Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Valero.
Hi Lauren, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi my name is Lauren Valero i’m 22 years old and I’m the business owner of Chula Lashes.
Back in 2018 I worked at the Toyota plant for a year and was making good money but I felt like I wasn’t really enjoying anything I was doing. At that time I had always gotten my lashes done , and my lash tech told me she was going to start offering lash classes for beginners that go over the basics. I was really interested because I had seen my lash tech grow in her career from lashing from her house to getting her own salon , it really motivated me so I decided to invest in myself. What I didn’t realize is that you need a esthetician license in order to even perform any services on clients , so I practiced on cousins and friends for a while but sort of forgot about lashing until January of 2020 came. I then started esthetician school and loved the whole learning process , until covid hit in March and turned my 6 month program into 8 1/2 months. After this long process I finally was able to recieve my license in November of 2020. For about two months I was lashing from home and I had started offering discounted lash sets to practice and decided I wanted to learn more about full body waxing so I got a job at a waxing salon. I was working at the salon for about 5 months but decided I couldn’t work there anymore because there was never any clients to service and I just felt I wasn’t seeing any progress in myself or career , so I decided to take a leap of faith and leave my job and rent out a suite of my own to work out of. I had about only 4 steady clients who had been coming to me for months and I decided to do it regardless of how the circumstances looked at that moment. So I took the leap and now I’m 7 months in to having my own space to work from and I can’t tell you how blessed I am to even be at this 7 month mark , if you really want something bad enough you’ll do anything to make it happen.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, it definitely hasn’t been a walk in the park, it took some patience, dedication and sacrifices. When I first went to esthetician school I was so hopeful in the beginning but towards the end, I really didn’t know what to even do about my situation. I had to deal with drama, hours being stolen from me & a whole pandemic! it just seemed like there were so many things in between me and where I wanted to be due to problems with the school, personal things and family things, it was all so overwhelming and felt like my goal was unachievable. But I had to stay focused on the goal and stay determined to achieve it because nothing good comes easy.
Even working as a waxologist at a salon there were lots of doubts in my mind. My commute to work alone was 45 minutes and the salon was never busy so how was I supposed to make money or perfect my craft? I just felt like I was idling in my career like there was no progression, so I knew that the only way to get better was to make it happen myself. Took a lot of courage and prayer but I’m glad everything happened the way it did.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m Lauren Valero and I am a lash artist here in San Antonio, Texas. I offer classic, hybrid and volume lashes for everyone! As an individual not just a business owner, I really hope to give each person a genuine and authentic experience through the time we spend together during our service, getting to connect with different people from different walks is what makes me love the career I chose. As for lashing I’m still fairly new in the lash game so I have lots to learn and lots to build but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come and so thankful for the individuals/clients I’ve met along the way , I wouldn’t be where I am without y’alls support so I just want to say it’s greatly appreciated!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I definitely see myself branching into different areas of esthetics, like hopefully PMU, body contouring, etc. As for my business, I think it would be really awesome to become an educator. Create classes, courses, content for those who are wanting to invest in themselves and need help getting started.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chulalashesx/
