Oct 2, 2020
How do you put your life together when all you've got is a seemingly crippling situation? You've started a business with your hard work, but don't see a single client around. What rubs insult to injury is the crumbling personal life you've got to deal with without family nearby to help you out.
With massive faith and steadfast determination, you can beat the impossible odds and reach success. Valerie proves it as she shares her story. She did it, so can you.
Valerie Weber is the Founder of Dermagrafix Permanent Cosmetic Studio, a Cosmetic Tattoo Artist and Certified Instructor. She began her journey in cosmetic tattooing, where she felt most at home in her artistic self. After years of striving to learn more to be the best, she realized that it took a great deal of practice and dedication to this craft to be just that. She continued to learn from those she admired and collected valuable knowledge that eventually helped her develop her style. Loving what she's doing is a complete understatement. The idea that a well-executed cosmetic tattoo can positively change someone's quality of life, knowing that drives her to be her best and work side-by-side with other professionals she trusts and shares that same vision as she has. Ultimately, this thought led her to train and mentor others who are also meant to change lives through art. The ever-popular Bi-Fusion Eyebrows and WhipLash Eyeliner techniques were what she played with for years to get just right.
In this episode, Valerie shares what you need to consider in growing your business, the need to hire a team, the structure you need to create, and what comes with getting one. She underscores how not to sacrifice laws and safety even when you are still starting and doing things yourself. You're putting your brand and name on the line here. Though we are already digitally connected, she points out nothing beats creating personal relationships with your clients. That will last you a lifetime. As a business-minded person, she reminds everyone that your time is your investment. Though she's big on being generous, always learn to draw the line where your business assets aren't compromised.
As with every success, you start at the beginning, and Valerie shares the most challenging times when she started her beauty business. At that time, her married life was in shambles, she went through a divorce, was left with a 5-year old son she sent to and from school while juggling her work in a clinic. She didn't receive child support; she didn't have a family member to help her out with her son. Her father was dying of cancer. She was all alone and left with no choice. What adds to the awful situation is that she had no clients, but never gave up. With patience and dedication, she painstakingly worked on her portfolio by scrapbooking. She went to every place she could get friendly with the owners and presented what she had. That's when her efforts paid off. To this day, she looks back with pride in her achievements. It was a choice of fight or flight. She chose to fight... and see where it got her today - on the wings of success.