We recently connected with Katie Laster and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katie, thank you so much for agreeing to open up about a sensitive and personal topic like being fired or laid-off. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in layoffs recently and so your insight and experience with overcoming being let go is relevant to so many in the community.
I’m an esthetician and own my own business because I was laid off. Sometimes, the best thing can come out of the worst situation. I was a few months short of turning 30 and working at a startup company. Despite me actually enjoying this job, my coworkers and boss, it was still just another job that I knew was not going to last more than a few years. My boss told me they lost funding for my position and I was given my paycheck and some severance and that was it. Here I was, nearly 30, jobless again. I could go get another job that would last me a few years, or I could finally go to school to become an esthetician. It was something I was always interested in but could never figure out how to go to school and work full time while supporting myself. While on unemployment, I learned about a program where I could go to school full time and still receive benefits. I decided to take the leap. My former boss paid my application fee for the school and I started 2 weeks after my 30th birthday.
If I hadn’t have been laid off, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today and I’m thankful for that every single day.
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 remember the first time I heard someone say “esthetician” and I said, “estheWHAT?”. It’s still something I often have to explain to people, which to be fair, is understandable. I work in skincare. Estheticians typically perform two main things: facials and waxing, While I do wax, my passion is skincare and helping people understand their skin. When I opened my business, my main goal was to make every single person who walked through my door feel like they were with a friend. The beauty industry can be very intimidating, especially if you feel like you don’t fit into it. My goal is to help people find their perfect skin, what ever that might be. I don’t subscribe to a lot of beauty industry standards and I try to remind my clients that pores are normal. Texture is normal. Having a breakout is normal. If I can make someone feel better about themselves, even for just 60 minutes, I have done my job.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Hustle, hustle and hustle. When I was in esthetics school, we had a speaker come in and told us that 1 in 5 of us won’t be doing this in 5 years. That stuck with me. This career was not an easy path and I now understand that statistic. I understood I had to hustle for this. The competition is fierce. There’s an esthetician on every corner and I have to stand out. This was no longer just a job, this was a career now. I stayed late, volunteered to help out, took continuing education and accepted any promotion given. A strong work ethic will take you far.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Someone who is ready to do the work. Skincare is a journey and most people want instant results. My ideal client is the one who comes in ready to work on their skin concerns, willing to invest in treatments and skincare and trusts the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: Maydayskincarela.com
- Instagram: @maydayskincarela
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mayday-skincare-burbank-2?uid=_4DxviVRIJf7V-8_55ObZw&utm_source=ishare
Image Credits
All photos by Susie Delaney
