7 minute read
6 Career Mistakes I Made, So You Don’t Have To!
By Robyn McAlpine
If I could go back to the beginning of my career and start over but take back all of the lessons and knowledge I have now, of course, there are many things I would do very differently. But as a skin therapist, here’s the top 6 things I’d change if I could go back for a ‘do over’ that would have the biggest and quickest impact on my success in the treatment room!
Mistake 1: I thought using technical skin jargon made me look smarter!
Whilst I could rattle off all the skin science-y names and talk in cell anatomy, this is really only useful when speaking peer to peer to discuss deeper skin information.
When we use it with our clients it creates a divide between them and their skin journey, However, once I learned how to make skin relatable, and let my ego take a backseat, I realised that the more I can make skin things make sense, the more clients became connected to their skin, the more they understood why their skin was misbehaving, the more empowered they were to work together and make great skin decisions.
If I could go back, I’d learn how to make my skin knowledge more accessible and transferrable sooner so that my clients could deeply connect to their skin journey. I realised I didn’t need to use big words to sound smart and impress my clients. Instead, I needed to focus on helping my clients feel empowered and equipped to make healthy skin choices.
Mistake 2: I thought diving too deep in a consultation made me nosey.
Our client’s business is our client’s business, so I didn’t want to pry or dig around in their business. I would skim over my skin consultations and try to put together a treatment plan with crumbs of information. That left me guessing skin conditions like I was on a game show, and I was unable to create truly tailored skin plans for each unique client in front of me. General information gives you general treatment plans, gives you general results.
Once I realised I needed to be like a detective, asking lots of questions, following hunches, I started to really get somewhere. I also discovered that clients truly appreciated the attention to detail and my digging deeper as they had previously experienced so many generalised consultations that once they realised I was truly interested and invested in helping them, they were willing and forthcoming to open up and share often private personal information.
I was truly there to help them and that the more information I had to draw from, the more I could help them. But it took me changing my mindset and becoming that skin-focused detective for that shift to happen. Suddenly, the life-changing results came rolling in.
Mistake 3: I built friendship-based client connections, instead of being their skin professional (first)
Sure, we’d chat about the kids, the weekend, cute boys, and bitch about life, I became the girlfriend first, skin therapist…sometimes. When I was in the friend zone, it felt harder to steer the conversation to my client’s skin, to their home care products, to recommending my home care products. Rebooking them in the treatment time frame became harder because I was a friend who understood their busy life and not their skin therapist who held them accountable to their own self-care.
Once I realised I could build beautiful client relationships as their skin therapist FIRST, I started to build stronger more impactful connections with my clients because they saw me as their trusted guide on their skin journey, their wise counsel in all things skin care. Yes, we have laughs about life and I get to know them on a personal level, every time we meet, they meet their skin professional first, their ‘estie bestie’ second!
Mistake 4: I broke myself to fit the beauty industry mould.
From the way I dressed and the way I did my hair, to the layout of my salon, I was replicating the model of what I thought was the epitome of a model beauty therapist. Clean cut, eloquent… impersonal. The more clean-cut professional I looked, the better I would fit in, and the more seriously I’d be taken.
But trying to be someone else was exhausting and it started to take its toll on my career satisfaction. I felt like an imposter in my own business. Little did I know that by letting my true personality shine through that it would be one of the biggest keys to my career success!
It wasn’t until I quite literally let my hair down and showed up to the treatment room as myself, imperfect, a little rough around the edges that my client connections became more authentic, I attracted the kinds of clients that were attracted to my relatable-ness and I have built a global community of skin therapist who are also breaking the mould and living their best skin therapist careers!
Mistake 5: I was too scared to deal with unhappy clients.
No one likes confrontation. And when a client comes back with disappointing results or has plucked up the courage to voice dissatisfaction, (because it can be hard to advocate for themselves too) I had no idea what to do. We were never taught this in our training, and I had never had a boss or manager show me a successful way of handling moments like these- I think they avoided these tricky spots too!
It can be an instinctive reaction to avoid the client or pass blame. However, I learned that great communication leads to great outcomes, even with some of the most disgruntled clients. I developed a process and a system that would help me to help my clients when things weren’t going as amazingly as I had hoped (and that ALL stemmed from my failings in point 2!) I now give my Skinside Out Squad members these tools and confidence to have these tricky conversations and help them turn a negative experience into a positive one.
I avoided building myself a community in our industry. Back to point 4 of not feeling like I fit into the industry box, I thought being the late bloomer, tomboy with no clue how to apply my own makeup, I thought I had no place in the beauty world.
I wasn’t one of the cool girls, in fact, if we’d met in high school, you’d have to be in the library at lunchtime to even cross paths with me! Thanks to this feeling, I avoided connection and contribution in this industry for over half my career. And gee whiz was I missing out! Granted our industry is notorious for being “mean girls” I have discovered were all just a bunch of library (skin) nerds, trying to fit in. A
nd instead of trying to be like everyone else, I eventually let my personality break out of the tiny box (it was struggling to squish itself in there anyway!) and created with a global army of skin lovers who are just as passionate, kind, loving and supportive. So much so I created our very own little place over in the Skinside Out Squad. Now I hang out with amazing skin therapist every single day! (You’re welcome there too!)
A wise person once told me that if I wanted to go farther, that I should pay close attention to those who have been where I want to go. It’s by learning from their mistakes that I could create shortcuts to my own success and growth. Hopefully, by bearing my all and admitting to my mistakes, you too can create a few shortcuts in the directions you’re looking to go!
Having a mentor, a coach, a big sister and an industry friend is the key to reaching your career goals. If you’d like me in your corner, come visit me over at the Skinside Out Squad, the place where I hang out and share my lessons, insights and cheat codes to being the best skin therapist you can be!
