03/05/2026
I actually never thought I’d go back to school yet here we are. And not in the traditional way you might be thinking…career change, quit the dream cause the dreams not working so we’re going back to learn something different. No. I already did that in my early 20’s - I was working at the hospital because that’s the only decent job I could find after dropping out of college, started on the path of becoming a nurse because that’s what was right in front of me, got really burnt out over 5 years of working night shift and completely pivoted, quit my job and enrolled in esthetics school and the rest is history. Or so I thought…
I became a Licensed Esthetician 14 years ago, immediately birthed this baby we know and love as Sweet Cheeks and I have been pouring everything I have and more into her ever since. What they didn’t tell me during esthetics school was the learning never ever stops, and just because you have a license from your state it doesn’t mean you know what to do, how to do it or know how to be any good at it
One thing I’ve really come to realize over the years is mastery takes time, practice, a lot of faith and perseverance
In the beginning it was just me, learning, practicing, messing up, trying again and again and again to get it right and continuing on. And that was more than enough. Then I came up against a hard wall. Everything I had been striving for in this business…full books and lots of clients and a busy and thriving treatment room and I achieved it and more AND I started to drown. I had to start turning clients away because there wasn’t enough of me to go around and it broke my heart. I couldn’t climb the wall alone, so I brought in help and a new Sweet Cheeks was born. A collaboration of talent with new hands, more heart and more service
And something in me slowly started to shift
What if this dream is actually more than a space for me to work and create a living for my family? What if it’s actually not about me at all? What if there’s something deeper??
The shifts continued to come. I came up against another wall…the treatment room no longer fulfilled me and I needed a change. And this time it was big
I needed out, I needed something new, I needed something very different from what I was doing. I LOVED my clients with my whole heart and I was burnt out from doing facials and Dermaplane and waxing. Every single day was the same and it felt like I was living in a single dimension with no depth
So with love and trust I gave my facial clients to my team and I focused my energy on creating something deeper. I felt a deep pull toward something massive so I started looking up, toward the horizon, across the country and around the world. What if I could help & support other estheticians like me who needed a guiding light and advice and the knowledge and experience I held? What if I could actually create a ripple effect of positive change within the skincare industry that raised the vibration of esthetics and together we could help heal women around the world??
So Sweet Cheeks University was born. An unexpected little sister to Sweet Cheeks Waxing and Skincare with a subtle, calming spirit and a God driving force that couldn’t be stopped even if I tried
It’s taken a few years for her to learn how to walk and talk and hold space for others and honestly for me to understand her. And with any calling and deep purpose, she wasn’t going to walk this path alone. So very very quickly she aligned with my very own twin flame and together we co-created
Today there’s a lot of moving parts and for a while I kind of viewed myself as wearing all of these different hats in all of my roles. At Sweet Cheeks I wear the hat of boss, leader, esthetician. At SCU I wear the hat of educator, mentor, thought leader. At Beyond Esthetics I wear the hat of podcaster, coach & mentor. No. They are ALL CONNECTED and I am working in direct alignment at all times with this amazing, beautiful and incredibly meaningful purpose. Every role I have and everything I do within that role actually guides the other and creates an impact
So here I am today, back at school even though honestly, I never left. I’m curating an Esthetician Apprenticeship Curriculum from the ground up so I can help connect the dream of being an esthetician with the reality of becoming licensed in a small, rural town that’s hours away from any secondary education opportunity
I’m mentoring estheticians across the country so they can live a thriving, prosperous career without burnout
I’m talking to thousands of beauty professionals around the world and freely sharing all of my years of knowledge, experience and advice with so much love and gratitude
And I’m steering this Sweet Cheeks ship with an extremely talented team with the intention of helping each of them master their skills, understand how to run and operate a sustainable esthetics business, empower them to show up in true authenticity even when it’s hard (in a very small town) and feel fulfilled, abundant and like they can accomplish anything they set their minds to
I believe in community over competition and that there’s more than enough to go around
I believe in sisterhood
I believe in service
I believe the skincare industry is shifting and old ways of thinking and doing and treating and operating for estheticians is falling away
I believe new wave of estheticians are rising
Above all I believe in women. The one constant that has remained since the very very beginning of my career is the women who we serve. The woman who needs a safe space to get a brazilian wax and not feel judged. The woman who pours 99% of herself into her work and family and obligations and needs one hour a month for someone else to care for her without the need to perform, she can just BE. The woman who wants to feel good in her skin. The woman who needs permission to love herself and take care of herself.
It’s her. It’s you. It’s who all this is for and the actual driving force behind ALL OF IT
I believe through the many many many hands who touch faces and hearts through the art of esthetics, we are actually healing women now, the women who came before us and the women who will come after us ❤️
xo Tiff
