From Corporate Dropout to Beauty School Graduate
I entered esthetics school at the age of 43 with absolutely zero plan except to try something new. I had no attachment to the outcome. I was instead, deeply curious, and could no longer put it out of my mind.
At a previous career low point, in my almost 20 years in a corporate career, I remember looking up the cost and time commitment of what it took to be an esthetician and then dropped it, because I had neither the time, nor the money available. Another challenge was wrapping my head around how to absorb/navigate the massive pay cut that would have been required to follow said path. I had, at that point, built a lifestyle that would not have withstood such a radical departure.
The story of what brought me to the front door of the Euro Institute of Skin Care in Renton, WA in December of 2019 and further to Washington Laser Institute in Federal Way, through a year of schooling including: 1200 hours of practice, four licensing tests, over a dozen certifications and career I absolutely love as a Master Esthetician is not a short, small, direct line. It’s a wandering, meandering, convoluted path pointing me back to the things I loved as a kid or, more accurately, things that I had forgotten I loved.
It was trust. Intuition. Letting go of expectations and allowing myself to follow the things that spoke to me. And when I recognized that I now had that time and that money I didn’t have years ago, I also found that I had created a life that could not only accommodate my change in financial status but would welcome it with open arms. It would look like a windfall after my five year journey, because I had imploded everything that came before. Without realizing it, I had created the room in my life for something I had been searching for - a career I could love and a discipline I could devote myself to.
Today, I have days filled with things I love, doing things I love and am naturally gifted at. I get to invest my talent & energy in people who are investing in themselves, their sanity, their peace, their self-confidence. These people, my clients, they appreciate my time, my energy, my wisdom, talents and care. What I do means something to them. They are enthusiastic about coming to see me because they leave revived, relaxed, refreshed, rejuvenated and with their proverbial cup on the way to full. What I do, more importantly, means something to me. I’m a natural giver. It’s nice to get paid to be who I was born to be. That quote about not working when you love your work...yup, I found it.
Timing, as the saying goes, is everything. I’m glad I (finally) arrived and not a moment too soon. I'm so excited to be HERE now. The beauty industry is BOOMing. While people are living longer - they certainly don’t want to look like they are. According to Terakeet, the global beauty industry market is set to be a whopping $716 Billion by 2025 and it’s filled with SO MUCH NOISE.
There’s a million and one promises being made. Consumers' heads are on a swivel. There’s so much to explore, research, etc. REAL TALK here - always with me (this is a promise!) - some of what’s out there will lead you astray. Just like any good marketing and advertising firm, the job is to drive traffic to drive sales and revenue. Here - I’m just telling my slice of my truth the way that I see it.
And, just so we’re 100% on the same page, I’m a huge fan of whatever you love, because YOU love it. I’m certainly not here to judge you. I’m here to inform you. I have a VERY specific point of view - we all do - and I’m sharing it up front so you know that there’s going to be a bias here. A bias towards nature. I lean heavily towards aging gracefully. I love a good chemical peel but I’m not going to the one sticking needles in your face.
I spent hours learning modern advanced esthetic procedures only to be discomforted by the knowledge that most modern cosmetic aesthetic procedures are invasive and designed to kick off the skin’s inflammatory response and wound-healing process to get rid of the old and ideally, rebuild with the new.
For me, this feels a bit like remodeling the house by pulling out everything that gives it character. Here’s a scientific fact: when your skin is cut - as in an injury - the strength of your skin when it heals is 80% of what it was before it was injured. (Source) That’s the MOST you can get back. Scary to think about what the long term prospect is for exploiting this phenomenon we call skin regeneration.
So I went looking for and found a different way. A way that aligns with my beliefs and the kind of esthetician I want to be: one who honors what the skin was designed to do and seeks to enhance its magic in the most natural way possible. Think of it like filling holes rather than creating them. I’m not taking something from the skin, I’m adding something in. A special kind of alchemy. I honor what you’re after and I’m happy to support your needle-loving ways. There will never be any judgement here. No matter your approach to skincare, I can help. I’m excited for where all of this will take me. I’m excited for where all of this will take you.
Yours in skin alchemy,
Lani
