We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Desiree’ Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Desiree’ below.
Desiree’, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Desire Beauty Studios came to me the moment I decided I wanted to be a beauty business owner. Being a constant lover of all things skin, beauty and wellness, I learned to love myself in every season I experienced. From having glowing, clear skin to the times I had a horrible break out of acne. As a teenager, I learned to appreciate every step that transpired in my beauty journey. This made me want to help women desire their own beauty and make their own beauty standards! From there DESIRE BEAUTY became a thing!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a SC and NC licensed esthetician and I specialize in lash extensions, corrective skin care and body waxing. I got into this industry because I was obsessed with skin care. I was the girl who wanted to extract everyone’s pimples, pick at everyone’s scabs, and touch everyone’s face. This next part is gross, but it got to a point where my family started making jokes saying I eat scabs. Yeah, I know, super gross!
I was that determined to help get rid of blemishes and give skincare advice, recommending products that worked for me. As I advanced in my love for skin, it turned into a love of the beauty industry period. The obsession with skincare was still heavy but I got even more obsessed with lash extension application.
Lash extension application is a 1:1 ratio of a classic lash or volume lash fan. For my clients who have lashes that are not noticeable, this is the perfect service for them. What sets me apart in my industry is that I can do this service in 1 hour, 1 hour and 15 minutes tops, remaining true to my quality and paying close attention to detail.
My clientele consists of nurses, news reporters, military personnel, booked and busy business owners, and busy moms so everyone can’t visit for the normal 2-3 hours.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I took a lash class with a well known licensed esthetician and began doing lash extensions. I worked my full time job Sunday to Wednesday and did lashes Thursday to Saturday. If someone told me, that would’ve changed my life. I would have never believed them. A key milestone was when my clientele picked up. I was turning so many ladies away Sun-Wed and it still took me about 3 hours at this point so I was only take about 2-3 clients a day.
I told myself, what if I just take them. I decided to take a vacation from my full
time job and try it. I made almost triple in funds, that week doing what I love, waking up when I wanted, going out when I wanted, not restricted to a routine and from there it was up! That was the freedom I craved.
I did more research and became discouraged due to the fact that I was truly uneducated in my field. This was another milestone for me because I was ignorant to the things I needed to do to lash full time and spread my love for beauty. I quickly got into compliance with the state (getting licensed, consent forms, business license, etc) and from there it was history!!!! We all have to start somewhere and I wouldn’t change a thing about turning my side hustle into a 6 figure company!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for me is definitely word of mouth and the community I’ve built around my love for making women create their own beauty standards. I call my clients “DB BADDIES” and treat them like the divas they are when they come into our beautiful spa.
The word of mouth recommendations I always appreciate because you hear it from someone who has truly visited my space and felt my energy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.desirebeautystudios.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/desirebeautystudios
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Phone number: 803-563-3400