We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia “Jewlz” Noriega a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Julia “Jewlz”, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I entered the work field at the young age at 14. I attended a high school with a work study program. I began my internship my freshman year of high school and continued throughout my senior year at a commercial building real estate firm. Along with my internship, I was a hostess for a restaurant on the weekends right when I was able to work at age 16. The foundation of my work ethic began at these two jobs. They instilled principles and standards that I utilize in my business today. I learned at a young age the responsibility that comes with having a job; such as arriving on time, wearing the correct uniform and how to treat customers. These are all practices I implement in my business today and what has gotten me the success I have. Without this foundation I truly don’t believe I would be able to run my business at the level at which I currently run it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a Licensed Esthetician who opened a solo business in an extremely uncertain time, aka 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic. Although many people doubted my capability of being successful during this time I knew I was destined for greatness. I was certain my passion for skincare and helping others would allow me to prosper during these unpredictable times. At the time while most were still skeptical about going out in public, there was another percentage of people sick of being cooped up in the house willing to go out and invest in their well being. Since opening my doors in September 2020, I have been very successful and have performed over 2,200+ services on a variety of clients. I believe it should be treated as any other medical routine screening such as teeth cleanings or check ups (if not more often if you’re dealing with skin conditions such as: acne or rosacea). I absolutely love what I do and I am fully confident it shows in my work and client retention rate. I am passionate about helping others in their skincare journey and boosting their confidence whether it’s through smoothing post acne scars with Microneedling or enhancing their natural lashes with a lash lift and tint!
My mission is to make facials known as a necessity rather than a luxury. After all, the skin IS your largest organ. One of the main functions of the skin is protection. It protects the body from external factors such as bacteria, chemicals, and temperature. Something exciting that has recently happened for my business is expanding my “glow team!” Entering year three of business I felt it was necessary to add another member to my business to assist me in taking more clients. Marisol “Mari” Miranda (@marisol.n.glow) is my very first employee/glow team member and I couldn’t be more excited! She recently earned her Esthetician License and went through extensive training with me that has built her confidence and skills to begin taking her own clients! It has been one of my ultimate goals since entering the work field to be a leader and guide others in a positive work environment that they can thrive in, mentally and financially! I look forward to seeing the growth of my business and know the skies and beyond truly are the limit!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
One of the most important qualities of an Esthetician, for me, is having unique value. This is an oversaturated market, so being able to stand out in your own way is crucial or you will simply drown in the sea of Estheticians. I treat my clients the way I would want to be treated. I respect my clients and my clients respect me. After all, without them my business would not have succeeded. So if you’re wanting to improve your services, I suggest becoming familiar with other services from other providers in the wellness industry and to then pick out qualities/skills that you enjoy or that resonate with you and implement them in your own business. Second, communication & active listening is crucial in this field. We as Estheticians are doing an exchange of energy. Sometimes clients come in to vent while others are simply looking to relax. It is important to communicate with your client to see what they’re wanting from that service. I personally can feel out the energy but if you can’t there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking the client what they prefer. Also, knowing when to give advice and when to simply listen is very important. Not everyone is looking for an opinion, they just want an unbiased third party/friend to listen to them vent. We are basically unlicensed therapists. I believe you either have this skill or don’t. If anything, maybe read books on how to be a better listener. Third, creativity plays a vital role in running a successful business. I have created all my marketing posts and pride myself on how aesthetically pleasing, yet informative they are. Nobody is going to pay attention to a dud post. I personally look past them all the time. In this day and age of short attention spans you have 10 seconds (or less) to grab the clients attention. So you better make sure you make the most out of the little time you have by making the post interesting and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. There’s plenty of free workshops and books that exist on how to improve on this. But you can tell when someone genuinely loves to create and when it’s forced, so if you don’t enjoy it I suggest hiring someone that does it for a living. Creative marketing will definitely assist you in standing out in this oversaturated market.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
As a business owner it is quite easy to feel overwhelmed. Especially in this day and age of social media it is SO difficult not to compare yourself to others in your industry. Whenever I feel myself getting overwhelmed or find myself comparing my progress to others I remind myself to take a step back and look back at how far I’ve come in my own journey. There’s this picture I saw on twitter once of a little stick figure on a mountain looking ahead at how far it had left to accomplish then the next slide said “but look how far you’ve come,” and it shows all the accomplishments they reached thus far. It’s easy to get caught up in a web of negativity, but practicing gratitude and grounding yourself is what helps you get out of that funk. Always take time to thank God, the universe (whatever you believe in), for how far you have come and for all that has yet to happen. Trust in the process and yourself. Believe that God and the universe’s timing has your best interest at heart. When you are ready to receive the blessings they will come!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/jewlznglow
- Instagram: @jewlznglow
- Facebook: Jewlz N’ Glow
- Other: https://bookwjewlznglow.as.me/schedule
Image Credits
Professional Headshots by: @Channel_Purple / Instagram
