Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Tran.
Hi Nancy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a permanent makeup artist based here in San Diego. I’ve always had this interest in doing something within the beauty industry. I just never push myself to do it. I was afraid that it wasn’t a financially good enough career and so I went to college. I attended San Diego State University and got my bachelor’s in Marketing and a certificate in Accounting. However, I didn’t pursue a career in any of those. I just couldn’t picture myself working in an office every day for the rest of my life. At that point, I felt lost and didn’t know what I wanted to be or do.
For the last six years I was working at a restaurant as a waitress. Then covid hit and I was temporarily laid off. Since I wasn’t working, I had a lot of time to figure out what I wanted to do. For years I’ve been telling my fiancé and friends that I wanted to do permanent makeup but never had the courage to do it. My fiancé was the one who encouraged me to give it a try, and since I wasn’t working at the time, I figure why not?
So August of 2020, I took the first step to take my very first training class, and it was the best decision I have ever made. After three months of practicing on fake skin at home, I began taking clients in November of 2020 at Beauty Ink studio in Rancho Bernardo. Since I was a beginner, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get any clients. However, I’ve already put so much time and money into this business that I couldn’t back down and just give up. I told myself that I would be happy with even just two clients a month. But with the help from friends, family and promoting my business on Instagram. My Instagram following started to increase, and my clientele begins to grow. Next thing you know, I surprisingly got booked up for the month.
I began having a steady clientele and decided to quit my serving job back in March so that I can focus on my business. Now I do brows full time. Do I regret not using my education degrees? Nope! I’m happy, and I genuinely love what I do.
Throughout 2021, I took more training classes to continue to learn and improve my skills. Now I am 5x certified and hoping to take more training classes in the future or maybe even expand my business. I’m just so grateful for all my clients for trusting me and my mentors for believing in me. But I couldn’t have done this without the love and support from my fiancé, family, and friends, as well as the pmu community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Owning your own business is never a smooth road. I have my good days, and sometimes I have my bad days. Being a business owner itself can be challenging because I’m doing everything on my own. It’s not just giving service, and that’s it but also everything behind the scenes, such as taking pictures/videos and editing them, posting on social media and creating content, replying to emails/messages, promoting my business to get clients. Scheduling appointments. Making aftercare kits, stocking up on supplies, dealing with stubborn clients. There’s just a lot that goes along with being a business owner that people don’t know. So sometimes, it can be a struggle trying to juggle everything by yourself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a permanent makeup artist who specializes in Ombre powder brows. I can transform thin brows, thick brows, and even no brows. My clients always tell me that getting their brows done saves them so much time getting ready. I mean, who doesn’t want to save an extra 15 minutes in the morning?
But what is Ombre powder brows? Ombre powder brows is a semi-permanent makeup technique where we use a single needle machine to implant colored pigment into the dermis (the second layer of your skin). What makes Ombre powder brows unique is that it’s good for all skin types and last much longer than microblading. It gives you that wake-up with a make up kind of look.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I learned along my journey is to not compare myself to others. This industry can be very competitive. Sometimes I look at other people’s work and I’m like, wow, they’re amazing because trust me, there’s so many amazing artists out there. However, all good artists all started somewhere. How good you get will depend on you and how dedicated you are.
Pricing:
- Ombré powder brows (new sets) – $400
- Ombre powder brows (corrections/cover up) – $475
Contact Info:
- Email: Beautebynancy@gmail.com
- Website: https://beautebynancy.schedulista.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautebynancy/?hl=en
