I am thrilled to introduce our March Clinic of the Month, Genevieve from Self-Care Initiatives! It’s been so wonderful working with Genevieve, so let’s hear more about her skincare business journey.

I love how you dig deep into the anatomy, physiology, and cosmetic chemistry of skincare. How did you begin with self-care initiatives and your holistic approach to the skin? 

Before Dermaviduals, I solely focused on the medical side. Then, I had a realization and started to go more towards the holistic approach, and now I blend both. I was also using a different product line for about 10 or 12 years and when COVID hit I thought, “well, I might never have a business again, who knows what’s going to happen after this, so I’m going to do what I want.” I had been looking at Dermaviduals for a long, long time, and with Dermaviduals, you can customize so much, I knew it was going to be the right fit.

Is there a specific moment when you knew you were going to make the switch to Dermaviduals? 

When I began working with Observ last March, I was often realizing that a particular Dermaviduals ingredient would be great for that client’s skin. I don’t like putting things in a box and love the idea of doing exactly what the client needs at that certain point, and being able to adapt it down the road. Even after a few months of consideration, Dermaviduals was always in the back of my mind. I loved thinking of all the ingredients that I could combine together. Then, when COVID hit and the lockdown extended from two to nine weeks, I thought, “If I don’t seize the day now, it might never happen.” So, I made the jump! 

By bringing in Dermaviduals, it also meant that I had to get rid of a lot of products that weren’t compatible with it. But that was okay, because the level of customization was worth it.

Since bringing in Dermaviduals, how has it impacted your business? 

Dermaviduals largely inspired me to focus on self-care. Oftentimes people see skincare as work. But, if you see it as a way of introducing it into your self-care routine, it’s just as important as drinking your three liters of water a day and exercising, and so on. When looking at it this way, I find it’s more enticing to people. I had been doing that work with Dermaviduals since last April, and after a couple of months, I decided to change my clinic’s name because what I had before no longer represented what I was doing. 

It’s been really great with Dermaviduals because it allows you to do a skin reset. Sometimes clients come to you with a bunch of products – a lot of acids, active ingredients – it can be a lot. I’m not scared to put them on Dermaviduals at that point because it’s going to soothe everything down and do whatever needs to be done. 

You decided to change “skin-care” to “self-care” to be more encompassing and I think it was the perfect timing since it is such an important message right now. So, what inspired you to name it “Self-Care Initiatives?”

I always like to initiate new things and initiate new ideas to my clients. This initiates them and gets them thinking differently. “Initiatives” also encompasses everything that I want to do down the road, because I want to have support programs for women that don’t know where to start with skincare!

That gave me goosebumps! I love how decisive you are and how you are 100% behind all your decisions. 

What has the impact been on your clients since bringing in Dermaviduals? 

It was easy for my clients because I could choose ingredients that they already knew. It was my first time transitioning from one line to the other, but since they already knew the education behind the products, it was familiar to them. I think that’s why I loved Dermaviduals so much. I could already recognize all the ingredients and build up from there.

Your timing of bringing in Dermaviduals was very brave due to the COVID pandemic, but every challenge comes with new opportunities. Were there any surprises that came up while working with Dermaviduals?  

It was definitely overwhelming at first. But, if you start with orders and ingredients you know, and slowly add on more and more, and have a resource to reach out to like Rene, it only took a few months to start to feel more comfortable. 

You definitely have to be prepared to do a little bit of learning along the way and you are one brave soul and one gutsy businesswoman. If you were to meet someone new in the industry that is considering bringing in Dermaviduals, what advice would you give them? 

I would say to do the International Association of Corneotherapy course. Doing this course can be a good introduction and give you more information on if Corneotherapy is for you or not because it does go against a lot of what we learned in school. Even I didn’t understand a lot of what was taught to me in school, but once I found Corneotherapy, it really clicked. Beyond that, just start slow! Start with ingredients you know and you’ll be just fine.

You’ve had a big transition in business and entrepreneurship can be a challenging path. What do you feel are the most important components of creating balance and navigating the craziness of the interesting world we live in right now? What do you do for yourself? 

If closures didn’t happen due to COVID, I think I was going to burn out. Healthcare has to be number one, like exercising for instance. Don’t overbook yourself so that you can eat, get water, and take breaks in between the appointments. Don’t overload your schedule. That’s something I wasn’t doing before that I am now and it has helped immensely. 

Every time I go into my business I remind myself to think of my own healthcare. You can’t pour from an empty cup. We hear that all the time. I can give so much more to my client when I’m caring for myself!

I really want to highlight that point because sometimes our industry can glorify being fully booked and that not taking breaks means you’re more successful, and that’s not how it should be. We have to take time to slow ourselves down.

What are some things you do outside of work to stay balanced?

I do yoga, and I also do a lot of research. That’s relaxing for me. For the longest time I tried to stop myself from doing work during my time off, but research and learning are actually relaxing for me. 

If you imagine Self-Care Initiatives ten years from now, what does that look like? 

I want to keep doing what I’m doing now. I would like it to be like this forever! Of course, I’ll take on more clients, but still, keep it exactly the way it is. I was always obsessed with home technologies, but sometimes clients were not open to that because they preferred to come to see me. But, with COVID, it really opened the door to home technologies. That’s something that I really enjoyed focusing on and I’m definitely going to maintain that in the future. 

COVID has really caused a year of reflection, hasn’t it? 

Yes! Last March and April, I made the decision to remove all grooming services. I was doing a lot of that, so I removed it all and I decided to focus more on skincare. I was a little bit nervous about it, worried about if my revenue was going to be impacted, but it remained consistent. And now, I have more time and energy to spend on caring for my skincare clients!

It’s amazing to identify what you love and what you resonate with and to do more of the things that you love. That’s also how we don’t burn out. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Another thing I should have mentioned is something that happens often in our industry is undercharging. It’s almost as if people feel guilty making money. Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth!

Yes, thank you for mentioning that. You don’t have to charge exactly the same as everyone else. There’s no reason to be underpaid, you have to believe that you’re worth it.

You’re doing such amazing work. Most of all, I love how you educate your clients so they know how to take care of themselves from the outside in. It’s such a gift to work with you and I cannot wait until we can rendezvous in person!

Be sure to check out Genevieve Self-Care Initiatives on Facebook, Instagram, and her website at https://selfcareinitiatives.ca/!

This blog was originally posted on dermaviduals.ca.