enemy because I don't have another word to say.
21:21
Yeah.
21:22
Are the people in the same industry as you?
21:24
Yeah.
21:25
Because a lot of people won't do community over competition and going into a solo salon like that.
21:30
Like, not bashing a solo salon at all.
21:34
But if you're freshly off the market and you're putting yourself out there and, you know, like you said, betting on other girls to help you out.
21:42
Especially if it's another facialist or somebody doing the same thing that you're doing.
21:46
Chances are they'll never speak your name out of their mouth.
21:50
And you would think differently because you're like, oh, wow, they must be similar.
21:53
They opened up their business.
21:54
They're like a solo business owner.
21:56
They probably want partnership.
21:58
But it is sad to see, like with any industry, that that isn't always the case.
22:05
It's beautiful if it happens that way and like not that you want to go into any situation and like immediately having a bad perception of somebody who's in the same building as you that offers facials.
22:16
But from personal experience and from hearing other stories, I have heard it time and time again because we're all building.
22:23
And so I think that if you have somebody in the same niche as you, they see you as competition.
22:29
And it's like, okay, maybe we should take this as a learning lesson of competition.
22:34
Either you're in it and you're not relying on anybody else and you're there to support other people or like just don't rely on other people to market your business because you can't guarantee the people that you're sharing spaces with because people come and go too.
22:49
Yeah.
22:50
I think that's like a big part of like those solo suites is I was there for a year and within that year there was five people that moved out.
22:57
Like you really can't rely on your marketing for those type of types of spaces.
23:02
I do think a space like that is great if you're new to the area and want to make friends with people in the same industry.
23:09
But it's also a 50-50 chance with that because girls can be so mean.
23:12
Yeah.
23:13
Girls can be so mean.
23:15
So, like, at the end of the day, you just have you supporting your business.
23:19
Oh, yeah.
23:19
At the end of the day, you have yourself.
23:21
Yeah.
23:21
But I do – I've never been in a solo salon, so I can't give a personal experience with it.
23:27
But I just know, like, starting fresh out –
23:30
That's just not the path that I wanted to take.
23:33
Yeah, absolutely.
23:34
And there's nothing wrong with that.
23:36
And I think that, like, no matter where you're at, like, you should just be focused on you and your business and serving the people that are in your chair.
23:43
I think that the more that we focus on other businesses around us, it can kind of put you in this dark hole.
23:49
And, like, it's beautiful if you can find somebody around you that...
23:53
is supportive but at the end of the day we're all here to run our businesses and we're all in the same building right or you're collaborating with somebody else so like as long as you can be that positive light in your industry and continue to move forward and have um a reason for your passion and help build that forward i think that's like truly all that matters absolutely um so for you going from
24:17
building out a successful business in California.
24:21
How is that transition?
24:23
Like what was the move like going from California to now Nashville?
24:31
So going from I actually went from
24:34
California to Alabama okay I lived in Alabama for two months I had signed a three-year storefront out there when I right as soon as the day after I flew in I woke up seven in the morning met with a realtor showed me this beautiful storefront immediately signed it a week later and I was
24:56
I came out to Nashville to visit one of my best friends out here.
25:01
Went back home.
25:02
A week later, storefront fell through.
25:04
I had already given my deposit, signed the paperwork, got a call or I guess a text message from the realtor saying, so sorry, but the owner decided to sell.
25:16
which was a bummer because if I had known that they were even selling, I might have even bought it.
25:22
Yeah.
25:23
It was the cutest little house.
25:25
I've got to show you a video.
25:27
Yes.
25:27
It's so cute.
25:29
But I am a big believer on if something's meant for me, it will be.
25:35
And that just wasn't the path that I was supposed to be taking.
25:40
I believe that everything happens for a reason.
25:43
I don't know how personal we want to get on this.
25:47
Yeah, we can always go personal.
25:50
Yeah.
