Latest / Honest Esthetician Education / Celebrity Facialist, Acne Expert 35 Year Esthetician Renee Rouleau!

Transcript

Celebrity Facialist, Acne Expert 35 Year Esthetician Renee Rouleau! · Honest Esthetician Education

• 0:08
  I'm with Renee Rouleau, and she is a 35-year celebrity esthetician.
• 0:13
  She has her own skincare line.
• 0:15
  Thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
• 0:17
  Thank you.
• 0:17
  I'm so happy our worlds are colliding here in Arizona.
• 0:20
  I know.
• 0:21
  And where are you originally from?
• 0:23
  Um, well, from, it's always a challenging question.
• 0:26
  My family, when people ask us this from a kindergarten to my senior year, I was in seven different schools.
• 0:32
  So, um, minute, primarily Minnesota, Boston, and Wisconsin.
• 0:37
  Okay.
• 0:37
  And then now I'm in Texas.
• 0:38
  So let's talk about your aesthetics career and where it all started.
• 0:41
  Cause you've been doing this for 35 years.
• 0:43
  That's a really long time.
• 0:44
  You're the OG in aesthetics, I always say, but let's hear about your story and where it all started.
• 0:50
  Yes.
• 0:51
  So, um, yeah.
• 0:53
  My grandmother was a hairstylist, and she was also an entrepreneur, and she had the Powder Puff Beauty Shop in Wisconsin.
• 1:02
  And so I grew up in that, you know, seeing her in that environment.
• 1:07
  And what really stood out for me was she had a really good sense of humor, but how much like I noticed from a young age when people would come in and they were having a bad day or whatever and feeling down.
• 1:19
  And then the transformation of this
• 1:21
  funny woman that would just brighten their day, and then how beauty could really affect people's moods, and they'd walk out and they would be in the best mood.
• 1:31
  And so I, it was my mom, I knew that college wasn't my path,
• 1:37
  And it was my mom who said, you know, you've always been into beauty, Renee.
• 1:42
  And because I have two other sisters, but I was the one that was just like the total beauty junkie.
• 1:46
  And so she suggested that I follow in my grandmother's footsteps.
• 1:50
  And so I actually started out doing hair.
• 1:53
  And...
• 1:55
  But the salon I worked at, you started with like, you were like the shampoo tech.
• 2:00
  So like my hands were like so dry and like rawness is like 80s perm solution and all that kind of stuff.
• 2:05
  So like my hands, I feel like have never recovered.
• 2:09
  And then you would start with kids cuts.
• 2:13
  And there is nothing that will challenge you more than giving kids.
• 2:17
  a two-year-old a haircut while he's sitting on his mom's lap and you're basically about to cut the child's ear off because they're screaming they don't sit still exactly and i was like okay i'm out like i was tested and i'm like okay that's it but actually um the salon that i worked at they actually had the salon that i worked at they actually had an esthetician there and and this was late 80s and like who knew what an esthetician was how old were you by the way
• 2:41
  um 19 okay and um so they had a facial room and i found that while i was you know kind of starting out doing with the hair um i was always like in the facial room and hanging out with the esthetician and i was like no this is really interesting and so i ended up then going to school to become an esthetician um worked at came back to the salon and
• 3:06
  and was an esthetician there for, I think, about a year and a half.
• 3:09
  And then my coworker, she was 13 years older than me, and she always wanted to open up her own business.
• 3:16
  And...
• 3:18
  But she had two children and didn't want to do it by herself.
• 3:21
  And so she saw something in me.
• 3:23
  And we started Elizabeth Renee Aesthetics outside of Boston.
• 3:28
  And we, I was, that was 1991.
• 3:32
  So I was 21 years old being a business owner.
• 3:35
  We had, we employed estheticians and, yeah.
• 3:38
  Had that for five years.
• 3:40
  Fun fact, everyone knows what the Fitzpatrick skin types are.
• 3:44
  She actually used to work for Dr. Fitzpatrick.
• 3:46
  And Dr. Fitzpatrick was actually a client of the hair salon.
• 3:50
  And I have, maybe we can talk about it later, but I have a really fun Dr. Fitzpatrick story.
• 3:56
  And, but yeah, so I had that for five years with her.
• 4:00
  And we were, we did very well.
• 4:02
  And it was amazing.
• 4:04
  And her and I were like...
• 4:06
  Just, you know, sometimes a partnership can be challenging, but like we were just opposites.
• 4:11
  Her strengths were my weaknesses, vice versa.
• 4:14
  And to this day, we're still super close.
• 4:17
  And she, but then for personal reasons, I just really wanted to get out of the cold weather and
• 4:22
  And so I moved to Dallas in 1996.
• 4:24
  I sold my half of the business to her.
• 4:26
  She had it all the way up until COVID.
• 4:28
  So I think almost 30 years.
• 4:29
  Oh my goodness.
• 4:30
  And it's still called Elizabeth Renee.
• 4:32
  And then I started Renee Rouleau Skin Care in Dallas in 1996.
• 4:37
  Moved there all by myself.
• 4:38
  Didn't know anyone.
• 4:40
  Rented a U-Haul.
• 4:42
  Rented a space.
• 4:43
  Built the whole space out.
• 4:44
  It was like a big space.
• 4:46
  And started with a skincare spa in Dallas.
• 4:49
  Wow.
• 4:49
  Incredible.
• 4:49
  And then just kind of the quick fast forward.
• 4:53
  So employed estheticians.
• 4:55
  Ended up opening up a second location.
• 4:59
  So I had skincare spas for 22 years.
• 5:03
  But probably like...
• 5:05
  18 years in me and my now late husband, we wanted to change a scenery.
• 5:10
  And so we moved our corporate headquarters to Austin, which is where I still am now.
• 5:14
  And so I was back and forth having the spas, but I had spa managers that ran them.
• 5:19
  I was still taking clients a little bit.
• 5:21
  And, and then, um,
• 5:24
  I decided, okay, now I'm in Austin and now we're so focused on the product line and the spas needed to be remodeled.
• 5:31
  And it was like, and the leases were coming up and like one remodeling a location while like you're still operating a business is like next to impossible.
• 5:39
  Totally.
• 5:39
  So then it was like, okay, well, no, we really probably should find new spaces.
• 5:44
  But then we were living in Austin and then have to manage all of that.
• 5:47
  So I decided to not renew the leases and we shut them down.
• 5:52
  The last one that we shut down was literally a month before COVID, which was really a miracle.
• 5:58
  But I let all my estheticians know well in advance that we were going to be closing.
• 6:02
  I helped with job placement and I gave them all their client lists because I wanted them to thrive.
• 6:08
  And a lot of them actually work at a med spa in Dallas.
• 6:11
  They kind of all work together again.
• 6:13
  So anyway, that's fun to see that, you know, they're still together and connected.
• 6:18
  And but now our corporate headquarters are in Austin.
• 6:21
  Wow.
• 6:22
  Thank you so much for sharing your story.
• 6:23
  So you've grown up in the beauty world and.
• 6:26
  hence the hair.
• 6:26
  I feel like you still kept some of the Cosmo.
• 6:28
  It's beautiful with the pink hair.
• 6:30
  It's like a staple piece of you yourself.
• 6:33
  How was it having a business that young and trying to navigate everything?
• 6:37
  Such a great question.
• 6:39
  Well, I think when you're young, you're fearless, right?
• 6:43
  So like looking back at some of the things, I'm like, oh my God, I would never do that now.
• 6:47
  And I mean, moving again, moving to Dallas, like all by myself, I didn't know anyone.
• 6:51
  And somebody
• 6:52
  Somebody had told me, I had a client when I had Elizabeth Renee that traveled a lot to Dallas.
• 6:58
  And I told her, I want to move to Dallas and I'm going to start a business there.
• 7:01
  And she said to me, she goes, Renee, they're not going to like that you're a Yankee.
• 7:06
  They're very loyal to like native Texans.
• 7:09
  And she was like, they won't support your business because if you're not from there.
• 7:12
  And I was like, oh my gosh.
• 7:14
  And so that's why I chose to move, like start my company a little bit, my first spot a little bit outside of Dallas where it was a little more...
• 7:22
  of a melting pot with people.
• 7:24
  But like in hindsight, like, no, like they'd love beauty.
• 7:26
  They would have seen them at where I was, but, but that was like, but she like put the fear into me.
• 7:31
  Like, if I'm not one of them, they're going to be like, you're a Yankee.
• 7:34
  And I was like, Oh my gosh.
• 7:35
  But, but yeah.
• 7:36
  So, so starting at age 21, again, fearless, I took out a loan from the bank.
• 7:41
  I've been, I've never borrowed money from anyone.
• 7:44
  I built everything myself.
• 7:45
  And, um, yeah,
• 7:47
  But yeah, I was managing employees.
• 7:50
  I didn't know anything about how to do that.
• 7:51
  And also what was challenging is being a young esthetician.
• 7:54
  Like I had older clients and I always was like, are they going to trust me that like I know about aging when like I'm 21 years old?
• 8:02
  So I always remember being like, okay, I can't wait till I'm like 30.
• 8:05
  Because then they'll be like, okay.
• 8:06
  Because like when you're younger, they're like, what does she know about wrinkles?
• 8:08
  What does she know about my problems?
• 8:10
  Or they say, how old is this woman?
• 8:12
  lady, this girl talking to me about my skin.
• 8:15
  Exactly.
• 8:16
  So, but yeah, but I, I just, you know, there's no handbook that tells you how to use any, do any of this running a business and you just kind of figure it out as you go.
• 8:25
  And, um, but I loved it.
• 8:27
  I knew that
• 8:28
  I love variety.
• 8:30
  That's my biggest thing is I love wearing all the different hats that I do.
• 8:33
  And now I wear more hats than ever in my current company.
• 8:36
  And, but yeah, just, I don't know, just being fearless and just doing it.
• 8:41
  That entrepreneurship heart that you have, I think as a business owner and just, you just have to figure it out sometimes, right?
• 8:48
  My favorite expression is it's all figure it out-able.
• 8:51
  Yes, totally.
