Your Work Culture Wake Up Call: Leading with Empathy

Amber Johnson: 

You don't have to have perfect skin to be an esthetician. You don't have to have the most beautiful hair to be a hairdresser. Like I tell people, whatever you're doing, it's because your experience makes you better. So don't have this image in your head to become like, love it and enjoy it. The process is the most important thing. I'm here for that client. And once I put my focus on them, they don't care if I have a pimple in my skin. Like they know that I care about them.

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Skya Jones: 

Hi, I'm Skya Jones. You're listening to Last Client of the Day presented by Boulevard and I'm so excited to introduce you to our guest Amber Johnson. Amber Johnson's passion for skin care started in her teenage years after struggling with stage 3 cystic acne. After many dermatology visits and different medications and skincare, her condition improved but also ignited her interest for dermatology. 

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Her dream of creating a professional skincare line persisted. Amber interned with her dermatologist, gaining skills in facials and skin enhancements, which laid the groundwork for her career. After graduating from James Albert School of Aesthetics, she gained certifications in microdermabrasion, dermaplaning, and epicurin, and studied product ingredients at UCLA. In 2012, Amber founded Facial Lounge, envisioning a supportive environment for clients and employees. Her personalized treatment plans aim to improve skin health and boost confidence. Amber's commitment to treating clients like family and creating a positive atmosphere has made Facial Lounge a beacon of excellence in the industry.

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This episode is brought to you by Boulevard, the first and only client experience platform purpose built for appointment based self care businesses. Today's listeners can save 10 percent to claim your special offer. Head over to joinblvd.com/podcast. That's http://joinblvd.com/podcast 

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Skya Jones: 

We are so excited today to be joined by the amazing and beautiful Amber Johnson. 

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Amber Johnson:

I love being here. Thank you. 

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Skya Jones: 

It has been so much fun already. Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

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Amber Johnson:

Well, I have been in the skincare industry for 30 years and I've been doing facials for 24 years. So I am in love with this industry.

I learned about skincare and facials very young, so I knew what I wanted to do at a young age. So I'm very blessed to be here. 

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Skya Jones: 

I can tell because your skin is perfect. And I would have never guessed you've been in the industry that long. You're basically immortal now. 

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Amber Johnson:

Thank you. I hope so. 

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Skya Jones: 

You're just going to preserve it forever. Tell us a little bit about your business. 

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Amber Johnson: 

I suffered from severe acne. I went to a famous doctor named Dr. Fulton, who made benzoyl peroxide. He also co founded Retin A and mandelic acid. He's very famous. But I had very painful facials because I had severe stage three acne. I had some of the worst acne.

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And so I was getting facials weekly for a long time and I was scared of them. Once my acne got cleared, I had severe scarring but facials scared me because I only did medical scary facials. So I remember getting my first like relaxing facial, but it was all fluff. I was like wait, can we take a mix like medical and the best of both? So that's kind of how it started. I was like, I'm gonna be a statistician. I thought I was gonna be a dermatologist until I realized what was entailed. And I was like, let's just, I just want to pop pimples. Yeah. So, um, and this was in the nineties, so there's no internet or Google. So I remember asking Dr. Fulton, he's like, no, you want to be an esthetician. And I'm a little dyslexic and ADD. And I was like, 90 times, like, what's it called? What's like, where do I go? There's no, like I said, there's no internet. I just showed up to Golden West. It was like, I heard I need to go here. And they're like, there's a two year wait list and they didn't know me.

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So I, um, definitely pushed my way in and, um, and got on the waitlist, but I got to transfer to another school, which is Fullerton and, um, which is a smaller school, which I'm so glad that happened. And I got my license and it was a wrap from there. I couldn't wait. I was in school, like, literally planning my treatment room. Like, I was like, ready, like, planning your protocols. Yeah. 

