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

Hi Jaime, thanks for joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

I feel like starting/running a business is just constantly over coming obstacles, but nothing worth having comes easy and if it were easy then everyone would do it!

I have had my own permanent makeup business for about 4 years. Things were going just fine, I was busy. But I was also working as a part time massage therapist and working part time as a laser technician at 2 different locations. My schedule was insane! Monday/ Tuesday- permanent makeup, Wednesday/Saturday- massage, Thursday/Friday- laser. There was no flexibility for myself or my clients and I was really starting to feel the burn out.

I had dreamed for years of opening up my own Medspa where I could treat my clients all at one location and do everything under one roof.

Eventually the clinic that I was working out of was bought out to another medical company, and I knew that my time there would be short lived. So my business partner, Jenn and myself decided it was time to start Pure Skin Aesthetics and Permanent Makeup!

We started looking into equipment, licensing, medical directors, spaces for lease, and financing. There was a lot of different parts that all needed to align together at the same time in order for this to work.

One of our biggest challenges was finding financing. Getting financing for a brand new business was very difficult. You have to prove to them that you will make XXX amount of dollars. I feel like we went to every bank possible, and FINALLY we were approved, but not for the amount we thought we were getting. So we were able to pay for our laser equipment, but that was it. The rest we had to figure out on our own. Luckily we did have a little time to plan, so we were slowly able to purchase the other equipment, supplies, and furnishings that we needed. I think at one point like half of my garage was filled with Pure Skin stuff.

Our next challenge was the location and getting the building licensed for permanent makeup. Every city has different requirements when it comes to tattoo establishments. We had found the perfect location, we were discussing the build out and getting ready to sign the lease, to find that our building was not in the proper zoning for the services we are providing (We were about 2 blocks away) . So our landlord ended up hiring an engineer to make the changes necessary to get us to our proper zoning. Once changes were finished we were “pending approval from the city” (which we thought that meant we were good to go, but as it turns out we still needed to present to the city for a final approval) – so at that point we applied for our establishment license.

Although we were pretty confident the licensing would go through, you just never know. The lease was signed, the build out was started, the laser was purchased and delivered, so now we just wait on this license. I kept calling and emailing for several weeks with no answers. So we kept on doing what we needed to do to get things ready and trying to stay positive that everything would fall into place.

It was finally 2 days before we were supposed to open our doors, full schedule of clients… and still no license. I’m not going to lie, I was freaking out. I called the department of health over and over again and was finally able to get through. (some how our application had gotten overlooked) and she told me she was going to do everything she could to get us our approval by the morning. 1 hour before our first appointment showed up, I received the email with our establishment license and finally a huge weight was lifted on my shoulders. This was actually happening!!

I feel like this just scrapes the surface on unexpected things, but we’ve learned that everything works out like its supposed to and you just have to keep putting the work in.

Jaime, 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?

Our business is Pure Skin Aesthetics and Permanent Makeup (previously Beauty Marks by Jaime). We are a Medical Spa in Burnsville, MN offering all skin care and permanent makeup services: -IPL Photofacials
-Microneedling
-Plasma Pen Skin Tightening
-Geneo Oxygenating Facial
-PRP
-Laser Hair Removal
-Vein Treatments
-Acne Treatments
-Hair Restoration
-Botox
-Filler
-Microblading
-Powder Brows
-Nano Brows
-Permanent Eyeliner
-Lip Blushing
-Massage Therapy

I (Jaime) am a licensed permanent makeup artist, licensed massage therapist, certified laser technician, and a certified plasma pen technician. I received my laser certification in 2015 from National Laser Institute in Chicago, IL and have been obsessed with this industry every since! This industry has so much to offer people and change their lives. I have always had a passion for art and being creative and have always loved tattoos, so permanent makeup seemed like such a great addition to what I was already doing. I love that I get to spend my day helping others feel beautiful and confident.

Jenn is a licensed advanced practice esthetician salon manager, certified laser technician, laser safety officer, certified plasma pen technician and certified phlebotomist. Jenn is committed to ensuring your experience and results exceed your expectations. She is truly gifted at building relationships and getting to know her clients wants and needs. As someone who has suffered from her own skin issues, it is her passion to help others who have challenges with their skin as well. She believes that everyone should feel confident in their own skin,

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my business partner Jenn while working at another Medspa. We were both the “new girls”, I believe she started about a month before me. We hit if off right away and we have worked together for over 5 years now. We have always been able to work really well as a team, bouncing ideas off of each other or asking for advise.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I guess you could say that permanent makeup started out as a side hustle for me. I was already working full time as a massage therapist and laser technician and working at a restaurant on the weekends. So when I started by apprenticeship I had to fit it in outside of my regular work hours. When I finally completed all of my hours, I had to figure out when I was actually going to do these services. So I changed my schedule a bit and was doing 2 days of PMU, 2 days of massage, 2 days of laser (staying after hours to take PMU appointments) and then still working my restaurant job.

It finally got to the point where I was paying the clinic a ridiculous amount of money for their cut of my services, and I thought, well I should just open my own place at this point.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.PureSkinMN.com
• Instagram: @PureSkinBurnsville
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078221469533