• 8:53
  And what were the biggest challenges you would say and how did you overcome them
• 8:57
  figuring out how to navigate managing even employees.
• 9:00
  Right.
• 9:01
  So there's no handbook on that either.
• 9:04
  I mean, I think it's just like the golden rule.
• 9:06
  Treat others how you want to be treated, you know?
• 9:08
  And I think having really acceptance that people are not going to be like you, but that's not a bad thing.
• 9:14
  I think that anyone who owns a business, they just want 10 mini-me's, right?
• 9:19
  Yeah.
• 9:21
  You don't need – you already have you, and you need to bring other skills.
• 9:26
  People look at things differently.
• 9:28
  So I really appreciate all the diversity with the different personalities.
• 9:33
  I never get frustrated with, like, you know – I mean, obviously, if –
• 9:37
  I mean, there is frustration having employees in certain instances, but I just think accepting them for who they are and who they aren't, instead of like hitting your head against a wall, being like, why didn't they do it this way?
• 9:48
  Well, they're not you, you know?
• 9:50
  And actually in 2020 in Austin, we got recognized as a best place to work.
• 9:55
  Wow.
• 9:55
  So yeah.
• 9:56
  That's incredible.
• 9:56
  That says a lot as itself.
• 9:58
  Well, we, you know, we just, we're all about culture.
• 10:00
  Take good care of our people.
• 10:02
  Absolutely.
• 10:02
  That's so important.
• 10:03
  I mean, yeah.
• 10:04
  It's so simple.
• 10:05
  Yeah.
• 10:05
  I feel like we learn that, you know, when we're children, when we're so young and to just bring it into the real world.
• 10:11
  It's it's much more easy and we complicate it.
• 10:15
  Yeah.
• 10:15
  So how was it being in?
• 10:17
  I want to talk about a little bit about Dallas.
• 10:20
  So you moved your business to you started your business in Dallas.
• 10:23
  Right.
• 10:23
  Yeah.
• 10:23
  And.
• 10:24
  We talked a little bit off camera about Dallas and the heart of Dallas.
• 10:28
  Like, why Dallas?
• 10:29
  Oh, my gosh.
• 10:31
  It's so funny.
• 10:32
  So I knew, I always knew that, you know, Dallas women were into beauty, right?
• 10:37
  So I knew that even though that client was like, they're not going to support a Yankee, right?
• 10:43
  but I knew like they were into appearance and the few times that I had went there to, you know, check it out.
• 10:48
  I was like, Oh, these people like are very appearance oriented, but I will say this kind of like one thing that, um, I had experience with.
• 10:58
  I, I,
• 10:59
  feel as though like when I you know as an esthetician like even coming to see you today like you're I'm like oh my god I'm so dehydrated I just flew in last night so dry here I'm like Victoria's gonna be like oh my god looking at your skin because as estheticians like we do that right yeah people are always like I feel like self-conscious like you're looking at my skin and I'm like I am yeah it's like that's our job right we're observing or whatever but anyway
• 11:20
  But I would say that, like, the most beautiful women's skin were Dallas women.
• 11:26
  So, you know, I've traveled all over the world.
• 11:28
  And Dallas women, their skin is beautiful.
• 11:30
  Let me explain why.
• 11:32
  So...
• 11:34
  When I, you know, I was, so I moved to Dallas when I was 26.
• 11:38
  So I had, you know, I was 26 years old as an esthetician.
• 11:41
  And some of my clients were these older women.
• 11:43
  And they maybe were in their 60s or 70s.
• 11:45
  But when aging's really showing.
• 11:48
  And I'd be like, oh my God, like their skin is so beautiful.
• 11:51
  Like they're like, they literally look 20 years younger.
• 11:54
  And I was like, wow.
• 11:55
  So what I discovered was that...
• 11:59
  You know, there's this expression in Dallas that I was told when I moved there, you know, Dallas women don't go to the grocery store without their makeup on.
• 12:06
  So as we know, Southern women love makeup, right?
• 12:08
  I don't know where that came from, how that goes back in history.
• 12:11
  But like when I lived in Boston, like everyone's supernatural.
• 12:14
  No one wears makeup there.
• 12:15
  Well, I realized that makeup was their saving grace to why their skin looks younger.
• 12:21
  Wow.
• 12:21
  Because these women who, you know, at the time were in their 70s or, you know, 60s, 70s, 80s, whatever, they grew up in the 50s.
• 12:29
  And back then, you know, we didn't know that the sun was bad, right?
• 12:33
  You wouldn't wear a sunscreen moisturizer every day.
• 12:35
  Yeah.
• 12:35
  So what I determined was these clients, when they would come in to see me, they'd have their full face of makeup on.
• 12:41
  and then you give them a facial and at the end they would be in the bathroom for 20 minutes putting their face back on yeah so then i discovered that these women also these older traditional women southern women they would go to bed before their husbands excuse me after their husbands and then wake up before their husbands and put their face back on so basically they had makeup on
• 13:08
  All the time.
• 13:09
  Wow.
• 13:09
  Well, in the 50s, the first makeup that was created was pancake makeup by Max Factor.
• 13:15
  Well, all foundation makeup, or in that case, pancake makeup, has zinc oxides in it, which is titanium dioxide, which is a sunscreen.
• 13:23
  Yeah.
• 13:23
  So if you're wearing makeup all daylight hours... Yeah.
• 13:28
  And never having bare faced all through the 1950s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s.
• 13:34
  No wonder why they look so young.
• 13:36
  Because they were wearing sunscreen without ever even realizing it.
• 13:41
  Right?
• 13:42
  And that explained everything.
• 13:44
  So this is like, let me go on my little tangent about tinted moisturizers.
• 13:48
  So I've always seen these women.
• 13:51
  So I always knew that wearing foundation wasn't a way of like hiding my skin.
• 13:56
  It was an extension of your skincare routine.
• 13:58
  It's like an insurance policy to make sure that your sunscreen is holding up.
• 14:03
  So tinted moisturizers, they try to be a three in one.
• 14:06
  It's your moisturizer, your sunscreen, and your foundation in one.
• 14:11
  Who doesn't love an easy three in one product?
• 14:14
  Well, I think about it like nail polish.
• 14:15
  If someone's like, oh, this is your base coat, your color, and your top coat all in one.
• 14:21
  No, that doesn't work.
• 14:22
  It's going to chip.
• 14:23
  There's no staying power.
• 14:24
  It's not going to look good.
• 14:26
  The polish won't be, the color won't be opaque.
• 14:28
  Like, good luck, right?
• 14:29
  Such a good analogy.
• 14:30
  So basically, this is my skincare manicure.
• 14:34
  So your vitamin C serum is your base coat.
• 14:38
  And your, I like a sunscreen moisturizer.
• 14:42
  I use just one product.
• 14:43
  It's in my line.
• 14:43
  But a sunscreen moisturizer is one step.
• 14:46
  So that's your two colors of polish of color or two coats of color.
• 14:50
  And then your top coat is your foundation makeup.
• 14:55
  Right.
• 14:56
  Yeah.
• 14:57
  And so that's how I recommend everyone to use it.
• 15:00
  Wear foundation every day.
• 15:01
  Now, obviously you're going to want to find one for your skin type, especially for acne prone skin.
• 15:05
  It can be challenging.
• 15:07
  Um, but,
• 15:08
  That's my recipe for how to ensure that your skin stays protected during the day.
• 15:15
  Because as we know, why the skin ages, it's not cigarette smoking.
• 15:20
  It's not alcohol.
• 15:21
  It is not genetics.
• 15:22
  The number one reason why the skin ages is because of UV light seeing your skin.
• 15:29
  Even right now, there's a light coming in here.
• 15:32
  It can penetrate, the aging rays penetrate through windows.
• 15:35
  Exactly.
• 15:35
  So anyway, yeah.
• 15:36
  Wow, well I'm gonna start wearing makeup every single day.
• 15:39
  It's your friend, it's an insurance policy to give additional sun protection so you'll age better.
• 15:45
  No wonder you have such beautiful skin.
• 15:47
  Do you wear makeup every single day?
• 15:49
  Every single day.
• 15:49
  Wow.
• 15:50
  So even, so my house in Austin, it's super modern and it's like a glass house.
• 15:55
  So I have so much UV light coming in.
• 15:58
  So the minute I wake up in the morning, so if I'm not ready to like shower yet or whatever,
• 16:03
  I'll put sunscreen on the minute I wake up.
• 16:05
  Sometimes I'll dust on a mineral powder or something because, you know, I live in a glass home.
• 16:11
  I love that.
• 16:12
  I need to start making that part of my routine as a mom.
• 16:14
  I just wake up and my hair is all crazy and I never think of that.
• 16:18
  That's so interesting.
• 16:20
  I actually did a reels about this recently.
• 16:22
  I don't like when I hear experts say never leave the house without sunscreen.
• 16:26
  And it's like, wait a minute, like, if you have windows in your home, if you if you if you in the morning, if you don't have to turn on the lights in your home, where is that?
• 16:36
  Where is that light coming from?
• 16:38
  It's your windows and and it can penetrate, you know, I mean, again, the UVA rays can penetrate through.
• 16:44
  through glass.
• 16:45
  Our new motto is when you wake up, put on your sunscreen and your makeup.
• 16:48
  That's it.
• 16:49
  Like that's like, if you do nothing else and you just do that, I mean, you're going to age like fine wine.
• 16:55
  No, I love that.
• 16:56
  I've actually never heard that before.
• 16:58
  So I think this is already such a fun podcast.
• 17:00
  It's so interesting.
• 17:01
  Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 17:03
  So I want to talk about 35 years in the industry.
• 17:06
  This is something that
• 17:07
  When you were first getting into aesthetics, what did advanced education look like?
• 17:12
  How did you learn about skincare and ingredients?
• 17:14
  Yeah.
• 17:15
  So I always go back to the old, like all the magazines.
• 17:18
  So like Dermascope and Skin Inc. Actually, Dermascope's having their 50th anniversary gal in Vegas.
• 17:24
  So I'll be going to that.
• 17:25
  Amazing.
