Starting as an aesthetician is an exhilarating adventure. We go through aesthetics training, realizing that this just might be our passion in life, with an excitement like no other. Then, upon graduation, comes the reality of getting hired or trying to open our own business. After years of experience (or, if lucky/perseverant, immediately) you find your dream location. It might be your own spa or it might be with an existing location: regardless, you are finally home! While getting there, though, sometimes there are bumps in the road. Sometimes, an esthetician might experience burnout, or might fall into an advertising rut or, if running your own place, might experience a hiring shortage. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to these, but there is something that can help in all these areas: Giving Back!

Giving Back: Reduces Stress and Improves Health

Today’s esthetician tends to be a Multi-Purpose Esthetician. It is common to know how the whole house is run: from sales to PR and everything in between. All the while building clientele, and keeping current customers happy to the nines! This can lead to Burnout pretty quickly. Harvard Health notes that volunteering can help reduce that stress and possibly reduce blood pressure.

Giving Back: Support your community (and they’ll support you)

Charity offers your business to the opportunity to change lives. You can create some extremely strong bonds within your community while doing so. These strong bonds offer up increased visibility and a connection that just can’t be had anywhere else.  This is great for bringing in new clientele! 85% of people prefer to patron charitable businesses; when it boils down to you or a different, non-charitable location you just might have the upper hand!

Giving Back: A new generation of employees

More and more people are looking for meaning in their life. Numerous studies have been done, and today’s hires want philanthropy. It’s also been shown that employees of philanthropic companies are more loyal than their companies as well as more motivated in their work.

Giving Back: IRL (In Real Life)

I had the beautiful opportunity to interview a couple of AMAZING people who are entirely generous of their time and resources. Here’s how ‘Giving Back’ has affected their lives.

Kimberly Felshaw
https://www.facebook.com/HairandBodySugaringbyKimberly/

Operation Showers of Appreciation   www.OSOAMIL.org

Kimberly gives her time and services to support local military families. She incorporates any initiative she does with OSOA through her social media to help the charity’s visibility. She uses her passion for sugaring to connect with families in need and has a unique understanding of the stresses military families have. Below is her motivation.

Trigger Warning: infant loss.

“In 2005 while I was married to a Marine stationed aboard Camp Pendleton, I was expecting my first child.  January of that year we had been invited to participate in a baby shower thrown by a local church for nearly 20 new or expecting military moms.  About a month after that shower on February 23rd 2005 I had a regular doctor visit and found that my blood pressure was highly elevated.  After running more tests, our little girls heart continued to drop dangerously low.  That day, the doctors decided we would not be leaving the hospital and Allysa Victoria Felshaw was born early February 24th. 

Allysa was born 6 weeks early and it was only 1 week later we were told devastating news that our daughter was born with Trisomy 13, a fatal diagnosis.  Allysa lived for 3 short weeks and impacted my life in a way I had never imagined possible. 

After a brief time of mourning her loss, I was looking for a way that I could help others in her memory.  More and more I seen other military wives that were expecting new babies.  As badly as it hurt seeing them, I knew that was how I was going to help.  Through one tragic event, many great things have been made possible. 

My daughter Allysa, is the main reason I choose to work with OSOA.

 By giving back I'm not only able to honor the memory of my daughter Allysa, but show my two other children, who are 8 & 9, how good giving back feels and just how much even the smallest gesture can impact another persons life.”

Jacey Bedore
https://www.facebook.com/SugardBare
PARN
http://parn.ca/

“I give back by donating gift certificates regularly to fund raise for PARN Peterborough aids resource network. As well I collect feminine products to be donated to local women's shelter. I offer a 25 % discount to clients when they make a donation of these products .

I've also supported many smaller fundraising events to include sponsoring a local soccer team this year . For a very low cost a team sponsorship is an easy way to help community and get name out in the community.”

For those just starting out, there’s no time like the present!

Madison Van Dyke
www.sweetassugarbodywaxing.com
Operation Smile
http://www.operationsmile.org/
Compassion Canada
https://www.compassion.ca/
Victoria Children’s Hospital
http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/Childrens_Hospital/

Madison donates in her personal life and just recently opened a sugaring business. She utilizes social media and is currently transitioning to sharing her passion for charity on her business pages as well.

This is her story:

“I am a Christian, it affects my life in a positive way every single day. I know that God wants us and needs us to care for and help our brothers and sisters on this earth for the short time we are here... About 6 months ago, I was very short on cash, barely any money in the bank, definitely not enough to pay the bills, but had a couple hundred in savings for emergencies. I could either use this money to pay my bills, or trust in God, and give the money to someone who really needs the money, I mean life or death in need of money. 

So I decided to call up Compassion Canada, an organization where you can sponsor children in third world countries to provide them with food and clean water every day. I told them I want to sponsor my second child (I was and still am sponsoring a little girl named Zena for about 3 years), I told her I want to help more, that day myself and my boyfriend Jordan began sponsoring a little boy named Robinson who lives in Kenya, and not only did I want to sponsor him but I wanted to give him a little extra money on the side since Christmas was coming up, the woman at Compassion set everything up that day. I prayed about Robinson and him being able to use the money better then I could even if it means me not being about to pay my truck payment for the month. BUT, God does amazing things, and I kid you not, the very next day I went to babysit a 4-year-old boy who often looked after during the week and his mother approached me with a cheque for $1,000, and she says 'Madison, you are an amazing worker and human, Christmas is coming up, and I want you to have this extra money (on top of your pay cheque) to spend wherever you would like.' Wow.”

Their stories are inspiring. They found what works for them, their clients, their business, and most importantly, their community! That’s what I call home.

For more resources on giving back, please leave a comment below. Have a great giving back story you’d like to share?  Please share on our Facebook page we’d love to hear your stories!