Can we just graduate me now? Like, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to see patients. Plus, I was lucky because I ended up working for Fulton and being in skincare. So when I was in school, I felt like I just wanted to rush the process. Like, 

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah, you were ready.

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Amber Johnson: 

I was super ready. 

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Skya Jones: 

So I love that what you experienced from a client perspective, going through having acne shaped your passion, wanting to go into the industry. I think so many of us experience things like that, whether it be with skin, with hair, with any form of beauty. It really impacts us at a young age and that shapes how we want to really grow in our career. I think that happens in the medical field too as well. You have an experience with a nurse, a doctor, and you're like, I want to do this. So, I think it creates a really wholesome client experience and it also makes you really see how your clients experience it and want to help them. So that's beautiful. I love that.

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What would you say, as far as opening a business and starting a business, you've been in the industry for so many years. What are some things that you've learned or hardships that you would give advice to others wanting to do the same thing? 

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Amber Johnson: 

Having a business and doing a passion could be hard, but I always tell people if you really love it, you'll want to work at it and just waking up and being grateful. Like the, it sounds like such a cliche word, but like gratitude is so important. Like, I sometimes have to say like there's people who would kill to do what I'm doing. Like I'm so blessed to be able to be an esthetician and to have all this experience. And so I think if you love something, if you want to be in beauty or skin or whatever it is, even massage or anything that makes you happy that you know, you're actually helping someone is so important. And also back to your point like, because I had acne, I understand it. So it's like sometimes when people I tell people if you don't, look this part, you don't have to have perfect skin to be an esthetician. You don't have to be, have the most beautiful hair to be a hairdresser. Like I tell people, whatever you're doing, it's because your experience makes you better. So don't have this image in your head to become like, love it and enjoy it the process is the most important thing. There's days you don't feel like that and it's like, it's okay. Like there's days my skin doesn't, I have acne, like my skin doesn't look pretty, but I'm here for that client. And once I put my focus on them.

They don't care. Yeah, I have a pimple and my skin like they know that I care about them And I think that heart is the most important thing. 

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Skya Jones: 

It is that authenticity. I think even with the client experience It's just knowing that you're there to give them the best experience possible and use your education and knowledge to give them an effective treatment. They're there for that. They don't care if your skin's perfect or if your hair is perfect or your outfits perfect. They really are there because of what you provide for them. 

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What are some of the ways that you shaped your client experience? Or when a client walks in your door, what are some things that make it really special to your business?

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Amber Johnson: 

For me, it's having a safe place for people to go. There's so many layers. When people walk into a spa, kind of mirroring the customer and seeing what they need, because a lot of the times people are there, they may be going through a divorce or so many times people are like even an abusive situation at work or somewhere where they're just so a boss or a boyfriend or what, they're just so hurt in the world that they just need a place to go. And it's our, you know, It's their job to kind of know if they want to talk or if they want to relax or sometimes they need a friend. Of course, the skin care and the, and the facial is part of it, but there's another layer of like touch and relaxation and like a moment. Kind of mirroring to see if someone says like, “Oh, I've had such a hard day.” I need to say like, be quiet, Amber. Let them relax, like give them that space. And that's when I go into breathing and letting them kind of have that space. And then some people just wanna talk your ear off and tell you everything that happened and, which I love, by the way. Mm-Hmm. . And I'm like, girl, tell me about what's going on.

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah. What's the tea, give it to me. 

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Amber Johnson:

And exactly. So just knowing and if you say that to the wrong customer, just kind of knowing that, and that's an art and um, that's something I work on hard because I could be talkative. I know you're shocked. No, I think the whole facial, but it's an art for me to go. This is their time and not to put my stuff on them. Yeah. And I learned that the hard way. So truly like being there for them and not, they're not there for me. 

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah. I think it's very, It's a very niche skill that only people in this industry really get to work out all the time is mirroring the kind of the emotion or the vibe that my client's giving to me and I'm going to be able to mirror that. Even if, you know, there're estheticians that aren't super extroverted, but when they have an extroverted client lay down in their chair, they're going to turn that up and same goes for the opposite.

