We recently connected with Sheree Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sheree thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken, was becoming an entrepreneur. Jumping out there was scary and there is never a clear picture of how well your business is gonna do, even with good planning. I eased into the business slowly. I was still working my full time job at the time, and only having availability to see clients after work and on the weekends. It was exhausting to do both, but I was very happy doing it. However, my paychecks from work were supporting the business, because I wasn’t getting enough clients frequent enough to pay the bills or myself.

So, in an effort to do better in business, I went to part-time at my job. This gave me more time to focus more on the business, doing things like social media marketing, trainings, and networking. It still wasn’t enough, and now I was making less money at work. Business was very slow, and I sometimes went weeks without a client. The rent was due weekly and I struggled to make the payments. Luckily, I was able to get out of my lease, and I moved to a space that was way more affordable.

Unfortunately, moving to a different neighborhood meant that I was losing many of the clients that I did see regularly. To make matters worse, shortly after moving into my new space, there were some unfortunate incidents that happened at work that led me to leave work completely.

Jumping into business on a part-time basis was a risk, but now I was in business for myself on a full-time basis. As scary as this was, I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and turned things around.

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.

My name is Sheree. I am a Licensed Esthetician and Licensed Nail Technician.

I’ve always wanted to be in business. A few years ago, I started a nail polish business. I was selling non-toxic nail polish. After giving it some thought, I decided that it would be a good idea to become a nail technician so that I could polish nails with my own product. I enrolled in nail school and became a Licensed Nail Technician. During my time at nail school, the instructors asked for volunteers to get a facial, done by the esthetics students. I had never received a facial before at the time and I was so intrigued. It felt really nice and relaxing and I liked the way my skin looked and felt afterwards. I continued on to do nails and opened up a small space where I was a solo nail technician. With esthetics in the back of my mind, I decided to go back to school to become a Licensed Esthetician.

As an esthetician, I wanted to help people with mature, aging skin, rejuvenate their appearance. People with dry, dull skin, fine lines and wrinkles, was my main focus. The thing about being your own boss is that, you can easily take time off to attend trainings and conferences. It was during a skincare conference that I discovered a treatment that changes lives for people in a short amount of time,

Although I still do all types of facial services, I now specialize in treating minor skin irregularities like dermatosis papulosa nigra, seborrheic keratosis, milia, skin tags, and cherry angiomas. Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra (DPN) is a condition where brown or flesh-colored spots appear in clusters on the skin. Many people feel self-conscious about these spots and they are often a confidence killer. Many think that DPN is something that they have to live with forever, but this is not the case.

I’ve had clients come to me covered in DPN lesions. The feeling that they get once they see their clear skin, free from DPN, makes me so happy. I feel so honored to have this opportunity to change lives in such a way. I never thought that being an esthetician will have this great an impact on people’s lives, but it has, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

The advice you always get when you mention to someone that you want to start your own business, is don’t quit your day job until your business starts making money. Or, make sure you have a certain amount of money saved before you start. And lastly, work for someone else before you go out on your own, to learn the industry and to build up your clientele.

While these are all great pieces of advice, in my opinion, in order to succeed as an esthetician, mentorship, continuing education, peer support groups, and a strong belief in yourself are imperative. Having a mentor at your disposal is a great way to get questions answered from a professional on a one-on-one basis. You can bounce ideas off of them and they can share their professional opinion from their experiences. Always do continuing education. Get different certifications to increase your knowledge base. This will set you apart from other estheticians. Lastly, having a peer group can be so beneficial. You can share the mistakes you’ve made amongst each other and share your wins with each other.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted my career to be. Out of high school, I thought being a doctor was crazy talk. As I got older, being in the medical field was becoming more attractive to me. Several of my friends were nurses, and I thought that becoming a nurse was a great idea. I’ve had several medical careers cross my path like Nursing and Physician Assistant.

Now that I think about it, becoming a nurse or physician assistant would be great for me now as an esthetician. The possibilities as an esthetician are increasing astronomically as Nurses and Physician Assistants are now opening up medical spas. Having one of those careers could have opened up a lot more opportunities for me. I do not regret my paths, and I am still growing every day. And it’s never too late to get more education.

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