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

Genesis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I am a brand new Esthetician. I just got licensed in February 2023 and I have started from scratch. All my learning and growing as an Esthetician has came day by day. I did not choose the route to work a spa or salon under someone else. I chose to open my own studio in the city of Lakewood, CA. Listening to many Esthetician podcasts they all suggested to build your clients before moving into your studio because it very expensive and it’s hard. There’s so many expenses. I still decided to open my studio while I build my clients. Treating someone skin comes with trust, there’s so many Esthetician in the industry so when someone chooses you and they continue to choose you means a lot. My studio has not opened yet because it’s a brand new building, it looking like mid-late June 2023 we will be opening. The rent for the studio is weekly and since it my own business and everything comes out of my pocket things get expensive and bills need to be paid. My clients are definitely the heart of GeniGen Skin. Every week rent needs to be paid for sure but also every week I’m investing into different things such as disposables, wax, professional machines, products, cleaning supplies, utilities, new courses to learn new treatments, furniture, decor. Also our time as well, many won’t understand how much time and effort it goes into doing one treatment or service for a client. As a business owner many people think that because you have a business you make a lot of money and you are always busy but that’s a misconception we have to work really hard and if we don’t have any clients that means we are not putting in any work. I noticed since there is a lot of competition in the beauty industry, people will compare prices and because someone else charges less for the service, they will go get the service with them instead of you because your prices are too high.

Genesis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I became a Certified Makeup Artist back in 2016 because I always loved makeup growing up and also because my best friend, more like sister had just became a makeup instructor at the school and she needed students. I wanted t support her but I also wanted to learn makeup for myself and for my YouTube channel GeniGen. I finished the course in a month I believe and on the weekends I would do freelance makeup for special events. At the time I was working at Nursing home and had the weekends off. As I got more into makeup, I always knew I wanted to start my own makeup line. My mentality was I had grow a fan base on YouTube before I could even start my own brand. I didn’t realize I was holding myself back. Time passed and I was not loving my 9-5 anymore so I decided to start looking into starting my own line. I started doing my research and I started buying samples from many different labs to see which would be the best fit. I started planning my name, logo everything. All the planning and trying and trail and error, I left my 9-5 and started doing gig work like uber, uber eats, postmates and joined financial service industry to grow and learn about business because honestly I knew nothing about business. I focused on that for a year and then COVID happen. I started freaking out like everyone and I needed to figure out what I was going to do. In 2020 I decided to finally take the leap to start GeniGen Cosmetics and made my decision with who I wanted to work with and placed my first order of inventory for 3 shades of lip kits. I also decided to add 5 different styles of lashes to my first collection as well. In August 2020 I launched GeniGen Cosmetics and I received a lot of love from my people. They placed orders, reposted, shared with their friends and family. I continued to add more items to my inventory such as eyeliners, eyeshadow palettes, lip glosses, cosmetic bags, mirrors, Beauty sponges, highlights, blushes, shirts, purses, sunglasses. I also did a couple of pop up shops in different cities. It was going pretty well until keeping up with the shops expenses and bringing in more inventory got a bit tough, sales went down and I felt like I wanted to better my store and brand as a whole. I decided to go back to school to get my Esthetician license because I wanted to open my own studio. When I realized I had to take English to start my career course, I almost did not do it but I decided to take the leap and I started school January 2022. It was the best decision I ever made! I am taking business classes and I decided to devote my 600 hours without a break to get my license. I started my first class in May 2022 and ended my course in November 2022. Since I was in school I always knew I was going to work for my self. I went to school Mon-thur 8-5:30pm and worked Instacart to pay my bills Friday-Sun all day. When you really want something, you could definitely achieve it. I went into the Esthetician program, not knowing what I was getting into but I treated it like a real salon and I wasn’t afraid to ask my professors questions or I wasn’t afraid of them correcting me. I listened and took their advice. Once I started school, I didn’t have time for GeniGen Cosmetics, so I put her on hold for now and have been focusing on GeniGen Skin. While I was in school I was already building my clients, trying to practice on everyone and anyone that would be up for it. Also since so many people were open to letting me work on them, I started looking for a place to lease for my clients. fun fact I have gave many of my clients their first facials because they don’t trust others, its made feel good to know they have that trust in me. In November 2022, me and classmate decided to sign a lease to a brand new Phoenix Salon Suites that was just starting its construction. Since we are new Estheticians we thought it would be a smarter financial decision to share a place, since we also had to buy products, machines, disposables, furniture, permits, licenses and all these other fees and items you need to start a brand new business. Construction is done and we are waiting for the final inspection to be done and have an Estimated time to move in mid-late June 2023. In January 2023, I booked my test to take my license and I did not pass by 1 question. I was so mad at myself because I didn’t go back to check the test because I knew I would go make changes and because of that mistake I didn’t pass. That same day I booked my exam again, for the month of February and I finally passed! I was so happy because I felt pressure knowing I had invested so much time and money into GeniGen Skin. The types of services I provide at GeniGen Skin are Facial services like Anti-Aging facials, Acne clearing facials, Classic facials, Hydrodermabrasion facials, Microdermabrasion facial, Glo2facial “cosmopolitan named 2023 facial of the year”, Waxing and Sugaring hair removal, Makeup for special events and also retail at home skin care products with some partnered medical grade brands. Im currently learning new services to add such as eye lash lifts and eyebrow lamination. Once I get into the studio and get the studio running, I plan to bring GeniGen Cosmetics back and have her displayed for sale. I’ve always seen my brand have its own studio where it would be a one stop shop for all beauty and it’s finally coming to life. It’s heart warming to look at my client records and see all the beauty people that have trusted me with their skin and continue to trust me. All my clients know and feel that when they come see me, its all about them and their experience is customized to them because if it wasn’t for the support of my clients, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When you are starting a business and it’s legit through the IRS and business licenses are included. It could get pretty expensive vs not doing it the legal way because you don’t have to pay for all these fees to obtain these licenses. Someone once told me that the reason I wasn’t seeing profit with GeniGen Cosmetics was because I was using my own money and he was right. All the money kept going into running itself. When I decided to go back to school was because I found out that the Esthetician program was covered through financial aid. I never valued education my whole life until now. I qualified for financial aid and since it was covid time I was getting grants and stimulus checks and honestly, after I finished my program I am still currently going to school full time for my AA because since I got straight A’s 2022 they gave me way more financial aid this year. So taking the advice of using someone else’s money. I couldn’t leave all that free money on the table. I thankfully have used financial aid to fund GeniGen Skin and the tips my beautiful clients have given me for giving them facial, waxing, makeup services. I’ll go to school and get my AA for money to open my business, why not? It’s better than getting a loan and being debt in my opinion. A loan should be the last resort, only if you really need it. I should be done with my Associates Degree in Esthetician in Spring 2023.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective way of growing my clientele has been by word of mouth and being my self with the clients. I’m a firm believer that people come to you for you and not for how good you are at what you do. Be yourself, show compassion and empathy to clients because they are not just a dollar sign, they are the humans and they have feels. If you focus on how you make the experience for them they remember that and love that. I also use a lot of social media so I post my facial set ups, my before and afters, behind the scenes of treatments. I’m also really honest with clients and let them know that we can achieve their skin goals in a timely manner with their help at home and I’ll do my part when they come see me. By focusing on my clients needs, word of mouth has been a big help because they go and share their experience with their friends and family or they repost me on their social media. My clients are the heart of my business, I always tell them that and I always tell them that I’m always trying to make their experience the best and all about them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @genigenskin , @genigen_cosmetics
• Youtube: GeniGen