Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Gregory.
Hi Jasmine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always had that entrepreneurial mindset. I knew I wanted to work for myself and start my own business. During my late teens and all of my 20’s, I was trying to find ‘the thing’ and what I enjoyed doing. I wanted to go to fashion design school, I wanted to do makeup, sell hair, own an outpatient cosmetic surgery recovery clinic or become a midwife. I dabbled in a lot of different areas trying to figure it out.
I had my first child when I was 22. I had just left an abusive relationship, I was dealing with self-confidence issues, I felt alone, I was broke, and I had a baby on the way.
During my pregnancy, I received support from my grandparents and my aunt, Tonya. While sitting on her bed, having a conversation, she told me I needed to stop using the word ‘can’t’ and that I needed to change my mindset and to start thinking positively.
She told me I needed to learn how to love myself and how to “make Jasmine happy” because if I was not happy and loved myself, how could I give it to my child?
That was the best piece of advise I’d received. Then, she introduced me to the book ‘The Secret’. This book changed my life! To this day, I preach about having faith in God and using the law of attraction to create the life you want. I knew I needed to get myself mentally healthy and be gentle with myself as I had gone through a lot emotionally and physically during that time.
After having my daughter, Sophia, I wanted a fresh start. So I moved us from Seattle, Washington to Atlanta, GA in late 2012. This is where my entrepreneurial fire was really ignited.
I met my husband, Shamarr, about a year and a half after moving here. His work ethic and daily grind motivated me. I expressed to him that I wanted to start my own business and he was always supportive of my many, many, many ideas.
Before Shamarr and I got married, I was working at an OB/GYN office. While it provided stability, it wasn’t what I wanted to do. So, I started selling hair. It was an easy choice and I was always getting compliments on my hair and women were always asking me “who did your hair and where did you get your hair from?”
That was going good, but not good enough to retire (laughing). Then we got pregnant with our son, Seth. My husband and I decided I’d become a stay-at-home mom at this point. A little over a year later, we had our third child, Zuri.
So now, here I am. A stay-at-home mom with three children. While I enjoyed having the privilege to stay home and raise our babies, I came to a point where I wanted to do something for ME.
While scrolling on Instagram one day, I stumbled upon this before and after photo of this woman’s eyebrows. I read the caption as the photo piqued my interest. The service the woman received was called microblading.
I was like “Microblading? What’s that?” As I’d never heard of it before. So I went on over to the good ol’ Google University and researched away for countless hours.
I kept seeing something called PhiBrows come up. Then I learned they offered a training course for microblading. Microblading is a permanent makeup technique where pigment is inserted into the skin using a u blade to create individual hair strokes on the eyebrows to simulate a fuller-looking brow.
This was fascinating to me and I wanted to do this. The online training was about $2,000. I didn’t have that kind of money. I’d been at home wiping butts and trying to avoid stepping on tiny cars and Legos the past few years. (Those things are hell on the feet. If you know, you know!)
I didn’t want to ask my husband for the money as I wanted to achieve this on my own. (Not that I couldn’t ask him for the money) but, I wanted this to be something I did for me, for Jasmine as a woman.
Thinking of how to get the money, I went online and applied for a credit card through my bank. I prayed asking God to “please let me get approval for the course amount.” I filled out the application. A few minutes later, I received a phone call to answer a few questions and…….I was approved for more than the amount I was seeking!
I expressed my interest to my husband, told him I was able to pay for the training myself (to his surprise) and he told me to go for it. I purchased the PhiBrows microblading course and got started right away. I was obsessed with it. After a few weeks, I completed my training and became certified as a microblading artist.
Immediately after, I created a Google my Business, Yelp and Facebook page. I started getting inquiries and eventually my first client. I was so nervous and I had only practiced on practice skin and not a human being before. Since I was just starting out, I made a space in my home and I only charged $150. My client was happy with her brows, but I was in my own head repeatedly going over what I could’ve done better.
