Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Hutch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Megan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.
My approach to skincare is 100% individualized to the client. When you walk into the treatment room, my focus is solely on how I can meet your needs and help you reach your own skincare goals. Our consultation process is fairly extensive, and you never have to worry about picking the wrong treatment, as each service is curated specifically for your skincare needs at the time of service. The spa and wellness industry is enormous here in Southern California, and I love adding a certain amount of my own je ne sais quoi to the mix. A little backstory may help to show you where I’m coming from.
Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, my mom owned a restaurant, called Taste of the World Cafe, which I loved helping out in all ways as a kid. Her ambition, drive and creativity definitely made a mark on me while instilling a strong work ethic, and was inspirational to a growing young woman. As a teenager I gravitated to coffee shops where I could spend hours talking philosophy, nose deep in art books on the DADA movement and surrealism. If I wasn’t drinking spiked espressos and debating politics and religion hours on end (remember, this was before smartphones were a thing, and most strangers you found sitting in coffee shops really truly enjoyed this type of connection), I was around the corner at the fancy French restaurant, only able to afford a single decadent slice of cake every so often.
I remember so clearly how beautiful that slice looked as it was presented to me, and how I took my time with every bite. The waitstaff was always kind to that 15 year old kid, and it touches me to this day how much of an incredible experience it was being treated like I deserved their best service. I think it helped that I knew how to tip well. I was instantly hooked to the whole experience of fine dining and hospitality, and began working in restaurants, learning how to turn food into fine art. After over 10 years of working my way up from dishwasher to chef, spending most of my waking life in the kitchen, I was ready to pop, and it was time for a change.
Most people don’t hear Joshua Tree and immediately think of the booming Spa industry. But that’s exactly what led me to move here in 2014. I had my first facial about a year prior, while living in Oakland, CA, and it rocked my world. It was just so very relaxing, and beneficial to my acne prone skin. I was looking for a way out of the restaurant industry, so the pieces just lined right up. I asked the Esthetician who treated me where she would recommend I go to school if I was interested, and she told me “the inland empire”, so I got out the map.
Palm Springs, which has a long history of being a destination for relaxation and rejuvenation, has a wide range of world-class spas and wellness centers. If you travel about 40 minutes north you’ll find the village of Joshua Tree. As a musician and general loner, I fit right in to the then fairly small artistic community, which happened to have a Cosmetology School in Yucca Valley, the next town over.
I feel at times that the service industry is a dying art. The effects of the declared pandemic in 2020 in some ways seemed to have traded the quality, integrity and true joy of the consumer experience for expediency, which sometimes leaves me wondering what I’m even paying for. I never want my clients to feel that way. The experiences I’ve collected living in various cities and working in fine dining around the country throughout the mid 2000s made a mark on my standards in hospitality, and I aim to keep that standart alive and well by bringing it into my small skincare spa on a daily basis. I want each and every one of my clients to feel valued, to feel they are in the best care, and to feel like they are a part of something special at The Pointed Pearl Skincare and Wellness. No if ands or butts, no question about quality of service, products or professionalism of the staff. I strive to make their experience with us to be the highlight of the month, and something each client can dream about coming back to.
Megan, 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?
Joseph Campbell said, “where you stumble, there your treasure lies”. I was drawn to Esthetics not only because of how closely it related to cooking, but also because of my own self confidence in my skin. I grew up with acne, and struggled with it into my 20s. I was making a salve that consisted of neem oil, comfrey and beeswax that seemed to help, and tried my hand at concocting various botanicals and applying them as treatment masks for my breakouts. When deciding to leave the restaurant industry in 2013, skincare school sparked my interest. I could heal my own skin, and help others to heal theirs.
The Pointed Pearl is an Artisanal Spa | Wellness Boutique in Yucca Valley, CA. We carry a collection of sustainably made, cruelty free, mostly local, high grade clinical, botanical and food grade skincare products from a range of carefully curated brands. My interest in ingredient knowledge and function has led me to stumble upon my treasure; creating a fully customized treatment plan for every new and ongoing client that needs a little help feeling more confident in their skin. Whether that’s increased collagen production, lightning hyperpigmentation, or toning muscle and increasing hydration levels, the science behind skincare is fascinating to me! To a lot of people who are just looking to feel better in their skin, it can be confusing, and I love being able to pass along the key insights in a digestible, easy to understand language for my clients.
