When I was young, my dream was to become a teacher—particularly an elementary school teacher. It was because I had loved learning so much. When I got to high school, teachers were striking for better salaries and benefits —and this dream of mine became the lowest paying job. It was looked down upon. I became influenced to chase another dream especially one with more financial stability. And so, I roamed through college confused, switching between various majors and not being able to pinpoint what I wanted to do. 

 

I kept chasing and pursuing a dream that was not mine—instead, I was pursuing acceptance. Somehow I had been wired all my life to get a bachelor’s degree to become successful. If I didn’t know what I wanted to be,  my parents - peers - and community did. The top choices that made bank to them was business, engineering, accounting, or nursing. My choices seemed limited now that I thought about it. Why couldn’t people see me having a potential to become a doctor? Was this considered unreachable from someone who was raised in the public school system? I began to learn that they didn’t need doctors in the economic system—they needed more economic WORKERS. 

 

What was wrong with this picture? Perception. My parents had been wired to believe that their children will become successful if they get degrees that will get them HIRED. I was guided to this idea of financial freedom if I get a degree. 

 

At the age of 20, I made a painstaking choice in dropping out of UC Berkeley. At that time, I cried in my sleep for two weeks. It felt like my life was over. Everything that I had built up to that point just crumbled. It wasn’t like I had a choice—my health was becoming more important to me. 

 

I propelled myself into the workforce. By the time I was 23, I had experienced everything from customer service, sales, marketing, and management. At my top position, I was making more money then my peers. It should have been something I was proud and happy of—but I wasn’t. I worked 10 hours a day, my phone would go off even when I am off, I would get called in on days that I was not scheduled. I was STRESSED—physically and mentally.

 

I quit and went back to school. Again, that didn’t work out. I went back to the workforce, but focused more on jobs that were not stressful. I ended up working as a program coordinator for Montessori Teacher Education Center, where we train and certify teachers for the Montessori school systems. This was the happiest I ever saw myself. I had looked forward to going to work even though I only made nearly minimum wage of $13/hr. At that time, some of my peers felt like I was wasting away my potential especially my boyfriend but I didn’t care. I loved what I was doing there. 

 

Sadly, all throughout my early life, I was never taught to own and pursue a business. Instead, I was presented with scary thoughts that 70% of small business owners cannot make it. You can smell this fear if someone was to invest their savings in a business. The reason small businesses failed was the lack of knowledge in running a business. They had a dream, but didn’t have the foundations to support that dream. When I first started my brow business, I focused on the skills needed to get the business running at hand. Then I focused on marketing, creating clientele, and getting referrals. I was fully booked the first 3 months that I opened my business. When my business took off, I began to expand and accumulate more skills to be able to cross promote various services like eyeliner tattoo, lip tattoo, and eyelash extensions to my clients. Eventually, I started getting inquiries from other struggling artists wanting to learn from me. I realized how important sales and marketing is so I incorporated that into my curriculum.

 

I would not become the beauty boss that I am today without my experience in customer service, sales, and teaching. My customer service experience all those years had taught me to build great relationships with others. My sales experience taught me to become resilient to rejections and to aim for realistic targets in my business. My teaching experience has taught me that everyone learns differently, and so I was able to customize my courses to cater to an individual's need.

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I was too overloaded to see it back then, but my dream of becoming a teacher was growing into its fruition. The skills that I have learned in in all those years have helped me become the educator that I have always wanted to be—one that makes a positive impact on someone’s life. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that I had played a role in developing and gearing others in their passion.  

 

I hope that these free workshops will help propel you to become who you truly should be, and never stop chasing your dreams.