Meet Alyssa Daniel

We recently connected with Alyssa Daniel and have shared our conversation below.

Alyssa, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

It all began when I was a couple months away from graduating cosmetology school. My friend was taking an eyelash extension class and asked if I wanted to join. At the time I wanted to take as many classes as I could to explore my options of what I can specialize in. I ended up taking the class with her and ended up loving it! Little did I know that was my stepping stone to what I have built today. I graduated a couple months later and moved out to Florida to join my husband who was in the military at the time. I spent a couple months trying to find a job as a lash tech and let me tell you that it was not easy. I was a beginner and still had so much to learn as I just graduated and moved to the area. Just when I was about to quit a salon hired me as a lash tech near the beach! This is where I would call my second home for 4 years as I grew my skills and learned so much about the lash industry its self. These 4 years were not easy with the amount of ups and downs that I would experience. I never realized until the moment I began my business was that doing lashes is my purpose. The happiness, smiles, confidence, and ease that would come from each of my clients made my heart fill with warmth. Hearing the stories about their lives, how they can have a moment to relax, knowing they have a friend to ease their stress by providing a beauty service makes all the hardships worth it. The bonds I have created with each of my clients is something I wish everyone to experience at least once. I know this all sounds crazy for what seems like a simple beauty service. But at the end of my day I know I made a difference in someone’s life by making them more confident, or made someone’s day just a little bit better by giving them a moment to relax without disturbance. It may seem small to some but its everything to me and what my business stands for.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I do eyelash extensions! Although I do provide other lash and brow services, but I specialize in custom eyelash extensions and color matching eyelash extensions. Being able to provide in custom looks and specialty lash colors is exciting! Each set is fully customized to each client who comes in my door. I base your look on your eye shape, natural lash length, face shape, and size of your eyes. Color matching lashes add a bit more by matching eyelash extensions to your natural color, or for those with pigment conditions I will match to the condition and your natural color to create a beautiful look. These details create a special experience with each individual who comes in. Not everyone has the same eye shape or wants the same style, so by this we should become more inclusive with lashes by providing many lengths, shapes, and colors. Being able to provide and deliver this amount of detail to my clients makes all the difference. I believe all service workers in this industry should push themselves to go above and beyond to ensure that they are giving the best experience to everyone who comes to visit them. Providing these services as a brand makes me feel proud of what I am creating and having others know that there are lash artists out there who will listen and pay attention to the details to give you the best results.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three skills I believe were most impactful in my journey is my work ethic, being able to take criticism, and self awareness. I grew up watching my dad strive to go to work everyday and be a manager that puts his customers first and makes sure that they have a great experience. Seeing that while growing up created the same work ethic to put the client first. Each and every one of them deserve an experience that betters their day and have them knowing they have a trusted professional to return to. Having a great work ethic is important in the early stages of your journey. It’s going to be tough and emotional when you first begin but putting in the hard work and showing up everyday creates a difference that you may not notice at the beginning but it will pay off in the end. As long as your working as hard as you can it will pay off when it is time! Taking criticism is the second biggest skill that has a huge impact, especially in the beauty industry. As you grow your experience you are going to hit some bumps on the way. I always tell others at the beginning you will not please everyone! And that is okay! I use to take criticism to heart and be bummed about it for days. Until I realized that not taking the criticism and making tweaks to my process is actually hurting my learning process. Taking the criticism and making those changings will better your service quality and push you to learn new ways to do things to create an outcome that you and your client will love! And who knows, you might run into the same thing again but this time you will have a solution and avoid that criticism again. Its not easy to improve right away on taking criticism but know that no way is perfect, there are always changes you can make to make it better! I always tell people to not take it personal! It is a perfect learning opportunity for you and will help you better your process. Having self awareness is important to me. You need to be able to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, recognize others feelings and needs, and seeing how other perceive you. A way to improve on this is putting yourself in the clients position. How comfortable are you? Is there more you can do to provide an exceptional service to your client? What are things you look for when you are getting a service done? Asking yourself these questions from a clients point of view will point you to your strengths and weaknesses. It is great to do this every now and then once a while to keep up on your service quality. You need to be able to see and recognize your thoughts, feelings, and actions as well as others being able to perceive you. I believe these three skills are the key to anyone’s journey and put you on a path to succeed!

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I am thankful to have so many people in my life that have helped me overcome my challenges or helped build and develop the essential qualities. Ever since I was a kid my dad has been one of the hardest workers I know. And whenever I would go to work with him the qualities and skills he would show to his customers and workers has held the standard to what I do for my clients nowadays. This quality is something I have always looked up to him, no matter what kind of a day it was he would go above and beyond to others and especially his family. Current day my in laws are a huge help when I need to bounce business decision ideas off of someone or ask what I can do better as a business and service provider. Since they also have their own business they have been a blessing helping me and recommending sources to me to make everything just a little bit easier. Along with them I also have my husband. I have known him for over half of my life and he has always been so supportive and will drop everything to help me overcome a challenge. He is someone I can always turn to when I am having a challenge in my business, he will help figure out a solution that will better my business in the end. It takes a village to give you the knowledge, skills, and qualities that help you day to day. It is hard to pick one influential person in my life when I have so much support. But at the end of the day I truly cannot thank my dad, in laws, and husband for what I have created for myself today.

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Makaylaearlphotography

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