We were lucky to catch up with Valeriia Kochnieva recently and have shared our conversation below.

Valeriia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Each training session and the graduation of a new lash extension or lash lift specialist is a huge responsibility and a risk, because I am responsible not only to the model who trusts me enough to come to a practice session with someone holding sharp tweezers and working with glue near their eyes for the first time in their life. I also take on significant risks when training these women. Their future depends on me — on how much they will fall in love with the profession, and how easy the learning process will be for them. It depends on me whether they will continue working in this field or leave the course feeling tired and saying that it’s not for them. Every new request for training carries great risks and great responsibility, and at the same time, it’s an incredible motivation — because the people who write to me and ask me to share my experience want to learn what I have mastered myself. That is what inspires me.

Valeriia, 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?

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I never planned to become a lash artist.
Back in school, someone unexpectedly asked me to assist a lash extension specialist. I didn’t take it seriously at the time — my “training” lasted only a couple of hours, and most of it was just casual conversation. But fate had other plans. Instead of being an assistant, I suddenly found myself working as a full-fledged lash artist.

From the very first days, I had to take responsibility for real clients — for their safety, their trust, and for the reputation of the person who gave me this chance. I learned everything on the job, practicing directly on clients and gaining experience with every set of lashes I created. Many of those first clients stayed with me for years, right up until my last days of work in Ukraine — and I’ll always be grateful for that loyalty.

I’m Valeriia — a lash extension and lash lift artist since 2015. In 2018, I launched my very first training courses, and since then, hundreds of women have studied with me. That same year, I opened my first lash and lash lift studio, which quickly grew into a full beauty space with a brow artist, massage therapist, and an actively developing training school. I began teaching group courses, traveling for masterclasses, and even started building a second studio in another city.

Over the past 10 years, my work has taken me across Ukraine — Kharkiv, Odesa, Donetsk region, Dnipropetrovsk region — and even to Thailand.

Today, I’m based in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. I help women enhance their natural beauty, correct eye asymmetry, and simplify their daily routines. With lash extensions, I can fill in gaps in natural lashes or visually lift hooded eyelids. But more than that, I create results that make women feel not only more beautiful, but also more confident and happy.

And I don’t just work with clients — I teach. I pass on my skills to others, giving them a new profession, a chance to grow, and new opportunities for income and self-development.

For me, this isn’t just a job. It’s a passion, a responsibility, and a way to change lives — one pair of lashes at a time.

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

Yes, if I had to choose a profession today, I would definitely choose to be a specialist in the beauty industry. I love working with lashes, and I love that the results of my work are visible immediately. I enjoy how well I now understand my craft.

The only thing I would change is that, from the very first days, I would take as many courses as possible and participate in every championship without wasting any time — because it took me several years before I felt confident in the quality of my work and started competing. I would have grown even more and shone even brighter.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My reputation was built on how I treat people. I never saw a client as just a person who brings me money. I treated every client the way I would want to be treated myself. I was honest with them, and I always tried to do everything possible so that the client would leave happier than when they came.

This applies to everything — to all the clients of my studio, even those I didn’t work with directly, to my personal clients, and also to all my students.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Valery.as.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeri.neva

Image Credits

Main photo by Iryna Babych