• 17:25
  Because I grew up on Dermascope magazine.
• 17:27
  I would just read those magazines.
• 17:29
  So there were, you know, publications back then.
• 17:32
  But yeah, I mean, an esthetician, there just was so few of them around.
• 17:37
  Mm-hmm.
• 17:38
  um so and they they did have eventually have trade shows and things like that but it was magazines and trade shows that's what you would do so do you feel like you were one of the how did you step into aesthetics and make a name for yourself when did you feel that was um kind of a staple in your career that you really made a name for yourself
• 17:57
  Well, the decision to call the company my name.
• 18:00
  That's it, right?
• 18:01
  Totally.
• 18:01
  Like, when you name your company Renee Relo, because people were always like, you know, when I moved to Dallas, I was like, what's going to be the name of it?
• 18:08
  And everyone was always like, oh, my God, Renee, you have such a pretty name.
• 18:11
  And so I was just like, okay, I'll name it out myself.
• 18:14
  So that's like the...
• 18:15
  You know, when you make that decision, it's like, okay, spotlight's on me.
• 18:19
  Yeah.
• 18:20
  And, but yeah, so that's, you know, so then naturally when you name the company after yourself, people want to say, who's Renee?
• 18:28
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:29
  So that kind of just puts you front and center.
• 18:30
  And you have a...
• 18:32
  Amazing social presence.
• 18:34
  I love your Instagram.
• 18:36
  How have you found, have you found a lot of success with your skincare line on Instagram?
• 18:40
  So I have views about social.
• 18:45
  I don't spend a ton, a ton of time on there.
• 18:47
  And only because I think it's important.
• 18:51
  I mean, I, this is how I think about social media, um, which is it's, it's the new website.
• 18:57
  Yeah.
• 18:58
  Right.
• 18:58
  So back in the day, um, you know, we launched like e-commerce, like shop online in 1999.
• 19:04
  So I've been in the online space for a long time.
• 19:07
  But back in the day, or kind of recently, but, you know, people go, oh, do you have a, you know, if you're meeting someone, right?
• 19:12
  Oh, do you have a website?
• 19:13
  Right?
• 19:14
  That's always what it was.
• 19:15
  Yeah.
• 19:15
  What do they say now?
• 19:16
  Do you have Instagram?
• 19:17
  Exactly.
• 19:17
  Right?
• 19:18
  So that's your new website, right?
• 19:19
  So you have to have something on there to have a presence, right?
• 19:24
  So you have to post enough so that when someone does, you know, they still think you're in business, right?
• 19:28
  If they're like, oh, they haven't posted in four months, are they still, you know, even in business?
• 19:31
  Yeah.
• 19:31
  So you have to post enough.
• 19:33
  Mm-hmm.
• 19:34
  But I think you have to really evaluate what am I getting from this?
• 19:38
  Exactly.
• 19:38
  Right?
• 19:38
  There's a lot of FOMO.
• 19:40
  You see everyone else posting, so you should be posting.
• 19:43
  And you are competing against an algorithm for which no one will ever tell you how to, I mean, there's no recipe for it, right?
• 19:51
  Like there's no, people will be like, oh, this is the formula.
• 19:54
  Yes.
• 19:54
  I'm sorry.
• 19:55
  I'm telling you that's not how it works.
• 19:57
  And so I think it's really important to be mindful.
• 19:59
  What are you getting from it?
• 20:00
  Right.
• 20:01
  And how the algorithm works as us estheticians know, they pair you up, right?
• 20:06
  Oh, you, you follow people's, you know, estheticians and you like skincare content.
• 20:11
  So your followers are going to be your peers that way too.
• 20:14
  So like you have to say to yourself, like, if you, you know, if you have a practice, you're like, are you actually getting clients from it?
• 20:21
  Yes.
• 20:21
  Right.
• 20:22
  Now, you know,
• 20:23
  Your clients do want to see you talking about skin.
• 20:25
  Like, oh, I learned something new that I didn't learn in the treatment room.
• 20:28
  So it's that continuing education.
• 20:30
  Exactly.
• 20:31
  But I just always tell estheticians, just be mindful, you know, of really being like, am I actually getting something from this?
• 20:40
  like is this moving the needle for what my goals are exactly if you're trying to be an online influencer different story but I mean getting a client on your treatment bed like is this is this working I think a lot of people correlate followers with clients and that's not the case I tell everybody that I scream that from the rooftops I'm like you have to have
• 20:59
  a plan because Instagram, like you said, will start pushing out your content to other estheticians in this space.
• 21:05
  So again, having a goal with social media and being intentional, I think is really smart.
• 21:09
  Yeah, because it takes a long time, right?
• 21:11
  I mean, you can just, putting together, you know, a reel, that takes a long time.
• 21:15
  What are you putting your energy into it?
• 21:17
  What are you getting out of it, right?
• 21:18
  It's really important.
• 21:19
  So social media has obviously changed within the last 35 years.
• 21:23
  What else has changed?
• 21:24
  What's the biggest thing you've seen change in the industry?
• 21:27
  Um, the awareness of what an esthetician is.
• 21:30
  Um, when I started getting a facial was for ladies who lunch.
• 21:35
  Yeah.
• 21:36
  It was just like women with just money and time on their hands.
• 21:40
  And it was just a source of entertainment for them.
• 21:43
  Like make my skin feel good.
• 21:45
  And, um, and now, and, you know, we were really kind of on our own.
• 21:51
  Um, we, uh,
• 21:54
  We didn't, you know, there just wasn't awareness.
• 21:56
  There wasn't, you know, as much education.
• 21:59
  And we were also not very well respected by dermatologists.
• 22:05
  The general thing that was always told to me back then was, oh, well, if you just want to have something fluffy and have someone put moisturizer on your face, then sure, go see an esthetician.
• 22:15
  But we were never seen as someone that...
• 22:19
  We weren't taken seriously.
• 22:20
  Yeah.
• 22:20
  And now the Science of Skin Summit in Austin started out as a dermatology conference.
• 22:27
  And now they've rolled out the carpet for estheticians.
• 22:30
  And I'm the co-chair of the Esthetician Track with my fellow esthetician, Sarika Diaz.
• 22:37
  Um, that that's an Austin in September.
• 22:40
  I was the co-chair last year.
• 22:41
  They had me speak the previous year.
• 22:43
  And so, yeah, so it's really beautiful to see now that we can cohabitate with dermatologists.
• 22:51
  Right.
• 22:51
  And we are, we are aware of what each person does.
• 22:55
  Right.
• 22:55
  We both place, you know, play a role.
• 22:58
  Um, and, but it's really nice that we all at the end of the day, we're all here to make our clients, you know.
• 23:06
  our clients and patients more confident in their skin, helping them resolve some of the concerns they have.
• 23:12
  And it's really beautiful for us to see that we, you know, work together.
• 23:15
  Yeah.
• 23:16
  But I also make it perfectly clear that I always say this, we don't do what dermatologists, we do what dermatologists don't.
• 23:24
  Yes.
• 23:24
  What skincare influencers can't.
• 23:27
  Exactly.
• 23:27
  They don't touch skin.
• 23:29
  They don't feel skin.
• 23:30
  They don't have the hours of conversations that an esthetician does.
• 23:34
  Exactly.
• 23:35
  So I will say this until my grave, that if you want to get results for your skin, you see an esthetician.
• 23:42
  That's it.
• 23:43
  Absolutely.
• 23:44
  And again, everyone else plays their part.
• 23:46
  Yeah.
• 23:46
  But again, they do not touch skin.
• 23:49
  They do not feel skin.
• 23:50
  Yeah.
• 23:50
  That's how we know skin.
• 23:51
  Yeah.
• 23:52
  I completely agree.
• 23:53
  And I think it's really awesome how the industry has shifted that way that estheticians are being respected as skin, knowing skin, skin health and results.
• 24:03
  I think that's the biggest thing that I see as well in the aesthetics industry and just being a voice in it, you know, and not just kind of being shoved to the rug.
• 24:12
  I mean, even 10 years ago, not 10, eight years ago now, when I became an esthetician, it was totally different.
• 24:19
  I mean, I, my first job was at Musash Envy and,
• 24:21
  And I was so sick of doing fluffy facials.
• 24:26
  And I remember everybody, I said, hey, I went to esthetician school.
• 24:29
  I became an esthetician.
• 24:31
  And they were so confused.
• 24:32
  They didn't know how to say the name.
• 24:33
  They didn't know what it was.
• 24:34
  And now everybody knows what an esthetician is.
• 24:37
  And I think that's so incredible.
• 24:39
  Allure called, last year they called the esthetician the new it profession.
• 24:46
  I love that.
• 24:47
  And I was just like, oh my gosh.
• 24:48
  Yes.
• 24:49
  This is so great.
• 24:50
  I know.
• 24:50
  And I'm sure being in the industry for 35 years, that's incredible to see the shift in the industry.
• 24:55
  Yeah.
• 24:55
  Have you seen any negative impacts in the industry or has it mostly been positive?
• 25:00
  No.
• 25:00
  it's been really positive.
• 25:01
  I mean, I just feel like, you know, we get the respect that we deserve, you know, that, that people really see us as somebody that, you know, they'll want to see and, and help with their skin and be part of their skin journey.
• 25:14
  I love that.
• 25:15
  Yeah.
• 25:15
  So I want to talk about celebrity since we're talking about like the shifts and the changes of the industry.
• 25:22
  So
• 25:23
  Off camera, you told me you've been doing Sabrina Carpenter's facials for 10 years.
• 25:27
  That's insane.
• 25:29
  So can you kind of just talk about how that started and what that looks like?
• 25:33
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 25:34
  So, yes.
• 25:36
  So I'm definitely a celebrity esthetician.
• 25:38
  I don't live in L.A., so I'm a traveling celebrity esthetician.
• 25:43
  And, um, so how it started was in Dallas, um, my first celebrity client was Jessica Simpson.
• 25:51
  Wow.
• 25:52
  And, but she came to me.
• 25:53
  So, uh, fun fact.