25:52
So I obviously was I'm an open book in person.
25:58
I don't really love to like dish on like my stories about my personal life.
26:02
So I do know like a lot of people were very curious about why I left California who weren't my clients.
26:08
I told my clients everything.
26:09
Yeah.
26:10
I was in a six year relationship with somebody.
26:14
I ended that relationship last January and I had two months left on my lease at my townhouse.
26:23
My parents didn't live in California anymore.
26:26
I have three brothers.
26:28
Two of them don't live there anymore.
26:29
One of them still lives there.
26:30
So I have one brother, one uncle in California.
26:34
And it was a very confusing time for me.
26:38
Sorry, there was a red ant on your water bottle.
26:40
I just saw it was... We're out here in the country.
26:44
We just put our feet in.
26:47
So, it was just a very confusing time of what does my life look like?
26:52
This was January of 2025.
26:55
In November, I was going to be turning 30.
26:57
It was just a very, I guess I'll say it again, confusing time.
27:01
So...
27:02
Called my dad and I love where my parents live.
27:07
Yeah.
27:07
It's called Fairhope, Alabama.
27:09
It is.
27:09
I was telling Chris, if you guys ever want to go take like a good family vacation, that's where you need to go.
27:15
Okay.
27:15
It is beautiful.
27:17
So I already had it in my mind that a year later I was going to be moving out there.
27:22
So I was just like, you know what?
27:25
I, why not now?
27:26
Yeah.
27:27
So ran out my lease in my townhouse.
27:31
I took two months to close down my business because like that was probably the hardest.
27:37
I mean, I had some clients that were with me from day one of opening up.
27:41
Wow.
27:41
So like leaving them, it was very emotional.
27:44
I had some clients on their last day, last vacation with me cry.
27:49
It was so emotional.
27:51
But I just knew in my gut that I wasn't supposed to be in California anymore.
27:57
I lived there for 29 years.
27:59
I feel like my life kind of like ran its course.
28:03
So I packed up my house, sold my car.
28:07
Bought a one-way ticket down to Alabama.
28:10
Moved out there.
28:12
Two weeks later, visited my best friend out here.
28:16
And while I was out here, I actually met my now boyfriend, Tommy.
28:21
Aww.
28:21
Crazy.
28:22
Was not looking to even get into another relationship at the time.
28:26
Told him, like...
28:31
It was great to meet you, but I live in Alabama now.
28:35
I don't see myself moving anytime soon.
28:38
I just signed my life away for three years for a storefront.
28:42
Yeah.
28:42
Like, if you want to make this work, because he was like, we could fly out to each other once a month.
28:48
But I just know myself.
28:51
Long distance is just no.
28:53
Yeah.
28:54
So when the storefront fell through, it was almost like...
29:00
am I crazy like is this actually a sign am I moving to Nashville oh so sat down with my parents and I was like if I'm ever gonna live like in a bigger city now's the time I have friends out here so it's not like I'm gonna just come out here just know him like I'm gonna know other people out here
29:23
So made my second move in two months to a different state.
29:27
He flew down one-way ticket.
29:30
We got a U-Haul and we drove up to Nashville together.
29:33
I did get my own apartment, but we just recently last month moved in with each other.
29:38
We got a dog.
29:40
I keep saying aww because it's so cute.
29:44
It's a crazy story to think about, but...
29:49
Things have been great.
29:50
Open.
29:50
I did take my time to find a space out here.
29:53
I got a part-time job at a workout studio just to market myself.
29:57
Meet new girls out in the city.
29:59
And I've met a ton of new people.
30:03
And some of them have already booked with me.
30:05
So like even just marketing yourself before you know you're going to open up your doors is huge.
30:10
Yeah.
30:11
Wow.
30:12
Because you going into a new city.
30:15
I always tell people you have to spend money to make money.
30:19
Absolutely.
30:19
Like go join a workout studio.
