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

Clarisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

It’s definitely important to have that support system when starting your business. I don’t really ask my friends or family to support my business anymore. Every now and then if I want a little more push i’ll ask if they can share or like but it means more to me when they just take the initiative to do it themselves because then I know it’s genuine. It shows you who truly wants you to succeed and wants to see you win. I am very lucky to say that I have a good support system. Of course I don’t expect it all the time but trust me I know how it feels to watch people you thought would be supportive turn out not to be but you’ll also be surprised at who does show support.

It means the world to me when a family member or close friend comes and sits in my chair but I feel where I draw the line is being taken advantage of. When they don’t want to pay you what you’re worth, expect things for free or very low cost is where I draw the line.

I used to discount things a lot but in then end it would just bite me in the butt. It’s hard but you have to put your foot down especially if you want to actually profit and grow in this industry. I would get friends or family members that would ask me how much I charged for a balayage or a haircut and they would just leave me on read or go somewhere else. I still do. Which if i’m not in your budget that’s okay I understand! We can talk about different options that are more in your range but i’m also not going to lower my prices so low that it doesn’t help my business.

It wasn’t even just family or friends I would do that for, I would even do it for new clients because I was scared to charge them what I was worth or just straight up just felt bad. I felt that if I charge them the actual price they won’t return.

In the end you really just have to come to terms that if they are meant to be your client they will be, maybe eventually or maybe not ever. Who is for you will come to you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Im Clarisa! I am the face behind beautyxclari, most of my clients call me Clari. I was born May 6, 1999 and i’m a very proud taurus! It is true we are stubborn and we do like a good meal. i’ve been in the beauty industry for 5 1/2 years and it has been a journey. My passion for beauty started in high school. My mom was very into all things beauty. I learned my skincare routine from my mom, i learned how to use makeup brushes because of her and because she loved playing with hair i also fell in love with it too. She was very creative and loved learning anything and everything about hair, skin or nails. Now she’s in my chair letting me work my magic!

I graduated cosmetology school in 2017 and started doing makeup for 2 years up until the pandemic. I was working at a MAC counter and it was one of my favorite jobs ever. I did miss doing hair and never gave it a fair chance after i graduated because I felt that i didn’t know enough and I was scared. I eventually got an apprenticeship at a salon in oak cliff and assisted 7 people. It was the best and most humbling experience ever. I wish could do it again sometimes! They all had their own niche and their own way of doing things.

Now it’s been 3 1/2 years that i have been behind the chair. Not only do I specialize in custom color and cuts i am also an upcoming makeup artist. I work at a beautiful salon called Studio Sole owned by my best friend. I’m very passionate about what I do and really proud of how far I came. I struggled a lot with putting myself out there and was a certified over thinker. Still am sometimes but I have definitely gotten better at trusting myself and blocking out negative thoughts. Growth!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Post, post, post!!! Even if you don’t love it someone else will! That is something that I have to constantly keep telling myself. As artists we can sometimes nitpick at every detail. I myself am a perfectionist and if something doesn’t look right or didn’t fulfill a certain vision I automatically am not a fan. Again, that is something you learn to throw out over time.
Make a brand out of yourself and find an aesthetic that goes with you. It shows personality, what you like and with that draws the attention of the audience you want. Another thing I am learning is people want to know more about you! Not just your work. What did you do on your off day? What is your morning like? What are your hobbies? This is something that I myself am still learning because I am not used to sharing personal things on a business page. The deepest i’ve gotten so far is sharing my matcha order!
It’s really the little things and when you have a balance of personal and work on your platform it makes people more comfortable because not only do they know your work they have a sense or an idea of who you are.

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

I funded my business when I could and slowly added to it.

Once I hit the floor it was so hard. Same salon, different location. I was a baby stylist and starting from 0. I was also a commission based stylist so that was the cherry on top of everything. After about 5 months i got a second job at dry bar. I worked 7 days a week, 3 days out of the week I was working behind the chair at the salon and the rest of the days i was at dry bar. I hardly took any breaks and the extra job was my safety net so that I could pay my bills and hopefully work towards being an independent stylist full time. For a while I was trying to balance both jobs and still promote myself so I could try to book myself more. I knew I didn’t want to be at dry bar for long and I knew I didn’t want to be a commission stylist any longer either.

Eventually I did move back to Oak Cliff as a part time booth renter and I did see a growth in clientele. I saved some money aside and used what i had to buy my color, bleach, treatments etc. Luckily I already had most tools I needed. For the most part I would buy what I needed for each week. I did mini consultations with upcoming color appointments to see what their goal was so that I could be prepared. I did this so I wouldn’t over buy.

For a while I was really afraid of letting go of my second job. I got comfortable with where I was even though I started to hate it. I was getting burnt out which is the worst thing that can happen to a stylist.

I started promoting myself a lot more and being more active on social media. Mainly instagram. I would find things to post so that I can pop up on someone’s feed and hopefully catch someone’s interest. I joined Studio Sole in march of this year. i had finally had it and left my other job. I started working full time at the salon and it has been the best decision i have ever made. I was able to open my schedule and create my own work schedule! My clientele started to grow and my focus became solely on my business. Most importantly, I was able to invest more into my business and further my education so I could really take my career to the next level. I started to even feel better mentally and really fall in love with what i was doing. Don’t get me wrong it’s not always easy. There’s moments where I am fully booked for the week and then where I only have one or two clients for the week. It’s best to stay positive and to remember that you are not the only one.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beautyxclari.square.site
• Instagram: @beautyxclari
• Other: tik tok: @clarisaceles

Image Credits

@ben_with_the_lens
@alepozo_