...often saying I would be a plastic surgeon when I grew up. I remember watching The Learning Channel as a kid, loving the plastic surgeries, facelifts, eye lifts. Later, I would watchDeath Becomes Her, a movie that I became obsessed with - committing every scene to memory. The beauty transformations inspired me to start playing with makeup.
As a kid, if a subject held my attention, I would become laser-focused on learning everything I could about it – a theme that has followed me to this day. I got my hands on Kevin Aucoin’s makeup books and immediately started building my makeup kit. I would purchase one MAC eyeshadow every payday (from my RoundTable Pizza job) and practice on my friends. Soon I was doing makeup for the high school plays, friends’ makeup for prom, and even my own prom date. For my high school Senior Project, I made a book that recreated makeup looks from each decade of the 20th century. Using my friends as models, I meticulously applied makeup, then took them to 1-Hour Photo to get headshots. (Again, Obsessed.)
I brought my Senior Project book with me to my interview for a position in the cosmetic department at Sears in Florin Mall and landed my first makeup job. I went to the local BeautyCollege to enroll in Esthetician School for my license but decided instead to pursue makeup, and took a position at Macy’s downtown. I was stalking the MAC counter pretty much demanding they let me work there. Well it worked - a few months later, I landed my dream job at the MAC counter - that was just 10 days before my 19th birthday. I loved that job so much and forged lifelong bonds with my MAC and Nordstrom families. I earned a promotion to Trainer with MAC in the Bay Area and lived out that dream for 3 years before moving back to Sacramento at 25 to attend Esthetician School.
After graduating with my license from Esthetician School, I took a job at a local salon that used a French Aromatherapy Skincare line, but doing only basic facials left me wanting more. I needed products that brought real results and wanted to offer treatments that would change my client’s skin. Next stop - Folsom Plastic Surgery and Laser Center.
This was next level … for the first time, I gained access to medical-grade skincare, including Botox and laser treatments. I pursued advanced education, including advanced peel trainings, and met my mentor Danielle Marquez. At this point, my trajectory had changed forever. I set out to master skincare, peels, and results-oriented treatments.
