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

Hi Claudia, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

For most people, the dreaming is the fun part. Not for me. I always find my best creative moments in the building and creating phase. I have this almost urgency to go from dreaming to inception. Im a dreamer who becomes a doer when the planning stage is done. My process is simple. I have a dream or idea that id like to turn into something tangible. As with my current studio, I wrote down what I would like it to do for me. I’d write down diligently what I needed in a space, the amount of restrooms, what each space required, everything.
I knew I didn’t want to build for myself, but rather create a space to share with other women in my industry who I could help with my expertise and many years in my industry. I then pictured how I would fit my branding into each room. What would each room need on a daily basis. I know it sounds silly, but I’d even picture the color of the trash can in the room! Hey, everything is going up and a nice trashcan can set you back over $100!
I then move over to the minimum layout I would need, the amount of square footage etc. When my husband and I walked into our current space, I knew it was meant for me. I knew what I had written and put in the universe was presenting itself to me.
We slowly started to make the suite our own. As usual there were some unexpected surprises when building and we dealt with them. But because I knew that would happen at some point, I was ready and had allocated time, money and effort to those unexpected surprises.
I put my head down and went to work. We advertised, I made sure I was constantly meeting new people, I reached out to community members who I knew I could work with. And soon enough, my client list began to grow.
What I always tell new beautypreneurs is to become obsessed. So obsessed with growth that you don’t have time for anything that isn’t priority or dose not feed your growth.
I think as women, it’s difficult not to be social or say no. However, when your priorities are set for growth, it becomes inevitable.

Claudia, 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 permanent makeup artist, educator, master esthetician, and all around beautypreneur. My expertise lies in creating permanent eyebrows for those clients who suffer the daily task of having to draw them in daily. What makes me different as an artist, is that I believe in customizing my clients look according to their facial structure. I also utilize my prior experience as a makeup artist to create a timeless overall flow. I think permanent makeup should be used to allow us to look like ourselves on the best day and I love to help women achieve that!
As an esthetician, I help my clients with skin issues. Specifically, by using natural acids to remove unwanted dark spots, fine lines, and acne spots and scarring.
I additionally have installed myself in a very crucial part of the industry. Which is passing on what I’ve learned. With my skills acquired i teach the future artist and estheticians. Teaching allows me to do my part in creating masters & beautypreneurs. I teach so that my students have more knowledge than most of their peers when they complete my courses, making them stand out surrounded by competition.  My courses are full of in depth knowledge. Down to the molecular structure of the ink and ingredients that we use! This is so important for me to pass on. I truly feel educating is my calling. I am creating mater artist and now furthering their education by offering monthly business mastermind meetings.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Like many successful and growing business, I’ve had my fair share of failures. While those failures are difficult, I’ve grown so much as a business owner. Before leaving my home state of California, my husband and I were building a cosmetology school that would serve close to 100 students at a time. I was excited. It truly felt like this was where I was meant to be. All my hard work finally was going to pay off. Unfortunately, as things sometimes go, Covid19 hit. We had a 4000sqft building with thousands of dollars of equipment and sweat equity. I worked so hard on the curriculum to make it something different while my husband put in late hours of physical labor getting the building ready for our students.
In California, our state closed the beauty industry for 11 months. It was terrible. We had to let go of everything. It was my biggest failure. That was a big hit and  it haunted me for months.
However, it taught us some very important lessons. I should have allocated money from other sources, not just myself. I should have utilized business credit. I should have had a better financial structure to avoid using all our savings and personal credit cards. I do not operate this way anymore.
After this happened, we no longer saw a future in California, and started looking at more business friendly states. And here were and now in San Antonio, Texas. Our goal remains the same and we would like to open our Esthetician school here. I refuse to give up! I refuse to believe I can’t do it! Not only will I do it, I will do it a thousand times better!
I have learned many lessons and now I take those with me in everything I do.

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

Finding your clientele is the most important thing to a growing business. However, we have to know who our clientele is first. I find that this is a struggle for lots of small business owners. Finding your target market is something most businesses don’t think about. I teach this in my monthly mastermind meetings. Just as there are lots of businesses, there are even more clients who like completely different things. I know this sounds elementary, but the amount of times I have spoken to a business owner who caters more to themselves than to their clientele is huge.
If you understand who your clients are and who they are not, you will find yourself targeting a smaller group with a stronger message.
For example, as a permanent make up clients who services women exclusively, It would not be very helpful to advertise or collaborate with a Barbershop. It would make more sense to partner up with a salon or even a massage therapist who only sees women.
Showing up where your clients are is also important. You’ll find me at networking groups who cater to women business owners and moms. I identify with these women because they are my clientele, my target market
The best strategy for finding your clients is to first understand who your clients are. Then place yourself where you will find them.
From there, word of mouth will grow naturally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vanidosabeautystudios.com
• Instagram: VanidosaBeauty
• Facebook: Vanidosa Beauty

Image Credits
Infinite Photography SA