We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Gignilliat recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

I have been a Licensed Aesthetician for nearly 11 years, and the aspect of the job that keeps me motivated is the ability to help others. I myself was bullied as a teen, which resulted in low self esteem in all aspects in my life, and eventually led to me dropping out of high school. I bring those feelings into my work and use that as a motivational tool to reach each client. There was one client in particular I will never forget. She came in for a consultation for severe acne and I spent around an hour talking to her about every treatment, product, and Dr visit she had ever had. She had become a bit of a shut in because of how horrible she felt she looked. I met a truly defeated girl, and I just listened. We developed a treatment regimen by the end of the consult. Over the course of the next few months, we were able to give her skin she felt beautiful in. She cried and said that no one had ever taken that much time to truly listen to her and understand her skin. She admitted that I had saved her life and that she was at a scary level of depression before our journey together. We do not know what someone is going through behind closed doors, but we all have experienced feelings of separation or disparity, enough to channel that into being a more empathetic practitioner and that’s what I prefer to lean into. I’m not here to make a million dollars, I’m here to make a difference. Years later after going back to school and traveling, she got married. I got to be on the sidelines as she regained her life and I couldn’t be more proud of her bravery and journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have been in the beauty industry in some capacity for over 17 years, nearly 11 of those I have been a Licensed Aesthetician. The beauty industry is a family business on my mom’s side, so a lot of the spark and beginning knowledge came from she and my aunts.

I am in essence a girl who never stopped playing dress up. I love performing and becoming a different person each day through the expression of clothing, hair, and makeup. It should be fun, not daunting.

My awkward teen years hit me hard, and unfortunately I experienced bullying as I previously mentioned. I’ve kept those feelings of inadequacy with me all these years, but instead of being drowned by them, I chose to weaponize them to aid others tackle their self esteem demons.

I’ve freelanced, worked in retail cosmetics, alongside a Dr in a medical spa, at a local cosmetic store and spa, so I’ve been all across the board when it comes to a setting for practicing Aesthetics.

In 2020, I decided to take the leap into business ownership. I opened The Lashery in May, as soon as close contact businesses were allowed to reopen in Tennessee. My friends and family thought I was insane, but at this point I had been a full time lash artist for over 3 years, was booked out 3 weeks ahead of time, and knew my clients would support the leap. By September I had my first employee, in October came my second, and now 4 years in, I have expanded into the space next door, I have 5 employees, and our service menu expanded to encompassing much more than lashes and brows.

I got to return to my love of skin by creating treatment rooms geared towards fun and informative skin treatments. We aren’t the place you to go for a nap, no, we are here to empower you to care for yourself in a fun and vibrant environment. We also now offer body waxing, spray tans, makeup services!

We are the goofy girls next door. There are plenty of establishments that put intimidatingly high glossed, boss babe images out there, but that’s just not us! Our brand is your hilarious approachable bestie, who just so happens to give you killer lashes etc.

I’m so very proud of myself. One for building this from hard work and a dream, and also my staff for showing up everyday for themselves and their clients. We truly have something special here.

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

To be honest, I feel like pivoting is kind of on brand for me in my career, i am always evolving. My most notable pivot though happened during Covid. I had been with an amazing local custom cosmetic studio for years, but had dreams of owning my own business one day. I had spent the last few years grinding hard and building a name for myself locally as a top lash artist. Like many others, when shut down happened it left me with a lot of time to contemplate what was next for me, and I could not shake this inner drive to go out on my own. Some friends and family thought I was insane, but if you can’t bet on yourself, who can you bet on? I had no savings, but what i did have was a loyal client base and an unmatched drive to succeed. I did everything via social distancing, from having to peek through the window at the space, to negotiating terms over the phone, and signing the lease electronically. It started in May of 2020, and if you recall non essential stores were not open, so I had to wait for weeks for furniture and decor. I kept my clients involved and excited by posting what I had purchased and my vision boards for the space. By the end of 2020, I had two employees, and this past fall, I knocked a whole in the wall and took over the space next door! That’s right I pivoted again, I expanded my service menu and hired more staff, taking The Lashery from just an eyelash and brow salon, to a full aesthetics shop. Yesterday was actually 4 years since I received the keys, and it still feels like a fever dream, and I’ve only just begun!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Authenticity and consistency are the keys to my success. The beauty business is a tough one, because you feel like you’re supposed to provide a particular image to draw people in. We’ve all seen the beauty teams that can come off as intimidating within their marketing, but we try to stay inherently us. We truly are the goofy girl next door, and we want our values to shine through. Those values are caring for others, being inclusive, welcoming, and providing consistent results. We are human, we aren’t perfect, but we strive to do the best we can and if we don’t, we guarantee our work. My team and I understand that your selfcare is an investment, and we treat it as such.

Contact Info:

• Website: thelashery.co
• Instagram: instagram.com/thelasherybb
• Facebook: facebook.com/thelasherybb

Image Credits
Paige Evatt of Ivey Photo