My Journey & How I Got Here

My Journey & How I Got Here

It is 2004 & Jojo’s Get Out (leave) was number one what a time to be alive.

The iconic Grade 6 graduation was coming up, getting dolled up in a black halterneck number courtesy

of Supre, we had to write down all of our goals and ambitions for when we grow up.

Mine was easy- I instantly wrote “ I want to be a beautician & make women feel beautiful”

I also can't deny the next sentence was me wishfully thinking I would marry Shannon Noll (Still lowkey hopeful).

 

Truth be told I did VCAL & dropped out of high school. My reasoning to my Mum was “I don't want to learn about the vikings".

 I did my Diploma full time at Headmasters Academy instead of year 11.

Throughout my teen years I worked alot with Endota & Ella Bache. By 22 I was in a senior therapist/manager role. 

Within my personal life I moved out by 15. This gave me no choice but to work excessively hard.

I had rent and bills to pay throughout my teen years. I also then found the more I worked- it gave me stability, security, a place to be while also rewarding me with money to pay for the roof over my head and the meal on my table.

This is where my relationship with work became my everything. When I say work is my happy place and my safe place- I am not lying. Work has been the most detrimental thing in my life and been a huge part in providing me with stability to provide for myself.

When I was 25 (2017) I was poached to manage a clinic. I had treatments downpat now it was time to learn the nitty gritty of running a business. I used the opportunity of running someone else's business to understand everything. What works, what does not. I experimented with everything, I WAS A SPONGE!

 

With my drive to work so much and so hard, I began to realise- I could be doing all this for myself.

This is when I made the decision I was going to work towards having my own business.

My partner at the time purchased his home in Chelsea with a perfect room out the back with a separate entrance. This was the first opportunity I had to go for it, this opportunity I will always be very grateful for as it gave me my first chance to grow.

When I went full time at home I had never been so hungry for anything in my life. I was obsessed, I ate, drank and breathed my work.
I was all over instagram following everyone, liking everything, engaging with anything I could to get my name out there.

I started with crazy crazy cheap prices, I wasn't in it for the profit cause I wanted the long term growth. I would flog myself for 14 hours doing $15 brows. I just wanted everyone to come to me, I wanted everyone to have the best experience and tell their friends and so on and so forth. Word of mouth is the o.g form of advertising but I do believe it is the best.

It has now been 5 months since I have been full time at home, the waiting list for a facial was over 12 weeks. Working so wildly, I found myself getting antsy to leave the house and I was having trouble separating my business and personal life (still do lol).

So I did what I always do, put it to the universe.

If I was meant to have a shop the right one will come to me. There were a few I inspected but they just weren't it.

One being in Mornington and another one being in Chelsea.

Choosing the location though was rather easy, if everyone was fine coming to my home in Chelsea; I wanted the shop to be within 5 minutes from my address.
269 Nepean Highway, Edithvale was listed.
I stopped everything I was doing and drove straight there.
It was an ex tattoo shop, it 100% needed a sage cleanse but I could envision it.
Safe to say I handed in the application that afternoon.

 Going into this venture my appetite for the business was greater than my preparation to go for it. I had $3,800 in my account. That barely covered the months rent and bond let alone the fit out, trades, signage, furniture, equipment and reception area.

I made the logic of- I am just going to knuckle down so hard, work even harder then I already was. I will pay off each expense as it comes in one by one with the treatments I'm doing at home. Each door knob in the shop was 3 eyebrow waxes. One full day bought all the framing timber, it was all just one thing at a time.

It goes without saying having a good support network helps beyond measure, particularly if they are tradies. Again I need to show gratitude towards Tom and Xav in particular. They organised and built the space it is today, along with a team of others who helped.

Steph & I would then paint all hours of the night with blisters all over our hands. The amount of wine we have consumed in that shop would even give Dan Murphy himself a fright. 

-AUGUST 19TH 2018-
Opening day. The tiles are still wet and some paint is still drying, but lets do this!!

We had showbags with discount coupons and mini vouchers to entice everyone to visit us, see how amazing we are and pray they would become

lifelong clients. I always say I have the best clients in the whole wide world, and I believe it with every fibre of my being. I see them like family.

Genuinely connecting with clients is the best thing about this job. Speaking of best things about the job- Steph- she is my one in this industry.

We have worked together on and off for 10 years. There is no way in hell I would love what I do as much if I didn't have her next to me.

Watching her equally grow and evolve with me is everything. We work so well together and have each others back every day in clinic.

-Jenae :) 

 

 

Part 2 coming.

How we extended the shop to triple the size.

Hiring therapists, lessons I learnt in that process.

How we managed to survive lockdown while also fitting out the huge extension and how I made a skincare brand.

 

 

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