30:22
Go join book clubs.
30:25
Join a running club.
30:27
Like just join something to get your name out there just to meet people and not particularly for your business, just to like push your business on other people, but just to meet people.
30:37
Because when you build those friendships, build those trust with people, you don't even have to push your business on them.
30:42
They'll want to come to you.
30:43
Oh, yeah, that's so true.
30:45
And I can, I've heard countless times where you have esthetician business owners and they're just little social butterflies because they need to make their business known.
30:58
And if you are...
31:00
somebody like me who is, um, an introvert, I would say, which means that you need your energy powered by like having time to yourself versus an extrovert who like gets fueled by people.
31:13
Right.
31:14
Um, you have to push yourself outside of who you are sometimes too.
31:19
I think that's really important is like,
31:22
It doesn't matter what...
31:24
If you're trying to build a business, you need to put yourself out there.
31:27
You have to.
31:28
And that is part of the process.
31:30
And some people are like, well, I'm not good at speaking to other people.
31:34
That's not who I am.
31:36
If you want to build a business, you have to do these things that you're talking about.
31:40
You have to.
31:41
You have to put yourself out there.
31:42
And part of our job...
31:46
Well, not part of it.
31:47
The whole thing of our job is making somebody feel comfortable.
31:50
Absolutely.
31:51
So like putting yourself out there, gaining the trust with people, but even before they come and see you, you're already making them feel comfortable to even step into your space.
31:59
Yeah.
31:59
Because getting a facial, even if it's your first time getting a facial, it can be a vulnerable situation.
32:05
You're laying there on a bed, your eyes are closed.
32:08
No makeup.
32:09
No makeup.
32:12
Your bare face.
32:13
Yeah, you have to make them feel comfortable.
32:15
So just getting yourself out there, putting a face to your business, which I'm also going to say getting on your stories and showing your face for your business.
32:26
Yeah.
32:27
That in itself is a marketing tactic because people want to know who's behind that Instagram page.
32:33
People want to know your personality even before they even come to see you.
32:37
So just putting yourself out there with those things, I just feel like is going to help build a clientele.
32:45
Yeah.
32:45
Tremendously.
32:46
No, it's so true.
32:47
I mean, you can, I mean, I can think of like countless times where I'm on my stories and my clients are asking me about, I already know they're going to ask me about this trip.
32:54
They're going to be like, dang girl, you said you're, you were talking about this trip a month ago and now your son couldn't even go to the camp.
33:02
They're like, how do you feel?
33:04
I saw you got a parking ticket.
33:07
Like there's so scratched.
33:09
car scratch like everything worse my brother can't come out here anymore which was like part of the whole thing like i aren't you know it's so true being on your story is such a a personable connection that you can make with people before they even walk in the door or when you gain that clientele let's say they came in for their first time they're now getting to know your personality by your story yeah and we live in a society now where people love to know what you're doing every second of the day oh yeah
33:37
They're like 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. What's on your story now?
33:42
Like day in my lives, I'm sat for those.
33:45
Yes, me too.
33:46
Sat for those.
33:47
But do you know how long it takes to edit those?
33:48
Come on, guys.
33:48
I don't do them.
33:49
But, you know, I'll be on my story all day, every day.
33:53
Yes.
33:54
Because people love to just engage with other people, especially behind a phone.
34:00
Yeah.
34:00
Oh, yeah.
34:01
And if you think about, like, all these influencers, which is, like, a beautiful thing, but also I feel like there's a bigger portion.
34:09
There's an ant on your foot.
34:10
Okay, it's gone.
34:11
There's a bigger portion of society now that, like...
34:16
not that we're sick of influencers, but like you want to feel that personal connection that like somebody's responding to your story or like you can have a conversation like back and forth.
34:26
And so I think that there is like such a beauty in just like being an esthetician and like being human.
34:34
Like we're all just humans at the end of the day.
34:38
Yes.
