We recently connected with Nicole Mandallaz and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

My first client since re-opening in Borrego Springs, after moving from Palm Springs and being shut down for over a year was just as special as getting my first ever client as an esthetician. I had been shut down for so long due to quarantine restrictions on personal care services, and my husband and I on the brink of potential bankruptcy, I honestly wasn’t sure when or even if I’d be able to do facial treatments for my own business again. I decided to begin with a retail/boutique space only at the end of 2021, not being sure when I’d be allowed to do treatments. But as I was coming close to opening the boutique- Meta Skin Studio The Store, people I was meeting in the community kept asking if or when I would be doing treatments. I realized, there was a large demand in our town for corrective skincare services, and that the universe was basically screaming at me to create a treatment room again. Coincidentally, the renters of the boutique across the courtyard from my store decided to leave at the same time, and the landlord asked if I’d be interested in taking the space. It all felt so meant to be, so I jumped on it. Personal care services became allowed again soon after, and I had opened my first week of Meta Skin Studio – The Studio with a fully booked facial treatment schedule of new clients in Borrego Springs, as well as many of my old clients driving out to see me from Palm Springs.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been a licensed esthetician for 14 years, and am the founder of Meta Skin Studio- The Store and Studio in Borrego Springs, California, and Meta Skincare products. Borrego Springs is an extremely unique place. It’s a tiny town that sits in the middle of the State Park like a bulls eye. It has a very eclectic population, and no chain retailers. I wanted to create a space not only to consult on skin issues and sell Meta Skincare products, but I also wanted to give local Borregans a “cool factor” of their unique desert lifestyle, and make visitors and tourists feel like they get to be a part of that as well. My husband is from the south of France, and pre-pandemic, I had been buying most of my personal clothes to wear in the US from the outdoor markets in France. They were affordable, very flattering, and easy to wear linens made in Italy. I always felt they were the most comfortable clothes to wear back in the desert for hot days, that also looked modern and fashionable on a wide range of age groups for women. I also only wanted to carry ethical, artisan made products rather than mass produced, and so everything from our straw hats to bags, and shoes are hand made from artisans around the world.
I started as a corrective skincare treatment studio and product line in Palm Springs focused on correcting acne and aging using non-invasive, functional techniques, yet found myself creating a lifestyle brand in the middle of the desert. hahaha

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Learning digital marketing has been one of the biggest challenges for me as a pivoted business owner. I always used to say, “I’m a skin expert not a marketing expert!”. But if I wanted people to find out about me, my expertise and my Meta Skincare products, I HAD to learn to market myself! I have to say the first year I spent way too much time focusing on my social media and trying to grow my client base and create through that.
I went through a period of maybe 6 months straight, where I was posting reels everyday, and I signed up for Tik Tok. Looking back, I feel I could have much better used all that time and energy on other areas that get better results such as my email list and communicating directly through my client base there. I found since I had started focusing more on emails rather than socials, my sales have picked up dramatically, AND I’m able to better communicate with many of my older clients who don’t have social media, but still want to be a part of our Meta Skin community.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

For now I only sell directly on my Shopify website and through select spas that carry my products. I’d say the pros are since Shopify is such a big site now, it’s easy to integrate most other apps and email marketing platforms to it. The downside is that I also use it for the point of sale in my physical location and it SUUUUCKS for in person checkout. Shopify is really it’s best as an ecommerce platform. I don’t sell on any platforms like Amazon etc. yet, as I don’t feel those platforms are the best way to connect with my ideal client, but I may start considering it, when I launch my first skincare device.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.metaskinstudio.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/metaskinstudio
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/metaskinstudio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-mandallaz-1612261a6/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/metaskinstudio

Image Credits
All photos by Ashley Werbel