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

Danna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.

When I came to the US from China, I knew very very little English. However, in China, I worked as a massage therapist and aesthetician at a five-star hotel. I wanted to continue in this area, but I needed to get a license in the United States in order to practice as esthetician. I decided I would enroll in the Esthetic Institute in Virginia regardless of not knowing English. I was so determined to get my license that I used language translation to turn English into Chinese and then learn the Chinese answers and then translated and memorized what I had learned. There was a huge text book called Malady but I never used it. I just found as many practice test questions I could online and did the translation and memorized the English version of the answers. At one point a teacher realized I didn’t actually speak English because she was asking questions in the class and I wasn’t able to answer them in English. She then called my boyfriend now husband and told him she must first take ESL classes before she can take this class. But my husband told her of my determination and the teacher let it go. I aced the quizzes and passed the State computerized test with over 90%. I then did the practical test and got a 95%. With that I then opened my own business as many places turned me down due to not knowing English. I’m glad they turned me down as it drove me to open my own business and now I’m known all over and have a 5 star rating on Google and Yelp. I am a success story. My advice is to chase your dreams no matter who tells you that you can’t succeed. If you really want it you can get it. Stay determined.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an esthetician in the US now but before I was doing it in China. I noticed that the US has very few estheticians that do what’s called a Buccal Facial. This is one of my unique services I have brought to my job here. The buccal facial involves a massage within the mouth on the inside of the cheeks. It is one of the most popular services I provide (likely because most places don’t offer it). The buccal facial helps relieve stress in the facial muscles and I help clients with TMJ as well as Bells Palsy. Fortune magazine contacted me specifically to learn about the Buccal facial as it started to become popular topic of discussion on TikTok. Also unique to my service is that I’m the only one doing the facial and I spend the entire time with the client unlike commercial services that offer facials.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I came to China I did so to be with my boyfriend now husband. I knew very little English but I insisted that I get an esthetician license ASAP. I pushed for my boyfriend to get me into an institute where I could get my license. He warned me that not knowing English will be a problem because the class is only taught in English and the tests are only given in English years ago. They got rid of the Chinese version of the Exams. Still, I pushed on told himI could do it and so he trusted me and signed me up. I then went to class. It was quite uncomfortable since the teacher was saying things in English that I didn’t understand, but we were given practice exams, and I brought them home and I translated the questions into Chinese. I translated the proper answers into Chinese and then I learned the English version of that and memorized it. I then passed all my quizzes at the end of the week by more than 90%. At one point, one of my teachers learned that I didn’t know English and she called my boyfriend now husband and told him that Danna (me), needs to take English classes and no English before she can continue in the course. My husband told the teacher how determined I was to pass this course and I was gonna stay no matter what so the teacher relented and I end up being one of the best students in the class and I’m now my own business as an aesthetician and make over $100,000 a year. It is true that if the translation software wasn’t available, I would not have been able to accomplish this task. It seems it came along just the right time.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

The most important thing in succeeding at whatever field you wish to succeed at is the determination to get through the training and schooling you need. But also, it is important that you have a drive to want to become a person in that profession if it’s your dream, no obstacle will get in your way. Follow your dreams.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Didisfacialspa.com
• Other: Many reviews of my services are found on Google and Yelp