34:38
And the more people that I talk to, I'm just like, wow, like,
34:43
Everyone just craves human connection.
34:46
Like you want to feel related.
34:48
You want to feel like you can connect with somebody.
34:50
And like this business is about serving people.
34:55
And I think that's where we really need to like get back in tune is, okay, we're here to, we have a business and how can we pour into people?
35:02
And like, that is a huge part of our job.
35:05
Yeah.
35:06
Yeah.
35:07
It's just...
35:08
It...
35:09
I just restarted my business.
35:13
It...
35:13
I guess?
35:14
Yeah.
35:14
When did you start your...
35:16
Restart your business here?
35:17
I was going to say three weeks ago, but it was...
35:21
Congratulations.
35:21
I think it was May 5th.
35:23
That's huge.
35:23
Yeah.
35:24
How are you feeling?
35:25
I'm feeling good.
35:28
To be honest, I feel like I needed...
35:29
It was a year that I hadn't touched a face.
35:33
Yeah.
35:34
And as much as I loved my business in California, I feel like I needed that year to just recharge.
35:42
Yeah.
35:42
Because... Not that I...
35:46
Didn't want to do aesthetics anymore.
35:48
But like I said, it was a very confusing time for me when I left California.
35:53
I wasn't even sure when I went to Alabama or even came to Tennessee, like...
35:59
was this, is this the path for me?
36:02
It took me so long to get my license transferred out here in Tennessee.
36:06
They are very strict, by the way.
36:08
Yeah.
36:09
Um, even I've had my license for almost eight years and that just was not good enough for them.
36:16
That's crazy.
36:17
I needed, because California hours, I had 600, they have, I think it's 700, 750.
36:23
Oh, they have more here?
36:24
They have more here.
36:26
Yeah.
36:27
So because my hours were lower than Tennessee, they needed three to five years of proof of work.
36:36
And being a solo esthetician, you're like, oh, do you want to see my Instagram?
36:40
I know, please.
36:41
So I did have to send them over.
36:42
I thought California was the highest number.
36:44
I thought so too.
36:46
Oh my gosh.
36:46
Yeah.
36:47
No.
36:47
That's good to know.
36:48
Yeah.
36:48
So I guess it's California and Texas where you have to show three to five years of proof of work.
36:55
But I actually just met somebody the other day from Florida and she said that estheticians, their hours are only like $2.50.
37:01
Yeah.
37:02
It's like very low standard in Florida, which is crazy.
37:05
So she can't even get her license here.
37:07
Aww.
37:08
So I thought that...
37:10
So she has to go to school again then?
37:12
Yeah.
37:12
Oh my gosh.
37:13
They said that in order for her to get her license out here, she would have had to go back to school.
37:17
And she was like, absolutely not.
37:18
That's really good to know, though, for anyone listening.
37:21
Yeah.
37:22
A little fun fact.
37:23
Yeah.
37:23
Make sure if you transfer your estate.
37:25
I always thought it was like you just make up those hours.
37:28
I thought so, too.
37:29
But even for California and Texas... And I thought California was the highest, which is where we went to school, right?
37:34
So...
37:36
If you don't have at least three years of work in California or Texas and you're planning on moving to Tennessee, wait until you have three to five years of work before you move out here to transfer it.
37:48
But anyways, that was a struggle because I then had to send over my tax documents.
37:53
And, you know, the states always they take forever to get back to you.
37:56
sent them over my tax documents and they said well it doesn't have your occupation on it and then I had to wait another month after I resent that to even hear from them again so it took about four to five months even to get my license transferred out here and during that time I was like well maybe this is a sign that I'm just not meant to be an esthetician anymore and it wasn't even because like I think I'm bad at this because I have serviced all the time I was like I was
38:19
almost 500 clients, 400 clients in California and had a very good, um, turnaround with my clients.
38:29
So I know that I'm not a bad esthetician.