The next day, I went on YouTube to see how other artists did their microblading procedures. While searching through videos, I saw one titled ‘Microblading vs. Powder brows’. From that video, I learned powder brows was a different technique of doing brows, in the sense that powder brows consist of shading in the eyebrows with a permanent makeup machine, simulating a powdery makeup look. I had to learn this technique as it is a great option for all skin types and last longer than microblading.
I didn’t have thousands of dollars more to just shell out for another training. Instead, I purchased a permanent makeup machine and taught myself how to do powder brows. After I felt comfortable with my shading on practice skin, in March 2018, I started advertising for powder brows. I got my first few clients shortly after and did great! I did much better with powder brows than microblading.
Word of mouth spread and my business took off. I was booked out weeks in advance. Fast forward to March 16th, 2020…the world stopped. Literally. The pandemic hit and like most businesses, I was forced to shut down.
During that time, I became pregnant with our fourth child. When I was 28 weeks pregnant, I was diagnosed with stage 2 colorectal cancer. This news devastating to my husband and I. Initially, we were sad and cried, then we educated ourselves. I told my husband I wanted to take a holistic approach to battling this. So we converted to a vegan lifestyle.
With the help of a holistic doctor in Washington state, we devised a plan on how I could reverse the cancer. My husband bought a juicer and made fresh juices for me everyday as I rarely had an appetite. I eventually incorporated cannabis and CBD into my lifestyle as it helped me gain an appetite, fought of my nausea and has properties to kill cancer cells.
Our daughter was born in April 2021. This time, postpartum depression struck and I had a difficult time. I couldn’t eat, I would cry and become angry uncontrollably, on top of the lack of sleep that comes with having a newborn baby. I was in a dark place.
After briefly trying a couple of different antidepressants and not liking how my body reacted to them (extremely nauseous and I felt like a zombie) My husband took me out on a lunch date.
We haven’t spent any time alone together in a while and the change of scenery helped lift my mood dramatically. We made it mandatory to start having date night a couple of times a month. I started to feel like me again.
When I was six weeks postpartum, I had a second colonoscopy. The cancer was regressing! I have a third colonoscopy at the end of the year, praying that the cancer is gone by then!
In the meantime, I started my business back up this past August and am currently booked until November!
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?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Having your own business is a lot of work and you have to be very disciplined and consistently show up for it. It’s like having another child. You have to care and nurture for your business daily in order for it to grow.
When I moved my business out of our house into my own brow studio, I had no idea what came along with that. I’m talking about business insurance, city zoning and permitting and all the costs associated with that. I’ve shed a lot of tears and felt defeated many times during the process. But I didn’t give up!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I provide permanent makeup services such as lip blushing, microblading henna brows and powder brows. I specialize in powder brows; making sure to give my clients that perfect arch and customizing their pigment color to compliment their natural features.
I am driven by not only results but the knowledge and insight behind the products and services I provide. I am most known in the area for my meticulous “wake up and go brows.”
I’m constantly striving to gain knowledge on product ingredients, formulas and service techniques to really customize each client’s experience based on what will truly be beneficial for their individual needs.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I make sure to take a new training every six months or so to stay up to date on the latest permanent makeup treatments and to learn/improve my technique.
As far as books, I consider myself an avid book reader and I’m always drawn to books about business, marketing and of course, the law of attraction! I’m currently reading Manifest Now by Idil Ahmed and the Luxury Alchemist by Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge.
Pricing:
- Powder Brows $500 (lasts up to 3 years)
- Lip Blushing $400 (lasts up to 3 years)
- Henna Brows $75 (this is not a permanent makeup treatment, it’s a all natural brow tint that lasts up to 6 weeks)
- Powder Brow Training $2,000 (I not only teach my technique, but also how to properly start your business and gain clientele)
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@jasminegregorybrows.com
- Website: www.jasminegregorybrows.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasminegregorybrowstudio/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jasminegregorybrowstudio
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/jasmine-gregory-brows-atlanta
- Other: Google Reviews: https://g.co/kgs/RDczJn
Image Credits:
Photographer: Lauren Ashley Chappell Laurenashley.photos Studio: Blanc Studio West
