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

Aomi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the key to success is the insatiable desire to learn, grow, and keep getting better. It’s finding the thing you can’t stop thinking about, and making it a career. When I see people choose a profession because it seems logical, they often don’t have the drive to sustain their interest in it. But when you make your passion into your profession, you will always have that inner fire to keep you motivated.

Aomi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a licensed esthetician, holistic nutrition specialist, and owner of Evolve Skin Studio in Asheville, North Carolina. Both my dad and sister are massage therapists, so I grew up very familiar with the wellness space. I’ve been passionate about skincare ever since my early teens when I started to experience my own skin problems. Through that journey of seeking conventional help and ultimately finding my own answers through nutrition and diet, it felt natural to pursue skincare and bring a deeper element of holistic wellness into the services I offer.

Evolve is a facial spa where our primary focus is skin- treating a variety of concerns including acne, rosacea, and common aging concerns with a natural, therapeutic approach. My focus is always on the health of the skin- and if it’s unbalanced, how to restore it to a state of harmony so that it can perform optimally. Since I believe diet and lifestyle are crucial to skin health, I offer holistic nutrition consultation alongside my facial services. My mission is to find the real causes behind skin issues so my clients see lasting and even lifelong results, not just temporary bandaid solutions to mask the symptoms.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started my business with almost zero money. At first I was waxing a few friends out of my house, and then sharing my sister’s massage therapy office. I’d heat up my wax pot at home, and wax friends in her space when she didn’t have any appointments. From there I rented a single room in an office building, and started waxing and doing facials in any free time I had. At this time I was working two other jobs to actually pay the bills. Eventually I phased out of the other two and began working for myself full time- this was probably the scariest leap, but I knew I needed more time in my day to work for myself. I learned new services to offer and had really low prices. Basically, I did whatever I could to get anyone in my door for whatever service I could do. Over the years, the business just grew incrementally, and I was able to focus in on my one true passion- facials and skincare. To this day, the business has zero debt, and I’ve never taken out a loan, because I’ve always worked with what I had and grown organically from there.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Deeply caring about what I do and the quality of the service I provide. If it’s your passion, it will show. Aside from that, Instagram. Ten years ago, no one knew what went on in the treatment room. No one was sharing videos. Now we have this free tool to help potential clients get a taste of the treatment before they’ve even booked an appointment. It’s been a huge asset to the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.evolveskinstudio.com
• Instagram: evolveskinstudio
• Linkedin: Aomi Richter
• Yelp: Evolve Skin Studio

Image Credits
Brooklyn Jamison, Melodic Sorbet Productions