In the midst of the global coronavirus, we’re all called to self-isolate—leaving millions of people scrambling to find things to do to keep ourselves and our families sane and entertained at home. It’s a difficult time for the entire world, but we now have a golden opportunity to focus on what we didn’t have before; time.
As a business owner of an eyebrow studio in Millburn, NJ, 48 days closed means I’ve had ample time to master my craft. Since my time isn’t consumed by client appointments 7 days a week, I’ve replaced that block of time with productive tasks.
Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success proposes the “10,000-hour rule”. According to Gladwell, this means correctly practicing a skill for around 10,000 hours in order to become an expert at it and be considered world-class. Others report, it can take anywhere from 6-10 years to become great at something, depending on how often and how much you do it. I personally think it varies from person to person and depends on the skill. Certainly, it’s more about HOW you practice a skill, not how much you practice that skill.
Though I definitely am at an “expert” level, according to Gladwell given my experience in this trade, I’ve spent most of my quarantine aiming to achieve “world-class”. Here is what I’ve been working at during quarantine:
Since I cannot work on the canvas of a client’s face, permanent makeup artists have access to alternative products to practice microblading- like “fake skin”. Ew, what is fake skin you say? Fake skin is a product consisting of materials such as latex, silicone, or rubber. It mimics the consistency of real skin and using my handheld microblading pen or my permanent makeup machine, I can spend countless hours carefully etching hair strokes in various patterns creating perfect eyebrows. Thanks to this technology in permanent makeup, I can maintain the “art” aspect of my craft and explore different techniques to create various eyebrow shapes, flattering all faces.
When I temporarily closed up shop, it was important for me to give you, my clients, a way to help groom your eyebrows if I wasn’t present. So, since virtual classes and Zoom meetings quickly became all the rage, I jumped in and created a Virtual DIY Beginner Brow Grooming course. This was a way to personalize my brow grooming and shaping services. But, I found myself learning also. Creating an online course when you are not tech-savvy, was a frustrating feat in itself! Thankful, after about ten days of trial and error, my first online course was live! In this one-on-one video chat, I teach my clients how to pluck and trim their unruly eyebrows until they can see me again after quarantine. Within the course, I taught my clients the do’s and don’ts of brow shaping, techniques, everyday brow products, plus secrets to getting the perfect eyebrow. If you are interested, it’s still available for you on my website Virtual DIY Beg Brow.
There is an online course for anything you want to learn. In the permanent makeup artist industry, there are a ton of resources at my disposal to perfect my technique. Now I had the time to absorb it all. The beauty of quarantine time is that I could take the online courses at my own speed and once complete with a course, I can always go back for a refresher.
Quarantine is not only a time to catch up with friends and family on Facetime, but it also opened the door for me to now easily connect with other brow artists coast to coast and even in Europe! Staying together virtually has never been easier through Instagram and Facebook LIVE to webinars. I learned how to maneuver this business and create a business without being “open”. It felt good to learn productive ways to stay busy for our mental and emotional well-being. By communicating with fellow artists, it bridged the gap between the stand-alone brow business to “we are in this together”.
One thing is certain, I can’t wait to see all my clients and all the new people I’ve connected with on social media when Brow Eyed Girl reopens. This hasn’t been easy as a small business owner, but we only can make the best of what we have in this situation. Brow Eyed Girl appreciates all the love and support during this time.
We want to hear from you! Email us info@broweyedgirl.com to share what new craft or lesson you’ve learned during your time at home.
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