Meet Destiny Hatton

We were lucky to catch up with Destiny Hatton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Destiny, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Building my confidence and self-esteem may be a lifelong, ongoing process as it is for so many. I’ve really only been able to look at myself with more than a critiquing eye the past few months of 2025.
I’ve always been quite tall at 5’9 and have ranged from 100-120 pounds if lucky my whole adult life: as a kid growing up, my height and thin frame were easy pickings for school bullies, especially in high school. They even had a pretty nasty nickname for me: “Big Bird.” I have a fairly large nose, especially for my face, so that plus my height gave them fuel to be cruel to a young girl’s appearance.
Situations like that in my life shaped my perspective of myself for a really, really long time. Constantly hearing how people view you from the outside in such negative ways created a mental block in my brain that I still struggle to break down today. I started to begin to shift my viewpoint once I became an adult and strangers or family or coworkers would make comments like:
“I wish I had such a fast metabolism.”
“You have the body type of a model.”
“You should try modeling.”
“You’ll be grateful for the body type you have as you age.”
“People wish they had your body, they starve themselves for that.”
While it seems silly to put so much weight on more outside opinions of myself; the complete 180 change in tone is what started the spark to help me. I started to realize everyone will have a different opinion of everything. You can’t please everyone, you won’t be everyone’s idea of perfection, so it doesn’t matter what they have to say at the end of it all. The only opinion of yourself that has any weight…is your own.
After spending nearly 4 years of my life, from 18 to 22, unsure of what path I wanted for my life and unsure what kind of person I wanted to be and surrouding myself with toxic and negative people and habits; I realized I can be and achieve everything I want in life. I started to look at myself differently, almost with whole new eyes, and I see a work in progress when I look in the mirror, but I also see the progress that has already been made, and that has and will continue to be the confidence that drives me to keep improving myself and buliding that self-esteem until it’s no longer a doubt in my mind.
Deciding and succeeding in becoming an esthetician also did wonders for my confidence: not only because I began a new cycle of good habits and routines for myself, but I also get the pleasure of helping others build their confidence with something so simple as a facial or eyebrow wax. I love being able to promote and nurture healthy and positive feelings associated with one’s appearance since that’s something I wished for growing up!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Destiny Hatton. I am a licensed Kentucky esthetician as well as a certified lash extension artist and a permanent jewelry artist. I specialize in anti-aging treatments and eyebrow services! I graduated from the Summit Salon Academy (Lexington, KY) in December of 2024 and have been a solo esthetician at Skin Studio by Destiny since April of 2025.
I decided to take a chance and go solo because I wanted to create a space of my own making, focusing on providing quality treatments and services for everybody to enjoy. I especially wanted to be able to price my services lower so it could be more accessible. I believe skincare and beauty treatments shouldn’t be an unattainable luxury. Skin issues are a huge insecurity for so many people, and everyone deserves to feel and look their best! I hope to continue to grow my skills and business so that, one day, I can achieve a career dream of mine of opening my own salon and spa. I would love to create a beautiful environment for other beauty professionals, like myself, to be able to grow and learn in.
My current focus for my professional life is to move my esthetic business closer to my home in Cynthiana in early 2026 to a store I began working at that focuses on natural skin, body, home, and health products. I hope to merge a more natural approach into the services I provide as well! Later in 2026 or early 2027, I also intend to return to school to get my instructor’s license to broaden my knowledge and qualifications!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

While I am a pretty independent and quick learner, and tend to be able to teach myself what I need to know. There were a few areas I would definitely advise anyone who wants to pursue esthetics to pay extra attention to and give more time to learn:
1. Know your product and ingredient knowledge! You cannot ever know what products a client needs or what is safe if you do not take that extra time to learn all the ingredients. Don’t skim over that in school AND always keep educating yourself in the years that follow. Don’t ever not know the answers when a client asks for recommendations or what ingredients are a contradiction to medical issues! You are only as good as your knowledge!!
2. Build relationships! Whether it’s with past teachers in school, clients, coworkers, other professionals, anyone and everyone is worthy of building a relationship with! Always try to be networking and promoting yourself in a positive way. Learn customer service skills, learn to speak in public, ask for collabs, etc. Never be scared to talk to new people!
3. Know your limits! You don’t have to offer every service you’re licensed to do or get every extra certifications just because. You can pick what you love to do most or are the best at and specialize in that first, then expand your service list. Don’t be mediocre at every service, be amazing at a few then start adding more!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

In my personal life when I’m overwhelmed, I love to do some self-care to reset. It can be as simple as lighting a candle and taking a hot bath with a face mask on while watching awful TLC shows. To pulling out my vast collection of crystals to set intentions and burn candles for cleansing and protection, and manifesting positive energy.
In my professional life when I’m overwhelmed, I love to gather my friends to model for me so I can practice and refine whatever skill or service I’m feeling anxious about, or I like to deep clean my space and spruce it up for a new feel.
While everyone is different and copes in different ways, there is always something to ease the fears you’re feeling at times. It’s a natural part of life in general and in your career but don’t let it take over, face it head on!

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