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

Hi Ciara, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Mental wellness seems to be a trend lately. While I’m glad it’s starting to be discussed more, we need more people speaking about it. I realized it was a problem during my pregnancy and after birth, some would call it post-partum depression, but it was deeper than that. I found it hard to smile, laugh, and play. I was not feeling like myself. I was the happy and uplifting friend with great advice, but during these years of my life, I had no advice to give anyone. I couldn’t be a friend to others, and I stop communicating with them altogether. I didn’t go outside and found it hard to enjoy things I would normally enjoy. I was in this dark place. I would always cry. I was a new mom with no help and felt stuck! Finally, I had enough and decided to pray and release all the anger that was built inside of me. I was able to change my energy and lift my spirits. I started to get my joy back and removed that stagnant feeling of being stuck. I vowed that I would help as many people as I could through services I provide and the books that I write. I want people to know that it’s okay to not be okay. My mission is to influence one’s mind with self-care needs and eliminate traces of depression.

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 was born in Chicago, IL on December 25, 1991. I went to Tricoci University of Beauty Culture to study esthetics in 2020. Shortly after, I received my Esthetician license in the state of Illinois. I recently received my associate degree in business management from College of DuPage.

An esthetician is a skin care specialist that provides facials, waxing, and makeup services to individuals. As an esthetician, I want my clients to feel relaxed. I want them to take their minds off whatever problems or obstacles that they’re facing and enjoy the service. Being an esthetician allows me to fulfill my mission because I get to promote self-care and receiving facials, or any other treatment is about of self-care. I want my clients or anyone I speak with to start treating themselves to facial services because it’s a great way to decompress from anxiety or worries of the future. My job is to make the treatment as relaxing and inviting as possible. I try to use products that have calming effects, like lavender, and essentials oils for aroma therapy that will help ease a roaming mind.

The books that I write are tailored to self-care as well. For example, daily journaling is a great way to relieve stress and sort out your thoughts. It is one of the tools I use daily and whenever I feel overwhelmed. Journaling is a self-care tool I think will help others too. It provides other benefits such as boosting mood, emotional regulation, and goal setting. I believe in the benefits of journaling so much that I created a guided journal that is launching this June called Ideal Self. This journal will help people discover who they are and what they want. Additionally, this journal gives activities that pushes people in their desired direction.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

The first book I wrote Called Birthing A Queen, which is my story of becoming an esthetician and opening a small day spa; I released on Amazon, KDP. It was the best option for me at that time because I was a new writer and didn’t want to print many books. Amazon allows you to print on demand whenever a consumer purchases your book. Which was great because I wasn’t stuck with inventory.

I think platforms like Amazon and Etsy are great especially for someone that does not want to manage their products and the upkeep of their website.

Now, I chose to sell my guided journals on my platform www.perceptionofprosperity.com/becomingidealself because I want to build my own audience and traffic. This allows me to build brand recognition and gain trust with my consumers, so that I can release other products directly to them later. This route has me with a lot of book inventory, however I believe it’s worth it in the end. I get to build a company from ground up and hire others to help me ship the books out.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After I received my esthetician license, I decided to open my own day spa. I rented out an office suite in Chicago, IL and I turned it into a spa. I called it CeCe Samone Beauty Bar. I loved it but it got demanding pretty fast. Paying for parking everyday was terrible and waiting for clients to arrive on time was the worst. I used Groupon to try to build clientele, but I realized Groupon doesn’t pay well and it often felt like I was working for free. I knew it wanted to hire other estheticians for nigh time and maybe a receptionist to help make appointments, but I realized I needed to get more knowledge about running a business. After six months of operating, I decided to close the doors and go back to school to get my Business Management Degree, so that I can eventually open a full day spa with parking for staff and clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.perceptionofprosperity.com/becomingidealself
• Instagram: iamciarabroomfield
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ciarabroomfield
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/CiaraBroomfield
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@CiaraSBroomfield
• Other: www.tiktok.com/iamciarabroomfield