• 25:55
  Um, so she was a singer at the time, a Christian singer, but she wanted to get into acting and,
• 26:00
  And she was starting to audition for Dawson's Creek, the TV show.
• 26:05
  And her skin had, you know, she's been very vocal about having acne back in the day.
• 26:11
  And so, and I was the place to go in Dallas and I was known for acne.
• 26:16
  And...
• 26:17
  And so she was my first client.
• 26:19
  And then she had to stop seeing me because she became, uh, uh, got a sponsorship with proactive skincare.
• 26:26
  She was like one of the first faces like back when they had those infomercials and things.
• 26:30
  So anyway, so she had to stop coming to me and then you're like,
• 26:34
  sometime afterward like i don't even know i i don't even remember where it was published but somehow the word got out that she was actually taking accutane because proactive was huge back then it was this infomercial on tv and she was taking accutane and word got out and so everyone so like proactive i'm sure was furious yeah it's like if our products work why does our
• 26:56
  main face of our client have to take exactly but anyway so um and then um and then and um and then demi lovato lived in dallas okay and that's where she's from and so she this was like during her like camp rock and sunny with the chance days and you know all that and so i managed to just find online or something her manager and i just simply emailed her manager and
• 27:26
  And this is like always my tip I always give to people.
• 27:31
  Like if you don't ask, you don't get.
• 27:34
  Exactly.
• 27:35
  Like someone can just say no, but you have to like just put yourself out there.
• 27:38
  So literally just a simple email saying, hey, I'm this esthetician here in Dallas.
• 27:43
  And, you know, I know Demi spends a lot of time here.
• 27:46
  Would she like a facial?
• 27:47
  And they said, yes, she would love a facial.
• 27:50
  So I did a house call to her home.
• 27:55
  And, oh, my God, I'm sorry to actually get teared up.
• 27:58
  And that was 16 years ago.
• 28:00
  And I just gave her.
• 28:01
  Oh, my God.
• 28:03
  Sorry, I didn't expect this.
• 28:04
  No.
• 28:04
  I just gave her her pre-wedding facial three weeks ago.
• 28:08
  She just got married.
• 28:10
  And so, Demi, oh, my gosh, sorry.
• 28:14
  I did not expect this at all.
• 28:16
  But I'm just so happy for her.
• 28:17
  And having been her esthetician for 16 years.
• 28:20
  Wow.
• 28:20
  you know you know Demi's been very vocal about her her life and the challenge she's had and I have been by her side through all of it and all of her seasons and chapters and challenges the beauty of being an esthetician yeah exactly and so she's just doing so well and I'm just so grateful for our friendship and having been you know with her on the skin journey oh my goodness that's crazy right yeah the opportunities are waiting for you sometimes you just have to put
• 28:51
  So then what happened was she moved, um, to, um, LA and, um, and so then I was out seeing her in her, uh, in LA.
• 29:00
  And then, so then at that point, like Sabrina Carpenter started coming to me because it was a referral from Demi's mom.
• 29:09
  Um, so Demi's, um, sister was doing some stuff with Disney and Sabrina Carpenter was in Disney and, um, Sabrina was having challenges with her skin and Demi's mom was like, oh my God, you need to go to Demi's esthetician.
• 29:22
  She totally transformed her skin.
• 29:24
  So that was word of mouth, you know?
• 29:26
  So she came to me and then, um, um,
• 29:29
  Lily Reinhart just, you know, was having challenges with her skin and has been very vocal about that as well and just started a new skincare line, actually.
• 29:36
  And she just DM'd me and was like, I heard you're the girl to go to for adult acne and I'm having some challenges.
• 29:42
  So then Lily referred me all the Riverdale girls and Madeline Pesch and Kimi Mendez and Vanessa Morgan and...
• 29:52
  And then Lily referred Kiki Palmer to me.
• 29:57
  So anyway, so just kind of word of mouth.
• 29:59
  And I've done a ton of other people through the years, like Emma Roberts and Patrick Dempsey and Lisa Renna.
• 30:04
  And I mean, just because being out in L.A., just kind of like, oh, yeah, I travel and I'd meet celebrities when I was there and whatnot.
• 30:10
  So, yeah.
• 30:11
  So I've been spending time in L.A. for, you know, like 16 years.
• 30:16
  And.
• 30:17
  would work out of either a hotel room for a couple years I rented a room at a hotel spa and um and then now I do house calls wow how does that work being a celebrity esthetician do you bring all your supplies is it like as far as travel goes yeah so the um the hotel spa that I worked at and then eventually I would just go up rent a hotel room and take them out of there but to this day they still store all my equipment oh
• 30:41
  Oh my goodness.
• 30:41
  So yeah.
• 30:42
  So I'm just like pay off the bellman to like just keep my stuff.
• 30:45
  And so I have a whole set of equipment there.
• 30:49
  But if I'm on the road, like, like, you know, when Sabrina travels on tour last year, so I would just bring what was in my suitcase.
• 30:57
  Okay.
• 30:58
  And the big thing, this is what I always tell estheticians as well, like, like, I'm able to treat skin with skin.
• 31:07
  really good products and not a lot of equipment.
• 31:10
  Like at the end of the day, it is, I mean, I know a lot of estheticians want to invest in all of these machines and my equipment's pretty simple.
• 31:19
  And especially if I'm traveling out of a suitcase and I can get really good results, you know, I use my line, my skincare line, but like, it's about,
• 31:28
  It's about the products, right?
• 31:29
  Because you're only seeing them for an hour or whatever.
• 31:32
  We know that it's what they do at home every day.
• 31:35
  And that's how they get results is I have these tried and true products that have been celebrated, awarded, used by, you know, very famous faces.
• 31:49
  And they work.
• 31:49
  Wow.
• 31:50
  So how would you...
• 31:52
  suggest somebody that wants to be a celebrity facial?
• 31:54
  Is it just something that happened organically for you?
• 31:56
  Do you have any advice for somebody who would want to look into that?
• 32:00
  Yeah.
• 32:00
  So, I mean, I didn't really necessarily seek out to be it.
• 32:03
  I never thought I would be an esthetician.
• 32:05
  But then when Jessica came to me and it was just like, oh, well, then there's this girl here.
• 32:09
  So I think the thing to recognize is that it's not like you're going to reach out to a celebrity.
• 32:17
  Like Demi was...
• 32:19
  at the very start of her career then, right?
• 32:21
  If you reached out to somebody of that caliber now, you'll never be able to get in touch with them.
• 32:25
  They already have their people.
• 32:27
  So you have to kind of go for like the up and comers.
• 32:30
  So those are the people that like don't have their people, right?
• 32:34
  And you're kind of like reaching out to them because, you know, they're,
• 32:39
  No one really knows who they are that much, right?
• 32:41
  So, you know, you know, Sabrina, 10 years, you know, I started with her when she was, you know, 15.
• 32:47
  Yeah.
• 32:48
  So, and she was in Disney, so she, you know, was on camera.
• 32:54
  But yeah, I think that's the thing.
• 32:55
  It's like a long, it's a long road.
• 32:57
  Mm-hmm.
• 32:58
  And the more famous they get, their circle of who they trust becomes smaller.
• 33:04
  Yes.
• 33:04
  So they're not going to let in a stranger because, you know, I know my celebrity clients are like, hey, Renee has been with me since I, you know, wasn't a household name.
• 33:13
  Yeah.
• 33:14
  And that's loyalty.
• 33:16
  Right.
• 33:16
  And so I think, you know, if you can find like a little up and comer somewhere.
• 33:21
  Yeah.
• 33:22
  And then just stick with them and stay loyal to them, then...
• 33:26
  you know, if all goes well, which has been the case for me when they, you know, when they make it and now they're being interviewed all the time, they're mentioning your products and how they work and you as their esthetician.
• 33:38
  That's amazing.
• 33:39
  I remember growing up watching Camp Rock.
• 33:41
  Yes.
• 33:42
  That's crazy hearing you say that about her and just how you started with her so young.
• 33:48
  And it's just really amazing to see the journey that you're able to create
• 33:53
  and these relationships that you're able to build with your clients and how you never know what one opportunity can bring and the lifelong years that you can be with somebody until they get married, until they are on their first pop show.
• 34:05
  You know, it's incredible to see.
• 34:08
  So what does that look like when you're doing their facials?
• 34:11
  Is it typically before an event or is it monthly?
• 34:15
  Oh, gosh.
• 34:16
  No rhyme or reason.
• 34:16
  Okay.
• 34:17
  A lot of times it's when they have downtime.
• 34:19
  Okay.
• 34:19
  Because, you know, we're doing a lot of extractions.
• 34:22
  They don't want to be read.
• 34:24
  So it just depends, you know.
• 34:25
  Like, you know, like Demi, you know, the Grammys.
• 34:30
  And so usually that's, or like the wedding is two days before.
• 34:34
  Um, so it just depends or when they need me, you know, I'm on speed dial, like literally, I mean, I'll, I'll usually do day trips to LA now where I literally just fly in, see them and turn around and go back to Austin.
• 34:44
  So just being on speed dial, like, I mean, that's, and that's the thing too, like being a celebrity esthetician, like you're there to.
• 34:52
  for their schedule.
• 34:53
  Right.
• 34:54
  So it's not, I can't be like, Oh, this is when I can see you.
• 34:57
  It's like, no, like you need you.
• 34:59
  Right.
• 35:00
  And then, I mean, one time, you know, I flew out to LA, I had just landed and the client's like, Oh, now I can't come.
• 35:06
  So I just literally booked a flight two hours later and went home.
• 35:08
  Wow.
• 35:09
  So, you know, I mean, that's the challenge of not living there.
• 35:11
  Right.
• 35:12
  Exactly.
• 35:12
  But, and that's another thing too, their schedules are so chaotic.
• 35:16
  So it's,
• 35:17
  expect them to always be late, expect them to always cancel.
• 35:21
  So like, it's not, you know, there's a lot of waiting around.
• 35:24
  There's a, you know, you have to be at their beck and call.
• 35:26
  Yeah.
• 35:27
  And you have to be okay with doing that.
• 35:30
  So yeah.
