Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Findlen.
Hi Kimberly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Long before TikTok made Double-Wear Foundation a cult favorite, you could have found me working the closing shift at local Macy’s at the Estee Lauder counter. During the day, I was in beauty school training to be an esthetician. That was 20 years ago.
In the two decades since I got married and have had three babies between working as an esthetician in day spas and salons and having a mobile hair and make-up business. More recently, I’ve built a permanent cosmetics business that I’m pretty proud of.
Getting into permanent was an unintentional no-brainer. After having my eyebrows microblade I asked myself, “Why can’t I do this?” Really, why wasn’t I doing this? I felt that I was artistic enough to execute the design and I had a lot of experience in the beauty industry. Above all, with the support of my husband, I was willing to take a chance on starting a new career from scratch with no experience and no clientele.
I took a training course and quickly gained the trust of friends and family and friends of friends who let me microblade their brows. I built a portfolio, hired a business coach, learned how to work Instagram, and prayed for paying clients.
Throughout the four short years of my permanent cosmetics career, I opened a location in Northern California and Southern California (fun fact, I was featured in SDVoyager!) before moving to Tennessee where I have been fortunate enough to have a studio in downtown Franklin. I’ve continued my education by learning nano-brows, lip blushing, brow lamination, and lash lifts.
I’m so thankful to be where I am and consider myself pretty lucky to have such wonderful clients who trust and support me.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’d be willing to bet that almost every small business owner who has been asked this question in the last 4 years will have the same answer. Covid.
Covid tried to wipe me out before I even got started. The blessing behind Covid, with my business, is that I was able to learn things I may not have made time for had I not been unable to take clients. I took advanced online training courses, learned marketing techniques, and started a waitlist of clients ready for new brows once we were allowed out of our homes.
Covid wasn’t my only obstacle. Two years into building my business, my husband and I decided to start a new life in another state, Tennessee. At the time I thought I would open a studio, clients would find out about me, and I’d carry on with a successful PMU career. That, however, was extremely naïve of me. “It’s who you know” is just about the most accurate quote I can think of when it comes to my getting clients when I first moved here. And, I knew no one.
There were weeks where I’d have a single client and I wasn’t sure there was a market for me in Franklin. I spent a lot of time and energy (some tears) trying to break into the Franklin beauty scene. The secret, I learned, was time, sincerity, and consistency.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
For those who might not know, permanent makeup is essentially a tattoo on your face. The three forms of Permanent Makeup I offer are Microblading Nano Brows and Lip blush. Microblading and Nano’s brows are semi-permanent eyebrow tattoos, lip blush is semi-permanent lip color.
Something I pride myself in, and consider to be a specialty, is extremely natural-looking permanent makeup. I work to enhance your existing features, not change them. My goal is for your permanent makeup to be undetectable to someone who doesn’t know otherwise. The hair strokes I create will give the illusion of real hair, your lips will look flushed and natural, not overdone. I am very conservative when it comes to permanent makeup and want my client to feel comfortable, beautiful, and like the best version of herself.
Aside from permanent cosmetics, I offer brow lamination, lash lifts+tint, and teeth whitening. Brow lamination is a fan favorite and a great alternative for someone who isn’t ready to commit to permanent cosmetics. It will give you the look of fuller-looking brows with only a 6-week commitment. A lash lift and tint make your eyes look bigger and more awake, imagine your lashes always being curled with a light coat of mascara.
The professional teeth whitening I offer can lighten your teeth up to 8 shades, it is a great add-on service while we’re numbing your brows for microblading or lifting your lashes!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
I am a large consumer of self-help, motivational, and inspirational material, in all forms. I almost always listen to podcasts while at my vanity getting myself ready in the morning. A few of my favorites: For a laugh, I listen to The Absolutely Not podcast. For business advice, I listen to The GlamLife Podcast, and for inspiration, I listen to Law of Attraction Changed my Life or Being Her.
My bedside table is filled with books similar to the podcast I listen to, and within those books are notes, dogeared pages, and lots of highlighters. A few that I read and have re-read: Are the Compound Effect (highly recommend) and The Universe Has Your Back.
Contact Info:
- Website: ThePowderRoomKF.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_powderroom_kf
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070480565159
Image Credits
Shannon LeBlanc
