Microblading Lounge

Day 14/40. “I wish I would’ve done this sooner.” 7 years she waited!

Honestly, that’s one of the most common things I hear at touch-up appointments.

Carol came in for her touch-up, and we ended up talking about what it was actually like living with her new brows over the last several weeks.

Not the appointment.

Not the procedure.

The real day-to-day experience.

And her answer made me smile.

She loves them.

Her daughter loves them.

And she kept coming back to the same thing:

She wishes she hadn’t waited so long.

I completely understand why women hesitate.

It’s your face.

It’s a tattoo.

It’s an investment.

Those are all valid reasons to take your time and do your research.

But when the work is done thoughtfully and naturally, the payoff isn’t just how your brows look.

It’s how much easier your mornings become.

It’s the confidence of waking up and already feeling put together.

It’s one less thing to think about every day.

Do you want to see more behind-the-scenes conversations like this with my clients?

Let me know below. 🤍

Day 13/40: People assume my biggest fear about opening a PMU business was the financial risk

It wasn’t.

It wasn’t failing either.

What actually scared me was being seen.

Putting my name on something.

Having people know it was me — every decision, every result, every misstep — out in the open with nowhere to hide if it didn’t work.

For a long time, that fear looked like hiding behind the work.

Behind the before-and-afters.

Behind the business.

I didn’t show up on camera because being visible felt uncomfortable.

That fear didn’t disappear when the business started succeeding. It just changed shape.

Instead of “What if I fail?”

It became:

“What if people realize I don’t have it all figured out?”

Spoiler: nobody does. And I realize this late in the game.

I think a lot of women believe they’re afraid of taking the risk.

Or failing.

But I don’t think that’s the real fear.

I think the real fear is being visible and having it not go perfectly in front of everyone watching.

If that’s what’s been holding you back, I want you to know something:

That fear never fully goes away.

You just learn to build anyway.

And honestly, that’s what I’m doing right now.

Drop a 🤎 if this resonated.

Day 12/40. Nobody tells you that sometimes the right call is to walk away from the tattoo.

Early in my business - back in my first tiny salon suite - a client came in with one of the most challenging brow shapes I’d worked with. Almost a half circle. Mid to late fifties.

I mapped her a shape that opened up her eyes and took years off her face. Beautiful work. But she wasn’t used to seeing her brows look like that, and it threw her off.

She wanted her natural shape tattooed instead - the half circle she’d always had.

Here’s what nobody tells you about this job: brow mapping is a partnership. It’s my work and artistry. But it’s your face and natural beauty. We have to agree before I pick up a tool.

We didn’t agree. And I wasn’t willing to tattoo something I didn’t believe in just to finish the appointment.

So I refused the service. She left that day without getting her brows done.

That was one of the hardest moments of my early career. But it taught me something I still carry with me, protecting your standard sometimes costs you the sale in the moment. And that’s okay.

Save this if you’re building a PMU career. You’ll need this lesson eventually.

There’s a part 3 to this series coming. It’s about a student, not a client! Follow along. 🤎

I interviewed my 10-year-old about what I do for a living… listen to his unfiltered raw responses 😆 I think he did good!

A few highlights:

✨ People get their brows done because they need “a fix.”
(He meant shape, fullness, symmetry… but we’ll let that slide.)

✨ The hardest part about learning brows?
“If you mess up, you can’t turn it back.”

Honestly… that’s a pretty solid explanation of why proper training matters.

✨ How much do brows cost?
“$500 to $700.”

Apparently somebody has been listening to my client conversations. 👀

✨ Why do people trust me with their face?

“Because you’ve been doing it for so long that you’ve mastered it.”

And then he reminded me I’ve worked on over 2,000 clients.

Not going to lie… that one got me. 🥹

Building a business while raising kids is a wild thing.

One minute you’re trying to explain permanent makeup to them, and the next they’re explaining your business back to you.

I wouldn’t have it any other way!🤎

I ask every single client how they found us.

Google. Social media. Referrals. Those are the answers I usually get.

The other day a client sat down in my chair and I asked her the same question.

Her answer stopped me mid-sentence.

ChatGPT.

She told me she typed in exactly what she was looking for in a PMU artist, her criteria, her location, what mattered to her and I came up in the top five results.

She then read our reviews. And booked.

I sat with that for a long time after she left.

Not because I didn’t know AI was changing things. I knew that. I use it myself every single day in my business.

But because I never expected it to walk through my door and sit in my chair.

Here’s what I took from it:

Your reputation online is no longer just for humans scrolling Instagram at midnight.

AI is reading your reviews. Your website. Your content. And it’s forming opinions about your business based on what it finds.

Your digital footprint has never mattered more.

For every woman building a PMU business right now, this is your sign.

Show up online. Get your reviews. Build your presence. Not just for the algorithm.

For the client who hasn’t found you yet. Through whatever means she uses to look.

Has this happened to you? Drop it below! I’m genuinely curious. 👇🤎

I have a prediction.

We’re about to see more women leave their 9-to-5 and build beauty careers than ever before. (Doesn’t even have to be beauty)

And I don’t think it’s just about the money.

The traditional career path used to feel like the safe choice.
Stable.
Predictable.
A clear ladder to climb.

But lately, that ladder seems less and less worth climbing.
The burnout is real.
The ceiling is real.

And that little voice asking, “Is this really it?” is real too.

Beauty careers—and PMU specifically—offer something many traditional jobs don’t.

More flexibility.
More ownership.
More control over your schedule.

And your income becomes tied to your skill, your reputation, and the relationships you build

I opened my studio in 2020.
Zero guaranteed income.

And it still turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Because betting on my own skill felt safer than betting on someone else’s company.

Lately, I’m noticing more and more women quietly researching this path.
Building a plan.
Learning a skill.
Getting closer to making the leap.

If that’s you, I want to hear from you.

Are you considering a career change into beauty or PMU?
Or have you already made the jump?
Drop it below. 👇🤎

Day 8/40. I’m going to tell you something I’ve never really talked about publicly.

Early in my business I showed up to work one morning and there was a notice on my door from the Department of Health.

I couldn’t operate until I passed inspection.

To this day I don’t know who reported me or how they found out. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that I had to cancel over two weeks of clients, figure out what compliance even looked like, and prepare for an inspection I had no idea was coming.

Nobody told me this was part of running a PMU business. It wasn’t in my training. It wasn’t in the certification. I just opened my doors and started working and assumed that was enough.

It wasn’t.

I passed the inspection. I came back. I kept building.

But that experience changed how I teach.

Because inside The Lounge Academy, licensing and Department of Health compliance isn’t an afterthought.

It’s one of the first things we cover. Because the last thing I want is for one of my students to show up to work and find a notice on her door.

The technique is only part of what you need to know.

Save this as a reminder, if you’re building a PMU business, make sure you know what your state and county require. Don’t wait to find out the hard way like I did.

That’s what real training prepares you for.

🫶🏽✌🏼T