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And I think even in the medical field, I mean, dermatologists, when you go in and see them, they're not going to be worried about the client experience, right? They're worried about, okay, what do I need to prescribe? What do I need? What's my diagnostic code here? So I think that's something really specific and niche that this industry has boiled down.

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Amber Johnson: 

Yeah. A lot of hearts. Which is so needed. 

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Skya Jones: A lot of heart, a lot of like that very intimate moment of sometimes like you're the only person touching that person, and that can be really, really intimate for them. 

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Amber Johnson:

 It is, it's very true. Especially after covid. So a lot of people for years, some one or two or three years, some people weren't touched at all. Um, magical and emotional sometimes that they didn't even know the feelings that would come out when we would start to do like a shoulder, arm, hand massage and touch and that they felt safe. Um, it was fascinating and sad. Yeah. People need it. 

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Skya Jones: 

It is. And it's, it shows how impactful and important what you do is whether it's, you know, you have someone come in that has acne. I mean, if anyone struggled with acne, they know how vulnerable that is and to be able to be treated for that. Or if you, you know, you're, COVID pandemic, you're lonely, you haven't had human interaction, then to be able to get that like human touch or just to have a relaxing experience close to another person when we were so closed off and so distanced from everybody.

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Amber Johnson: 

Another thing, especially because I'm in Orange County, we have a lot of influencers and a lot of even celebrities are, or micro influencers and they are like, look perfect and they have filters and for them to come in and feel safe to like, show me all their flaws or facial lounge, my company, like come in and take that off and film and like, we don't, we don't ever ask them to, but sometimes they can get very real. Like, it's amazing how much people want to see that. And I think that that's something so cool is that people don't have to be perfect anymore and it's okay to have their flaws. That's so beautiful to me too is like people being more authentic that word you just said earlier 

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Skya Jones: 

That's the direction of a lot of the content and I'm sure you see it with your social media and content in the way that people interact with that. We just want to see authenticity, whether it's our flaws, what we're self conscious about, what we're worried about. I think consumers are so much more drawn to that than like the perfect image. They're, I think people are calling bullshit on that a lot more now. They're like, no, we want to see the real deal. 

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Amber Johnson: 

It's true, which is fun.

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Skya Jones: 

It is. We want to see the real, we don't want to see, you know, the filtered. We want to see what people actually look like, what their skin looks like. We don't want the touched up version. 

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Amber Johnson: 

I still love the filter. 

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Skya Jones: 

I still love a good filter. Don't get me wrong. 

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Amber Johnson: 

I do. But I love when people are authentic. Yeah. You gotta have a good mixer, but I feel puffy. 

I will love a little, little…

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Skya Jones: 

A little face tune. Snatch. Yeah. A little. Yeah. A little, little snatch here and there ain't bad. Tune that out. Yeah, it is. Especially with influencers. How do you think that influencers have kind of interacted with the space or changed the space? 

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Amber Johnson: 

It single handedly changed my business. Um, I work with a lot of, um, from like the housewives for a long time and this is pre social media and it was great. I'd be, my name would be in magazines sometimes. My grandmother took it everywhere. She loved it. She would just rip it out and I was in Riviera and, um, she was very excited. So, um, which is in Orange County is a big magazine. 

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Social media. This is a true story. Um, Amanda Statton, who's my good friend now and was my client, um, but this was in a bachelor show probably like eight years ago, maybe. 8 years ago. It was really big. And I, and I never really watched the show, but all the girls would come and I would get the girls ready for that show. Mind you, I've done a lot of stuff in reality TV and nothing ever really made my business bigger, but sometimes behind the scenes, a lot of makeup artists who go, this is where they go.

