Latest / Honest Esthetician Education / Join us as we interview Master Holistic Esthetician, Mckenna Olivia Skin, in Orlando, Florida. Learn

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Join us as we interview Master Holistic Esthetician, Mckenna Olivia Skin, in Orlando, Florida. Learn · Honest Esthetician Education

• 0:00
  Hi guys, today on the podcast we have the amazing holistic queen herself, McKenna.
• 0:06
  As you can see, we're in Florida right now.
• 0:09
  The background, we thought what better way to be outdoors on a podcast than with a holistic expert esthetician.
• 0:16
  So again, McKenna, so happy to have you here.
• 0:20
  It is a little bit hot, so bear with us, but I want to get to know you a little bit better and hear how you got into the holistic aesthetics world.
• 0:28
  Yeah.
• 0:29
  Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
• 0:31
  This is, it's very hot.
• 0:33
  Yeah.
• 0:33
  But it's definitely, it's, I feel like this is literally the perfect scenery.
• 0:37
  Yeah.
• 0:38
  So it's good.
• 0:38
  I love it.
• 0:40
  So how did you get into holistic aesthetics?
• 0:43
  When did you start?
• 0:44
  Like, when did you...
• 0:46
  When did your journey start?
• 0:48
  I feel like it started like maybe a little bit like right when I started aesthetic school because I went to the Aveda Institute.
• 0:55
  So they were very holistic.
• 0:57
  Like we didn't learn any like chemical peels.
• 0:59
  We didn't learn dermaplaning, no microdermabrasion.
• 1:01
  Like it was so like natural and clean.
• 1:05
  And I don't know if you know about like Aveda, like they're very like organic and natural as well, like with their hair care.
• 1:11
  But, um, yeah, I feel like it was from the very, very beginning.
• 1:14
  Wow.
• 1:15
  So it was rooted in you.
• 1:16
  Yeah.
• 1:17
  Um, did you go solo right away or did you work for somebody else before?
• 1:21
  Um,
• 1:21
  So I worked at a spa in Dr. Phillips.
• 1:25
  I worked there for like four and a half years.
• 1:29
  Literally like right after aesthetic school, I graduated, I turned 20 and then I started working there like right away.
• 1:35
  Wow, and what services did you do there?
• 1:37
  So we did mainly kind of like natural services.
• 1:42
  We did have like hydrafacial.
• 1:46
  So I did hydrafacial for a little bit, but it was very natural.
• 1:48
  Like we even did like,
• 1:50
  seaweed facials like literal seaweed was going on people's faces it was it was a little slime slimy but it was good that's so fun did you so since you went into more you went back to your roots did you enjoy hydrafacial at all I'm so curious because I feel like you have to be holistic esthetician
• 2:09
  for some reason, you know, like, I mean, did you enjoy doing hydro facials or?
• 2:13
  Yeah, no, I, I really enjoyed it.
• 2:15
  Like I still like would want to do hydro facial.
• 2:19
  Like I had nothing against them.
• 2:20
  I even have like an, uh, hydro facial at the studio.
• 2:24
  So it's like a little knockoff version of it, but it still does like really good results.
• 2:29
  Awesome.
• 2:30
  Perfect.
• 2:31
  Um, do you, do you have like, what services do you offer at your current, um, practice in person?
• 2:39
  So my most popular ones are my signature facial and the complete rejuvenation facial, which is like gua sha, facial cupping, acupressure, scalp massage, a lot of massage.
• 2:51
  And I do LED light.
• 2:52
  And of course, like I said, I do the hydro facials.
• 2:55
  Yeah, I love that.
• 2:56
  So for your facial.
• 2:57
  facials does that include every all of that for your like standard facials or what does it look like as far as your services go like for a standard facial so my most popular ones are like i said the signature and the complete rejuvenation they're both like a little bit different but they're 80 minutes okay i completely like made my own protocol wow so i did for the
• 3:27
  the basic facial and then I do a lot of facial massage with the signature one and like gua sha and then the acupressure and it comes with like a scalp massage, arm and hand massage and a foot massage.
• 3:37
  That is to die for.
• 3:38
  So it's literally like a whole.
• 3:40
  Oh my gosh, that is an experience.
• 3:42
  Yeah.
