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

Ariani , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

This is a sensitive topic for me because i was SHOCKED to see how hard it is for those nearest to your heart to naturally support you. After years of working for others and finally having the opportunity to open up my own spa i saw less and less support from friends and more from complete strangers that believe in my hustle in my story and want to support me. Faithful clients that have become friends who without me asking will share with others about my business, will post online for me, will comment, like and share my post and always recomment people to come see me. To have family and friends do it becomes another full time job and ive learned to just be ok with it even tho it is a little hurtful.

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 an esthetician who has been in the industry for 10+ years. I started off really scared working for a spa where i learned a lot and was practically forced to try everything in the industry. From facials, waxing, lashes, laser hair removal, everything! After a few years there I started working for a waxing company and was with them for 3 years. I became really great at waxing and perfected speed waxing and was able to wax a client in less than 15 mins. I started also seeing clients at home and started my own little side gig, that BLEW UP! I was seeing so many people in my home that i decided it was best to rent a small space, which i would share a room with another esthetician friend. I worked really hard. When i wasnt at my 9-5 i was in the studio working all times of the day and night. No breaks, no help, a lot of sacrifices were made to build a solid clientele. I made sure to be myself with my clients, transparent, supportive, flexible with their time, professional even when i was seeing clients in my living room. I made sure to build a strong relationship with my clients that they felt like we were friends. They trusted me, i trusted them. I loved it so much, when my clients would text me or dm me funny videos or videos that reminded them of me. It was beautiful to see the community i was building.

In the process of this i realized a lot of other estheticians were lacking strong skills in waxing. So i decided to create a class for Estheticians to be able to confidently wax and become experts especially in Brazilian waxing. I offer classes for regular waxing and speed waxing.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the habit of spending with out understanding the numbers of my business. This was HUGE for me. Keeping track of what it actually looks like & having it all organized. I keep a spreadsheet now and update it weekly. Expenses, bills, & whats coming in. I dont think enough business owners speak on this. If you dont know your numbers its impossible to be successful. How can you know if you can afford to hire someone? How will you know if you can buy more products etc.. you dont but you should. Financial literacy is super important.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When i first moved into my own space i decided on having the academy as well and my goal was to get started right away. I quickly learned that i was trying to do too much all at once. I decided to pause on the academy and focus on just building the business first. Hiring, renting out rooms, and allowing things to flow before getting back to the academy. I learned to take it one thing at a time so that i dont go crazy. Lol

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Arisaestheticsacademy