And this is so that kind of kind of word of like the word of mouth and it was always fun. But um, they were starting to post and I would, and I didn't understand, I didn't have social media. I didn't know. I was like, why is the phone ringing off the hook? And so we were like, this is crazy. 

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And my favorite is the first thing that ever happened was live was brand new and live was brand new on Instagram. I didn't know what it was. Um, Amanda goes, I'm going to go live and I go, okay. And I'm thinking she's answering questions that's in DMs. So I'm behind her. I mean, I'm not kidding. I'm like, eating an apple. I'm talking, I'm just being myself. She's asking me questions. They're like, someone's asking if they can use toothpaste on a pimple. I'm like, “Oh my, you know, No, like, what?” and I'm telling them, you know, so I'm making all these jokes. And I just remember not knowing what life was and how many, and at the time she was, I mean, she's still huge, but I'm saying people are so dialed in and what she was doing and where she was at that  IG Live.

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Yeah. I've literally changed everything for me, just my phones were ringing. It was really cool. So I didn't realize what Live was and Instagram was. So I got to see like, I need social media like ASAP. So I would, and I remember thinking, what am I going to do? Pop pimples? Like no one's going to want to see that. Well, I missed the boat on that one. I was too perfect on Instagram and I wish I was a little bit more real in the beginning because I didn't understand what it was. But I will tell you, like there were some influencers who changed my life, like truly did. And then they, and then once she did that, it was like more and then every girl got comfortable to come in. Most people never wanted to be on camera without makeup on. And you know, and so that was really cool for people who came set up cameras and wanted to film getting a facial. And I never had that before that moment.

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Skya Jones: 

See, I love that combination of bringing in somebody that already has an audience. And that cross promotional, I feel like that's so big. And then also just their clients. Yeah, their clients want to do what they do. They want to see what their life, their day to day is, and then your clients get to see like, Hey, this person's coming in. 

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Amber Johnson: 

And I think that not very many people are doing that. So once she did it and made it okay, I really saw the change of like everyone doing it. So it's interesting how a handful of people, and I watched it happen, made a whole industry completely change because before that, I will tell you, no one would have ever taken a picture in a facial room ever, and I had a lot of people at my table. There's no way, but after that moment, everyone did. 

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Skya Jones: 

Well, and that's content that now everybody, I mean, how many videos do you see of facials when you're scrolling on Instagram or TikTok? It's so relaxing. Everyone wants to consume that or see what products are being used during that treatment. And then they're going and asking their estheticians, Hey, I want to get this done. I need this. Yeah. So, it creates a whole demand.

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This episode is brought to you by Boulevard, the modern, easy to use client experience platform that delivers everything you need to streamline your business, empower your staff, and amaze your clients. Listeners can save 10 percent for tuning into this episode. To learn more, go to joinblvd.com/podcast Boulevard, make every moment matter. 

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Skya Jones: 

I'm interested to hear about your opinion and perspective on leadership and what it means to be a true leader, boss. There's not really a textbook way about it. So how did you become such an effective leader? 

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Amber Johnson: 

That's a great question. And it is definitely a lot of work. There's an entrepreneur and then there's like this hustle mentality, right?

So for my business I was a hustler in a sense that I knew how to get clients. I knew how to get people I knew how to get, but as an entrepreneur, like learning how to scale your business that I didn't understand. And I took these classes, actually the company's called Driven Leadership and they're like my, I tell anyone who listens, um, there are leadership classes. I took one in particular class called bold, which is three days up in the mountains. And it was, it was the hardest, most amazing thing I've ever done. But that single thing, those three days up in the mountains changed my entire life. And I remember thinking, I want to be the best version of myself.

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And I want this business to grow because no one's doing what I'm doing. I, right after my mom got cancer, she got stage four cancer. And I remember thinking like, and she was a comedian, but she didn't have any, which is amazing. She left a lot to the world, but I'm like, God, it would suck if I left. And like all this, I worked so hard on this craft for like a facial that actually works.