38:32
Do I think I'm the best?
38:33
No, we all have our, uh,
38:35
I don't know what that was.
38:36
Chris said to keep it cool on camera.
38:38
I think that was a B, but it's okay.
38:40
Sorry.
38:43
So it was just like, again, is this another sign?
38:47
Is being an esthetician in Tennessee just not my path?
38:49
But then I started going to Browology Wax Studio here in Nashville.
38:56
And she is in the cutest house with...
39:00
all these rooms with all these service providers and I remember getting my first service done by her and thinking wow like this is the type of space that I would love to be in yeah and that kind of just like refueled my fire just seeing all those girls working in there so I told her I was like I would love to work in here she didn't have any rooms available in January we had a crazy ice storm
39:26
Oh, I heard about that where there was like power out for three months.
39:28
It was some people.
39:30
I think me, I only had my power out for four hours.
39:34
Okay.
39:34
Thank goodness.
39:35
But I think that's just because I was in an apartment.
39:38
If I was in a house, though, the houses got hit worse than being in this more like downtown.
39:44
Yeah.
39:44
Yeah.
39:45
So the building that she has all she works in with all the other beauty providers, their pipes burst in the house.
39:56
So then there was damage and two of the girls.
39:59
So they had to, you know, move out, find somewhere else to service their clients for about a month.
40:04
Two of the girls decided that they didn't want to go back into that space.
40:07
So she contacted me and she was like, hey, two rooms just opened up.
40:12
And I was like, yes, don't even have to finish that sentence.
40:15
I'm there.
40:16
So I feel like I really took my time finding a space out here because...
40:22
I knew how I wanted the space to be for my clients.
40:28
Having my business for almost five years in California, you really learn what's most comfortable for you and your clients.
40:35
I didn't want to settle and find a space out here.
40:38
So, yeah, just opened up beginning of May.
40:42
And it's been a little slow, but I'm embracing the slow time right now for more continued education, marketing.
40:49
And I do work...
40:52
part-time is there a bug on me yes where where is it i don't know where it went wait sit down is it in your pocket i don't see it you're good chris said sit down chris said to keep it natural no this is good just two um non-country girls in the country right yeah okay we're good you're fine
41:15
It wasn't a spider, if it makes you feel any better.
41:19
I think it was an ant.
41:20
Okay.
41:21
It's one of those giant ones.
41:23
It's fine.
41:24
Chris, help.
41:26
We're good.
41:27
We're good.
41:27
Can you just check on an ant for me, please?
41:32
Those are like my worst fear.
41:33
I'm not going to lie.
41:35
She said there's an ant on me, the big one.
41:37
Bugs are like an analogy of aesthetic school.
41:40
What is it?
41:41
I don't know.
41:42
There's no bug on you.
41:44
I think you might have scared.
41:45
It's more scared of you than we are of them.
41:48
Can we cut this out?
41:51
We need to.
41:51
Okay, you're good.
41:53
No, keep it in.
41:53
There's no bug on you.
41:54
Sorry.
41:54
Those big ones freak me out.
41:57
Okay.
41:58
Thanks, girl.
42:00
They're not poisonous.
42:02
Don't bite, though.
42:03
Ouch.
42:04
Ouch.
42:06
Ouch.
42:07
Like, my son has gotten bit by those, and they hurt.
42:11
Okay.
42:11
Yeah, I don't know what those ones are on.
42:13
Let's just keep our feet up.
42:19
Wait, where were you going off with that?
42:21
I'm so sorry.
42:22
I don't remember.
42:25
You were talking about how you felt like it was a perfect spot for you.
42:30
Yes.
42:31
Oh, so I took the year off.
42:33
I just felt like I needed it to really get the fire fueling back into me.
42:39
I remember when I first started my business in California and how excited you are to take your first client.
42:47
Yeah.
42:47
Where you almost feel like you forget that it's a job.
