We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anastasia Douglass . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anastasia below.

Hi Anastasia, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am very happy as a business owner! I don’t have to wonder what it would be like to just have a regular job as I had one before. I actually had more then one at a same time ever since I moved to United States from Ukraine few years ago. You can barely survive having just one job with minimum or slightly above minimum wage. After few years of constant hustle working 12-14 hours a day, working on weekends, nights and holidays, sacrificing personal life and happiness I came to the point where something needed to change. I don’t regret about those years though. I got a lot of experience, I was learning people and culture, was observing how everything works here, how beauty industry works from the inside, how people grow, learning from successful people, asking them questions how they got where they are. Slowly I built a plan in my head and when I was ready began to fulfill it one step at a time. My goal was to work less and make more money to actually enjoy my life here, to be able to build a nice future for my children so they never have to face struggles I went through. I can see this future now! And I feel like I am in control of how bright it will be. Now only the sky is the limit!

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 am the owner of Anastasia’s Beauty Studio in Pompano Beach. Our services include lash extensions, facials, waxing, Henna brows and more. We are best known for our lash extensions. This service is booked up 2-3 weeks ahead. Lash extensions are my passion, I love doing them, time just flies for me when I’m working on a client. I am excited and proud about each set I do. I’m looking forward to get to the studio and take my tools and work on a new creation. It’s like a meditation for me. When you do what you love, every day you try to take you work to perfection and it says. Clients love the quality! Usually after coming one time they don’t want to go anywhere else. They tell me they feel that love, passion and pride I put in my work. I am grateful for every client who choses my business and try to make them feel special and appreciated every time they come.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I will never get tired to tell this story! In 2018 I enrolled into beauty school to get my esthetician license. Becoming licensed specialist was my first step to get out of that low wage paycheck to paycheck life. The company that hired me right after school as an esthetician didn’t pay that much but provided with free training and more education that would cost over couple thousand dollars for a non employee. It was a comfortable place to work at and I would probably stay there longer but 2020 and Pandemic happened. That business as all other spa/beauty businesses had to close down. That was an uncertain time and I wasn’t sure if they will ever reopen and if people will start getting facials again soon. I couldn’t just sit and wait in obscurity. I decided to take a matter in my hands and took Lash Extension class. I started practicing at home with the mannequin. When the spa I worked for reopened I would practice in my room when we were slow which was most of the time as people didn’t rush to get facials. Around that time I reconnected with the girl I went to the beauty school with. She invited me to her beauty salon that she opened not long before Pandemic happened. It was gorgeous and spacious. I noticed she had lash beds for rent and asked her if there’s one available for me to start taking lash models and clients and the rest is the history. I started taking one-two lash clients before my work as a side hustle. With time my confidence, quality of work and clientele grew. When I realized I actually make more money on my side hustle than on my regular job I knew it’s time for a change. My pregnancy was that push to take a leap of faith and turn side hustle into a full time business. I had to become my own boss so I can work comfortably around baby’s schedule and not worry about the money.
In 2021, after 6-week maternity leave, I started taking lash clients in my first beauty suite. That was the official beginning of Anastasia’s Beauty Studio.
In 2022 I added more services: facials, waxing, teeth whitening.
In the beginning on 2023 I moved to a bigger studio. I designed and remodeled it the way I always pictured my beauty studio will look like. Now I’m here, happy and grateful for everything and everyone who helped me along the way. But I’m not ready to stop. There are other ideas and projects I’m working on so there’s more to come!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

It’s challenging to come up with the initial capital for your business when you’re new to the country, don’t have any family and connections here and your credit history is too short for banks to approve you for a business loan. But this is still a land of opportunities and I didn’t come here to eke out a miserable existence. I knew I couldn’t count on a big investment but I could start small and gradually grow from there. It’s funny but my first investment of $1500 to take lash extension course and get supplies to start taking first clients I won in casino on my birthday! Next year I used my tax return money and credit card to move in a beauty suite and get more equipment and supplies. And it paid off. I’m very happy with where my business is now and where it’s going.

If you really want something, you just need to start going in that direction, at your own pace but consistently and confidently. Eventually you’ll get there. And I truly believe that when you really want something and start working in that direction all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.anastasiasbeautystudio.com
• Instagram: anastasias_beauty_studio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anastasiasparkslashes