That's amazing. That relaxing and medical extractions and all the things. So I just remember going, I really want this to go on. And that's where I started taking leadership classes and really understanding. But what I realized, what I thought a leader was and what a leader is, I'm so shocked. I'm such a different person, but a leader is someone who wants their team to win. And before, I think my ego was so big and I wanted my way, like now, I want my team to figure it out. And if they don't get there like I'm there to help, but I don't really, it's really hard for me. I don't get as involved as much as my company grows and we have almost 40 people. It's really interesting to see, but that's not me. That driven leadership is like who I lean on for, for that. And I have a business partner who is in leadership, and so I'm really lucky to have that. 

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah, I think it's, it's hard for anyone who has that entrepreneurial grind, that grit, like I can get clients in the door, I can do this. And then to balance that with how can I scale this or what's the actual strategic plan for the future. You basically created your own legacy. You're like, I'm going to create a legacy that is something that can be, even when you're not there, your team can carry that on, which I think is really huge. For any business. 

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Yeah, it's very cool. I love that. I really like what you said about letting your ego kind of go and stepping away from things. When success starts to happen, I feel like you can't wear all the hats in the business, so you have to be able to have a team that you can, you know, delegate tasks down to and hand things off to. What is a, what does a hiring process look like for you? 

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Amber Johnson: 

Well, I am fired from hiring, so it does not involve me. We learned that, uh, pretty fast. Um, but we have an operations team and it's a pretty amazing process that they go through, but they do a lot of, they also have people take their discs. So it's kind of like the love language of people really understanding. There's no judgment in it, which was really hard for me. Cause I didn't understand that in the beginning where I was like, I don't want to put people in a box, but once I realized it's their love language and it's how we speak to them. So they'll try to tell me, which I am also dyslexic, like they're high D don't, you know, make sure how you talk to them, and I don't. It's still really hard for me, but when I learn their personalities, their language is different, I am learning to understand how to speak to them because I'm a very dominant person. But I'm not, I mean no harm. I'm just fast. So I realized that I have to like, slow down and let them talk and let them be heard. I'm working on active listening, which is amazing. I'm in a class about that right now because that's something that I'm not good at. I cut people off because I'm excited, not because it's disrespectful, but I realize it is disrespectful if they don't know me.

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So my friends and girlfriends, I can be a little bit more. But in business, you have to make sure to like, slow down, ask questions, get curious, get curious, get curious. If something doesn't make sense, I don't get mad. I'm like, “Why do they think that way? And why did they make that decision?” And once I got curious, almost all the times they made sense on their end. But had I walked in and got mad at them and assumed, which is what I used to do, I would shut them off. I would never have found out the truth. I would have never found out why. And my team's like, phenomenal. So by the time someone's hired, I meet them afterwards because I really see good in everyone, which is a great quality, but it's also not the best when you're hiring.

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You want to find the holes in the flaws and see how it will fit. And, the younger generations are a little bit more entitled. They're, they just, they're just are, they're different. They're wired differently and they have these boundaries, which is great, but they're, there are two different languages. And once you realize that, like, they don't mean any harm and it's what they're being told and they're growing up at a different time and they're being told stuff on Tik Tok. And so they think that they're setting boundaries or whatever. It just makes it very, it's just different. So understanding that, it really does help, which is, I'm still learning. 

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Skya Jones: 

It's a nonstop learning process. I feel like with any sort of communication, leadership, even just having a coworker. I love the personality test and seeing what their love languages are because it's so hard when you're trying to communicate with so many different people and personalities and someone may rub you the wrong way and you're like, I just don't like him. But then you're like, Oh, they just have a really different communication style than me. And it's just, I need to be on their level and match that to effectively communicate with them. I feel like that's really helpful for working with clients too, because you can, you're able to kind of choose, okay, this person's more dominant. I'm going to match that or kind of. Um, compliment that versus whatever they're kind of sensing from their clients. So I feel like that's a very good tool to give to your team. Where do you see the industry evolving and growing? 

