I was first introduced to this industry back in 2018 when Microblading was an up-and-coming service. That year I was going on 2 years since I graduated from high school and attending community college unsure of what career path I wanted to pursue. I remember a family member sent me a link to a post on Instagram with information about a 3-day microblading course that was going to be hosted in San Diego the following month. I remember saying to myself “yeah I like brows let’s do it” so I decided to take a leap of faith and take that opportunity and see if microblading can potentially be something I can do to make extra income. Taking that leap of faith was the best decision I ever did for myself, I would have never thought that something that was going to be “extra income” would become a whole career. During this 3-day course I was introduced to cosmetologists, a nurse practitioner who worked at a med spa, and an esthetician. Becoming a brow artist gave me a taste of the beauty industry and I loved everything about it. I grew up in a household/family with predominantly medical field careers and I was never exposed to any other career paths other than being a nurse. For a while during college, I really tried to convince myself that being a nurse, physical therapist, doctor, etc was a job that I can do and find some sort of passion for (eventually) but finding out that it just was not for me. Meeting these people in the industry sparked something in me. Seeing them make people feel pretty a whole career? I was sold instantly and knew this was something I wanted to do in the long run. In 2019, I built the courage to go against my family’s norm to go to nursing school and enrolled myself in the Esthetician program at Bellus Academy. Who knew that this decision would change my life forever and Merakilouskin was made! I graduated in the midst of the pandemic and I was honestly so scared to see where my business would go knowing that it wasn’t looking so good for small businesses but I pushed through and the Klarisse during that time would be so proud of how far along she has come. Merakilouskin is growing so much day by day, and I cannot wait to see how much farther we will go! Thank you all for following my journey as an esthetician and small business owner, I promise to keep pushing for more success and providing the best services for my clients! Sending you all love and hugs!