We were lucky to catch up with Karol Gonzalez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Karol , so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?
Self-care is a priority in my life today. I have finally understood that I cannot advance professionally or personally unless I learn how to take care of myself first.
Stress, crazy schedules, work and even social gatherings have a strong impact on your body and mind, if you are unable to balance those, your effectiveness at dealing with every day situations or activities will decrease. Because of this, I try to manage my time wisely and leave some room for self-care activities that remind me to slow down and take a moment to simply be.
I start my day with a 30 min walk and I like to listen to a podcast, I take this time mostly for myself and I try to stay away from my phone, so no calls no texts.
I try to get into a yoga class at least 3 times a week, this really helps me focus and stretch my body, as a holistic esthetician I need to stretch A LOT to keep my back strong and healthy!
I practice face yoga all the time, I consider my gua sha sessions the most relaxing self-care ritual ever. I take my time doing them and really embrace the feeling of every glide, allowing me to relax from an entire stressful day.
I love spending time with my friends so I make sure to get at least one night out with them every week to make some time for silly games, jokes, and laughing. Spending time with people you love and enjoy doing things with is one of the best ways to practice self-care and recharge positively, keep your mind active and happy, plus it boosts your “happy” hormones, which in turn reduces stress in your life.
Overall, I believe life is all about balance, there are good days and there are bad days, what matters is how you deal with them. The faster you learn that stressing all day every day is not going to make you more effective, the easier everything will be, not only will slowing down increase your effectiveness but it will also help you achieve better results.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m one of the founders at Habits Skin Lab, a holistic skincare studio. We are proud to be one of Miami’s most visited self-care spot, we have a wonderful team of holistic estheticians that focus on healing the skin through face yoga, sculpting massages, gentle ingredients and modern natural lifting techniques.
I focus on face yoga massages, it’s a passion of mine to help others find a way to naturally balance their skin without going through a crazy amount of cosmetic treatments. I’ve been traveling and learning new techniques to bring back to Miami and upgrade our audience’s self-care experience. We are known for our Buccal Facial Massage and our focus on Korean Skincare and Sculpting Massages.
I recently introduced a new service called Habits Signature Facial, an incredibly hydrating and relaxing facial filled with massages, Korean Skincare meant to calm and reduce inflammation, led light therapy, scalp massage, oxygen therapy and the most incredible sculpting facial massages. The skin is left feeling so smooth and silky, the texture improves immediately. It’s by far one of my favorite facials at Habits, and I can’t wait for our community to try it. We launched it the second week of January.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Discipline, hard work and not being afraid of asking questions are the 3 main mindsets that helped me on my journey. Miami is a wonderful place to be at, but it can get hard sometimes if you don’t have it in you to keep pushing and reinventing yourself. Learning is everything, expanding your skills is part of your journey at all times. By keeping these 3 things on my mind, I was able to grow my business and expand my passion to be able to create new projects.
On 2023 we launched our official workshop program for estheticians, where we provide training on some of our massage techniques to licensed estheticians. This has opened up an entire new world for us where we are able to impact someone else’s life by helping them shape their business, upgrade their treatment room, expand their skills, it is one of the most beautiful projects I have been able to participate in.
We have a wide selection of holistic esthetician workshops at habitskinlab.com, from buccal to face cupping & gua sha massage techniques, our esthies are here to show you that you can learn and achieve so much more every day!
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I take a step back and lay on the floor for about 15 minutes just looking at the ceiling. I stay way from my phone, computer or any other device that may have an impact on me. I focus on my breathing and dedicate those 15 mins for me only.
After that, I try to write down what it’s bothering me and what needs to be done, from there I make a list of priorities, which one should I focus on which one can wait for another time. Most of the time, being overwhelmed may come from being all over the place, sometimes organizing yourself a little bit better and asking yourself “is this really a priority?” can help you better understand what you need and how to deal with it, so you can stop feeling so overwhelmed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://habitskinlab.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/habitskinlab/?hl=en
