We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sequoya Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sequoya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

I have three heroes. My daughters. My three daughters have taught me to have faith, patience, perseverance, and how to pivot. My children have taught me that nothing is too hard especially when you have God guiding your life. Watching my children push through their daily struggles, whether it be health issues, school, or even calming down from a temper tantrums, watching them navigate life has helped me navigate my life as an adult. With being a business owner, you hear no more then you hear yes and it’s not what you do with the answer, but how you deal with the answer. It may seem elementary, but I respond like my children. I pivot if I don’t get the answer I feel like I deserve. Sometimes my temper tantrum may be prayer. And then there are other times when delayed does not mean denial and that always means to try try try again.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My path to aesthetics is a little different than most. Many years ago I found myself working in healthcare, doing what I love and treating patients fairly. While working with a patient giving direct patient care I caught, viral meningitis. The recovery for this illness was hard, but while I was sick with this, I found myself on the other end of a phone call being fired for no call no show, while I was in the midst of fighting for my life. I promised myself, then working for someone no longer would be for me.

I tried over and over to think what I could do to have the same impact on people while working for myself. I came across aesthetics, and I found a School in my area that was taking new students. I Enrolled myself into school while still working part time in order to pay for school. While in school, I fell in love with waxing and facials. Even though those are my two favorite things, I realized I did not see models that looked like me. I never saw the curvy, round face model giving or receiving a facial and I never saw the refreshed look of a plus size model after a wax. It was then I wanted to build a brand based on my body type in my minority within the beauty industry.

My ultimate goal, when creating my business is to have a safe place for all. It doesn’t matter your color, your gender or your beliefs. What matters is if you want healthy skin, do you trust me to help you achieve healthy skin, and do you need a boost in confidence. Those are my main focuses.

With all of that in mind, what sets me apart from the others as I have the skin that I want to help. Skin care is such a wide and broad subject. It takes a lot to narrow down on certain issues. There’s a level of trust that has to be established when allowing someone in your bubble to touch your face or your most intimate areas. I feel with my experience in the trust that I have within myself I can help the most insecure person, overcome that and find some peace in self-care.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word. Of. Mouth. Never be too ashamed to talk about you. Always talk about what you do and what you provide. Someone somewhere is always listening and can always see the value in you. If you believe in you other people will believe in you other people who want to come in and see you and that is how you build clientele without constantly being on social media.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first open my suite in my mind, I thought the doors were gonna be flooded with people… I was wrong. I had to shift my thinking, and I had to pivot my way of marketing. Just because is there doesn’t mean people are going to come. There was no incentive for anyone to show up. I continue to show up and while showing up, I never stop talking about myself. I never stop talking about what I could provide, but I put myself on notice and started handing out cards and talking about the things that I provide. Doing that created more clientele and created more opportunities for me to schedule clients on my books.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/theleopardladywaxingstudio?igshid=MTk0NTkyODZkYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://leopardladywaxingstudio.glossgenius.com/ https://linktr.ee/leopardladywaxingstudio?fbclid=PAAabEEQs9el3nrqD1hFfKwTn6QXHjbAlkfcGsylHdUeAQNkC33MhWvYaQlxo_aem_AdREm0pcbnc8zzwsQqhReL-XpkLjvbKzPi8pW7obDyw0k2BD68NA1D_ihY74RNkzX0E