Meet Kiyana Mcclellan

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kiyana Mcclellan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kiyana, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

I have learned to be successful despite being the only person in the room that looks like me by being authentic to myself and my feelings at that time. I feel like we are often entering rooms, trying portray our best selves to others in order to be liked. I feel that that doesn’t leave a lot of room for authenticity and openness to how a person arrives to the table in that in moment. I think the best way to enter rooms successfully while maintaining professionalism is always to lead with earnest feelings and integrity despite and in doing so you open up the room for more dialogue that can unveil similarities between you and people that don’t necessarily look like the same.

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?

My name is Kiana McClellan. I am a registered nurse and licensed aesthetician and owner operator of Opulent Skin aesthetic studio where I provide multicultural skin care services such as facials, chemical peels, and waxing. I have been in the aesthetics business for five years now and a registered nurse for a little under a year. I enjoy my dual career path because it allows me to get to know people in my community and aid in their health, wellness and beauty journeys. I’ve enjoyed beauty and caring for other since I was a little girl so I feel that these two careers were calling to my soul if you will. This spring, I will be going under a rebranding of my business to incorporate medical practice and aesthetics. My next goal in my career is to gain my family nurse practitioner credentials in order to expand my business into the medical aesthetics realm.

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?

I think there are three important areas that made the most impact in my journey, and I would say the first is proper financial education and backing. It’s important to know how to make your money work for you in business and when you have financial literacy you’re able to take your business further, another impactful area of knowledge would just be to know that you forever a student and that means that you’re forever gonna have to continue your education in whatever venture you pursue which enables you to have the most relevant information and data in your practice. Lastly, I think the most important qualities to have is tenacity and intestinal fortitude. In your pursuit of anything, you should know that it’s not a linear movement forward sometimes you go back sometimes you take steps to the side but throughout it all you have to keep going you have to keep growing.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I’m a Capricorn so of course I am a worker bee. I have worked very hard since I was 15 years old. I went to the military. I opened a couple businesses, went to college all while being a mom, so I’m known to keep myself wrapped up in a lot of things. Once I entered my 30s something just popped into my brain that told me when you’re feeling overwhelmed it’s OK to put things down for a while and get your mind right And sometimes you need to prioritize rest. I like to think of the brain as any other muscle in the body. After you work out so much and it does become overwhelmed. It can become fatigued. If you don’t give yourself a chance to rest and restore you can cause yourself more harm than good. So I think the biggest thing I allow myself to do when I get overwhelmed or flustered to take a second and just rest my mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Vagaro.com/opulentskinstudio

Image Credits

OpulentSkinStudio