How I Became an Esthetician

My Twenties:

I went to college not really knowing what I wanted to do. I got a degree from a liberal arts school, and I’m grateful for it because it gave me a really solid education but I definitely didn’t graduate with a clear plan for what came next. After college, I had a connection in the fashion industry and needed a job, so I ended up working in modeling and fashion styling. It was fun and felt very “early twenties” in the best way. I loved the creativity and the energy of it, but over time I started to feel like I needed something more stable & something that felt like a real career path.

That’s when I decided to start a beauty business doing organic spray tanning.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into, but it ended up being one of the most formative chapters of my life. I ran that business for five years, and during that time I learned so much about running a business, working with clients, and just figuring things out as I went. Somewhere along the way, I also started getting really into skincare. I found myself wanting to understand everything more deeply, like ingredients, skin concerns, & the science behind what actually works. So in 2020, while I was still running my business, I went back to school and became a licensed esthetician. It felt very natural at that point, like I was just adding on to what I was already doing instead of starting over. A few years later, in 2023, I sold my beauty business to a new owner. That was a big moment for me – bittersweet, but also exciting because I knew I was stepping into something new! Around that same time, I got certified in acne with Face Reality and started leaning more into medical skincare. I really loved the results-driven side of esthetics and working with people on actual skin concerns.

My Early Thirties:

From there, I ended up moving into skincare marketing for a few different beauty and wellness brands, including Derma E, Thinksun (baby skincare), and ClarityRX through Hand & Stone. In those roles, I was working on the marketing side of things – helping bring products to life through content, education, and social media. A lot of my work focused on translating ingredients and treatments into something people could actually understand and connect with. I worked on social content, product storytelling, influencer and creator partnerships, and campaign strategy – basically figuring out how to show what a product does in a way that feels real and helpful, not overwhelming or salesy.

What I loved most about it was being behind the scenes and seeing how much thought goes into every product, from formulation to how it’s positioned for estheticians and clients. It gave me a completely different perspective on the industry and made me even more interested in the connection between marketing, education, and actual skin results.

Today:

Since then, I’ve been freelancing in social media and also working part-time as an esthetician, which honestly feels like the most natural balance of everything I’ve done so far. Looking back, my path into esthetics has been anything but linear. It’s been a mix of trying things, changing directions, and following whatever I felt genuinely curious about at the time. None of it looked planned in the moment, but every step ended up teaching me something I still use today, whether it was running a business, working with clients, or understanding the skincare industry from both the treatment room and the brand side.

Now, I’m also stepping into a really new personal season – I’m having my first baby, and my 30s feel exciting in a way I didn’t fully expect! There’s a lot I don’t know about what’s next, but I’m learning to be okay with that instead of trying to have everything figured out.

xo, hannah