The evolution of my practice

Many of you have been on this newsletter subscription of mine for almost exactly 3 years. You get to read up on my weekly skin topics, check out my most updated features, and perhaps book a last minute appointment with me. However, I am sometimes a little struck when people ask me about how a part of my business is doing when I am so immersed in it that I thought the answer was much more obvious. Behind the scenes of my work life is not what people expect because I wear so many hats that all the moving parts are really mostly obvious to me. Starting out my practice almost 4 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. And to be quite honest, I still kind of don’t know what I’m doing almost every day. The only thing that has really changed is my understanding that the surrender is the part that is most important to trust. Not that I have all the answers within my hour-long facials with clients every day. The practice that I created is based on non-toxic skincare rituals and teachings that I am fortunate enough to make accessible through one on one custom facials, teaching events, and also through my conscious content portals of the blog and youtube channel. What I first created were very simplified facials that began the discussion of custom, integrated, whole care, but what it’s become is a little more specific than that. I want to share a few of the evolutions of my practice so that you can get a better idea of what the heck this is all about.

First, my primary focus are my clients. It’s the part of my day in which I feel the most like myself because I have done this work for as long as I can remember. Anyone who’s almost 31 and has actively done the same work since they were 18 would agree. It’s my reset and my time to fully feel present within my intuition and so my knowledge comes pouring in depending on the case I’m working on. The sessions are often 60 to 90 minutes depending on the individuals needs. I often don’t think much about the person until I see them walk upon at my doorstep. I completely understand the energy that could potentially be brewing in their body as they walk up to a strangers apartment complex, call a suspicious callbox that rarely works, and venture into an elevator for an expensive facial. The least I can do is greet you if I’m not distracted by Josie being Josie. My regular clients are so at ease by knowing where the restroom is, putting their food in my fridge, and just going straight into a puppy kiss fest with Josie. New clients often ask the most polite questions such as “Should I take my shoes off?” to “May I use your restroom?” followed by the admiration that they were not expecting my place to look and feel the way it does. Especially once they step into the room that I only spend time in when I do facials - the second bedroom I call my spa. The energy in there has to be very specific and I often find that if I linger in between session or utilize the space to write, that I’m disrupting it’s rhythm of calm. Once I start my sessions, I try to not go straight into my regular language of extreme skin therapy but rather check in with the client to tune into what their focus needs are. That is the most valuable part of the session because if we are not linked up with the same intention or focus, we often don’t get the results we seek. The facials themselves are in constant evolution because my education is in constant evolution. The more people I see, the more classes I take, the more I read, the more I work on myself, etc. the more the facial will evolve.

The first session is typically a little dull because it’s basically a first date between your skin, your energy, and myself. If I can read it well and honor you without allowing myself to be swayed away from my intuition, the skin will respond well. If there is a block in our energy where the skin responds in a way that isn’t anticipated, I can at least have confidence that the depth of work on the skin was just superficial and your skin will calm and restore itself quickly. Most of the time the “reactions” are rooted in the doubt of the client which may have impacted a doubt within my own abilities. The modalities I choose are all meant to accelerate the skin’s natural ability to heal and also promote the eliminate of waste that is no longer needed. I don’t overstep my boundaries if the skin is telling me I need to back off. It’s very important to me that your skin works with us and if I’m aggressively coming at it too quickly, everything can quickly fall apart. The customization of the treatment is part you, part me, and part exploration. I have to allow the skin to respond in order for me to know what the next step is, so I have to calm you or help you release whatever is stuck within you. That could be your stressful day at work, or your need for just some quiet in your life. I usually finish our treatment with a quiet meditation for the client in order for them to finally release what is preventing them from their skin to be what they hope it can be. After the initial facial, I offer more treatments that include a check-in call for those who need in between assistance, a signature facial (60 minutes), a luxury facial (90 minutes), a gua sha only facial (60 minutes), and a brow shaping (30 minutes).  

From there, the second most important piece of my day runs into the admin stuff. I am usually responding back to emails that range from interviews, questions about a product, appointment inquiry, working with a brand or product, and esthetician support. While navigating that with my team member Julie, we are constantly seeking how to elevate the client experience. We’ve upgraded so many of our systems to help increase the chance that the right, supporting information is received by whoever is seeking it. This was actually the spark that inspired my online skin series. I was spending hours writing consultations for new clients when we realized that there is another way to teach people how to use their own intuitive sense on how to achieve their best skin. The first video series was created off of that initial first-time client consultation feedback I would write out to people from all over the world. Making this available to anyone and my new clients became the catalyst for shifting my overall approach to skin coaching. I have since filmed a second series about how to use my favorite tools, my intentional cleansing technique, and my self-loving massage protocol. 10% of profits from the first skin series gets donated to Alzheimer's research and the second series will go to Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness.

I mentor two estheticians, along with a long list of holistic skin care practitioners who are on a separate email list that get weekly posts as well as one on one counseling. I love teaching and really believe that the skincare industry deserves more support when it comes to our education on holistic care as well as advanced techniques.

I do all of my own website maintenance, newsletters, photography direction, video editing, brand copywriting, content creation for events, esthetician teachings, and my own advanced education. I have incredible support with my team member, Erin on social media, however, it’s still essentially all of my words. Which leads me to the last bit. I am constantly creating conscious content which I am in the process of revising. I’ve spent the last couple of years just writing out all of my thoughts, knowledge, and experience in my blog and as much as I love it, it’s become clear that the information is often taken for granted or even repurposed without my consent. I don’t want to take away from the audience that truly gains something from this weekly blog but I’m at a point where I’ve got hundreds upon hundreds of articles that are getting missed due to lack of searching for specific topics. So I tend to have to repeat myself on many different things which makes me feel like my time isn’t of its most appropriate use.

I’m going to be spending the rest of June and the entire month of July off of my weekly blogs for both my regular public blog and my esthetician blog. I want to really honor myself with a step back to evaluate the direction and purpose of this endless creating cycle I’m in. I love it but in order to continue doing it with as much heart and authenticity, I need a plan. I’m nervous to lose some of you along the way but I know that I can’t keep up with my workload without something needing to take a pause. Whenever I get an opportunity to reflect, I honestly thrive in ways that I don’t even understand or expect of myself. I hope that you understand and can continue to evolve with me as my practice continues to evolve.

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