42:51
you're like oh you're paying me for this yeah and that's how I felt restarting out here in Tennessee like I was just I was so giddy about it restarting I'm just I'm I'm just excited to be back in this industry touching faces and you know serving Tennessee for acne
43:10
and anti-aging pigment.
43:12
Like, I'm just excited to get more before and after photos.
43:16
It's just, it doesn't feel like a job anymore.
43:18
Yeah.
43:19
Towards the end of it in California, I don't know if it was because my personal life was crumbling.
43:25
It was just a lot.
43:26
But now back here, just my life is great.
43:30
And reopening is just more of like a cherry on top.
43:34
I'm just, I'm very excited.
43:36
Yeah.
43:36
I think that's a beautiful point though, is that...
43:39
you don't always need to rush what you think is meant to be at that moment, right?
43:45
You think that, okay, I'm restarting a business out here.
43:49
I'm opening up fresh.
43:50
And sometimes you do compare yourself to other stories or others in the industry.
43:55
And sometimes you do need that pause.
43:58
Like you said, you took a year to figure out, okay, what...
44:02
What is my journey, right?
44:03
Like what rebuilding is that is part of the process.
44:08
And then you finding the perfect place that felt right for you to almost give you that spark again in the aesthetics industry.
44:17
Because I think that that is a really real point in this industry is that it's not just 24-7 work.
44:25
You're in this career for eight years and all the eight years were just beautiful.
44:31
You had your spark.
44:32
I think like everybody goes through little funks within their career no matter what career you're in.
44:37
The burnout.
44:37
It's okay.
44:38
Yeah, the burnout is so real.
44:40
I mean, I just felt this way.
44:43
you know, within this past year is I was like, Oh my gosh, I feel so burnt out.
44:47
I have right now to this day, I have somebody texting me every single day with their skin and clients that throughout the years that I built great relationships with, but you almost have to rediscover that passion and that like, uh, purpose of, okay.
45:05
what is that spark that I first felt when I got into this industry?
45:09
Because you can almost become unappreciative of what you have versus what people would kill to have, right?
45:16
Absolutely.
45:17
And even restarting the first month, I had about six clients.
45:21
That's amazing.
45:22
I feel like
45:24
It could definitely could have been a lot slower.
45:27
And to have the eight clients I had the first month I opened, I still feel very grateful.
45:34
Yeah.
45:34
Because they're spending their hard earned money on on you, on me for a service that they trust me with.
45:43
Yeah.
45:43
Because your skin is not something to be messed with.
45:46
No.
45:47
So going to a new service provider is very intimidating.
45:51
And for me to even just show them or, you know, get their trust just from my before and afters that I've had with my previous clients.
45:59
Yeah.
46:00
And you can still see it before and after, but the service itself.
46:04
it's it could be a hit or miss yeah so I don't like to just say that I'm just a treatment esthetician like when you come into my studio you are going to feel relaxed I hope like you're you're still going to get that fluff that everybody wants from a facial but you're going to get the results as well
46:22
Yeah, absolutely.
46:23
And I think that's such a good point is that even, I don't know, you saying that you had eight clients your first month of opening, that is a huge accomplishment.
46:34
And I think that a lot of people get down on themselves that they should have a certain number or that they should be at a certain point.
46:40
It's like, no, you just opened.
46:42
That should be...
46:43
I'm proud of you.
46:44
That's a huge accomplishment.
46:45
Of course.
46:46
Like, I think that we can easily look at that number and be like, I only had client, eight clients.
46:51
No, you are, you had eight clients.
46:56
That's huge.
46:57
Is that the ant?
46:58
Yeah, I got it.
46:59
Thanks guys.
47:02
This should be an entertaining episode.
47:05
No, but I think that everything also is about perspective of being grateful for where you are.
