We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natalie Anchondo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natalie below.
Hi Natalie, 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 would have to say that my work ethic was taught to me from my dad.
I come from a humble family, neither one of my parents ever attended college and there are seven children total. I am the youngest of those seven children.
Now, although we may not have had a lot of money growing up somehow we were always taken care of. My dad used to drive an hour and half, work a full day, drive home, sleep a few hours, get up and work through the night, come home, sleep a couple hours and do it all over again. I don’t think I’ve ever known someone as hard working as my dad.
My mom as well. Having a lot of kids is no easy feat and on top of that her and my dad worked together during the night. They had a carpet cleaning business and would go clean restaurants during the night so they could make ends meet.
During my childhood our parents also never gave us anything just because we wanted it. If I wanted to buy a toy then I had to earn it. Raking leaves, mowing the lawn, gardening, doing whatever it was that my parents assigned me to do. We always had to earn what we wanted and to this day I really believe that it has helped me. I have never expected anyone to give me anything and I have always been willing to work for whatever I have wanted. In addition, I believe that being raised this way has helped me to be more appreciative of the things I do have.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I opened my business three years ago in the middle of covid in the middle of my living room. My business had humble beginnings, but by adding value to my services and studying hard to know and understand skin my business quickly began to grow. Friends would come and get a facial and that friend would tell a friend and so on. In nine months I was so busy I had to move my business to a brick and mortar location.
Currently, I have changed from being a solo esthetician to owning my own medspa. I have one employee, Laura, and she is amazing. Laura and I went to school together and she is very detail oriented and smart. She is a great aesthetician. I couldn’t have picked a better employee to help me grow my business.
Laura and I help other people feel confident in their skin. We use medical grade products to help people get results in shorter time, we do treatments that get results, and we also educate people on how to best take care of their skin. We love helping to build up our community and to help people feel confident again. It really is a special thing to see someone’s whole demeanor change just because their skin is glowing.
I think the most important thing about Lux n’ Lavish Esthetics is that we aren’t out to make a sale. A sale is nothing to us if we aren’t making a change for our clients. The process, the change, the outcome…these things are all very important to us because we didn’t become aestheticians to sell you a moisturizer, we became aestheticians because we believe in helping people feel amazing and we believe in the power of good skin…we just want to offer that to everyone we can.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the best three qualities about myself that helped Lux n’ Lavish Esthetics grow were my:
Stick-to-itiveness: (Yes that’s a word) I really did show up every day. If there was a day where I ended up without any clients…I still went to work and tried to figure out how I could get clients in the next day. Being an aesthetician you have to be able to gain trust from your clients and community and it’s a tricky thing. I had to show up everyday, study all the time, and show people that I was trustworthy.
Inquisitiveness: I was always looking into new services I could offer, new skill sets I could acquire and always trying to read and understand my job in depth. I always say, in every profession you have the people that are just there to work and then there are the people who really want to make a difference by using their skill set. I am a person who has always wanted to make a difference and so I am constantly wanting to know new things and acquire new skills so that one day I can be better than I am now.
Welcoming: I really do believe that this is part of why I have been successful. I think being welcoming and inviting to your customers can make a huge difference. It can be the difference of someone coming in, getting a service and never coming back or the same person coming in, getting a service and leaving to tell five friends about their experience. I want to always be the latter.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
The biggest area of growth and improvement hasn’t necessarily come from me solely but it has come from making my one man show into a bigger, better business by adding my employee. I am a new mom, I have a 7 month old and it has been very difficult. Not just because I have a baby but because our baby had surgery at 18 days and the stress and appointments following that have yet to subside. However, having an employee that is willing to work, that is kind and empathetic, it has been a game changer for me.
I was really trying to be the janitor, accountant, secretary, manager, employee and everything else in-between while also being a mom and running this business. Laura stepped in and has been the best employee and such a saving grace in my life. There were days that I would feel so overwhelmed that I just didn’t know where to even start with all the things I had to get done. However, it’s actually so unrealistic for any business owner to be trying to play every part in their business. It’s also unhealthy. You may pay to have an employee, you may take a pay cut, but you gain freedom and peace and that is worth every penny.
I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it wasn’t for my employee because she has allowed me to be a mom and a business owner and I truly grateful to have her working with me. She has been a great attribution to my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luxnlavishesthetics.com
- Instagram: @luxnlavishesthetics
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/luxnlavishesthetics
Image Credits
Aiyana Lewis