My business consists of a small dedicated team of professionals who offer on site and mobile spa treatments to locals and those visiting the Joshua Tree area. Servies like restorative bodywork and massage, full body waxing, cosmetic tattooing and micro blading, along with our staple corrective and rejuvenating facial massage treatments.
As an Artisanal Esthetician, the focus of my work lies on the health of your skin, and I help my clients in integrating their overall wellness into every treatment plan we create together.
Along with inhouse treatments and products that target healthy aging, increased collagen production, reducing texture and toning muscle, and it’s not uncommon for clients to go home with a short list of bullet points that might include a technique to regulate their nervous system, and a dessert or breakfast recipes to check out, along with any other resources that help them to feel empowered in this part of their healing journey.
As a Face Reality certified acne specialist, I help clients better understand the science behind their breakouts, and offer a holistic, gentle approach to clearing it for good. The Clear Skin Program is offered online in the cloud for those that do not live in the area, alongside Skincare Coaching and Product Pairing services for anyone that wants a bit of insight into their own unique skin. Our most popular service at the spa is a facial called The Skin-Trance, which is a 90 minute service that combines a corrective targeted facial treatment along with energy and body work, leaving our clients feeling completely renewed and restored from the inside out.
A treatment at the Pointed Pearl is more than just feeling pretty. It is an art form. My mission is for clients to feel they have been taken out of their day to day mundane expectations, and feel transported to the best feeling version of themselves, like they’ve just stumbled into a colorful oasis here in the Mojave desert.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Dedication to maintaining trust, reliability and consistency in attempting to meet client expectations has served my business so well. Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t exactly something I decided to do. As a musician, before I committed to my business full time, I was once performing regularly, ready to put on a show singing with my guitar. I had to show up, even on the days that I felt down. The whole evening depended on my presence in the performance, and the connection I had with my audience depended on my ability to be in the moment, and face my fears on stage. Covid is a major factor in what pulled me away from performing in the capacity I once did, but in so many ways I can now bring that same energy tenfold as an entrepreneur in the wellness industry.. As a sole owner, and the lead supervisor of my team, the show still depends on me to go on, and it’s an incredible challenge at times to keep it all together! I think people who walk into the business can really tell that it is a labor of love, and consistently showing up for them has helped to build our reputation as a one of the Top 3 Spas in the Desert (Desert Sun Community choice awards 2022). There’s nothing else I would rather be doing, than genuinely helping others with their own self confidence. I believe that we are imperfect beauties; at times errant, fallible. This is what makes us all uniquely precious, and that this wild world has sculpted us into individual masterpieces that we are. I aim to identify and refine your own personal power and poised strength, so that you may reflect that into the world, and let your divine light shine.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
In 2021, I expanded from an 8×8 office into a larger location with multiple rooms that included a storefront, with the intention of finding other providers to add to The Pointed Pearl’s offerings. Now with 4 other professionals all servicing clients on my team, I realize how much of running a sucsessful business is having the right people positioned with you. I am so fortunate to have these incredible people day in day out that are all equally dedicated to providing excellent service. We truly want to be an example of high standards when it comes to the customer experience and treatment quality in our industry.
My experience managing started when I was 21 as a sous chef, and I look back and laugh in embarrassment at how I handled stress at the time. If you don’t know much about working in a kitchen, I’ll spare you the gruesome details, just know it usually involves personal pranks, too much alcohol, and the classic throwing of pots and pans while screaming obscenities.
Today, over 15 years later, I try to take a more refined approach.
Sometimes, it’s difficult knowing that no one can be inside your own head, ever. There are things that are second nature to me that I’ve never even thought to have to try and explain or teach to someone else. And now I do! Even creatively, I’m beginning to outsource certain parts of the business that I love and am just used to doing myself. Outsourcing projects and deciding to hire employees has been an act of faith, coupled with really getting clear on what is, and what isn’t worth spending my energy on. Working with a team has given me an opportunity to become more focused. I think it’s been extremely helpful to develop clear and simple expectations for myself first, before passing along business goals, and definitive direction on to my team. The interview process has also been so integral to me. Kind of like dating, asking the right questions and stating your standards from the onset of a relationship sets the stage for the way it may unfold. Gleaning insight from my team and working cooperatively together, has made me feel fully supported in ways I would not have been able to imagine going it alone. I am truly grateful for my team, and their presence in the company.
Contact Info:
- Website: thepointedpearl.com
- Instagram: @thepointedpearlskincare
Image Credits
Megan Hutch, Sasha Yegorova