47:12
where you're at in that season not everybody gets the opportunity to even serve eight clients like for you to have that in your first month is huge and so anybody that's listening and you yourself should be very proud if you get one client in that door that first month because it is hard it is it is hard building a business
47:32
When I first opened my business five years ago, I'll admit I didn't feel that struggle of trying to get clients.
47:40
I mean, I still had to market the crap out of myself to get the clients that I have or had.
47:48
But it is a weird adjustment going from two months booked out to now restarting and not knowing anybody really out here.
47:58
Like I know some people, but you just like you heavily rely on your marketing and then just hopes that people are, you know, getting your name out there on Facebook.
48:09
their side of it but it I felt very blessed yeah how did you feel going from a fully booked practice to then rebuilding was it like a humbling moment for you was it like it's definitely exciting it's it's exciting because I am so excited to meet new faces and just
48:31
you know, put out new boundaries with your business.
48:35
Because I feel like you get to a point where you're so booked out with your regulars that you forget to enforce your boundaries.
48:43
So starting fresh now, knowing what I knew with my business out there versus now here, I'm able to be more structured and put more boundaries out there.
48:53
But I am very excited.
48:55
It is humbling going from being two months booked out to being like, well,
48:59
Who's going to be my next client?
49:03
Did you restructure anything like your pricing, your policies?
49:07
I did restructure my policies to be more consistent.
49:11
Yeah.
49:13
I did...
49:15
restructure my pricing california is a little bit more expensive than tennessee but honestly in nashville not that much yeah nashville being like a bigger city um i would honestly say it's almost comparable to where i was in california i feel like any big city is like comparable at this point yeah almost yeah i mean everybody's like tennessee is so much cheaper i'm like
49:41
is it our gas prices are almost the same yeah oh i saw on the way to fill up our uh gas tank i was like this is expensive yeah yeah everybody thinks there's ants we love that get out of here
49:58
to us versus the ants versus the wilderness i guarantee you there's an ant on me right now and i just can't feel it and now there's a wasp um okay yeah let's just keep going if we it's fine out of mine we're all fine they're just digging a hole down there
50:14
Yeah.
50:15
But, yeah, it's humbling.
50:17
But now I'm seeing the other side of building a business.
50:20
Yeah.
50:20
And I can't wait for, like, a year from now to, like, look back on this time.
50:26
And just, I'm just embracing.
50:28
Yeah.
50:28
Just, like, restarting my business, doing the whole market.
50:32
Oh, my God.
50:33
You're good.
50:33
It flew away.
50:34
It flew away.
50:34
It flew away.
50:36
There's too many bugs out here now.
50:38
Sit down.
50:40
There's too many bugs now.
50:42
It flew away.
50:42
Okay.
50:43
Okay.
50:44
We're one with nature today.
50:47
I'm going to like cut these pieces out to make it entertaining.
50:51
Like it's going to be like two seconds of me screaming, you telling me to sit down.
50:57
Okay.
50:58
But yeah.
50:58
Anyways.
50:59
Very exciting.
50:59
Rebuilding a business.
51:00
Very.
51:01
It's humbling, but very exciting.
51:03
Which I feel like I needed to be humbled a little bit.
51:05
There's a bug in your hair.
51:06
No, there's not.
51:07
What kind?
51:08
Hold on.
51:10
Come here.
51:10
Come here.
51:11
Come here.
51:12
Okay.
51:13
I got it.
51:14
There's too many bugs out here now.
51:15
Okay.
51:16
I feel like we're okay.
51:17
Yes.
51:17
We're fine.
51:18
We're fine.
51:19
Okay.
51:20
It's all about mindset.
51:21
Mindset and rebuilding a business and mindset, how you deal with the bugs.
51:26
You can't get through life with a negative mindset.
51:29
We have to stay positive through all the bugs.
51:35
Wait up, Judd.
51:36
Okay.
51:37
So, no, I am so sorry that...
51:41
We're just girls, okay?
51:44
He's shaking his head.
