We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Cuevas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.
Crystal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
When i started my lash business not knowing where it would lead to, I promoted myself every single day. I started by charging $25 a full set (classics only at the time) to get as comfortable possible with clients as well as with my work. Made a profit out of it while learning to get comfortable with clients that weren’t family or friends and learned to be professional with clients and also to better my craft in every way possible. I felt so happy as i saw clients just booking with me day by day because i was a new tech and of course my work wasn’t the best to offer as a beginner but I was very blessed with the support I was receiving from strangers that will forever hold a special place in my heart for trusting and believing in me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am now 26 years old. I started doing lashes back in 2018 so about to be 7 years in the lash extensions/beauty industry. This was initially just going to be a side hustle for me not knowing how far it could get me until my daily promotions were keeping me booked and busy when I was self doubting myself in the beginning but im thankful for all my clients that booked me along the way giving me that hope and faith in myself as I also grew in the business industry and within myself. I only offer lash extensions services as of now and I always try to be as flexible possible for my clients to work around their schedules, im strict but yet very lenient with my policies as I try to always be on good terms with my clients and provide the best friendly, positive service ever.
I always do my best in every service I provide, to build returning clients as that is always my goal. I keep a very clean, sanitary and relaxing place for my clients. I keep positive vibes every time, leave the drama and negativity out to always have a healthy positive relationship with my clients. I always try doing my best with every designed set the clients ask for, I take my time on every set to make sure i provide the best quality possible:)
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I would love to share this crazy story I had to experience around 2020-2021.
Around this time I kind of started blowing up, being a very known lash tech due to me promoting myself 24/7 and on almost every social media possible. I was only 3x certified and I was in cosmetology school to receive my lash extension license but nobody knew that. My plan was to post about my license once I received it.
One random day I get an email from TDLR saying they have been trying to reach me to please read the file linked below and give them a call back. Keep in mind I finished cosmo school, i had my lashing permit and all I was missing was to go and take my state tests but I was avoiding it because I was scared and I got too comfortable because I had until 2025 to get that done.
I check the files and someone (remained anonymous) had filed a claim against me ONLINE at 3am! NOT willing to testify AND had NO proof of what they were filing a claim against. Beautiful huh? This ANONYMOUS person claimed they had an allergic reaction (I never had a complaint about that in years since I started this business) they said they came back for a removal (I hadn’t done a removal in months) so nothing was adding up for me to figure out who or what had happened. They claimed I was self taught when I invested thousands of $$ in courses before I started this business. Anyways! So I called back I explained I was done with my cosmo hours and had my permit what was going on, they still told me I had to stop lashing, I had to remove my website and stop promoting myself. I was so upset, I felt like quitting lashing I don’t know why I was having those thoughts but im glad I went and took my tests and passed them. 2 months later im back and running like nothing ever happened.
I was tried many times to be stopped but im thankful to God I never gave up on myself despite the false complaints, the negative comments I received. My clients were very supportive along the way and thanks to them I kept it going and my business was doing very good every step of the way ever since. I learned to not let negative comments or false accusations stop me and my goals.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I built my audience on social media by promoting myself every single day on every social media I had. I tried to stay active on my socials and always interact with my audience.
Promotions, giveaways, discounts were a big help during my journey.
That’s how I grew and built my clientele.
My advice to beginners would be be to promote yourself as much possible, people might get tired of seeing you every day or others may love it but regardless it motivates them want to book your services by seeing you so much you end up catching their attention and makes them want to give you a try until some end up becoming regulars to your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Lashdbycrystal.as.me/
- Instagram: Lashdbycrystal
- Twitter: Lashdbycrystal