• 35:30
  Yeah.
• 35:30
  And how do you manage that with your schedule?
• 35:33
  Since I know you have a skincare line, I want to talk about your line and how you got into that.
• 35:38
  Um, when did you start Renee Rouleau?
• 35:40
  So my journey as an esthetician began with one simple question, which is, if you don't know your skin type, are you even getting results?
• 35:50
  And as estheticians, you know, so like we go to school, we learn dry, normal, and oily.
• 35:57
  I mean, I don't, I haven't been to school in forever.
• 35:59
  I'm not sure if it's still that, but you learn first Patrick's skin type and then just like basic skin types, right?
• 36:04
  And then you become an esthetician and all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm not sure
• 36:08
  wait a minute, like they didn't teach about this type of skin in school, right?
• 36:12
  So the one example I always use is, is adult acne, right?
• 36:17
  Like, okay, acne, sure, teens, but what if you're a 25 year old girl, and you're still getting like hormonal breakouts, but maybe it's only like,
• 36:26
  once a week or something right it's like oh well what skin type is this you know somebody that's you know now wants to focus on preventative aging healthy aging but hey i'm not out of the woods with my breakouts what skin type is that like what kind of skincare routine is that
• 36:42
  So what I did was the salon that I worked at, she sold one skincare line and I was like, okay, there's not enough options here.
• 36:49
  There's literally like two cleansers.
• 36:51
  Yeah.
• 36:51
  So I convinced her that I could sell more if she brought in a second line, eventually a third line.
• 36:56
  So just like us estheticians do, we curate, right?
• 36:59
  We...
• 36:59
  have a lot of lines and we curate and so when i started renee relo i said there has to be something better than this and so by this time i'd already been an esthetician for seven years and i determined there were nine types of skin so when i started renee relo i started my journey of creating a skincare line
• 37:17
  based on nine distinct skin types.
• 37:20
  So people can go to reneereleau.com, take our skin type quiz.
• 37:24
  We're actually launching our new quiz in the next, I think, five weeks.
• 37:27
  And the new quiz is going to be so good.
• 37:29
  But anyway, and they can get put into one of the nine skin types.
• 37:33
  And then they get a curated routine.
• 37:35
  all from the Rene Rouleau line based on these nine skin types.
• 37:38
  So, um, so I have 55 products and they, you know, again, they cater to these nine skin types.
• 37:46
  So, but that's, but so again, as estheticians, we know, you know, we know that everything is about curation, but I have a one stop shop with one line that you put yourself in the skin type and you're ready to go.
• 37:56
  I love that.
• 37:56
  How long did it take to create your skincare line?
• 38:00
  So, well, our number one bestseller to this day, still our number one from day one to now, we've sold over a quarter million of them.
• 38:08
  And it's called Anti-Bump Solution.
• 38:11
  And how this started was when I worked at the hair salon, that was one of the lines that they carried.
• 38:17
  And it was a
• 38:20
  they came in glass ampules, you would break it open, and it was for acne, but it was more like, they marketed more for like pustular acne.
• 38:28
  And it really, like it worked, it would kind of help them surface a little bit, but it wasn't really clearing.
• 38:33
  And then all of a sudden my clients were saying,
• 38:35
  I had this huge cystic blemish and I used it on this and it made it go away so fast.
• 38:41
  And I was like, oh really?
• 38:42
  I didn't end up getting cystic.
• 38:44
  I started getting cystic acne like in my mid twenties is when I really got it.
• 38:47
  But anyway, so I was getting this feedback that this like, you know, and the clients would be like, I used to get a cortisone injection and this product made this cyst go down so fast.
• 38:56
  So when I started Elizabeth Renee, we carried that line so I could carry that one product.
• 39:01
  And then when I started...
• 39:03
  keep hitting the mic, but I started Renee Rouleau.
• 39:06
  Um, I sold that one product and then they ended up starting, they wanted to discontinue it.
• 39:11
  And I was like, I'll buy the formula from you.
• 39:13
  Yeah.
• 39:14
  And so I bought the formula from them and then, um, yeah, it continues to be our number one bestseller.
• 39:21
  And so, yeah, I'm,
• 39:22
  you know almost 56 and i've been selling this product since i was 19 and it's such a miracle product like we sell more of that than anything else again well because it's like what's out there for for those hard sore cystic nuts nothing exactly you either have to go on it yeah and you know some of those can last for two weeks so that's like our holy grail product and clients are just i mean it's it works really well but yeah and i literally have
• 39:48
  35 plus years of experience of selling this product like oh my gosh so you've been like formulating and everything for 35 so yeah so then when I started Renee Rouleau um so back then and um but you know yeah yeah yeah um a long time a long time um back then they didn't there was no such thing as like an indie brand right so um
• 40:10
  So when you, so trying to find a lab that will do small minimums.
• 40:14
  And again, I wanted products for nine skin types.
• 40:16
  I couldn't just have 10 products, right?
• 40:18
  Again, today we have 55 products.
• 40:20
  So I would try to find these labs that would work with small minimums and they just wouldn't.
• 40:26
  And so, so I had to do like private label back in the day.
• 40:30
  And then they would, sometimes they would modify your formula a little bit if you wanted to, but in the early day it was private label and,
• 40:36
  Now fast forward, there's tons of private label companies.
• 40:38
  So it's very easy to start a skincare line if you want to.
• 40:41
  Um, but then eventually as I grew, I found a lab that I begged them and to take a chance on me and then I could move into custom formulation and custom formulation is, is really where it's at because you, um, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you
• 40:58
  you're going to make it exactly how you want it.
• 41:00
  You know, it's your own recipe.
• 41:02
  So yeah, but yeah, so but, you know, but it's also still hard because of the nine skin types, certain skin types are less popular than others, but you have to have them.
• 41:11
  If I'm going to say, hey, we have something for every skin type.
• 41:13
  So inventory, it's, you know, it's managing that inventory to make sure that like, okay, this is a lower mover for us, not because it doesn't work well.
• 41:21
  It's just because not that many people have this,
• 41:24
  skin situation.
• 41:25
  So yeah, so it's always a challenge, you know, with our supply chain, managing our inventory.
• 41:30
  Have you ever discontinued a product because of that reason?
• 41:32
  Or you just, have you always had every single product?
• 41:35
  Yeah, I mean...
• 41:36
  Discontinued.
• 41:37
  Well, if we discontinue a product, it's more because I'm updating something, modernizing something.
• 41:43
  And we're always updating formulas because I've been in business for almost 29 years.
• 41:48
  So like, you know, as regulatory, the regulatory, you know, processes change, new ingredients, I like to be excited.
• 41:58
  You know, I like new fun toys and new bells and whistles.
• 42:01
  But yeah, sometimes we're consolidating things.
• 42:03
  We're always looking at like, okay, do we really need to have...
• 42:06
  this product, you know, so it's, it's always something we're working on.
• 42:10
  And I've talked to a few professionals now that have started their own skincare line.
• 42:15
  I think that there's a lot of costs that goes into it that people don't think about or they don't know about.
• 42:20
  Is it a big investment?
• 42:22
  Starting your own skincare line?
• 42:24
  I mean, if you're going to do custom formulas, yes.
• 42:26
  If you are just doing private label.
• 42:29
  So for those of you who don't know, private label or white label is labs that already have the formulas ready to go.
• 42:35
  Ready to go.
• 42:35
  So all you have to do is supply your packaging and they will fill it for you.
• 42:41
  And, you know, they'll have minimums.
• 42:43
  I don't know what they are these days.
• 42:45
  And, um, so it's very, very easy, right?
• 42:47
  And your customer, your client would never know that it's not a custom formula, right?
• 42:52
  So then plan B is you could contact a private label company and they'll say, okay, we have this great cleanser and you'll say, well, can you modify it for me?
• 43:01
  I would like to maybe, I love this cleanser, but I would like to have X, Y, Z added to it or a scent or something.
• 43:08
  So that is like, that's considered custom, but not really custom.
• 43:12
  Yes.
• 43:12
  Um, and then, um, and I've done that back in the day, many, many years ago, but a true custom formula is, you know, when I'm, you know, in my bed at night, just dreaming of like my next product, like what, what's missing?
• 43:27
  What, what, what, what do I want it to feel like, smell like, I mean, it's a full custom formula.
• 43:31
  So with that.
• 43:33
  It's very expensive.
• 43:34
  You're testing.
• 43:35
  It takes a long time.
• 43:36
  I mean, sometimes it takes.
• 43:38
  You're like, what ingredient is keeping me up at night?
• 43:40
  Exactly, right?
• 43:40
  That I want to get my hands on.
• 43:41
  Yeah.
• 43:42
  But like, sometimes it will take us three years to create a product.
• 43:45
  Wow.
• 43:45
  So I can't chase trends.
• 43:47
  Totally.
• 43:47
  Because it's like, okay, by three years, not that I have.
• 43:51
  all sorts of opinions on trends anyway, as we all do as estheticians.
• 43:54
  But, but so I can't chase trends because sometimes it will take me three years by the time I'm tested, go through all the testing, all micro, I mean, all the, you know, all of that.
• 44:03
  So, uh, stability testing, all of that.
• 44:05
  So, um, but yeah, my favorite thing is creating products.
• 44:09
  Like,
• 44:10
  that's like the funnest part of my job.
• 44:12
  So I have not, um, while I didn't go to college, I have taken cosmetic chemistry courses at UCLA.
• 44:19
  So I'm very well versed in formulation.
• 44:22
  I work with, um, really amazing chemists, but one of the best things I ever did was, um, hiring my own chemist to be a watchdog for my, my contract manufacturers, because when you're hiring a contract manufacturer, um,
• 44:38
  Like you're only told what they tell you, right?
• 44:41
  Exactly.
• 44:41
  And so you believe what they say.
• 44:43
  Not to say that they're lying, but sometimes they have a business to protect.
• 44:48
  And so sometimes they might cut corners and you're not going to know about it.
• 44:52
  And so I have my own chemist that is like...
• 44:55
  a bulldog to make sure that they're giving accurate information, that they're not cutting corners.
