Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabella Casimiro.
Isabella, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I always wanted to be an elementary teacher, up until I started doing makeup and getting into beauty. Once I started booking more clients for makeup, I got a job working at Sephora and my interest expanded into skincare. This is where I decided to stop the traditional route of going to college for a ‘normal’ degree and went to beauty school. I had originally enrolled in a school to study Esthetics in Guadalajara, Jalisco but my family convinced me to stay in San Diego so I stopped in my tracks and enrolled in City College’s esthetics program. Instead of finishing in two years which is the normal program time I finished in 6 months- waking up at 4 am to cross the border and get to school on time and leaving at 5 pm, after a 10 hour school day, five days a week. Although this was tiring with my then job right after school, coaching swim, it taught me a sort of discipline that was unlike any other. It also taught me what I needed to know to get into this industry.
Fast forward and I now work full-time at Orissa Spa Boutique doing facials, lymphatic drainage massage, tanning, waxing, and makeup.
Meanwhile, I am the sole owner of my blog www.laportuguexicana.com where I write about beauty and wellness.
Beauty being all things skincare and makeup and wellness in terms of holistic healing as I am an empathetic/intuitive/medium whatever you’d like to call it.
Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not! Like I mentioned, crossing the border daily was a hassle. Something I still do but has gotten much easier. For a good time after graduating esthetics, which was about three years ago when I was 18, I struggled with working for somebody else in a spa (which I now do) or continuing to work for myself. Working for myself was great, doing microblading and eyelash extensions but I found myself going back to work for someone else in an industry that wasn’t what I wanted so I struggled with what my next step was going to be. I also, up until a year ago, was afraid to open up about my healing abilities in fear of being judged or not believed. Once I overcame that, the amount of support I received was beyond what I imagined. I also always wanted to have a blog but self-doubt was a big thing in regards to if I should launch my website or not.
Finally, now 21, I launched my blog, found a new job where I’m growing and learning more and found myself falling back in love with the industry I dove into. So in the end, although it was a bumpy ride, it was definitely worth it to get myself in the position I am now.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into your story. Tell us more about the business.
In regards to my blog, I specialize in Beauty & Wellness. Being an empath, I’ve always wanted to help people heal and feel better so I share different ways of doing so and personal stories so anyone who has gone through similar stories can find comfort and light.
As for beauty, being in this industry has given me so much knowledge about ingredients, products, treatments, tips and tricks. I’m proud of being able to shed some light on different realms of each world (beauty and wellness) in my own way. I had my own little community that I leaned on for guidance in each world, so for me to provide some sort of support or guidance for other people as well is what excites me the most. Plus, I love to write so writing about the things I’m passionate about makes it all the more enjoyable for me and I think readers can feel that too.
At the spa, our specialties are facials and reduction massage. We have a wide range of facials, where there’s two estheticians, myself and Natalia that perform each. Reduction massage is done with maderoterapia that’s becoming more widespread and very sought out.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In the next 5-10 years, I would hope for my blog to have grown and spread into ‘educational’ videos as well. My goal is to document all different aspects of beauty from skin treatments to makeup. I hope to throughout that time period also expand in the spa world and partner up to co-own or eventually own my own spa. I think this is such a fulfilling industry and community because everybody wants to feel good from the inside out. So if I can teach people tips and tricks on how to do so then I know I’m doing something right.
Pricing:
- Facials $60-$200
- Massage $100
Contact Info:
- Address: 2334 proctor valley road Chula Vista ca 91914- suite 104
- Website: Www.laportuguexicana.com
- Phone: 6196385508
- Email: isabellamolins@yahoo.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/isabmolins
- Facebook: Www.facebook.com/isabellamolinscasimiro
- Yelp: Www.yelp.com/orissaspa
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