• 3:43
  Oh my gosh.
• 3:44
  I'm like
• 3:45
  Whenever I go to get facials, you're literally what I seek for.
• 3:48
  So that's amazing.
• 3:50
  Oh, my gosh.
• 3:51
  So as far as the holistic, you know, esthetician world goes, what is like the difference between holistic and I guess you'd say more medical based?
• 4:01
  Like what is the biggest difference you would say since you've done both like in the past?
• 4:06
  That's a good question.
• 4:07
  I feel like I would say like.
• 4:09
  Because I did do chemical peels in the beginning, but I felt like I kind of wanted to stray away from them a little bit.
• 4:15
  I still think that they bring, like, really good results.
• 4:17
  But maybe, like, chemical peels, like, microdermabrasion or dermaplaning.
• 4:24
  I don't know.
• 4:24
  I feel like it kind of varies.
• 4:26
  Like, you can still have those treatments, but still make it holistic.
• 4:30
  Yeah.
• 4:30
  So, yeah.
• 4:32
  I don't know.
• 4:32
  I feel like it just, it kind of varies on like how you have the protocol.
• 4:36
  Totally.
• 4:37
  So would you say you enjoy the more like relaxation, like providing that experience for people?
• 4:42
  That's kind of what I'm hearing.
• 4:45
  Yeah.
• 4:45
  I like more of the relaxation.
• 4:47
  I feel like I was always into that even like at...
• 4:50
  aesthetic school that's what they taught us and like just having people in in the studio and just making them super relaxed everybody's like always stressed you know what I don't want a whole bunch of lights on them like doing all this crazy stuff to their skin which I can still do yeah I like to just have them yeah relax and no that's so interesting because I do feel like there's so many different quote-unquote types of estheticians so I love that there's so many different avenues
• 5:20
  as an esthetician.
• 5:21
  I mean, the world's your limit, right?
• 5:23
  Like, it's so fun that you're able to do all of those different services, but still make it holistic.
• 5:29
  As far as your solo journey went, how long have you been a solo esthetician for now?
• 5:37
  This year, I think just like this August, it was two years.
• 5:40
  Oh my gosh.
• 5:40
  Just hit two years.
• 5:41
  Oh yeah, I did see that on Instagram.
• 5:43
  Oh my goodness.
• 5:44
  That's so exciting.
• 5:45
  Congratulations.
• 5:45
  Thank you.
• 5:47
  What has been like the biggest...
• 5:49
  like how have you grown the fastest i mean that's huge 26 000 followers in two years what would you say like was the peak of your instagram when you started to really grow yeah it was actually this year it was um around like february i started to really grow my instagram that's amazing yeah like this my goal for like this year was oh i want to hit 5k
• 6:12
  Oh, that's amazing.
• 6:12
  That was literally my goal for this year.
• 6:14
  And then I'm like, I looked at my husband.
• 6:15
  Wow.
• 6:15
  I'm like, yeah, we're at 26.
• 6:17
  Oh my gosh.
• 6:19
  That's just insane.
• 6:19
  That actually is insane.
• 6:21
  So as far as your Instagram goes, did you go into it wanting to reach more followers?
• 6:26
  Because you are an influencer at this point.
• 6:29
  So did it happen more organically for you?
• 6:31
  Did you have like a goal and what you're posting was very intentional?
• 6:34
  Yeah.
• 6:34
  Honestly, no.
• 6:35
  I didn't really...
• 6:38
  Going into being a solo esthetician, I wasn't going into it wanting to be an influencer.
• 6:43
  I actually did not like social media.
• 6:45
  I'm just not a social media person.
• 6:49
  But now I am, I guess.
• 6:50
  But going into it, I was just doing it because that was my way of...
• 6:54
  like the only way that I knew how to get clients yeah so I just kept posting to try to get clients because I was like I don't know how to like meet people and like stuff like that so I was just like let me just post keep posting and and then all of a sudden I just figured out what Instagram wanted and it just like blew up oh my gosh yeah
• 7:12
  So I know it's so different for everybody.
• 7:14
  Some people say that Instagram's the way that they get clients.
• 7:17
  Some people are like Google majority word of mouth.
• 7:19
  What would you say is your biggest, you know, avenue of getting new clients in the door?