• 45:02
  I mean, there is no stone unturned when we create a product to make sure that it's going to deliver the results that I say it's going to.
• 45:10
  And, but that was like the best thing I did because I soon realized that,
• 45:16
  once I had her on board that some people weren't, weren't being truthful.
• 45:22
  And so I have had to, you know, you know, phase out of certain vendors, contract manufacturers, because, you know,
• 45:32
  you know, they weren't being truthful.
• 45:35
  Totally.
• 45:36
  And you treat a lot of acne.
• 45:37
  So you've been doing a lot of acne with your celebrity, doing celebrity facials.
• 45:42
  What are your favorite products for acne?
• 45:43
  What is, is this your favorite skin type to treat?
• 45:46
  It is because as estheticians, I mean, that's what we do that no one, that derms don't.
• 45:53
  Now, obviously we know derms deal with acne, but how do they deal with acne?
• 45:57
  Write you a prescription.
• 45:59
  So, or acne, but you know, it's writing a prescription, right?
• 46:01
  Exactly.
• 46:02
  A derm's not sitting there and doing extractions.
• 46:04
  Exactly.
• 46:04
  You know what I mean?
• 46:05
  I mean, they can.
• 46:06
  They're like, come in, let me write you and get out.
• 46:07
  I mean, there's Dr. Pimple Popper.
• 46:09
  Yeah.
• 46:09
  I mean, she's doing extractions, right?
• 46:11
  Big ones.
• 46:12
  Right.
• 46:13
  Real big ones.
• 46:15
  And, but, but they're not, you know, they're not getting into acne the way we do.
• 46:21
  Exactly.
• 46:21
  So I always say to estheticians, like, I know we love our anti-aging and all of that, but like, you can't lose with acne because the reality is...
• 46:31
  There's still no cure for it.
• 46:32
  Right.
• 46:33
  Trust me, if there was a cure for acne, we would all know about it.
• 46:35
  No one's hiding that secret.
• 46:36
  Someone would be a multi-billionaire if they could solve acne.
• 46:41
  We haven't done it yet.
• 46:42
  Why?
• 46:42
  It's because acne is very complex and it's as unique as our own fingerprint.
• 46:47
  Right.
• 46:47
  Like it's just, and what is, you know, what, why does one person get it?
• 46:52
  I mean, we just don't know.
• 46:53
  We don't know the cure.
• 46:55
  Now we can control it.
• 46:56
  Um, but yeah, I think that estheticians lean into acne because there's just, that's who people go to, you know?
• 47:04
  And, and at the end of the day, it's not going away any, any, you know, anytime soon.
• 47:09
  Like I remember years ago, there was supposed to be a vaccine for acne and it was just like, oh my gosh.
• 47:15
  And like, as an esthetician, I'm like, oh my God, am I going to be out of business?
• 47:18
  And trust me, I would love there to be a vaccine or whatever, but, and that was a big talk and-
• 47:25
  it never nothing ever came so even a vaccine you know was tested and couldn't cure acne right and that's one of the biggest conditions that we see on our treatment table is somebody coming in and they think that they need
• 47:36
  one treatment, but they actually need to be on certain products to help control that.
• 47:40
  Well, I mean, this is the thing.
• 47:42
  When people say to me, Renee, what's your one best product for acne?
• 47:46
  What's the one thing or whatever?
• 47:47
  It's like, there's no one thing, right?
• 47:49
  No different than aging, no different than rosacea, no different than...
• 47:54
  I mean, there's no one thing.
• 47:56
  You have to hit it at different angles, target it from different angles, use different types of ingredients.
• 48:01
  That's why when people lean into...
• 48:04
  You know, like, you know, you hear a lot like mandelic.
• 48:06
  Everyone's like, oh, mandelic.
• 48:07
  But no, I mean, I'm not personally a fan of mandelic acid.
• 48:12
  Also, because for the simple reason that that that salicylic acid is an FDA approved drug when used at a certain percentage.
• 48:23
  It is so good that the FDA approved it as a drug.
• 48:27
  If Mandelic was so good, someone would have petitioned to get it, you know, approved as a drug.
• 48:36
  Yeah.
• 48:36
  And that has not happened yet.
• 48:38
  Wow.
• 48:38
  Now, that's not to say it's not beneficial, but again, if something is an FDA-approved drug... Yeah.
• 48:44
  And made the monograph.
• 48:45
  Like, it's a...
• 48:47
  It works.
• 48:47
  That's so interesting.
• 48:48
  It works.
• 48:48
  Because I love Mandelic.
• 48:49
  Yeah, it's great.
• 48:50
  But what is your... What are your favorite ingredients?
• 48:53
  So, well, one of our products is called Rapid Response Detox Mask.
• 48:58
  And it is a hydrating...
• 49:00
  gel-based mask.
• 49:02
  And one of the things that has changed for me being an esthetician is how we treat acne.
• 49:07
  Back in the day, it was just drying.
• 49:09
  That's what it was.
• 49:10
  You just dried out the skin and you hoped something would work.
• 49:13
  Benzoyl peroxide, all of that.
• 49:16
  And I've always known this, but acne, never forget.
• 49:20
  Acne is an inflammatory disease of the skin.
• 49:23
  Mm-hmm.
• 49:24
  And the skin is already inflamed.
• 49:26
  So once I really stopped inflaming people's skin, once I was able to get my hands on ingredients that weren't so harsh and they're kind of the old school way of dealing with acne, that's when I got the results.
• 49:39
  And luckily, we kind of all know that now.
• 49:43
  But still, there's still a lot of harsh products out there.
• 49:45
  And so our Rapid Response Detox Mask is...
• 49:50
  We, uh, we did, uh, what's called a kill study.
• 49:55
  And when you put it on the skin, uh, within seven minutes, it destroys 98.6% of C acne's bacteria within seven minutes.
• 50:04
  So what that means is it interrupts, uh, breakouts in their early cycle.
• 50:10
  And, uh, it has salicylic acid in it.
• 50:13
  Not that it's an exfoliating mask cause it's a gel.
• 50:15
  It's literally a hydrating gel.
• 50:17
  But salicylic acts as a carrier because we know that of all the acids, salicylic acid is oil soluble.
• 50:22
  Yes.
• 50:23
  Versus mandelic is water soluble.
• 50:24
  I hear people say that mandelic is oil soluble.
• 50:27
  I have not been able to find that data.
• 50:29
  Maybe it's out there.
• 50:30
  I don't know.
• 50:31
  But salicylic is what can penetrate deepest in the pore and actually cut through oil.
• 50:37
  So by having a little bit of salicylic acid in it, it allows this mass to absorb deeper within the skin.
• 50:45
  and get into the poor lining, which is where all acne starts.
• 50:48
  And that's another thing too.
• 50:49
  Like when people are like, you know, eat healthy, gluten-free, I mean, all the things, right?
• 50:55
  Or drink this juice or this whatever.
• 50:57
  Never forget...
• 50:59
  where acne begins in the follicle, in the hair follicle of the skin.
• 51:05
  All the acne is forming here, right?
• 51:07
  Is it starting in the gut?
• 51:09
  I mean, sure.
• 51:10
  I mean, you know, I mean, we want to do all the healthy things.
• 51:13
  So none of that is wasted effort.
• 51:15
  But acne starts from...
• 51:18
  oil production, which is why people with oily skin have more acne, but it's all from, you know, thick oil that's flowing through the pore fast.
• 51:27
  It gets sticky.
• 51:28
  It gets clogged in the pore.
• 51:30
  I mean, it's all happening here.
• 51:32
  This is where we need to treat the acne.
• 51:34
  Yeah.
• 51:34
  I love salicylic.
• 51:35
  That's that one, like you said, really gets deep in that pore.
• 51:39
  I mean, it works.
• 51:39
  Yeah, it works great.
• 51:40
  And it's also like some people are like, oh, but it's so drying.
• 51:43
  No, not how you not how you formulate with it.
• 51:45
  It depends on how you if it's a spot treatment and you're adding drying things.
• 51:48
  That's a different story.
• 51:49
  But, you know, we have several leave on acid serums with salicylic acid.
• 51:54
  The one for adult acne only has one percent.
• 51:56
  Yeah.
• 51:56
  And then more for the.
• 51:59
  Yeah.
• 52:00
  And it's how you use it to obviously how you're being directed and then really just balancing it with hydration.
• 52:06
  I think, like you said, back in the day, drying out acne and now.
• 52:10
  it's really awesome to see how skin health and how hydration is really being emphasized.
• 52:14
  Skin barrier.
• 52:14
  Yeah.
• 52:15
  It's so important that health is the key to healthy skin.
• 52:20
  And then from there, you know, we can add in these actives and all these great products.
• 52:24
  But this mask is a gel mask.
• 52:26
  Like it's like super hydrating and it is so powerful.
• 52:29
  To answer your question of the ingredients, it's a combination of...
• 52:33
  tea tree and manuka not manuka honey but manuka from um the tree yeah so not the honeycomb amazing i love that yeah what are your thoughts on benzoyl peroxide um i used it all the time as a teenager i had really bad back acne so my experience with acne was back acne as a teenager cystic acne in my mid-20s and um
• 52:55
  So like in high school, like all my sweatshirts were all like bleached halfway because I was always using benzoyl peroxide on my back and it would bleach all my clothes.
• 53:05
  So I always had these like, like ombre two-tone kind of like clothes.
• 53:09
  Yeah, it does bleach your clothing.
• 53:11
  Anyway.
• 53:13
  I think it's, um, I think it works for the right type of acne, pustular, but you have to be really careful because it can be drying.
• 53:21
  So I don't currently have a product in my line with benzoyl peroxide because I have things that I find work much better.
• 53:28
  But, but, you know, benzoyl peroxide is also a drug, so it works.
• 53:32
  And I think that's the beauty again of, I think so many estheticians treat, um,
• 53:37
  acne so differently and you know, not, it's not a one size fits all.
• 53:40
  We talk about that all the time.
• 53:42
  So having these, this arsenal of like different ingredients and products that you can pull from.
• 53:46
  And I love that about your line is having so many for all these different skin types.
