Chronicles of an Esthetician, Vol. 1

Hello again! I am so happy to finally be starting my blog series, Chronicles of an Esthetician. I want this to be a long running topic that I continue (hence the volume 1), while also providing other blog posts in between.

This series is going to be a bit different. I hope to type more candidly, and speak solely from personal experience. Forget the research today, and let’s talk about something that I have held close to my heart for a while now. You definitely don’t have to be an esthetician or involved in the beauty industry to relate to what I’m talking about. You don’t have to be a female, a certain age, or social status. We all struggle with something that finds a way to hold us back while also thrusting us forward…confidence.

I have always been someone who feels like they have to be the best at everything. Why? Probably because I’m a textbook perfectionist. My sun sign is Virgo. I’ve grown up through my college years with social media influence and the pressure by society to make money at a young age and have it all together.

But, we all know that we aren’t failures if we don’t achieve millionaire status. Or buy a home by 25, or have our dream career path before 30. We say these things, but we certainly don’t believe them. I’m making it very general right now, but these assumptions of greatness also follow us into our relationships and career. Right now, I struggle daily with confidence in my career.

I went to college and got a degree in psychology. I love psychology, but I didn’t know what exactly I loved about it. I think it was just the constant learning aspect of it, more than the doing. So I decided to take a passion that I enjoy doing, and make that my career. Turns out -shocker- it’s still not easy. Cosmetology school for me took 6 months, exactly 750 hours. The difference between college and cosmetology school is huge. The main one that sticks out to me is in college, you prepare so much before getting a job in your field of choice. You feel ready, and you learn as you work your way up the ranks. Cosmetology school, though, is a whirlwind. You learn the basics, and then you continue to learn through working. And I don’t mean just get better at it, but in some cases, learn how to do it in general. There is so much learning while being an esthetician, as well as doing! I never know exactly what I’m walking into every day. I know, it’s not life and death like the ER at a hospital, but it can still be quite scary!

This is where the c word really comes into play. If you don’t feel confident, it’s nearly impossible to handle clientele, sell retail, and rebook appointments. I beat myself up over every little detail of an appointment. My immediate reaction is usually, “that went well!”. But a few hours later, I think, “that could’ve gone much better. Why didn’t she buy retail? I must’ve not done good enough. She will just go to someone more experienced…blah blah blah”. Why can’t I just feel confident enough? Confidence doesn’t have to mean that I am the best though, it can mean I am perfectly fine with where I am at and how I am learning to be better.

For me, it helped to go to a salon where I felt like I was worth something. Never work for someone who sells you short, or harps into you that you aren’t doing enough when you’re brand new. Showing up and trying your best every single day is enough when you’re starting out. There’s alot of that in our industry, and I had to learn the hard way. Managers and salon owners will take advantage of us, and it is our responsibility to know our rights. This can hurt our confidence starting out if we are made to feel like it’s all our fault our appointment books aren’t full.

I also heard alot of the same statements from people. “It takes a good year before you have clientele.” “Oh, give yourself 5 years before you start actually bringing in money.” I really wish they would stop writing our timelines for us. Instead, start saying,

Don’t give up. No matter what. If you want this, you can have it.

Our confidence is knocked if we don’t have full books in a year, because someone told us that’s the norm. Or we feel invincible and that we are at our prime if we achieve alot before the 1-5 year mark. It’s just like our personal lives, no one is giving out medals for being the youngest in our friend group to buy a house. So why set a time line?

Don’t get me wrong though, I still believe in the power of setting goals. However, we can’t compare our goals to others. We can’t set our goals just to match others.
We don’t know the future, and we don’t have control over alot. But something i’ve learned is that we have control over how we think and react to situations.

Confidence is something we have control over.

And I choose to be confident today.