• 7:23
  Yeah.
• 7:24
  So I did get clients from Instagram.
• 7:27
  But you know that saying of like when you go viral, it doesn't really mean that you're going to get clients.
• 7:32
  So I didn't get a lot of clients right away.
• 7:35
  Everything is word of mouth mostly for me, for actual clients.
• 7:39
  Yeah, no, that's so true.
• 7:41
  I mean, I think people seek virality and I learned this too is when I first got my...
• 7:47
  100,000 view, you know, real.
• 7:50
  I thought that I was going to get all these clients flooding in, but it doesn't work like that.
• 7:54
  No, it doesn't.
• 7:56
  I was like, I still have to keep posting.
• 7:58
  I still have to keep promoting and doing like just talking to other people and getting my business out there.
• 8:05
  So it's still like a growing process.
• 8:09
  community yeah no totally I mean it takes time to build your clientele absolutely it's crazy I'm like if only Instagram was that easy that you just booked um so to have you as far as like being an influencer now what does that look like for you like I mean for me it has brought you know brand brand um collaborations with other companies um you know word of mouth obviously being a no name in the industry but what does that look like for you since you have started that journey
• 8:38
  cool opportunities as far as like branching out as an influencer now?
• 8:43
  Well, I have gotten some other ones.
• 8:46
  I have turned down like some, but just because I like to stick with what I believe in and stuff like that.
• 8:53
  But I was on a podcast earlier this year.
• 8:58
  We were talking about Gua Sha and,
• 9:00
  And then I have other people reaching out to me to do events in Orlando.
• 9:06
  Oh, sweet.
• 9:06
  So I'm doing an event in September and teaching exclusive...
• 9:11
  I don't even know what they're really called, but they're an exclusive business group.
• 9:15
  And they're hosting an event for their members.
• 9:18
  So they're having me come and doing just an event with them and teaching them how to do Gua Sha and...
• 9:25
  Oh my natural beauty.
• 9:27
  So I'm doing that with another girl.
• 9:28
  I'm doing that in September.
• 9:29
  That is so fun.
• 9:31
  I always like to just hear like about other opportunities since you are in a different niche.
• 9:35
  Um, you're still obviously in the same category of esthetician, but, um, I do like I offer chemical peels.
• 9:42
  So I feel like each, each person has their own branding.
• 9:45
  And I think that's like so important.
• 9:46
  And I think that's really cool that you've had.
• 9:48
  Yeah.
• 9:48
  opportunity since you branched out on your own.
• 9:51
  Yeah.
• 9:52
  That is such like a rewarding feeling, right?
• 9:53
  Did you feel, how did you feel going solo?
• 9:56
  Was it like a breath of fresh air?
• 9:57
  No.
• 9:58
  Oh no.
• 9:58
  It was terrifying.
• 10:00
  It was so terrifying.
• 10:02
  So I went solo.
• 10:04
  Oh,
• 10:05
  I actually went solo in May.
• 10:07
  So technically, May was my two year, but I don't count it until August.
• 10:13
  So I worked at the spa in May, and then I got fired.
• 10:18
  I got fired from my spa job, and then I was like...
• 10:24
  all right, I guess this is the time that I go full force with my business.
• 10:28
  So it was really scary.
• 10:30
  I was just like, I don't like, how am I going to make money?
• 10:32
  But luckily I was still living at home with my parents at the time.
• 10:36
  So every time, like, I guess during being a solo esthetician, I always had support from my parents.
• 10:42
  I lived at home.
• 10:43
  I didn't have to pay any rent.
• 10:44
  And then I moved in with my husband and he would help pay for everything.
• 10:48
  And then I could just really focus on my business.
• 10:50
  Oh my God.
• 10:51
  It was always like a really big support system, but it was still stressful because I'm like, yeah, you're used to making a lot of money at a spa and then you go to making like nothing.
• 10:59
  So, but it's, it's been still stressful, but it's still, it's definitely rewarding.
• 11:04
  I wouldn't want to do anything else.
• 11:05
  Yeah.
• 11:06
  A hundred percent.
• 11:07
  And that just shows that like every, everybody's journey is stressful in their own way.
• 11:11
  Right.
