Meet Kristin Thompson

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristin Thompson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristin, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I think that my work ethic is mostly thanks to actually loving my career and constantly wanting to learn more and be able to offer more to my clients. Sometimes that can come with downsides too. I often have to tell myself to focus on the present, and what’s in front of me instead of always looking to see what comes next.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

After getting a degree in Graphic Design, I was looking for a new job and landed as a receptionist at a local salon. That’s where my career path completely changed. I fell in love with the salon atmosphere and seeing women leave feeling so much more confident. That’s when I decided to start cosmetology school.

A cosmetology license allows you to perform a plethora of other services and I knew very early on that I would want to get certified in lash extensions as soon as I graduated in 2014.

I was really blessed with the salon that I worked at who helped me get new clients and get my hands on as many heads of hair and set of lashes as possible. It’s always scary starting a new career but diving in head first is one way to learn a lot while also being humbled! As my career continued to grow, so did my ambitions and ideas for the future.

In February 2020, two co-workers and I made a dream become a reality as we opened up our own 3 person hair and lash salon! Right before getting shut down in March 2020. But we survived and came back busier than ever!

As my love for lashes continued to grow, I started learning about new brow services that I wanted to offer. That’s where I first started off with brow lamination, mapping and tint. Throughout my brow journey, I realized that I was falling short with a huge clientele that really would benefit from permanent make up (such as microblading and powder brows). That was something I always have wanted to offer but I just thought that it was a dream that was just out of reach. But, like I mentioned earlier, I have this trait of always looking for more and what I can do next. So I went for it! And I took the classes and did the necessary steps to get licensed as a Permanent Make Up Artist!

I can honestly say that I love where I am in my career. I’m focusing on gaining stills in Permanent Brows and still absolutely loving all things brows and lashes.

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?

That is a great question… I think I would say
1: Consistency. You won’t get better at something if you don’t keep practicing. Repetition and practice help you learn what works and what doesn’t work, while also helps you do the job more efficiently.

2: Be open to constructive criticism. Put your work in front of others and ask people with more experience how you can improve. It helps build a thicker skin while also helping you learn new perspectives.

3: Be personable. One huge thing I’ve learned about my industry is that you attract people with your skills, but you keep them because of your personality and the relationship you build.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

A little over a year ago I took a course called The Thriving Stylist by Britt Seva. Taking the course and listening to her podcasts have been super super helpful with my business. She really opened my eyes to what clients are expecting, how you can gain trust and nurture the relationship you build with your clients. Her course goes over all of the essentials that you need to be successful. And her podcast gives the tough love/truth that people in our industry need to hear and be aware of. She is so knowledgeable and it has made a huge difference in my career and business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.auralashandbeauty.com
• Instagram: @kthompsonstylist
• Facebook: @kthompsonstylist

Image Credits

Kayla Raquel Photo