Is it Time to Get Out of the Treatment Room?

If you're a veteran esthetician who's feeling the desire to escape the treatment room, I want you to know that you are not alone.

As the host of the Beauty Biz Show, I often hear from estheticians who are burnt out and want out of the treatment room.

I'm here to tell you that this feeling isn't a sign of failure or being in the wrong career. Instead, it's a nudge from your inner wisdom indicating that something needs to shift.

I am around thousands of estheticians almost every month through my speaking engagements and the Beauty Biz Club. In my experience, there are four common scenarios that estheticians face when they feel this way:

• Scenario 1: Working Hard, but Profits are Tight: You're busy with clients, but your profit margins are shrinking. It feels like no matter how much you hustle, the numbers don't add up because product costs, rent, and marketing are all increasing.
• Scenario 2: The Sound of Silence You're consistently doing the right things to attract clients, like posting on Instagram and engaging with your audience, but you're not seeing the results in 'likes' or new bookings. This can lead to feeling like your efforts are pointless.
• Scenario 3: Fully Booked, but Feeling Empty Your schedule is packed with back-to-back appointments and you even have a waitlist. Instead of feeling accomplished, you're exhausted and questioning why you're even doing this.
• Scenario 4: Bursting with Knowledge You feel you have so much knowledge that you might "burst" if you don't start sharing it by teaching or mentoring other people.

The first three scenarios have a very different vibe than the fourth, so let's focus on them today.

When you are feeling scenarios one through three, you might wonder if it's time to hire somebody so you can step back and breathe. But I want to offer you some tough love wrapped in compassion: hiring another esthetician when you are feeling this way might be the worst move you can make.

Hiring from a place of stress or burnout often results in a rushed decision and fuzzy expectations. The stress from this decision can ripple into your team and clients, negatively affecting the business you've worked so hard to build.

The Solution: A Reset and Realign

So what can you do? In my opinion, the best move is for you to pause, reset, and realign.

The first question to ask yourself to get out of scenarios one through three is, Do I have the right systems in place?

There are three foundational systems every esthetician needs in order to fall back in love with their work:

1. Profitability and Pricing: Ensure your pricing is profitable and attracts your "best client ever." When you create a system that attracts clients you want to work with, you'll look forward to going to work every day.
2. Business Boundaries: You need to have and utilize business boundaries to protect your time, energy, profitability, and joy. Implementing strong business boundaries and policies is "vital to the success of your business."
3. Support System: It can be lonely being in a dark treatment room with clients all day. You need a support system for mindset, marketing, and money so you don't have to do it alone.

If you've answered no to even one of these, that's your starting point.

Quick Recovery Steps to Reignite Your Passion

To help you get back to a place of excitement about your work, here are five recovery tips for when you're feeling scenarios one through three:

1. Schedule a Non-Negotiable Day Off: You cannot pour from an empty cup. Even if you're fully booked, create a non-negotiable day off for yourself. I was able to go from working five days a week and seeing 13 clients a day to working about two and a half to three days a week and making more money. It's possible!
2. Create a Signature Treatment: Develop a premium, signature treatment that "lights you up" and price it accordingly. This is a strategic way to increase your income without raising your prices and "freaking your clients out".
3. Add 15-Minute Buffers: I recommend adding 15-minute buffers between your appointments. Something magical happens when you give yourself breathing room in your treatment room. This time can increase retail sales, reset your energy, and result in a more luxurious experience for your clients.
4. Delegate One Draining Task: Find a way to delegate one task you hate, whether it's your spa laundry, bookkeeping, or social media. I have a bookkeeper who I love, and I also save time by utilizing the done-for-you social media posts offered inside the Beauty Biz Club.
5. Reconnect with Your Why: Ask yourself why you became an esthetician and what used to happen in your business that made you excited to go to work. Take time to journal about a client transformation that reminds you why you chose this beautiful profession. Reconnecting with your purpose can help you get back to what lit up your beauty biz soul.

So maybe, your love for the work is not gone; maybe it's just buried under layers of exhaustion and obligation.

Bottom Line: You deserve to feel inspired again.

For more support and guidance, visit BeautyBizClub.com.