• 11:12
  Like, I mean.
• 11:13
  There's just so many different ways that we can be stressed out in our businesses.
• 11:17
  Like, I mean, there's it's it's a lot.
• 11:19
  But yeah, as far as the you going out solo, would you say that like I mean, me, I felt like I wasn't on my feet until like two years.
• 11:28
  Like right now, I'm like barely on my feet.
• 11:30
  So like, do you feel like you're finally in a place where you're like, oh,
• 11:34
  We're never content, but are you, as far as clients in the door goes, are you like content with like what you have?
• 11:39
  Because I know there's some institutions that are like fully booked out and I'm like, how are you fully booked out?
• 11:44
  Like after a year?
• 11:45
  So like, is, I know you said yours is word of mouth.
• 11:47
  So as far as that goes, what does that look like for you?
• 11:50
  So I'm not fully booked out.
• 11:52
  Like I'm still, I can still book people this month.
• 11:54
  Uh-huh.
• 11:55
  But I've had like people reach out to me on Instagram and be like, oh, like, how are you like fully booked?
• 12:00
  I'm like, just because I have a big following does not mean that I'm fully booked.
• 12:04
  Right.
• 12:04
  Especially with the niche that I'm in and the type of services that I offer, it's kind of more on like...
• 12:11
  the bougier side of things, I guess, like more high end.
• 12:14
  So it's a little bit harder, but, um, I'm still growing and I'm still trying to get people booked and, um, yeah, I'm not fully booked out.
• 12:22
  Yeah.
• 12:22
  No, I, I mean, again, I, you know, you can be fully booked out, but you could be working like two days a week.
• 12:27
  So, um, I was just curious as far as like, I know we talked about virality and all the things.
• 12:32
  So, um,
• 12:33
  how that correlates to real life.
• 12:35
  Because I know that a lot of estheticians do have that preconceived idea just because you have a certain amount of followers that you're fully booked, right?
• 12:44
  No, but you're killing it.
• 12:46
  I mean, you're doing so good.
• 12:47
  I'm like, I want to get a treatment by you.
• 12:49
  It's so inspiring.
• 12:51
  I'm like, well, you need to go to Arizona and I'll come back here.
• 12:54
  Yes, I do need to go to Arizona.
• 12:56
  That would be fun.
• 12:57
  No, absolutely.
• 12:58
  I feel like I'd be used to the
• 12:59
  heat too.
• 12:59
  Cause it was so hot here.
• 13:00
  Yeah.
• 13:01
  It's very, very similar for sure.
• 13:03
  Um, yeah.
• 13:04
  And then, um, my last question for you, as far as, um, you know, your journey and you're killing it again, but my last question for you would be, what would you give as far as like an advice for somebody trying to niche down in the holistic like world?
• 13:18
  What, like, did you start with and what would be a simple, you know, easy way to start?
• 13:24
  Um,
• 13:25
  I would definitely say starting with the skincare line because I think that's really important.
• 13:30
  Your clients are going to come in wanting organic skincare because I've had some clients come in and they're like, oh, what products are you using?
• 13:37
  Some clients of mine are even more holistic than I am.
• 13:40
  And I'm like, oh, my gosh.
• 13:41
  So I feel like the number one thing to look for is a skincare line to start off with first and then go with like your services, what you're going to offer.
• 13:48
  Because the skincare is it's literally the base of like.
• 13:53
  what you're going to offer.
• 13:54
  Yeah.
• 13:55
  So I would do that.
• 13:56
  And then just getting a lot of certifications on like maybe like facial cupping, gua sha, acupressure, like any of those ones, just to kind of have that in with your facial.
• 14:05
  Yeah.
• 14:06
  Number one is definitely starting off with the skincare line.
• 14:10
  Yeah.
• 14:10
  And kind of going from there.
• 14:11
  Yeah.
• 14:11
  And do you still carry a Vita?
• 14:14
  So I don't carry Aveda.
• 14:16
  Aveda, sorry.
• 14:17
  No, you're good.
• 14:18
  So I carry Clear Stem.
• 14:20
  Okay.
• 14:20
  And I carry a Korean skincare line, it's Savor Beauty.
• 14:24
  I love that.
• 14:25
  They're really cool.
