FINALLY Feeling Some Clarity
If you're a business owner or took business classes in school or listened to one podcast on business, you'll often hear the term "niching."
It is like one of those golden rules of business; the more you narrow down and have a specific niche, the more business you will get. Simply because people know what the hell you offer and there isn't any confusion.
Do you want to know what I have been fighting for 6 years, (for as long I have been in business)? The f*cking niching process.
When I first went out on my own at the end of 2014, I was a freelance makeup artist and hair stylist. That's it. Super simple. But then I was like, "maybe I should go to cosmetology school so I am not limited down the line?"
Ok, good idea. I could always have something to fall back on in case the freelancing gigs died down and I could get a job in a spa or something. Or, if I wanted to be a union artist for a movie set, I was told I needed to have my cosmetology license to get into the union. (Still get mixed answers on this from all the makeup artists I know.)
Sooo, off to cosmetology school I went. CHARACTER BUILDING experience to say the least. The staff at my beauty school were just straight up assholes. I would try to explain to them that I was a freelance makeup artist and I couldn't provide them a set schedule of my hours. They would reply, "uh huh Emily, all these people in this school are 'makeup artists' too." Assholes.
Or the time a barbering student (very randomly may I add) took it upon himself to call me a cunt on his Facebook feed. Super fun.
And within a year I got alllll of cosmetology school done. I left with 4 licenses: nails, skin, hair, and barbering.
Then there's also the fact that at this time 1.) cosmetic tattoo was blowing up 2.) my clients were already asking me to do their eyebrows for them (talk about overly trusting considered I'd never tattooed a day in my life) 3.) it genuinely looked so amazing and I knew I had to learn how to tattoo.
So, by the time I finished tattoo school I had SEVEN licenses. The 4 above, plus an independent contractor license, plus a tattoo license, plus a tattoo facility license to cover the space I was tattooing in. INSANE.
Back to niching >> I had spent so much time, money, and energy into all of these licenses that I felt like I had to do all of them. A little barbering fade haircut over here, a makeup lesson here, throw in a facial... talk about exhausting. The one thing I knew for sure at the time was that I really hated doing nails. Like, really hate it.
If you ever look at my nails I never ever have them done, so talk about a poor fit, haha.
Up until this year I was still offering a full skin menu, plus tattoo, plus makeup, plus brow waxing, plus lash lifting, plus MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING.
So I started listening to my gut about the services I was genuinely excited about. Every time I had a brow tattoo I almost couldn't sleep at night because I was so pumped! Every time someone came in with virgin eyebrows asking to be waxed into the correct shape for their face, I was over the moon.
Every time someone wanted simple makeup for their special event, I would get into the flow and time would stop.
THIS is what I love. Beauty and Brows. THAT is what I want to do and all I want to be doing.
Did you catch my offer on Instagram? I am offering $10 off this month for brow waxing/shaping. If you're terrified to touch your brows or have had a bad experience in the past, homie I get it. Almost everyone has a brow horror story and I can promise you, I won't do that to you.
SO 2020 is all about clarity, niching, and BEAUTY AND BROWS, baby.
If you're wondering about shaping your brow babies up, shoot me an email. Brow shaping is literally one of my passions (been doing it since 1998, seriously) so you're in good hands.
xo,
Emily