We All Started Somewhere

By ASCP Staff

Do you remember the day you enrolled in esthetics school? Maybe it was 10 years ago, but you remember the experience like it was last week. You might have visited several schools before you walked into the one you knew was the right choice for you. As you took a tour of that school, you knew in your heart you were going to enroll. You had been looking forward to the day you could sign the dotted line and begin your journey as skin care professional!

You did your homework before enrolling in school. You visited with spa professionals when you had services performed, you researched online the many options of employment or owning your own skin care business, and you became familiar with professional skin care product lines. You knew this was the right career path for you, and the anticipation of all the possibilities made you eager to start the journey.

For many of you, it might have been a real challenge to attend esthetics school. It might have been difficult to find daycare for your young children; you may have had a part-time job (or even a full-time job), leaving you little time for anything but work and school; the cost of esthetics school may have had you concerned; or maybe you wondered if you were talented enough to make it in the competitive skin care market.

But you overcame the challenges because you knew that the skin care industry would be life-changing for you. The visions of a rewarding career that could literally change your client’s lives by building their confidence and self-esteem was powerful enough to propel you forward.

Hopefully, your school experience was positive. We are all unique individuals and each of us have our own story, and school was the perfect time to learn to appreciate and respect differences of other students . . . building relationships and seeing each other’s potential. Your instructors saw the potential in you and encouraged you every step of the way. They taught you not only technical skills, but also how to think and act like a professional. They helped you hone your people skills when greeting clients, gave you tips on how to retain clients, schooled you in the art of educating clients on the benefits of using professional products at home, and showed you how to perform a thorough skin analysis and client consultation. They also took pride in seeing your talents and confidence grow every time you gave a client a service in the school clinic. When you graduated, you were a different person than when you started school. You were educated, confident, and excited to make your dreams a reality.

All of you have improved your clients’ lives with the services you’ve provided. You have been able to help support your families using your knowledge and skills while doing something you love. Some of you may have become business owners and opened your own spa or rented space in a salon suite; you may employ other estheticians, giving them the opportunity to gain experience and confidence; you may have returned to your alma mater to become an educator; or you might work in a med spa giving more advanced esthetic treatments. You have so many choices in your career path that it keeps the journey interesting and exciting.

Every day is a new opportunity to impact someone’s life. As a skin care professional, you are in a unique position to touch people far deeper than their skin. You become a friend, a confidante for your clients. They look forward to seeing you on a regular basis, and they trust your opinion when recommending a service that will give them the results they seek. They appreciate your recommendations on home care products because you’ve educated them on how important home care is. At the end of the day, you feel fulfilled because you’ve provided the best care and skin care services possible for your clients. You have cleared up acneic skin, you’ve rejuvenated mature skin using chemical peels and exfoliating masks, and you’ve provided a safe space where clients can relax and trust your skill and expertise in all things skin care.

You might think back to when you were first licensed and saw your first clients. You were so nervous! Now, you feel only anticipation for each new day, and look forward to seeing each client, whether they have been coming to you for years or it’s their first appointment.

If you ever should feel your passion for this industry growing dim, think back to that first day of school. Think back to how excited you were to meet your classmates and instructors. Think about how excited you were when you did your first wax, your first facial, and your first chemical peel. Think back and remember all the dreams of what you’d do when you graduated. Don’t lose sight of why you chose the skin care industry in the first place.

We all may have started out the same way attending esthetics school, but you’ve come a long way, baby! Be proud of how you’ve grown and of being part of an industry that really does change lives!

“Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.”
Anne Frank