Rising Stars: Meet Aleah Thomas of Fairlawn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aleah Thomas.

Hi Aleah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My journey into esthetics wasn’t exactly planned. Before I ever thought about becoming an esthetician, I loved making my own skincare products at home. I eventually decided to go to esthetics school because I wanted to actually understand the skin behind the products I was creating. I became a licensed esthetician in 2019, and what started as curiosity about skincare eventually grew into something much bigger.

I started The Skin Connoisseur in March 2020, right before salons were shut down because of COVID. Shortly after, I unexpectedly lost my dad. It was an incredibly difficult way to begin a new chapter, but I made the decision to keep going and continued building my business through it.

Six years later, The Skin Connoisseur is still here and continuing to evolve right along with me. Since my last interview with Voyage, I’ve added being a nurse to my bag of tricks, continued my education toward becoming an RN, and continued growing both personally and professionally. At the same time, I’ve stayed committed to the business I built from the ground up and continued finding new ways to expand my knowledge, perfect my craft, and better serve my clients.

It’s kind of crazy to think that all of this started with me making skincare products in my kitchen. I was a banker when I decided to go to beauty school, and I could have never predicted where that decision would take me. There is still so much more I want to accomplish with The Skin Connoisseur, but I’m proud that six years later, I’m still building, still learning, and still finding new ways to make the vision bigger.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not! I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned about entrepreneurship is that growth is rarely a straight line. There have been seasons where business was booming and I felt like I had finally figured everything out, followed by seasons that made me question everything I thought I knew.

One of my biggest challenges has been learning how to adapt. The beauty industry changes constantly, social media changes, client habits change, the economy changes, and what worked for your business two years ago may not work today. As a small business owner, you don’t really get the luxury of only being an esthetician. I’m also the marketing department, customer service, inventory manager, content creator, accountant, problem solver, and everything else in between.

More recently, balancing nursing school, working as a nurse, being a mom, and continuing to run my business has added an entirely new layer to that. There are only so many hours in a day, and I’ve had to learn that sometimes balance doesn’t mean giving everything equal attention at the same time.

I’ve definitely had moments where I wondered if continuing was worth it, but I think the difficult seasons have forced me to become a better business owner. I’m still learning how to pivot and make uncomfortable decisions. The road hasn’t been smooth, but I think that’s also what makes me appreciate still being here.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At The Skin Connoisseur, I specialize in corrective skincare and full-body sugaring. A lot of my skincare work centers around concerns like acne, hyperpigmentation, and helping clients achieve and maintain healthier skin. I work with a diverse clientele, but treating skin of color safely and effectively is especially important to me.

I’m also a sugaring educator, which is something I’m really proud of. Sugaring has become such a large part of my business, and being able to take something I’ve spent years perfecting and teach that skill to other beauty professionals has been really rewarding. I would say I’m best known for Brazilian sugaring, but I offer full-body sugaring and have clients who have trusted me with their services for years.

What sets me apart is that I’m very education-focused with my clients. I don’t want someone to come in, receive a service, and leave without understanding what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. Whether we’re working on their skin or addressing ingrowns and irritation from hair removal, I want them to understand how to maintain their results outside of the treatment room as well.

What I’m most proud of is the trust I’ve built with my clients and the reputation I’ve created around my work. Esthetics can be very personal, especially when you’re dealing with intimate services or skin concerns someone may already feel insecure about. I’ve created a space where my clients can feel comfortable, ask questions, and know they’re being taken care of by someone who genuinely cares about them and their results.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I definitely consider myself a risk-taker, but I don’t think being a risk-taker means being fearless or making reckless decisions. To me, it means being willing to bet on yourself even when you don’t know exactly how things are going to turn out.

Entrepreneurship itself has probably been the biggest risk I’ve taken. There is a certain level of security that comes with working for someone else. You know when you’re getting paid, you know how much you’re getting paid. I gave that security up when I quit my job to run The Skin Connoisseur full-time, and I honestly had no idea how I was going to make it work. I just knew I wanted to try.

Going back to school in my 30s was another big risk for me. It required sacrifices with my time with my son, finances, and even my business at times.

As I’ve gotten older, the way I think about risk has changed. Of course, I still consider what could go wrong, but staying somewhere simply because it feels safe can be a risk too. I’ve experienced so many of the risks I’ve taken work out for my good that I would rather take a calculated chance on something I believe in, learn from it if it doesn’t work out, and adjust than look back and wish I had given myself the opportunity to try.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tscskincarestudio.com
• Instagram: theskinconnoisseur_llc
• Facebook: The Skin Connoisseur llc