Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Arrick.
Hi Jasmine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a single mother, published author, music artist, and owner of iLuxBeautyBox Salon & Suites in Alpharetta GA. I am an Ohio native that has been living in Atlanta for the past almost 3 years. I moved here alone from Los Angeles while pregnant with my daughter. At the time I had just passed my realtors exam to practice real estate in Georgia.
Unfortunately, I realized after beginning my real estate career in Atlanta that it was going to be very hard to maintain as a single mother w/ no family near and limited trusted childcare help. I had to do some deep thinking, praying, and meditating. I came up with the idea to learn a beauty trade that would allow me to work from home for a little while so that I could tend to my newborn daughter and earn an income. I had a spare room in my home that I could work out of. I always loved getting my lashes done and I knew that it was a lucrative and rapidly growing service in the beauty industry, so I thought it’d be a smart move on my end to take the eyelash application class. I also knew that I had a deep passion for beautifying myself and others.
I have since a young child. I became certified soon after and became very passionate about practicing and developing the skill. It took me about 3 months to get good at it. I then began accepting clients that I had screened to my home. I had set up a lashing room in my spare room and as I worked throughout the day I would put my daughter in her swing right next to me. I would stop and breastfeed her and change while working. Thankfully my clients were very understanding of my situation because most of them were mothers themselves. I would usually accept about 3-4 clients a day and spend about 8 hrs a day lashing. This went on for a few months until I secured a salon suite that I would move my business to. I also was able to hire a live-in nanny and it made it much easier for me to work out of the home.
After a year successfully in business with many revolving and satisfied clients, I then took another training course that would allow me to train and certify future lash techs. Thankfully I had many women reaching out to me and interested in taking my eyelash extension application training course.
I also began doing ” LashBoss Training Tours”. I traveled to Ohio, LA, New York, Michigan, Miami, and Chicago teaching this amazing service. As of today I have successfully trained and certified over 150 amazing women across the United States. Many of my clients would inquire about other services so I became certified in teeth whitening as well. 6 months later I began to offer teeth whitening training and certification classes as well. The business was going really great and then we came upon the tragic pandemic. This was such a devastating time for all people all around the world and the economy as well and still is very devastating for many even today. So many lives were lost and so many businesses closed for good.
When businesses were being forced to close during the lockdowns the salon that my suite was located in was definitely one of them. As many others affected I was stuck at home and out of work for many months. During this time I decided to go after one of my childhood dreams which were to write a book. The entire book writing and publishing process took me close to 4 months. I am now a self-published author. My book Bad.Boss.Mom. can be found on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or my website www. jasminelequay.com. In my book, I spoke about another dream that I had which was to open my own beauty bar offering many services including lashes which is where it all began for me. I published my book in August 2020.
After a lot of hard work, determination, prayer, and sacrifice In August 2021 I received the keys to my first 2600 sq foot commercial property located in Alpharetta GA. I am currently undergoing renovations and I am scheduled to host a grand opening in early December of this year. iLuxBeautyBox Salon & Suites will offer an array of beauty services such as lashes, teeth whitening, eyebrow services, body sculpting, and esthetician services in a beautiful self-care environment. On one side of the building, we will have an amazing service called SMP (scalp micro pigmentation) available for anyone that is suffering from hair loss. We have partnered with @Scalpstructurecenter to bring our businesses together under one roof. This has been such an awesome, stressful and gratifying journey to where I am now at with my business. All the glory definitely goes to God!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenges have been being a single mother with minimal help. My child’s father not being at all active or supportive has added the extra weight to me but has also definitely helped me to go that much harder to reach my goals so that there is no strain when it comes to me fully providing for my child, I do have a boyfriend that has stepped in to be an amazing father figure in my daughter’s life and that I am always appreciative of.
Another challenge has been balancing everything as a mother to a young child and a full-time entrepreneur and music artist. It is often a time struggle to be able to maintain everything. Most importantly is being there physically, mentally, and emotionally for my child, and right after that is being able to provide for her. I have to be sure to keep a good balance on everything.
Moving to Atlanta has also been an obstacle for me as a mother and for my business. I didn’t have any family help or support nearby and I’ve had to build all of my networks, contacts, and clients from the ground up.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
– iLuxBeautyBox Salon & Suites
– Bad.Boss.Mom. (book)
– JAZZY (rap artist)
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
A childhood memory is dreaming and fantasizing about living in another state and being the kind of grown-up that was beautiful inside and out and her own boss. I’m living out my childhood dreams today.
Pricing:
- Fullset Hybrid Lashes: $140.00
- Fullset Volume Lashes: $175.00
- LashBoss Course: $750.00
- Teeth Whitening: $150.00
- Teeth Whitening Course: $800
Contact Info:
- Email: info@badbossmom.com
- Website: www.jasminelequay.com | https://iluxbeautybox.as.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzylequay/ | https://www.instagram.com/iluxbeautybox/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrnoN1t5Oh_phHvbOyxW0NA
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jazzy-beats-889681904
- Other: https://linktr.ee/jasminelequay