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Amber Johnson: 

One thing I love that it's evolving and growing is something that was very important to me was I've never had meat growing up.

So I was a vegetarian born and raised. I learned about animal testing very young. So a lot of those ingredients like benzoyl peroxide and things were all animal tested. I was very upset. I remember getting, there's a store called Mother's Market. Um, which is now pretty big, but it's like the original whole foods. And I worked there. I make a joke – they never hired me, I just never left. I was just obsessed with them. And I worked in skincare and I demoed skincare brands and then I would find out different brands that were animal testing. 

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This is again, before the internet. And I was trying to bring some ingredients to Mothers and they're like, they wouldn't carry it.

Cause at the time Mothers was pretty vegan and very vegetarian. They didn't sell meat or anything. And being in the beginning stages of that time where vegan skin care, no one wanted it, like no one wanted it. The people would, I remember being somewhere and going, “it's vegan,” and they're like “That’s bad, I want something that works.” Like organic and vegan was bad.

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Skya Jones: 

Like, I basically want a chemical. 

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Amber Johnson: 

Yes, that's literally it. And so, but, what happened was, is they were studying so much on natural over time. The natural stuff is what's wanted. We know those work. We can still tie in other things, but they don't have to be chemicals. They don't have to have heavy, heavy preservatives and fragrance and all these things. And the industry is changing. So I'm watching, I actually had someone call me. They thought I'd be mad. Like all these companies are going vegan and they're cleaning up their act and they don't have these preservatives and all these bad ingredients that I'm so against. I was so excited. Like they thought I'd be mad.

I'm like, this is so cool. So watching the industry clean up and making a big, big changes. I'm saying when, when big companies like Procter and Gamble clean up their act, this is the biggest deal in the world to me because those are the ones who are like, the worst. Not that I would still buy any other products, but, um, but the fact that they're taking time to actually make some changes is a really big deal.

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Skya Jones: 

Well, and that it's more accessible for the public. It's not, you know, a niche brand that someone's not going to hear about unless they come to somewhere like your business and they're going to find it. It's, you know, in supermarkets and things like that. 

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I'm interested to hear, what would you say for businesses that are getting ready to expand to multiple locations? What advice do you have for them? 

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Amber Johnson:

I would say, have your systems in place. Um, I'm scaling as we speak, too. You're growing super fast. I'm really excited. We're working on our next location. And one of the things is having systems in place and having everyone really understand their roles.

It is really good. This is not me. This is not my fortune. This is me learning. And as I'm realizing how important that is, a lot of people wearing too many hats isn't fair. So I think that having people really, so as you scale, making sure everyone is very clear on the roles and being very fair on like having them, um, and not, not wearing too many hats and, and frying your team out is really important. Um, and I think that's probably the most important part of scaling. 

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Skya Jones: 

Preserving everybody from burnout is huge, especially with how fast you guys are scaling. I'm sure that's, you know, a main focus because it can be, it's so much work. 

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Amber Johnson: 

Yeah. And lots of check ins. I mean, really, truly asking your team if they need you. And once you build that trust and they can, there's times that girls need, they need a mental day or whatever, really honoring that space because if you do there, then it's like a family and, um, and that's really the coolest feeling is, is building that team. 

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah. Keeping that communication open like, “Hey, I'm not doing good today. I need a day off” and allowing that. That's something I'm so many employers would not. In so many different spaces, but it's human. We have to have that. 

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What are your guys' growth plans? What are you seeing?  

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Amber Johnson: 

We, yeah, we want to, um, we're going to be opening multiple locations and then next we're going to open a school. Um, yeah, I'm really excited. One of the things I find, especially from behind the scenes stuff, is that there's so much our bodies are talking to us about and we're not doctors, right? We can't give, but if an esthetician sees someone with a butterfly rash, that means it's a butterfly. Someone might want to get their immune system checked or, you know, their eyebrows are falling out and they want to go get their thyroid checked or your bodies are, we just had someone get melasma overnight.

