Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Higgins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Being an esthetician was not my first job. I was in sales before going to esthetics school in 2020. I decided to take the next step and invest in myself because all I did was talk about skin. I had cystic acne in high school and it came back when I was in college. I was determined to heal it for the long haul instead of just slap a band-aid solution on it like I had in the past. So in 2020, I was at a cross roads with my job and my then-boyfriend, now-husband pushed me to pursue something that I was passionate about. When I graduated from school, I took a year and shadowed other clinics and estheticians and was deciding between opening my own clinic or working for someone else. I interviewed other people in the industry and weighed the pro’s and con’s. In the end, I decided that I didn’t have kids, i had a savings account, and it was worth the risk. I moved to a new city without my strong network in Nashville and opened my clinic there in 2021. It was the best risk I could have taken. My clinic now has two employees and over 1,000 clients who trust us to take care of their skin.

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.

I dealt with acne as a teenager and young adult. It was deemed severe enough by my dermatologist that I went on Accutane. Some harsh side effects from taking Accutane still follow me today. I grew up so frustrated with my skin that I am determined to be such an acne expert, that no one has to go on Accutane. I want my clients to be healed for the haul. When I opened my skincare clinic, we were originally solely treating acne. I take a low and slow, wholistic approach to my acne clients. No quick fixes or damaging the barrier, truly real healing. Because so many of my clients cleared their acne, we now have pivoted to more scar revision and anti aging procedures as well, all with the acne client in mind. Additionally, I have developed melasma and just like with acne, I want to be an expert at healing that too! We have brought on a lot of pigment revision products and services to assist our melasma clientele as well.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would choose skin over and over again! I love this industry. I love the education that comes with it and the constant changes. I love that there are new breakthroughs, technology, and products. I actually enjoy sifting through the noise and finding the best of the best. When I was in college, I started as a pre-med major and switched to business. If I could go back in time, I would have continued on my pre-med route and become a PA. I think that would have served me really well in where I am at now.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had a baby this year and took a maternity leave. I am so thankful that I have two other esthetician who work for me and I trust them implicitly! When it was time to come back from maternity leave, I had to figure out something new. My practice was a 45 minute drive from my house, we were still on a waitlist to get into a daycare, and I was exclusively breastfeeding. I couldn’t figure out how I could drive that far, take clients, and be a wife and mother. I went to a salon suite by my house to get my nails done and saw that they had a vacancy. That week, I signed a lease to rent a small room. Something that some people would see as a step down, but we have just called a second location. Now, I work 9 minutes from my house when I am in clinic and we have started having weekly team meetings. We operate more as a team with these weekly meeting installments and I feel like I can be a better mother to my baby right now, which is really the most important job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.higgyskin.com
• Instagram: @higgyskin_

Image Credits

@ellekendall photography
@kalenjessephotography_co