Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Johnson.
Hi Karen, 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?
Everyone always asks me, “How did you come up with your business?” and I tell people that I didn’t always know what I wanted to do until I went to college. I attended THE Central State University in 2015, majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. I knew that I always wanted to own my own business, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do until my mother said, “you need a side hustle while you’re in school, why don’t you start waxing brows since you know how to do your own”. When she said that, that’s when I began to do my own research of what profession falls behind brow waxing, how to do the service, sanitation, and the tools I needed to perform the service. After so much research, I began to practice on my roommates/friends and the more I practiced the better I got. In 2017, I started to provide eyebrow waxing services to all of the girls on campus.
Every day after or between classes people always asked for my availability to get their brows done, and at that moment I knew I wanted to become a Licensed Esthetician. After discovering that I wanted to become an Esthetician, I did more research about what services can be provided. I bought a notebook and started to write down my mission statement, purpose, logo design, prices, services, target audience and etc. At this point, I had my business plan all mapped out, but I still needed to know how do I get my license to be in the skincare industry. I started to look for schools in my hometown (Chicago) that provided an esthetics program and I found Tricoci University of Beauty Culture. I called to see when the next program opened for enrollment and they told me June 24, 2019. On May 4, 2019, I graduated college and the next month I enrolled into the program to follow my dreams. Now, I am a solo Licensed Esthetician, Esthetics Instructor and business owner.
One thing I love about myself is whatever I want to do, I DO IT! The journey to success is never easy, but when you get there, everything you had to do was worth it. For me, getting to where I am today required a lot of discipline, character-building, investing time/money, networking, and consistency. Sometimes you have to take those moments of silence and brainstorm how can you add a spin to your business. I did so many other things to attract clients like: paid promotion on Facebook, post work on social media, refer a friend system, great customer service, excellent communication, network with other like-minded people, pop-up shops (Black Women’s Expo), gave out business cards, verbal advertisement and etc.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There is no such thing as a smooth road. Every road you have ever seen always has bumps and cracks in it and that’s how the road to success is. When I finished esthetics school, two weeks later the world shut down due to COVID for 5 months so I wasn’t able to take the state board. During that time me and my family suffered a house fire which caused us to live in a hotel that whole time. Those five months was a dark time for me because I felt like the goals I had for my business at that time was impossible to achieve. There were times I didn’t know how I was going to fund my business because I didn’t have enough clientele and the grants I applied for I never received. Despite other obstacles I faced, I always took time to brainstorm and create an execution plan of how was I going to take my business to the next level. The main key to success is NEVER giving up. You have moments you want to give up, compare where you are to others, business may be slow, BUT you have to keep going! You can not get discouraged by those things, life will always throw things at you but all you need is God, Faith, a Determined mind and the right people around you. In this business, I have learned you can not please everybody, and even though you may be consumed with work, you have to make time for yourself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Waxed Figure?
The name of my business is called Waxed Figure! When I thought of the name, I thought about women practicing self-care along with me providing waxing services. I reached out to a graphic designer and asked can she implement a woman’s body with bomb brows, the words waxed figure in colors purple, pink, white, and black. As I Licensed Esthetician, I specialize in full body waxing and skin care services. Being in this industry, I have dominated the Brazilian and Brow game. I always called myself the brow Princess because I transform brows from Not to Hot! I believe what sets me apart is my willingness to help others especially in esthetics. Even though I’m only two years in, I’ve noticed how things can get competitive and overwhelming, but that’s where I feel like my purpose in life of helping others kicks in. As an entrepreneur, I am the most proud of how well I represent my business when I’m outside and at events. I am very proud how much time and investment I put into my brand to create a standard that people won’t forget, I want the world to know that I am a Young Black Female Entrepreneur who is breaking generational curses and creating my own lane of Black Excellence! If I can do it, so can you!
What matters most to you?
The 4 things that matter to me are God, Time, Love, and Family/Friends. God will always be my number one, not because I grew up in church but because I got to experience him for myself. When I feel defeated and discouraged, he has his own way of giving me reassurance and that he has my back. Becoming a business owner has encouraged me to grow a stronger relationship with him because I realized I couldn’t do everything by myself. Time is so precious and I learned to not take it for granted. I used to spend so much time at work that I never made space to enjoy myself, especially being in my middle twenties. I started making the best of time and creating memories with things I love to do, travel, networking, and having fun with friends/family. I enjoy myself so much that I take pictures and videos everywhere I go because one day they’ll just be memories. Love should be given freely to everyone because you truly never know what someone is going through. I make it my duty every day to be nice and kind-hearted, not for the person but for me because it feels good being a light to others. Family and friends share a big piece of my heart! I’m the only child and I have a small family, so we always make it a must to do family dinners, outings, and holidays. I always tell myself I have the best friends in the whole world! They are truly sisters that I’ve never had and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. God has truly blessed me with a phenomenal support system.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagaro.com/us04/waxedfigurellc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waxedfigure/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waxedfigure
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/SVior8nWkg0
