Who is Caroline?

What made you choose Esthetics over everything else?
Honestly I think I would say I came in kicking and screaming, but everyone else’s account was I couldn’t not be an esthetician. My sister has been in the skin care industry for some time now, we have a ten year age difference and she really took me under her wing making sure I learned how to take care of my skin from the age of 8. I would always tell friends at school what they needed to do to take care of their skin, and I loved seeing how it would actually work and make a difference in them! I loved getting my facials semi regularly, and my sister would always tell me this is what I needed to do but at the time I was far to happy at my parents auto business. The day came though I needed to grow and move on to the next chapter. I prayed about becoming an esthetician, if it would really work in the life I wanted to live being able to volunteer and travel. So I went and applied to the school I wanted to go to asked for some very specific things that I thought the school would not be able to work with but my prayers were answered and everything work out perfectly for me! So my tiny flame of loving to help people with their skin turned into an answer to a prayer! Couldn’t turn my back on that. 

What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful esthetician?
Be able to push yourself out of your comfort zone. 
Through skin analysis, that you then communicate to clients
Good knowledge of how your products function. 

How did you come up with the name for your company and how do you generate new ideas? 
When starting my business the name was the hardest part! For weeks I bounced idea off everyone that would listen. I came up with something super cliché that I didn’t really love. A couple of day later while I was still lamenting I hadn’t come up with something better, I dropped off a friend at a shopping center and saw blah blah blah “Apothecary”. My next thought was The Skin Apothecary! I felt like it was a name that would grow with me and give me lots of different paths to follow... I’m a girl who loves options! I am a natural born talker, so I am always ready to strike up a conversation with anyone who has a minute, and I love to hear their thoughts on just about anything. I really take note of experiences they have had, stories I hear, signs I see around town. I just try to take it all in put my spin on it and then share that with the world! 

What business-related book(s) has inspired you the most and how?
I hate reading, so I can’t answer that. BUT I love a good podcast. In school I loved beauty biz bffs, I learned sooooooo many little hacks from them. My current fav is spa marketing made easy. Oh and everyone please watch Nerida Joy on YouTube everyone needs a little of that in their lives!

Who has been your greatest inspiration throughout your Esthetics journey?
I wish I could only express how special of an esthetic journey I have had. From day one I got to be surrounded by industry leaders! My esthetic teacher Chamagne Williams was dermascopes instructor if the year 2020, the school I went to was the only medical esthetic school in the U.S. which a joined the largest med spa in Austin, TX. So many senior esthetician’s would let me sit beside them while they worked so I could learn from them. Seasoned injectors would let me watch and help with any client I wanted. I just can’t tell you how great my learning experience was. My greatest influence though is my sister Ashley who has been a major success in her career from day one! She has guided me through mistakes I made in school and on a client or two... taught me how to work with a new client to keep them as a lifelong client. She always has an answer for me, she always pushes me to do better, she is always cheering me on. 

How do you build a successful customer base?
Network. I started The Skin Apothecary in my hometown, but I had been gone for a few years and certainly didn’t know anyone who got a facial even yearly. My first week I gave everyone in the salon I was renting room a free facial, and for my first month gave my normally $60 new client facial for $25. I made sure that my room was inviting and that each facial was my very best... I cut no corners. I make the experience one they can not forget or live without. (Can we also normalize tweezing every clients brows just a little during their facial?! A glowing face is not as cute when there is a unibrow. )Every single client that month rebooked at full price and everyone told someone about it. I put my whole heart into every service, and with the exception of those discounted facials and the $15 a month I pay for a monthly newsletter for updates and reminders of cOvid safety I haven’t paid a dime in marketing. 

What piece of advice would you give to college graduates who want to become Spa Owners/solo Estheticians?
Keep it simple. Don’t loose your craft in trying to use all these cool new tools or products you might have. Pick one or two things/products that really enhance the experience. And don’t stress! You’ve made it through school your gonna make it through this facial no matter how many open comedones there are! Lol 

What's your motto?
Hmmmm... I need to have a round table talk to figure that out.... I asked one of my classmates I’m still close too and she said in school my motto was fake it till you make it but I don’t remember that LOL 

Thank you for sharing.

May you continue to soar!  Follow her journey and be inspired.