We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Huber recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

If I could change the educational system to prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career, I would start by requiring classes that teach students how to do real-life things like manage a budget, do their own taxes and plan for retirement. I would emphasize the importance of learning new skills and offer more art and trade classes.

I think it is important for students to understand that college is not the only way to reach a fulfilling career. Sure, college is great for some people, but it is not for everyone. I wasted a LOT of money going to college, only to switch schools and majors several times and wind up eventually going to a trade school to do permanent makeup.

When I was in high school, our teachers and counselors really pushed college. They even told us that student loans are low-interest and super easy to pay back, which is absolutely not the case. One can even file bankruptcy and student loan debt will remain.

I racked up around $70,000 in student loan debt over the course of almost 10 years of college. I worked as an editor and barely lived paycheck to paycheck before I learned to do what I do now. I could have skipped the student loan debt, gone straight to a trade school for pennies on the dollar to what college cost, and I would have ended up right where I am today without the debt.

There are so many high-paying careers out there that do not require college degrees. My dad was a lineman who worked for power companies and in power line construction. He often earned more than the CEO of his company because he earned so much in overtime pay. He is now retired and has a great deal of money saved up. He got into that career by working as a paid apprentice, which I think is genius!

The point is, students should be presented with trade school and apprenticeship information and it should be emphasized just as much as the university route.

Jessica, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I always enjoyed art and creative endeavors, but never realized I could make a career out of it until I had my eyeliner and eyebrows tattooed in 2004. At that time, I had a pretty good job working as the editorial coordinator for a trade association in Tucson, so I did not pursue permanent makeup training until years later.

In 2011, I was living in my brother’s basement in Reno, Nevada, working as a reporter for a newspaper a barely scraping by. My dad called and asked if I was still thinking about doing permanent makeup and I told him yes, but I could not afford the training. He ended up loaning me the money and I went to school at The Permanent Cosmetics Clinic in Orem, Utah, where I trained with Debbie Jensen (a wonderful teacher and now friend).

I went back to Reno and eventually quit the newspaper and began doing permanent makeup out of a tattoo shop. I worked there for a time and then opened my own business, Walk The Line Permanent Makeup in the beginning of 2012.

Since then, I have served thousands of customers, offering eyeliner, eyebrows, lip color, scar and vitiligo camouflage, stretch mark camouflage, dry needling for scars and stretch marks, as well as tiny tattoos.

I currently have an office in Winnemucca, Nevada, where I live, and an office in Reno.

I have been living in Winnemucca since 2019. I closed the office in Reno for a few years, but re-opened in 2024. I have been consistently serving permanent makeup customers during that time, but found myself with enough free time to complete training to become a master hypnotherapist as well.

My fascination with hypnosis began when I started listening to a podcast called “Past Lives and the Divine.” The host of that podcast, Jina, talked about her journey to become a hypnotist, and even interviewed the lady she trained with on the show.

I ended up reaching out to the lady she trained with, the magnificent Madonna Kettler, and signed up for her certified hypnotherapist training. As soon as I was finished with that course, I moved on to complete the master hypnotherapist training in 2023.

Through my training, I have learned there are a lot of misconceptions about hypnosis. The truth is, it can be an amazing healing tool. I can do hypnosis for literally anything, from weight loss to anti-aging to managing anxiety. I also do regressions, which can be more controversial, especially past life regressions, as some people do not believe in the possibility of that. I like to keep an open mind and admit that it could all be imaginary, however I have seen some pretty real transformations happen for people through past-life regression.

Sometime in the very near future, I plan to offer hypnosis downloads through my website.

In my copious free time (ha!), I teach painting classes in my Winnemucca location, where I have a paint studio in the building my permanent makeup office resides in.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot in my career when I got married and moved to Winnemucca, where I currently live, but really the big pivot happened when my business was shut down for almost the entire year of 2020 and people were real hesitant to come back even when it was “allowed.”

I opened my Winnemucca office in the fall of 2019, and in spite of it being two hours from my old location in Reno, I was still steadily busy with new clients and old ones who were willing to make the drive.

When the shutdown happened, it really affected me in a negative way. Even when we were able to open back up, I could not get gloves and other medical supplies. By the time I was fully open again at the end of 2020, I felt like people were either too afraid to come in or had decided to just stop getting their regular touch-ups.

I decided to get creative and find ways to make a living that did not involve me working right in people’s faces. I started teaching painting classes and eventually became certified as a hypnotist. The hypnosis certification turned out to be such a great move because I can do hypnosis over Zoom and never have to be in the same room as my client!

Now I am open again in Reno as well, but it was tough there for a few years!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The past few years, I had to unlearn the practice of undervaluing myself and my services. It took me a long time to realize I offer a luxury service in permanent makeup and to charge accordingly. I have really struggled with charging as much as I should be charging for a long time and I really think it is because I do not like conflict and I don’t like people to be upset at me. What I have finally learned is that people who are worth having as customers will pay whatever I charge and not question it because they see the value in my art. The ones who complain about prices and try to bargain with me are the same people who are usually a giant pain in the ass. I raised my prices to reflect local industry standards a few years ago, and I definitely got some push-back and lost some clients, but I am finding the ones who stuck with me are quality clients and the new clients I am getting are much more pleasant to work with.

I also learned to charge deposits and to make it an across-the-board practice because even your “friends” will stand you up if they don’t have any skin in the game, so to speak. When you charge a deposit, people will almost always show up, and on time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.walkthelinenv.com
• Instagram: @jessicawalktheline
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walkthelinecollective
• Other: TikTok: @walkthelinenv

Image Credits

Jessica Huber