• 53:51
  I think that's amazing because again, you know, acne,
• 53:55
  is if you're getting two new breakouts a day or two a month, that's a very different journey that you're going to take your client on, you know?
• 54:03
  Exactly.
• 54:03
  So, or somebody who breaks out, the only time is around their cycle, right?
• 54:06
  So I have things that I do, how to gear your skin up knowing that we're about to get breakouts.
• 54:12
  Yeah, no, I love that.
• 54:14
  So I want to just wrap up the podcast with a fun story.
• 54:18
  And we talked a little bit about how you had to fire a client.
• 54:21
  So let's talk about that.
• 54:24
  I think it'd be like a kind of fun way to just like end the podcast.
• 54:28
  And how do you deal with firing clients?
• 54:30
  I know, right?
• 54:31
  So, yeah, we talked a little bit about this off camera.
• 54:34
  I meant to talk about that, like, during the celebrity part.
• 54:36
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 54:37
  No worries.
• 54:37
  But it'll be fun to talk about.
• 54:39
  So, you know, clients come to us because we have a reputation.
• 54:43
  It's referrals.
• 54:45
  But sometimes some clients are a little bit challenging, right?
• 54:49
  And, you know, in the beginning, you just take what you can get, right?
• 54:55
  But I think the goal is to...
• 54:59
  really choose who you like to work with right so um so yes I have had a um celebrity that I did have to it was not a fit for me I was a fit for her because I'm so good with her skin and and but um and her name is Bella Thorne and uh the last name is really not a good fit for this story yeah
• 55:23
  So anyway, but yeah, so I did have to part ways with a celebrity client.
• 55:28
  It just, you know, it was challenging.
• 55:31
  And I think the thing too, like going back to like, there's no cure for acne.
• 55:35
  Like it's, you know, it's treating acne is, it's a partnership, right?
• 55:43
  It's basically us working together.
• 55:46
  I'm going to do my part for you and you have to do your part, right?
• 55:49
  And there was...
• 55:51
  one part of that partnership was not doing their part.
• 55:55
  And how can I get results if they're not, like I can't come to your home
• 56:00
  when you get in at 6 a.m. in the morning from being out all night and wash your face for you.
• 56:05
  Like, I just, I can't do that, right?
• 56:07
  And so, yeah, so it was, that was, you know, someone I haven't let go of.
• 56:11
  Wow, and how did you manage that?
• 56:13
  How did you do it?
• 56:15
  I just kind of stopped responding.
• 56:17
  Okay.
• 56:17
  Yeah, I never had a conversation.
• 56:18
  There's just like boundaries.
• 56:20
  Yeah, yeah.
• 56:20
  Just kind of like, okay, I'm gonna slowly let this one go.
• 56:23
  But I have had to, like back when I had my spas, I have had to tell people like, this is no longer a fit.
• 56:28
  Yeah, it's hard.
• 56:29
  I think that's one of the, when you own your own business, especially when you're face to face and it's that one-on-one interaction, I mean, you got to do what's best for your mental health and the respect, the boundaries thing is huge.
• 56:41
  I mean, not every client is meant to be your client, right?
• 56:43
  Exactly.
• 56:43
  Yeah.
• 56:44
  Yeah.
• 56:44
  Yeah.
• 56:44
  No, I mean, cause it's a relationship.
• 56:46
  Exactly.
• 56:46
  It's a relationship.
• 56:48
  And, and I think that, and that's another thing like about hiring estheticians is, um,
• 56:53
  is it's good to hire estheticians that are not always like you either.
• 56:58
  Because, like, sometimes when we hire people, it's like, no, we don't need them to be your girlfriend.
• 57:03
  Like, you interview someone and you're like, oh, my God, we totally vibed.
• 57:06
  I wanted to work for me.
• 57:07
  But, like, you want people also who are different than you because all your clients have, you know, that come to your practice, like, if you have employees, they have different personalities.
• 57:15
  Yeah.
• 57:16
  I'm a chattier esthetician, as I'm sure you can understand, where like some people like, you know, you have to be a chameleon also, like know who, if someone's being kind of quiet, then you have to kind of cater to that.
• 57:27
  But, you know, my quieter esthetician, she had all the quiet clients.
• 57:32
  They loved her, right?
• 57:34
  And so I think that's like important as well.
• 57:36
  Absolutely.
• 57:37
  I always, somebody told me this one time, and I'll never forget it, is you have to find somebody that's ambitious, but not too ambitious.
• 57:43
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 57:44
  Well, so that's another thing too, right?
• 57:46
  So like, you know, we...
• 57:48
  I'm all for...
• 57:51
  So, right, because people are like, oh, they're going to work for me and they're going to take my clients.
• 57:54
  But I always, like, now that, because we're on the, now I'm having my products sold through estheticians.
• 57:59
  So I have this conversation with estheticians all the time now.
• 58:03
  But I'm just like, never forget that they were, you know, they were like you and you want to encourage that.
• 58:08
  And I just think, I mean, I've had certainly people, I don't know if anyone, like, really got big, big, but, like, I'm just supportive of that, you know, because, yeah,
• 58:18
  it's it's just the industry is small keep a good reputation just support everyone and it comes back to reward you you know just be good just be a kind person and and yeah does it sting when someone leaves and takes clients yes but at the end of the day like I left somewhere and took my clients you know what I mean so it's like it's like the circle of life yeah yeah and you're right the esthetician community is so small and you can't control what I mean it's like a lot of people
• 58:47
  You know, I love that you're so supportive.
• 58:48
  And that's like my goal.
• 58:49
  If I ever hired somebody is to let them kind of figure out, OK, what like you said, I was once you.
• 58:56
  So you have to kind of let them fly.
• 58:57
  And the esthetician world is such a small community.
• 59:00
  It really is.
• 59:01
  I mean, it looks so big and you see, you know, bigger estheticians, but it all comes back.
• 59:06
  I mean, you you always end up hearing stories and it's crazy how.
• 59:09
  Yeah.
• 59:10
  telephone how it works right no yeah it's a kind person and be supportive and absolutely during everybody's journey looks differently and that's what makes it so special no for sure yeah and i love everything that you're doing for estheticians and your february experience event and i mean this is what's so exciting is you know bringing estheticians together opportunity opportunities to learn and grow and i just think and
• 59:36
  Again, I'm now kind of around estheticians again.
• 59:38
  And that's actually, you know, when I closed down my spas five years ago, I wasn't around estheticians anymore.
• 59:45
  And I really missed my people.
• 59:47
  And I was like, because now our corporate headquarters are in Austin, our warehouse, our whole marketing and office staff and all of that.
• 59:55
  But it was like, I was no longer around estheticians.
• 59:57
  And I was like, I want to get back to my people.
• 59:59
  And...
• 1:00:00
  Because I've been around you all my whole career.
• 1:00:04
  And so I knew I didn't want to open up spas again.
• 1:00:07
  I knew I didn't want to, you know, be in Sephora.
• 1:00:11
  That's not my path either.
• 1:00:12
  And I know how much I cherish estheticians.
• 1:00:15
  And I said, I'm finally going to say yes to having estheticians sell my line.
• 1:00:20
  I had said no for years.
• 1:00:22
  Candice Marino, the LA facialist, she's the first person I called because she had been asked me for years.
• 1:00:30
  the the people who i feel should best represent my line which are estheticians would you like to take on my line and she was like done placed her order the same day wow she's like let's go she knew exactly which product she was going to order and um anyway but i just it's been so fun we started it last year we have 40 pro partners um
• 1:00:49
  So far I'm being super organic about it and I'm the one training everybody.
• 1:00:54
  And we are doing also an in-person event as well in Austin.
• 1:00:58
  When is yours?
• 1:00:59
  I'm still working on it, but it's going to be, I'm going to do two this fall in Austin.
• 1:01:03
  And so, but people will get access to me and learn everything.
• 1:01:08
  And that's the thing, having done this for so long, like it's, and that's another thing too.
• 1:01:12
  Like I'm in, I'm in kind of my thinking about my legacy time of my career, which is like,
• 1:01:17
  I can't go to the grave without sharing all of this knowledge.
• 1:01:20
  Like I've just seen too much, done too much.
• 1:01:22
  I've done everything.
• 1:01:23
  I've been an employer.
• 1:01:24
  I'm a product developer, celebrity esthetician mentors.
• 1:01:27
  Like I just, I just,
• 1:01:29
  there's nothing in this industry I haven't touched.
• 1:01:31
  Your journey is so inspiring.
• 1:01:33
  And I am so, it's been amazing to hear your story.
• 1:01:36
  And I mean, just the whole, how you're stepping into community with other estheticians.
• 1:01:41
  Again, we kind of talked about, it can be, again, so isolating in the space and as much community as we can get, the better.
• 1:01:49
  Right.
• 1:01:50
  And I'm so excited.
• 1:01:51
  I'm going to start my, my pro account with you.
• 1:01:53
  I'm excited.
• 1:01:54
  Um,
• 1:01:55
  Well, I hope so.
• 1:01:55
  I don't know what the requirements are.
• 1:01:57
  Oh, my God.
• 1:01:58
  Okay, we'll talk after.
• 1:01:59
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:02:00
  I just appreciate you sharing your story and hearing just how you formulated and how much love and care you've put into all your products and your whole line and now other estheticians.
• 1:02:11
  I'm really excited for your journey to continue to unfold.
• 1:02:15
  It's so fun.
• 1:02:16
  Thank you so much.
• 1:02:17
  I appreciate it.
• 1:02:17
  Yeah, I think, you know, I think just the last thing I'll say is, you know, we all need...
• 1:02:23
  mentors and people to learn from right like we can't do it alone and again the solo estheticians they're the ones out on their own island or whatever and so you know you're using the word community that's so important like last week we just launched it last week i've been working out for three months we launched our own
• 1:02:38
  private community for our pro partners and it's just been amazing already everybody's sharing so like I didn't want to do like a Facebook page I wanted to have my own and so we have different rooms in there and already I and I'm on there a lot because again it just launched a week ago and one of the best pieces of advice and I put on there and I will say to estheticians love on your client better than anyone else
• 1:03:01
  They will never leave you.
