We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer Lee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Ever since high school I have had a passion and interest in beauty, but making a career out of it was not something I imagined would be possible. My parents had a very specific goal in mind for me which looked like 4 years at a university, and then landing a good paying job. I ended up going to school to become a pharmacist and I knew pretty early on that it wasn’t something I truly wanted to pursue. I moved back home feeling lost and tried to find work as soon as I could, I spent a few months as a cashier at a car wash then got a job managing a dental lab. My intuition was telling me to pursue something in the beauty industry, but I never spoke up about it because I knew it would be met with disapproval. My parents ended up divorcing a little while after I moved back home, and I saw an opportunity to finally be able to do what I wanted to do. My dad was always the one who was more adamant about me taking the traditional role, so after the divorce I took a chance and told my mom that I wanted to go to school to be a makeup artist and although I knew she was worried, she fully supported my journey from then on. My orientation day at school was one of the happiest moments of my life, I had never felt so excited about my future and felt like I was finally where I was supposed to be and doing something for myself. I always felt a strong connection to how outward beauty impacts us on the inside. Makeup for me was always a source of comfort and even on my worst days. I knew that if I put my face on and got myself done up, I would feel a hundred times better and be able to go out into the world feeling like myself. A few years later, I decided to get my estheticians license to broaden my knowledge of skincare and to also be able to offer more services to my clients. The experience and friendships I have from esthetician school is something I cherish greatly. I knew it would expand my knowledge in the beauty industry, but I got so much more from that experience than I could have thought. When I began my journey, I always thought I would be a freelance makeup artist and going to esthetician school would allow me to add some small side services to my makeup clients. Now I run my own solo beauty business and am glad to be able to offer multiple services to my clients.
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
Seven years ago, I was able to start pursuing my career in the beauty industry and enrolled in beauty school. After I finished, I got a job in beauty retail and started taking freelance makeup jobs. Throughout those years I gained a lot of experience working in different settings. My skill set included, private parties, e-commerce, bridal, brand shoots, and even some special effects makeup. After I got my estheticians license, I rented my first salon suite with my girlfriends who just recently graduated with me. We took the risk of renting our shared space during the pandemic. Establishments were shut down quickly, multiple times and we ended up moving out. When we were allowed to work again, I was doing house-calls while still working my retail job and built up my clientele. Ten months ago, I moved into a solo salon suite and 6 months ago I was able to quit my retail job allowing me to be fully self employed. Currently where I am at in life is so much more than what I thought for myself. I am so grateful to be able to call this my job.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
The years I spent in beauty retail were more valuable than I had expected. One of our main goals at the counter was to maintain a high volume of sales. When I would have walk ups with easy sales, there were times I knew it was something they truly didn’t need or would not work for them. My approach was to offer them different alternatives even if it was something we didn’t carry. It built a trusting relationship with those clients who would often come back to see me, short term it financially wasn’t the best decision because of commission, but it’s a practice I still carry with me today. I believe my clients now know that I would not recommend anything that I don’t think is right for them and trust that I will be honest.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Most clients find me through referrals and I also think it’s the best way. There’s a built in trust before I ever meet them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jenniferleebeauty.com
- Instagram: Jenniferleebeauty