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

Lindsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I could not imagine doing anything else than I am doing right now! Being a business owner is for sure stressful, I wont lie but there is also no greater reward than being a business owner. My company is made to empower women and when I get to see that come to life there is literally nothing better. On the outside its just lashes, all she does is sell lashes what is the big deal? But on the inside I see how my lashes instantly transform a women’s confidence within seconds. On the other note being a business owner brings so much freedom, I no longer have to ask to go to one of my children’s school events or a vacation I can just go and freedom is amazing. I encourage anyone thinking of starting a business to just go for it, there is no better time than the present time to chase life.

Lindsey, 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?

First off I am a mama before anything else to my three beautiful babies and a wife! But second i am a business over of a DIY at-home eyelash extension company. I love love love makeup, always have and I have always loved playing with makeup and I knew I wanted to do something in my career that involved makeup and that kinda led me to lashes, but being a mom I knew I wanted something that could help other moms who couldn’t go to their bi weekly lash appointments or maybe that couldn’t afford permanent lash extensions and then I landed on DIY eyelash extensions. Our lashes are applied from home, they last ten days, are waterproof, sweat proof mom proof all the proofs! Its for the ladies who just simply cannot get permanent lash extensions but love the look, insert aera lashes. The name aera (pronounced like era) is meant to showcase each individual in their different aera of life. All of our boxes are designed and based off of a specific aera and it allows the individual wearing the lashes to mix up their style depending on the aera they are in at the time. Our lashes are easily removed with no harm to your natural lashes when removed properly with our aera remover.

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

As a business owner I think we compare ourselves a lot to other business’s like ours and it has taken me almost a full year to basically unlearn that negative trait. I had to remember everyone is on their own journey in their own time and I was comparing myself to companies that didn’t even have the same end vision and goal as I did but I was jealous of their current state. Once I stopped comparing and started just being who I was, who my company was and enjoying the ride I flourished and my company took off. It was like I had to learn to let go of comparison to grow and become my own unique company.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Finding a good manufacture was for sure the hardest part of my business! I was in contact with so many different manufactures some just would never get back, some took money and then never got back or some just sent product that simply did not meet my standards. I needed high quality lashes, I was not settling for anything less because I would not personally wear anything less. Secondly I needed a STRONG glue. A safe glue that would work for sensitive eyes but also one that would give my clients that strong ten day hold, a lot of tears came with finding my manufacture. I truthfully almost just gave up because I was not going to sell a product not up to standards and I was not going to lower my standards. My biggest advice on this is getting a lot of samples and simply trusting your manufacture. There was another manufacture I sort of liked but personally I didn’t get a good sense of trust from them and that made it to where I did not want to do business together. When I finally found my manufacture we instantly connected, I felt heard and trusted and the products were simply amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aeralashes.com
• Instagram: aera lashes