• 1:03:02
  They'll stay loyal to you and will refer all your friends.
• 1:03:05
  So when I talk about social media, all the time that you could spend on social media and spending there in hopes that the algorithm sends you someone your way, if you took that time and texted, followed up with your clients, like that is how you build a practice.
• 1:03:20
  That's how you do it.
• 1:03:21
  And so last week, like on our, it's called the circle of hands.
• 1:03:24
  So we call it the circle.
• 1:03:25
  That's our community platform.
• 1:03:27
  But last week I shared that and one girl went, okay, I'm going to go do that.
• 1:03:31
  And so she reached out to one of her clients.
• 1:03:32
  She hadn't talked to in a while.
• 1:03:34
  And then the client ended up booking.
• 1:03:36
  So she was like, I ended up reaching out to a couple more.
• 1:03:38
  She goes, I got four bookings.
• 1:03:39
  And that was just me mentioning this one little thing in our community.
• 1:03:42
  She did it and got four appointments.
• 1:03:44
  Yeah.
• 1:03:45
  And I mean, how long did that take her to do that versus spending an hour and a half on a reel?
• 1:03:50
  Who knows what?
• 1:03:51
  We spend so much time looking at what other people are doing, what the algorithms doing and trying to keep up with things.
• 1:03:57
  It's like, no, no, no.
• 1:04:01
  Again, love on your clients better than anyone else.
• 1:04:05
  Dote on that.
• 1:04:05
  And that's another thing, too.
• 1:04:07
  My celebrity clients.
• 1:04:08
  Yeah.
• 1:04:09
  How did they stay loyal to me?
• 1:04:10
  You don't think that a million skincare brands are reaching out to them, sending them products, wanting to be their estheticians?
• 1:04:18
  I mean, Demi Lovato, she, I mean, from day one, her assistants always tell me this, Renee,
• 1:04:25
  she literally will not use your product.
• 1:04:27
  I mean, anyone else's product.
• 1:04:28
  She goes, all these brands, I mean, they go, you should see the stuff we get sent skincare products all the time.
• 1:04:33
  And she'll, she gives them to us.
• 1:04:35
  She'll, she'll like, I'm not even going to open it.
• 1:04:36
  Like she's so loyal, but why is she loyal?
• 1:04:39
  Because I loved on her better than anyone else.
• 1:04:41
  Right.
• 1:04:42
  I, I, I was at her beck and call, like you need me.
• 1:04:45
  I'm here for you.
• 1:04:46
  And, um,
• 1:04:48
  you know, always being available.
• 1:04:49
  But again, you don't have to have celebrity clients always be available for your clients when it's not about this hour I'm with you.
• 1:04:56
  How are you caring for them in between visits?
• 1:04:59
  Hey, you mentioned that, you know, you're gonna go to Mexico for vacation this summer or whatever, like, hey, let me arm you with what you need while you're on the trip or
• 1:05:09
  You know, like always be there.
• 1:05:12
  I always say be their personal skin assistant.
• 1:05:14
  Be one step ahead of them.
• 1:05:16
  You know, you're winning when you reach out to a client to check in and say, hey, I wanted to check in.
• 1:05:21
  Do you need me to send you any refills or whatever?
• 1:05:23
  And when they go, oh, my God, you've been on my to do list.
• 1:05:28
  I've been just so busy.
• 1:05:29
  Thank you for reaching out.
• 1:05:30
  You're one step ahead of them.
• 1:05:32
  That's how you build a clientele.
• 1:05:34
  So true.
• 1:05:34
  So just love on them and, you know, just dote all over them, be available.
• 1:05:39
  Absolutely.
• 1:05:40
  When you make it so easy, they'll never leave you.
• 1:05:42
  Your clients are the ones that you're seeing physically in person.
• 1:05:45
  Social media is.
• 1:05:46
  Right.
• 1:05:47
  Who knows where they're coming from, right?
• 1:05:48
  Who are you pouring that energy into?
• 1:05:50
  Exactly.
• 1:05:51
  And the reality is, this is important too, most people, they're only going to travel a 10-mile radius, a 20-mile radius.
• 1:05:59
  Exactly.
• 1:06:00
  So when you post something out on the web and somebody from –
• 1:06:03
  one of these countries over here sees you and follows you and likes your content, they're never going to be your client.
• 1:06:08
  Exactly.
• 1:06:09
  You know what I mean?
• 1:06:10
  So like, and that's the thing, like when you're posting, it's not going, the algorithm isn't going, meta's not going, hey, we're just going to target this to people within a 20-mile radius of Victoria.
• 1:06:21
  That's like not how it works.
• 1:06:22
  Absolutely not.
• 1:06:22
  You have to pay ads for those, honey.
• 1:06:24
  Exactly, exactly.
• 1:06:25
  If you want us to do that, you pay.
• 1:06:27
  Yeah, no, that's such, I was actually going to ask you, because my last question is always,
• 1:06:31
  what piece of advice would you give to an esthetician?
• 1:06:34
  So you just answered that already.
• 1:06:35
  So that is, that's the, honestly, I agree with everything you're saying.
• 1:06:39
  I teach a lot about that on my Patreon.
• 1:06:41
  So I'm like,
• 1:06:42
  Because again, people get so caught up on the views.
• 1:06:44
  I have people ask me all the time, what do I do with the algorithm?
• 1:06:48
  And I'm saying, stop focusing on the algorithm.
• 1:06:50
  Those, you know, be intentional with what you're posting, but also like make sure that you're focusing on the bigger picture and your clients, your clients are what matters.
• 1:06:59
  Oh, I'll tell you.
• 1:07:00
  Okay.
• 1:07:00
  We'll end it with this.
• 1:07:01
  My best free advice is the word free.
• 1:07:06
  So.
• 1:07:08
  Back in the day, I would have business cards made.
• 1:07:10
  And it would be with, it was a little business card with like basically a gift certificate.
• 1:07:15
  Yeah.
• 1:07:16
  And I would give people away a free facial.
• 1:07:19
  So basically what I would do is when I'm out in the world...
• 1:07:23
  in line at a grocery store wherever and I would you know I always try to you know strike up the conversation about talking about skin and as I was building my clientele I would give them I'd say we'd start talking about skin I'd be like oh I'm an esthetician and they'd be like oh my god I've been having problems with my skin and then you start going back and forth and I'd say I'm going to treat you to a free facial come in and see me because I had I had time on my books yeah right so I give them a free facial
• 1:07:50
  Wow.
• 1:07:51
  Who's going to not do free?
• 1:07:52
  Exactly.
• 1:07:53
  What's the excuse?
• 1:07:54
  It's free.
• 1:07:55
  Okay, well, like, there's no obstacle, I mean, no barrier to entry there.
• 1:07:59
  So that's how I built my clients.
• 1:08:00
  Like, if you have, give it away for free because you're just twiddling your thumbs anyway.
• 1:08:04
  Exactly.
• 1:08:04
  So, yeah, whenever I'm out in the world to this day.
• 1:08:06
  That book was empty anyways.
• 1:08:08
  Exactly.
• 1:08:08
  Might as well get some practice.
• 1:08:09
  Exactly.
• 1:08:10
  Yeah.
• 1:08:10
  And so, but that's how, you know, I built my clientele.
• 1:08:12
  So even now, you know, when I'm out in the world, like, I...
• 1:08:16
  make conversations wherever I go.
• 1:08:18
  And then, you know, just promoting business, you know, and especially when someone says this is the easy, this is the trick when someone says a stranger, and I'm sure you get it all the time, but they'll go, Oh my God, your skin is so gorgeous.
• 1:08:29
  That's if they say that, boom, guess what?
• 1:08:32
  You now get to say, Oh, I'm an esthetician.
• 1:08:34
  Oh, you are.
• 1:08:35
  And Oh, what do you use on your skin?
• 1:08:37
  And it,
• 1:08:37
  And it's like an easy way to like get into the conversation.
• 1:08:40
  Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 1:08:41
  That is such good advice.
• 1:08:43
  Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 1:08:45
  And being on the podcast today, where can people find you?
• 1:08:48
  So I want to hear your Instagram.
• 1:08:51
  And then I know that you launched your pro for...
• 1:08:53
  your skincare line yeah yeah so uh well renee rouleau.com if anyone if any esthetician wants to become uh learn about the benefits of being a pro partner um you can fill out an application or just d dm me i'm sure it's in the link i mean links are in my bio and instagram as well renee rouleau
• 1:09:10
  We'll link you there too.
• 1:09:11
  Okay.
• 1:09:12
  But I have free webinars every Monday.
• 1:09:14
  Okay.
• 1:09:15
  And so we do like the benefits of becoming a pro partner.
• 1:09:18
  So and if you can't make a webinar, we can send you the replay and then a deep dive into the products.
• 1:09:23
  And then I'm also doing free webinars that's for anyone to listen to.
• 1:09:27
  Like I just, I did one on how to get gloss skin.
• 1:09:31
  The link's in my bio on Instagram.
• 1:09:32
  I did a hyperpigmentation one because that's a whole nother story in itself.
• 1:09:37
  I'm doing one on acne this Monday.
• 1:09:40
  And so, yeah, so I do free webinars as well so people can learn from me.
• 1:09:46
  But, yeah, I have tons of knowledge and I want to give it out and happy to help in any way I can.
• 1:09:51
  Yeah, well, thank you for being such an inspiration for our aesthetics community.
• 1:09:55
  Thank you.
• 1:09:55
  And you as well.
• 1:09:56
  Thank you.
• 1:09:57
  I'm just cheering you on every minute.
• 1:09:59
  Thank you.
• 1:09:59
  You as well.
• 1:10:00
  I'm so proud of you and your husband.
• 1:10:01
  It's so fun to connect with you and finally meet you in person.
• 1:10:04
  Thank you.
• 1:10:04
  Well, thank you guys so much for joining the podcast.
• 1:10:07
  Make sure you like, comment, and subscribe.
• 1:10:09
  And we'll see you in the next episode.