51:47
You were like, if there's bugs, if there's any noise, just keep it going.
51:53
We're doing the complete opposite.
51:55
Okay, this is like an absurd amount.
51:56
There was a wasp.
51:57
There was like three ants on us.
51:59
There was a bug on her head.
52:00
A spider.
52:01
A spider.
52:02
Okay.
52:04
Okay, so I guess my...
52:09
Okay, hold on.
52:09
Let me just like restart this because we're going to cut it.
52:14
Yeah.
52:15
Okay.
52:16
Okay, so you built a fresh aesthetics business and...
52:22
was kind of forced to go solo into your journey, but partnered with a hairstylist, quickly built a fully booked business, moved to Alabama, then Nashville, storefront fell through, then you moved to a beautiful story of you moving to Nashville, Tennessee.
52:40
What would be the biggest learning lesson that you would give to somebody along your journey that you think would benefit an esthetician?
52:51
You just, you have to stay positive.
52:54
Like that, I just feel like you could take that into an everyday in general.
53:00
You have to stay positive.
53:01
You have to just keep going.
53:04
You can't give up.
53:05
Yeah.
53:05
You can't, if you don't have any clients one week.
53:09
then that's time to take to, you know, do educational courses to just get your face on the internet.
53:18
Get your face on the internet.
53:19
Yeah.
53:19
Get your name out there.
53:21
Even if it's with other estheticians in the industry.
53:23
I just had some, a friend, Jill, who's an esthetician in Oregon.
53:27
She told her clients who recently just moved to Nashville about me.
53:32
You have to get your face out there.
53:34
Even just make a little community online with other estheticians because you never know who is going to help you out along the way.
53:42
Yeah.
53:43
The biggest thing is your mindset.
53:45
Yeah.
53:46
I cannot stress that enough.
53:47
Mm-hmm.
53:48
So true.
53:48
Like, we're all going to feel discouraged one way or another.
53:52
Like, even fully booked, you're going to feel discouraged about maybe you don't have the social life that you used to have.
53:59
But, like, it's a mindset.
54:02
It's a perspective.
54:03
Yeah.
54:04
Yeah.
54:04
Like some people would kill to have your fully booked out business.
54:08
And then there's fully booked out estheticians that want more of like a slower lifestyle, too.
54:15
Yeah.
54:15
But like we have full control over our lives.
54:18
We have full control about how many clients come through the door.
54:22
how your business runs so you just you have to just stay positive yeah that's great advice and i think it's like you said so important too if you have a slow slow week don't mope about it do something about it go read a book yeah read a book
54:39
Invest in a course.
54:40
Continue your education.
54:43
Get outside and just market yourself.
54:47
What does it do to be sad about your business?
54:50
Yeah, it sucks in the beginning, but you have to do these things to make it work.
54:54
And I think that I love your story because it's all about rebuilding and building something that is so...
55:02
successful and then doing it all again and I think that's really inspiring for other people to hear that if you're in a place where you're stuck or you want something new for yourself it's okay to take that next step and try something new
55:19
And I think that other people hearing the story of something beautiful happening out of that is just so inspiring.
55:26
So thank you for being on the podcast today.
55:29
Where can people find you on Instagram or social media?
55:33
Yeah.
55:33
So my website is still being built right now, but my Instagram is SD.Court.
55:41
And if you're in Nashville listening to this, my studio is off of 8th Avenue South.
55:47
uh the opposite direction of the gulch closer to berry hill wedgwood houston is the neighborhood it's in it's the same neighborhood where you went and had your hot pilates today love we maybe we'll go this week my legs are dying though i will say like i can feel it right now
56:04
This was so much fun.
56:06
Yes.
56:06
Thanks for having me.
56:08
Yeah.
56:08
Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
56:12
Make sure you guys go follow her.
56:14
Like, comment, subscribe on this episode.
56:17
And we will see you in the next one.
56:18
Bye.