I'm like, you need to get your hormones checked. Like something's off. Teaching that, but, but having a safe place for people to like, learn. And our gut is our skin, and tying those together.  

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Skya Jones: 

Our skin is our biggest organ.

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Amber Johnson: 

A holistic approach to esthetician, um, is, is, is really needed. I will say I'm really disappointed in the schools in California. I'm watching it go down and I really want a really cool place for people to learn and grow and there's not much. There's a few schools, like Paul Mitchell's great, I still love Golden West, and there's a handful of schools that are doing it right, but it's really hard. There's way more demand than there is for good schools.

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah. I think it's hard to, with, you know, with traditional knowledge of skin. There's a very old school thought of like, “Hey, overload the skin barrier prescriptions.” I mean, how many dermatologists still will start with Accutane for acne? And I've worked with so many estheticians that offer so much knowledge and so many more like gentler routes for treatments and it's almost like they know the skin better than a dermatologist would. And it's like, well, we had clients come in that would be like, I've been struggling with this for four years and haven't seen any improvement. And they work with an esthetician and within months see improvement.  

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Amber Johnson: 

You have it every day. They need someone to listen and sometimes the food and taking time. Doctors will write a quick, quick prescription. Prescription and I'm not listening. I had a client recently and she just had this crazy rash on both sides, lower face. We were doing some stuff. It was kind of working and then it hit me. She was with another esthetician. I came inside. I said, how long have you had your ears pierced? Cause I noticed her ears were a little red. She goes, I did it like two months ago. And I said, how long has this been going on? And she's like, six weeks. Wow. And we took out the earrings and she called the spa the next day and the rash was almost gone. She was having a full allergic reaction to one of the metals and she was on steroid creams.

She was on like everything. She didn't know what to do. She came in for two facials and didn't, but I'm so glad she came back for that next one because we're like, This is an acne. Yeah, there's got to be something more. So our bodies are communicating. So if something's going on with your skin, um, a lot of times it could be food.

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We do have, we just had recently had a kid, really severe acne. He also drank a lot of soda. His father didn't want him to get facials. The mother snuck him in, um, because she thought it was too much. He thought, the father thought it was feminine. And so, um, and our place is so more Medi. It's not, it's not Medi, but it's like a safe place for everybody. He did blue lights and we did extractions, but I told him you have to cut out these sodas because he was telling me you have to start. So we switched him to Ollie Pops because he liked, Oh, I love that. So we got Ollie, but he loved it. And so his father was so happy. He was telling everyone he started drinking these sodas and his face cleared up.

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So he was like, gosh, I wish everyone knew it was the truth, but I can't tell anyone. But I told him if you would have just done all the pops, the acne wouldn't have cleared up. And if you would have just got facials, I couldn't have, this is like both things. So it's like you have to eat healthy, you have to do the things at home and then we can do our job. So if someone's going to get a facial and you're not going to use good skincare, like don't get the facial. You have to. Skincare is like, it's like you're, it's literally the nutrition. The facials like the workout. 

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Skya Jones: 

Well, that's what I love about facial lounges. It's a holistic approach. And I think that's such an important factor, whether we're talking about wellness, skin, like you have to have a holistic approach to get efficient results and clients appreciate that they want you to tell them what the recommendation is for all aspects. They don't want you to just do the treatment and then not give them an at home regimen. They want to know, okay, how can I ensure these results? And then that in turn, is beneficial for the business because then you can sell products and that supports kind of a diversified revenue. 

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Amber Johnson: 

Yeah. And we curate our own skincare off of the needs. Like you see what we need. I've been making skincare for a long time.