• 14:25
  Yeah, I like them.
• 14:26
  And then I do actually still carry some Glymed.
• 14:30
  Yeah.
• 14:30
  There's only like specific products that I like from Glymed that I offer, especially with like acne clients and whatnot.
• 14:35
  Yeah.
• 14:35
  Yeah.
• 14:36
  Yeah, it's nice to cherry pick.
• 14:38
  That's the beauty of owning your own business is you don't have to care.
• 14:40
  You can carry what you believe in and what you want to sell for your clients.
• 14:44
  And you can pick like literally there's so many brands like you can literally pick from like
• 14:50
  It's literally insane.
• 14:50
  Yeah, I don't even know.
• 14:51
  No, totally.
• 14:52
  So, okay, Korean skincare is blowing up.
• 14:55
  I mean, I see it everywhere.
• 14:58
  What intrigued you about Korean skincare?
• 15:01
  Honestly, I wasn't really into Korean skincare, but then I heard the girl speaking on a podcast.
• 15:08
  I think it was...
• 15:10
  I forgot what podcast it was, but it was like the owner of it was speaking about it.
• 15:14
  And I was like, oh, let me look into it.
• 15:16
  And it was Korean.
• 15:16
  I'm like, oh, my gosh, everybody's into Korean skincare.
• 15:19
  And I was like, OK, let me order some products.
• 15:21
  So I always order products at home first to try them.
• 15:25
  And I ended up liking them.
• 15:26
  And I was like, OK, I'll just bring it on.
• 15:27
  But I never like seeked out Korean skincare.
• 15:30
  Yeah.
• 15:31
  Wow.
• 15:31
  That's amazing.
• 15:31
  Amazing.
• 15:32
  I mean, I've just been seeing it everywhere.
• 15:34
  And then Clear Stem, too.
• 15:36
  How did you I mean, I'm assuming you used that before in the past.
• 15:39
  What brought that what made you bring on their skincare line as well?
• 15:42
  So one of my clients actually.
• 15:44
  Oh, my gosh.
• 15:45
  No way.
• 15:45
  My clients was like, oh, my gosh, you need to try out this brand.
• 15:49
  And I was just like.
• 15:50
  in and out of like climate I was like okay I feel like I want like something else that's like holistic um and I she showed talk to me about them and I just like try their products I was like oh I really like their skincare so I just brought it in from my client oh my gosh that's amazing I love the how that happens so organically for you yeah like I said a lot of my clients are more holistic
• 16:12
  than I am sometimes like with certain things.
• 16:15
  So I like you can always learn from literally everybody.
• 16:18
  It doesn't have to be in the aesthetics industry.
• 16:20
  Oh, yeah.
• 16:20
  I feel like you definitely attract obviously the type of clientele that can bring you certain ideas.
• 16:26
  They're like, oh, well, I like this because yeah, if you're.
• 16:29
  if your niche is holistic you're gonna have a bunch of different avenues of people giving you some ideas and tips and tricks um no I love that um do you have any other anything else that you wanted to add to um the topic today to the podcast today
• 16:47
  I don't think so.
• 16:48
  I mean, just every just if you're wanting to become a holistic, just seeking out holistic, other holistic estheticians and seeing what they offer and learning from them.
• 16:59
  That's that's the best way that I learned is just by looking at other estheticians and seeing what they're doing.
• 17:05
  I love it.
• 17:05
  Well, you're killing it.
• 17:07
  I love following your journey.
• 17:09
  If you guys need some tips on your Instagram, her branding is phenomenal.
• 17:14
  I did go over it on my Patreon of just how amazing her branding is.
• 17:18
  It's on point.
• 17:19
  I mean, you're killing it.
• 17:21
  And how can people find you on Instagram?
• 17:23
  Instagram is McKenna Olivia Skin.
• 17:25
  I also just uploaded my first YouTube video.
• 17:29
  which is the same kind of living skin yeah i was like oh my gosh this took me four hours to make this one video that's hilarious but yeah so i do that and then facebook not so much and then tiktok is the same one but my name my name my name my main one is uh instagram oh i love that so much and you have such a beautiful name it fits the whole holistic um vibe for sure well thank you guys so much for tuning in to today's podcast and we'll see you next time