Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Vandewalker.
Hi Emily, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story starts like most; with a need for income and an undeniable sense to prove someone wrong. If you would’ve told me when I was a little girl that I would own a successful lash parlor in Nashville, TN, I would have rolled my eyes with a meek uttering of “yeah right” under my breath.
For most of my life, I had a passion for the arts, but no idea how to apply that to real life and make a living off of it, so instead, I followed the medical career path. I attended and stopped several medical courses, gaining several misc credits and licenses, but never really having a real direction to my path. So, I did what most lost young adults do – I joined the Army.
At 18, I enlisted as a Combat Medic. There, I learned how to be an adult, about teamwork & responsibility, and most importantly, I learned that despite where I came from, I really could do anything I had dreamed.
Fast forward to the age of 24. I had been working in Colorado since exciting the Army doing State Compliance for the MMED. That’s right, I worked weighing medical marijuana and delivering it to dispensaries around the state. Not *exactly* the medical or art career I had envisioned, but it allowed me to meet and learn to talk to people from all walks of life.
My dad had just recently moved to Nashville for a job, and I had kind of hit a rut win Colorado. I was struggling with the fact that I was approaching my mid-20s and had no idea what I was doing with my life, which in turn, made me struggle with my childhood trauma, and I needed a familiar face nearby to help me navigate that.
With just what I could fit into a rental car, I packed my belongings, my dog and drove the long drive alone until I made it to Nashville, TN. To say I was in a culture shock when I got there would be a major understatement. I thought to myself, “there is no way I’m going to find what I’m looking for here.”
I was so wrong.
About a year later, I enrolled into an Aesthetics program, and before too long I had my license. Naturally, I decided I was going to use my prior medical training along with this license and work in a Plastic surgeons office somewhere doing injectables and making rich people happy, WRONG, I couldn’t find a job to save my life. Until someone said “I think you’d be really good at doing lashes.” “LASHES”, I thought?
Well, with nothing to lose, I tried it, and boy – was I good.
This was finally what I had been searching for. My perfect career mix of medical tediousness, my love of the arts, and most importantly – people.
That was six years ago now, and in that time I have worked as national educator for the prestigious Lashbox LA, I’ve trained and weaned countless students into their own success, and I’ve maintained my very own brick-and-mortar here in Nashville for almost four whole years this coming November, Lashville Nashville.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My childhood was difficult to say the least. See, I am the daughter of one of the (now) biggest trans activists in the world and a (now) deceased abusive addict mother. When you grow up in the 90s, those aren’t exactly the model parents or situations to start a life with. I, unfortunately, had to spend that majority of my childhood with my mother, who told me I was a failure my whole life. We grew up in poverty most of my childhood, hopping from one house to another while my mother chased the next high. I was the brunt of most of her disdain for life most of that time. That brings untold and unexpected challenges into adult life that no one prepares you for. The abandonment issues, that search for that “missing thing”, the years of therapy to overcome negative thoughts you’ve been fed.
Whereas this is a sad beginning, it instilled me with a fire inside myself to prove her wrong in the rest of my life. You know what? I eventually did.
I was people to understand, know, and believe that no matter where they came from, what their situation is/was like, no matter what they’ve been told – YOU REALLY CAN DO ANYTHING.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In layman’s terms, I create hair art on people’s eyes. I enhance the window of people’s souls, I make them happy by doing so, and I love it.
I am most proud of my perseverance to get to where I am despite my childhood and struggles along the way. I want people to know and understand that You can come from nothing and still become something.
Nothing sets me apart from others – at the end of the day, I am just a human with a skill, and I am no better or worse than anyone else.
What are your plans for the future?
Ever since opening my studio, Lashville Nashville, I have had this dream of making it a safe spot for people of Nashville to come and get the best lashes in town. Not only because of the skillset we provide but because of the acceptance we offer. My studio is one of love and openness. All are welcome. Let’s become family here.
Pricing:
- Full Set Classic Lashes: $165
- Full Set Hybrid Lashes: $185
- `Full Set Volume Lashes: $215
- Full Set Mega Lashes: $300
Contact Info:
- Email: emily@lashvillenashville.com
- Website: LashvilleNashville.com
- Instagram: @lashvillenashville
- Facebook: Facebook.com/nashvillelashville
- Other: lashvillenashville.as.me