I worked for a lot of different skincare companies over the years and I started, they weren't listening. So I was curating products. Like we were in one of the first like anti-aging, anti-acne products that are like calming and not drying. So, so many acne products are drying. But the thing is, as an esthetician too, I know we get excited. Sometimes people think that as sales. So it's a very hard thing when I know that clear days ahead is going to clear you up. I can come off pushy, but it's because I know it's going to work. It has nothing to do with the 80 dollar sale. Like it's like, so, um, as an esthetician, we have to make sure to like educate and give the safe place for them to say no, but there's so many times people don't buy it and I'm like, 

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Skya Jones: 

Yeah, like I'll just give it to you.

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Amber Johnson: 

Oh no, I do. I'm in so much. I do so bad. Like there's a joke that we make more money when I'm not there. Like I just can't. “Don't let her in. She'll just give it all away.” Because I know it works. We have to know, like make sure to educate them, let them know that what we're doing is working, but what you're doing at home is the most important. But once it becomes a sales thing, people are turned off. So it's really, it's an art to really care. And sometimes I tell people, if you want, you know, you're okay, you could still use that. Eventually I'd love to add in antioxidants or whatever, but keeping it light. 

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Skya Jones: 

Love that. So I would love to hear the good, the bad, the ugly. What if you had to choose one of your favorite stories about the industry or something that just makes you think of the industry, what would it be? 

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Amber Johnson: 

You know, something that comes to mind is my mother was a comedian and she was actually called the anti-aging comedian. My mother was very funny. She said she was a 25 year old trapped in a 50 year old body. That was one of her sets and I'm closer to 50 now. I lost my mother and I think that finding the humor in everything is so fun. My mother used to say when she was younger that, you can look, but don't touch. And as she got older, she'd say, you can touch, but don't look, don't look. And, um, I think finding the humor in our flaws was so good. My mother would say that, um, she loved when she would find a brown spot, you know, on top of her varicose vein, but she's like, don't worry, it was hidden in a wrinkle. No one's gonna know. No one will see it. 

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And now when I use a self tanner and I look like a cheetah because of all my brown spots, I laugh and I think of my mother.

So, um, embracing the aging process and knowing that it's part of the process and finding the humor and everything. 

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Skya Jones: 

Well, yeah, that's the most human experience. I'm a diehard stand up comedian fan, and I feel like being able to laugh at things is what makes us human and it brings us all together. So I love that I think that's so beautiful that you're able to tie that and you're so naturally funny. I can see your mom and you you're just very hilarious and able to make so many witty jokes. I think that's beautiful. And I'm sure your clients love it. You keep them entertained. 

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Amber Johnson: 

I, we, I do. I do find humor even in the worst situations. There's, there's always a, sometimes I'll tell people it's not funny today, but I promise you it might be funny next week. 

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Skya Jones: 

I love that. To wrap up, if you had to define success, how would you describe it?

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Amber Johnson: 

Success, true success is being proud of what you're doing. I don't think it's a number or a, people put these things on it. If you are waking up and doing what you love and you're surviving and you're able to pay your bills and actually have freedom and do what you love, that is success to me. As a single mom, I'm able to get my kids to go to basketball and I don't have all these big fancy things, but I have a really good healthy lifestyle for my children. And it was really important for me to be off by three o'clock to pick them up from school. And being an esthetician gave me that freedom. And I didn't know when I went to school 20 something years ago that that's how it would be so important to me. So I think doing what you love and prioritizing what you love and being able to do it is success.

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Skya Jones: 

If our listeners want to learn more about you or find you, how do they do that? 

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Amber Johnson: 

So my company is The Facial Lounge on Instagram, we're Facial Lounge on Facebook, and our website is www.faciallounge.com 

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Skya Jones: 

I love that. Thank you so much for coming and sitting down with me today. It's been so much fun and we can't wait to have you back.

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Amber Johnson:

Thank you. Thank you for having me. You're an amazing host. 

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Skya Jones: 

Thank you. This is really fun. 

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Amber Johnson:

It's been a blast.

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