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

Alright, Ingrid thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

Kristen was the spa director and recruiter for the new La Prairie Spa at the Beverly Hills Hotel. At the time (back in 2003), I had just graduated from esthetician school and found myself working for La Prairie facial events at the Neimans across California. When I heard about this opportunity, I had to apply for it while hoping my passion would overshadow my lack of experience and perhaps my brief experience with the La Prairie brand would get me a shoe into the interview process. I wrote a letter to the corporate office expressing my interest in the esthetician position, and I earned my chance! In my opinion, my hands-on interview was a bit of a disaster. It was in a hotel room because the spa construction wasn’t finished yet. I was so nervous that I kept knocking things over and I can remember how terribly my hands were shaking. I was a single mom and I didn’t want to screw up this golden opportunity. To my surprise, Kristen overlooked my nervous clumsiness, and I was selected for one of the 4 positions (out of hundreds of applicants)! Kristen saw my potential, and felt my touch and passion was exactly what the hotel needed.

Being hired as a new esthetician at one of the most prestigious hotels in the country felt like I had won the lottery. Kristen was an amazing leader and made us feel special and that we were hand selected to be a part of this incredible team. She had amazing people skills and truly hired people that were phenomenal at their craft, hardworking and easy to get along with. She trusted us to be accountable to uphold the spas standards, and not need to be micromanaged. She was smart, an amazing communicator and very understanding. She was also very fun as she loved to celebrate with us from time to time. She took a chance on me, and I will never forget that.

Ingrid, 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?

My love for skincare began in childhood. Growing up in Hawaii, I was always aware of how different my skin was from the locals. I was teased and bullied for my pale, fair haired and freckled skin and I was very self-conscious about it.
I learned the importance of caring for my skin and health at a very young age. My mother went through great lengths to instill a healthy foundation of a clean whole food diet, understanding its vital role in health, longevity and glowing skin. As a child, I would sit on my mother’s bathroom countertop applying her creams and potions, marveling at how they made my skin look instantly glow and plump.

I had a bout of terrible acne when I was in my 20’s, and trips to the dermatologist seemed to make it worse. I decided to take a holistic approach and found a whole food diet and a simple skin routine helped clear up my skin. I’ll never forget these horrible experiences and how debilitating they were for my self-esteem. Ever since I have made it my mission to help those suffering from extreme skin conditions and help them solve it from the root cause, without prescriptions using my unique PHR holistic method.

I have always been interested in transformation and have actively pursued change and improvement in my own life and skin. In 2014, I became a certified health coach so I could help people make lifestyle and dietary recommendations to help my clients improve their health along with glowing skin. I have helped hundreds of clients achieve transformation and sustainable results,

Over the past couple of years, I have worked on creating my own skincare line using naturally derived ingredients with clinical studies to bac their effects on repairing damage and promoting skin health.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

NO!! I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love all things beauty and wellness and will always be involved in this industry one way or another. Our skin is the largest and only visible organ of our body and the health of our skin is truly an indicator of our internal wellness.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

In order to be a successful esthetician, expert extractions are an absolute must. I have spent much time focusing on perfecting this skill and my clients always comment about how they have never experienced such thorough extractions before me. They are also so surprised about how calm their skin looks afterwards as well!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.highvibrationskincare.com
• Instagram: skin.wellness.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.skin.wellness.co/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1O5ozB-X3pbWCdBymUq_g
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/high-vibration-skincare-west-hollywood
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@skin.wellness?lang=en