It’s been a while since we did a Success Mondays feature, but we’re back now and with a bang!
I absolutely love doing these features on artists. It’s one of my favorite things of running this blog.
When I was just starting this business, reading success stories of online entrepreneurs helped make me feel like it was possible and helped kindle the little bit of that entrepreneurial fire that was burning in my head.
I know it does the same for you. That’s why I’m very excited to present today’s microblading entrepreneur, Tiffany Chen of Brow Beauté, a brow studio specializing in microblading in Toronto, Canada.
Like many techs in the microblading/pmu field, this is Tiffany’s second career.
So many of you have previous careers in accounting, business, real estate, nursing and more, yet now you found this field that you love and are passionate about like never before.
Tiffany comes from a career in the corporate business world of Hewlett-Packard. You know, the computers and printers.
(Speaking of entrepreneurs, guess how HP got started? Out of garage!)
We had a very pleasant chat with this lovely lady and learned a lot of great tips for upcoming artists. Check it out!
In The Beginning, There was Art
Tiffany had always been artistic, which is another common trait in so many of you. She always felt naturally inclined toward the arts, taking art history and photography classes in high school.
However, when it came to choosing what she was going to study in college, Tiffany’s “very typical Asian parents” dissuaded her from going into interior design. They wanted her to be a doctor.
“When I proposed that I wanted to go into the art field they asked ‘well, are you going to make money? Is it a secure career path? So I ended up going into science & business,'” she said, laughing.
Btw, Tiffany clearly didn’t miss out by not studying interior design in college, because she’s basically already a pro. She decorated her own studio and I just love how beautiful it looks. Tiffany, can you please decorate my office?
So she got through college and upon graduating went to work for HP. She worked there for 8 years doing marketing and business development. But, no matter how much she was thriving in her career, her artistic side was starving.
“Deep down inside me I knew I needed to do something creative and I needed a creative outlet,” she said. “Close to the time I found out about microblading I was feeling I needed to get out of corporate.”
Again, like so many of you, the moment of truth for Tiffany came when she went to get her eyebrows microbladed. She realized this was the creative outlet she was lacking and two months later she had completed her microblading course.
The Brave Aunt & The Hustle
Tiffany’s first model was her aunt. (What would techs do without those brave family members who trust them with their brows early on? lol)
Like many of you, Tiffany did many clients for free while she was still learning. She published on Facebook and Instagram. Her best friend helped her spread the word of her services and it started taking off from there through word of mouth.
She was brow queen by night and HP employee by day. The brows never stopped: nights, weekends…it was all part of the hustle.
By August she was booked 2 months in advance, which gave her the motivation to take the leap and go full time into microblading. The next month she waved goodbye to her corporate job of 8 years.
“It was very scary. In corporate you constantly get a paycheck, it comes into your bank account, all the accounting is done for you, all the taxes are deducted. It was very scary going into microblading because the income is unknown. If you do eyebrows you get money, but if you don’t you don’t get anything,” she said.
Tiffany opened her studio in June and now employs 2 more artists.
Oh, and in case you wondering, the parents eventually came on board! In fact, her dad asked her to take a picture in front of her logo to place as his phone’s wallpaper.
What It Takes to Make it Happen
Tiffany’s business background helped her build her brand and her business, but it was her desire to be better and her attention to customer service, which helped her grow it.
People have often said “oh, Tiff is doing microblading and she’s doing very well. It looks very easy.” It’s not. There’s no guarantee of success when you learn something. It’s what you do with that education that differentiates you from someone else. Many people take the course, but how much are you going to practice? What skills do you have already that can propel you? How bad do you want it?
Tiffany’s customer service tip: “People usually get very nervous when they are getting this type of procedure for the first time, so to help them stay calm, I make sure I narrate every step of the process to them. If you don’t give them enough information, the unknown will scare them.:
There was one other aspect that helped Tiffany go from first taking her microblading class to owning her her studio with two employees in just over a year:
Branding and marketing were very important to me when I started my business. I knew the look and feel I wanted, I knew the look of my logo. I took a lot of time and money to build my brand. To not go cheap on website, to hire a professional photographer to do my photos.
The Look & Feel
I couldn’t agree more. Take a look at Tiffany’s logo:
Every good marketer knows that logos should have a variation, and as such, Tiffany has two versions of her logo. Her primary logo is the one on the right and her secondary logo, is the one with the badge and black background. This secondary logo would be of great use to watermark images.
Her logo is simple and easy to read. Nothing complicated, yet it sets her branding. We can see that she likes a minimalist aesthetic, which is also evident when you visit her website.
I also cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have good photography. Tiffany knows it, too.
When you first visit her website, you are immediately presented with a high quality image of her space. It doesn’t look clinical like a permanent cosmetics space might. Instead it looks homey, bright, modern and inviting.
Your brain instantly receives these messages and you immediately create a connection between her brand and those values. See why good photography is important?
Alright, so if you have any questions for Tiffany, go ahead and drop them in the comments.
Until next time.