We were lucky to catch up with Hayley Wood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hayley, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
At this point in my life, self-care is a non-negotiable to me. It’s part of my daily practices to help me feel well, accomplished, and to continue growing as a person. But it wasn’t always that way. The idea of self-care wasn’t something that I grew up with. It’s not anything I really witnessed other than what I was told was vain or selfish practices such as going to the salon or taking a day off without cause. It took into my adulthood to realize how important and nuanced self-care looked to each individual.
Back in 2019 I was diagnosed with endometriosis which is a chronic illness that can lead to full body inflammation and pain. One of the main symptoms I struggle with is having a lot of difficult digestive issues such as severe food intolerances and painful bloating. For years, I felt trapped in my body until I realized that daily habits can make or break my pain spells. These habits I started to learn were true acts of self-care. Taking the time to shop and prepare my foods, learning new recipes, and enjoying the art of cooking became a great form of self care as it not only helped me feel better but prepared my body to navigate the tasks of cooking even in times of pain.
The more you practice self-care habits, the better prepared you are when things in life go out of whack. Self-care helped break loops of destructive or survival-driven habits for me as I slowly learned to take care of myself instead of doing what I thought was “normal” for everyone else. Self-care really is about learning how to take care of you and no one will ever know what you need better than yourself.
Another way I have found retain self-care practices is to listen to my younger self and honor them. I often reflect on what my inner 13 year old teenage girl would have wanted and more often than not, it’s still a great choice for my authentic self. From taking a dance class, to spending a few extra minutes adorning myself with jewelry and doing my hair, to stepping into my divine feminine. The effectiveness of my self-care when it comes to honoring my younger self has been the most impactful in my life. Plus it’s brought me so much joy.
I’ve been a facialist for 18 years and I always try to remind my clients that the act of taking care of yourself can have a huge impact on not only our individual selves, but also our community. Knowing that I didn’t see true self-care growing up, I realize the impact that parents and other family members have on each other when they show up with true acts of self-care. It’s a powerful tool that I’m so grateful to have learned along the way.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I have been an esthetician since 2006 and have owned my own practice, Therapeutic Skin Coach since 2014. I founded Therapeutic Skin Coach after I struggled with severe case of shingles that opened up my eyes to the toxicity of ingredients in my industry. Starting out with taking clients out of the living room of the 1 bedroom apartment I shared with my husband (boyfriend at the time), I realize that so many people were searching for a more holistic approach to skincare. The need to keep up with trends and to avoid aging altogether is not what you get with my offerings. I focus on an individual approach to long-lasting skin health. From ancient modalities like gua sha to modern massage techniques that impact the whole body like manual lymphatic drainage. My focus is using safe and effective skincare products and methods for all while helping them learn how to honor themselves through skincare. I originally started my business in Los Angeles, California but relocated to Dallas, Texas in 2022.
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?
3 things I found to be most impactful on my personal and business journey include:
1 – Self-advocacy is key to my health and business success. You have to know what you want and need in order to succeed. More people will tell you no than yes, but it only takes 1 to truly see and hear you to change the course of your life.
2 – Mistakes are our biggest lessons. If you don’t let yourself be wrong about something, you’ll never grow. As a business owner, I’ve made plenty of mistakes that have caused me to redirect in ways that only benefited me. As a younger person, mistakes were extremely hard for me to take on but they are an inevitable teacher of life. No one is immune to them, we just all learn from them differently.
3 – Always be a student. Even after having a fair amount of success with my business, I still feel like there’s so much to learn. The longer you are in a profession that has to do with people, the more you stay open to learning more and more as you go. You can pull from experiences you’ve had but you need to look at each case with fresh eyes and an openness to their journey. This also applies to my personal life. The more I learned about my condition, the more I stay open to adapting to possible new approaches to help me feel better.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My current obstacle is learning to allow my health to be priority. I’ve been conditioned to put my work ahead of my needs that I have a long history of ignoring symptoms just to keep with my work flow. This is something I know many people, especially women face. The cycle of a 5 day workweek with 9-5 hours doesn’t work for everyone so managing a business has been an opportunity for me to reevaluate my output. Many holistic estheticians are so eager to give to their clients and that can often come at the expense of our own health. How I’m navigating this obstacle is taking each day at a time and truly prioritizing my recovery in between clients. This includes stretching, movement, getting all my nutrition in, and honoring my energy levels. It’s not something I intuitively know how to do so I’m learning to step outside of my comfort zone and put my health needs above all else.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.therapeuticskincoach.com
- Instagram: @therapeuticskincoach
Image Credits
destynie paige photography
