We recently connected with Khadijah Small and have shared our conversation below.
Khadijah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
As a current Lash Instructor , before I started teaching, I started out as a regular lash tech.
Moving to Atlanta from a small town, I didn’t see anyone doing classes they were all service providers like myself so I had no idea about doing classes at all.
Once I moved to Atlanta, I had a total culture shock! I seen lash classes , brow classes , even hair classes so I began to grow curious on how I can also host my own class!
I began to do research but there wasn’t much information on this so I asked the girl who was my lash tech at the time how to do classes because I seen she was doing them on & off …. Unfortunately she was not willing to share with me what to do ( hater energy lmao)
So I joined a few lash tech groups on Facebook and began asking in there how do I go about teaching classes and a random girl ( shoutout to Mercedes) sent me an inbox and sent me her number and when I contacted her she gave me the ENTIRE run down on how to get a class up and running !
So that same night I started planning my first class , still with lots to learn of course but I at least had a general idea, and decided to do my first class in my hometown – Allentown, Pennsylvania.
I bought a cheap flyer from Etsy and edited it to my brand information, I promoted my flyer every single day ! Constantly posting, constantly sending it to people to share my flyer ( I feel bad for doing that because I’m sure that was super annoying 😂😂) and FINALLY I got my first booking !!! Then eventually I got 5 more and I was so excited ! I bought the cheapest kits on Amazon , created myself a manual on Canva & I hosted my first class in my boyfriend’s lounge ! I had 6 people show up , I barely knew what I was doing but I made it happen and I fell in LOVE with teaching ever since !
Now I travel to several states such as Boston, New York, New Jersey, Phoenix, Baltimore , Connecticut and more to teach eyelash extensions
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Khadijah ,the founder of Wink For Me Co. and I am a Traveling Lash Instructor. I travel to different states teaching women how to become their own boss as a Lash Tech.
I not only travel but I do offer Online Courses, Virtual Courses & 1 on 1 courses for Atlanta residents
I got into teaching after being a Lash Tech for 2 years and I decided that I would like to also teach other women how to become their own boss.
The service I provide helps women to be able to eventually quit their job and become independent by making their own schedule and potential earnings. Being a lash tech is ideal for college students, single mothers , or women who are just tired of their 9-5 and want more out of life.
The potential earnings as a lash tech is ENDLESS & it is very possible to scale your business up to a 6 figure business just as I did.
My goal is to let women know that ANYONE CAN DO THIS! It just takes time, consistency & focus but it is very possible to gain financial freedom from being a lash tech
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think what helped me build my brand was personality. I am very transparent with my students about everything I know about the industry and I keep it real and be myself. Not only my personality but my reviews also speak for themselves! Everyone who takes my classes leave satisfied and confident in what they learned and ready to take on the lash industry.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
My side hustle turned into my full time career.
I started out as a Lash Artist and transitioned into being a Lash Instructor.
I was able to scale up when I started doing trainings out of state and doing online course trainings
Contact Info:
- Website: Winkformeco.net
- Instagram: Instagram.com/winkformeco
- Facebook: Facebook.com/winkformeco
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@BigKhadi?si=cZKsNhEPclfPGVFS