Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Bauman.
Chelsea, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles from Hawaii seven years ago and enrolled in Paul Mitchell cosmetology school. During the long process of my education, I had a feeling that hair wasn’t for me. All I knew was that I wanted to stay in LA and “make it”. After cosmo school, I worked at a hair salon for two years as an assistant and honestly dreaded it. Hair just wasn’t for me. I even served tables at a country club just to make ends meet.
I really wanted to do something in the beauty industry and found a company that was doing an extensive training program to learn lash extensions, and that’s where it all began. To be honest, I didn’t even know what lash extensions were. I stayed with the company for a year while learning the basics, and then moved on and worked at a few other salons. I was working in two salons and built two sets of clientele’s in two different cities in LA (Santa Monica and Canoga Park) and if you aren’t familiar with driving in LA traffic, then you don’t understand this struggle! Haha.
I finally decided it was time time to take the next step and I rented out a room in the heart of Brentwood. I am still currently there and work alongside Jane Ann of Blush LA skincare. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be in a space like this. I worked at the other salon for a while until I decided it was time to move into my own space and rented out a studio from the Salon Republic in Woodland Hills. I also then hired my first employee and trained her, we worked really hard and she built up her own clientele, proud to say she is still working alongside of me and has full clientele as a renter!
A few of my clients and colleagues were interested in learning how to do lashes and had asked me to teach them, I put together a manual and kit and started offering one on one technique training and my love for teaching grew. I currently have one employee, three renters and two locations. It’s been almost six years since I’ve started lashing and three years since I’ve been my own boss and wow what a surreal feeling it is to be typing that out.
It’s been such a wild ride building this business, especially in a city like LA. A lot of the time, it’s really easy to get caught up trying to keep up with an image to only show our successes. I’ve always been reserved about sharing my story and my victories. I’m appreciative to have a platform like VoyageLA to reach out to entrepreneurs and encourage them to share their stories. Thanks for the reminder that it is okay to celebrate our victories and inspire others.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the biggest struggle for me has been BALANCED. This is something I’m still working on but it has gotten a lot better! In the beginning, I never would say no to a client or to my bosses. I would literally take every single client and working at two locations. I was working six days a week and almost ten-hour days. The other day I came across my day planners and I wrote down every single client I took for about two years and boy did that get me anxious, I almost could not believe that I was taking all those clients. Self-care is so important and all I have to say is to listen to your bodies and make sure you check in for you!!
Of course, there have been a bunch of other struggles but I want to leave this section and just for everyone to remember finding your balance in every part of life is so important!
Please tell us about One Lash at a Time Co.
One Lash At A Times motto is ENHANCING NATURAL BEAUTY, ONE LASH AT A TIME. It’s really important for me to keep the integrity of the lash! I have seen SO MANY horrible lash jobs where they are glued on in clusters and stuck to the skin or way too heavy for the natural lash to hold. We will only put lashes on that are the proper length and weight for your natural lashes to ensure a healthy grow out. We are all about educating our clients about proper home care.
Supporting other entrepreneurs is also a big part of who we are, even if you do the same thing as us, we will still support you! You are not my competition even if you are my neighbor. I believe there is enough clients for everyone!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think being reliable would be one of the main reasons for success! It’s very important to me that my clients can trust that I will finish the job. I’ve heard countless of stories of people flaking or canceling last minute and I’ve also been on the receiving end of that with clients.
Contact Info:
- Address: 20700 Ventura Blvd #100 suite #39
Woodland Hills CA 91364
13050 San Vicente blvd #205
Los Angeles 90049 - Website: www.onelashatatimeco.com
- Phone: 8084951992
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelashatatimeco/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-lash-at-a-time-los-angeles
- Other: https://www.yelp.com/biz/one-lash-at-a-time-co-los-angeles
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