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

Tamauri, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I’ve had a few moments over the past few years, specifically while in college, that changed the trajectory of my career goals and what I want in life. I’ve always loved science and had strong interest in spirituality and holistic health. I always believed that healing the mind, body, and spirit together leads to a happier life, of course with the help of science. Therefore, I tried to incorporate it in everything that I did while in college. As a lash tech, I provide my clients with crystals and spiritual advice to help with their psyche. As a pre-med student at the time, I wanted to study medicine and eventually go into holistic medicine. However, while in pre-med I didn’t feel aligned. I wasn’t interested in any of the pre-med clubs or internships at my school and I wasn’t as motivated as the rest of my peers to prep for the MCAT. That was the first defining moment, I realized I didn’t want to go to medical school. So, I changed my major. My goals were to go into more holistic medicine, so I decided to work towards being a nurse midwife to deliver natural births with natural medicine. However, while in the nursing program I realized I didn’t feel called to do that either, so I switched back to pre-med. For a while, I prayed for a sign and did a lot of spiritual work to find something that I was called to do; Something that i would want to get out of bed in the morning for. One day my best friend asked me, “have you thought about being a veterinarian?” And I said yes, it’s what I wanted to do when I was younger, but I decided against it because I loved animals too much and didn’t want to hurt them. A few days later, my mother asked the same thing. We were in the car driving to a restaurant and she said “maybe you should think about being a veterinarian again. Sometimes we let fear and self-sabotage control us and change our minds.” I thought about it. While we were getting out the car and walking across the parking lot we witness a dog dying and the owner was sobbing and screaming. It was painful to watch and I wanted to help. My mother said, “see if you were a vet you could’ve helped. “ that moment there, was my defining moment to focus on pre-veterinary medicine for the rest of my college years. I’ve always had a strong love and passion for animals, including my own pets. I just never knew that working with them would be the thing that lights up my day. After that moment, I applied for pre-vet internships and jobs and about 5 days later I received an internship at Beverly Hills Small Animal hospital in Beverly Hills, California. To which now i am no longer an intern there, but an employee. Everyday I am happy to work with the animals, happy to make them feel better, and happy to be around like minded people. And of course, when I make it to vet school I will study holistic medicine for animals.

Tamauri, 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 biomedical science student at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California focusing on pre-veterinary medicine. Outside of school, I am the owner of a small business established in my hometown, Baltimore, Maryland called “Lashin’ Out Loud LLC. “ I provide semi-permanent lash extension services and sell lash strips. My love of spirituality and holistic practices ties in with my services at Lashin’ Out Loud. I offer crystals with every purchase and post spiritual education reels on instagram. My goal is to not only make you look good on the outside but to also make you feel like the divine and confident person you are in the inside. I started the business during the start of the pandemic and also during my freshman year of college. So, it’s been a little hard to balance it. However, my supportive family, friends, and clients have kept me motivated to continue. I am most proud of the growth and progress that I’ve had over the years with my craft. I’ve been Experimenting and free styling new lash sets with different lengths and colors!

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I think to succeed in any field getting actual experience and practice out in the field, networking or reaching out to people, and believing that you can succeed is the most helpful. In terms of my lash business, I had to practice doing full sets on people, not just mannequins. When I began a full natural set took me 4 hours and sometimes longer and sometimes they didn’t look that good. However, the more I practiced and learned new techniques, the better I got. I began to install different kinds or sets and styles and even added color lashes to my services. In terms of pre-vet, gaining actual experience with the animals during my internship and working with doctors and other pre-vet students has really helped me excel and succeed during my college semesters. It has allowed me to find which path I want to take to veterinary school once I finish undergrad and has given me a sneak peak into veterinary medicine.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for gaining my clientele has surprisingly been word of mouth. It’s so hard to get on instagrams algorithm to get social media traffic. Making reels have helped a lot, but word of mouth has worked the best so far. When my clients are at work they’ll tell their coworkers who did their lashes. My family members will tell their friends and coworkers who did their lashes. When I’m at work at the animal hospital and I find out my coworkers like lash extensions, I’ll say “hey, I’m a lash tech.” I’ve also found that making deals, loyalty cards, and giving goodie bags after every service keeps a strong connection with your clients and keeps them coming back.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @lashinoutloudllc

Image Credits
All photos are images of my clients approved for promotional use.