Jac's 2023 Year in Review

As I sit down to write this and start reflecting on the entire 2023 year, there are so many feelings and memories. Reflection is something I've gotten quite good at over the years, but it doesn’t make it any easier any time. Not that I find it challenging to do, but I've always been plagued with the love of all things nostalgic and melancholy, and sometimes I sit in them for too long.



2023 brought forth so many insane achievements for not just me as an individual but for our entire salon and spa. The first thing that stands out, far above the rest, is our discovery of Emmy. Bringing her into our home (Enlightened Beauty) and our hearts has been so rewarding for everyone who is getting to know her. She brought in a light and whimsical energy that aired out any stagnation that we felt in our space. She was the catalyst that really pushed us into an educational mindset and got us started intentionally creating our training manual for our new hires in the new year, as well as for our micro school journey that we will be embarking on sooner than we think.😉

Because of our newfound passion for urgency, we have reached farther into the FM community than we have ever been comfortable doing thus far. In finding that our passion not only lies in health and beauty but in keeping humans safe and cared for—particularly humans that find living in a conservative state extremely challenging—we have made it a loud mission to encourage humans of the LGBTQIAS2+ and neurodivergent communities to come to us if they need a safe and comfortable place to seek judgment-free health, care, and beauty knowledge.

This realization and action has been the most rewarding part of the entirety of 2023. Knowing that we can make a difference in the community—no matter how small—is life-changing, but then seeing and feeling the support and love from our guests, community, and even strangers across the globe is something nobody could have prepared me for. The gratefulness and emotion that I feel every single day when I walk into our salon is a reminder of why I was put on this Earth.

Where achievements are prominent, challenges are sure to follow, and we've had our fair share. Being such a loud and proud business and choosing to do things differently daily has come with backlash that we weren't anticipating. We were blind in our excitement about many of our endeavors involving underrepresented populations and received a lot of negativity from others that weren't in alignment with our morals or ethics. It was disheartening and hurtful, but reflecting on the situation only made my fire burn brighter. Anyone who has ever done something different and big HAS rocked the boat or is still doing so. I think we are on the right track to making a change.

Big Achievements in 2023

2023 has seen a lot of changes and new things in our personal lives as well as at Enlightened Beauty. I bought a house and a new car! I was nominated in the Top 10 Best Facials in ND! I became a Certified FUR Professional!

Emmy moved to Minnesota! She was featured on Surface’s Stylist Spotlight page! Kayla was able to take vacation time and celebrate herself in the ways she should!

She was also nominated for TWO awards from our Strategies Coaching Company! We had our first Team Retreat as a trio! We were placed on “Everywhere is Queer” and “Strands for Trans” websites! I'm sure there is so much more that, in my excitement, I cannot remember.

Exciting Product and Services Launches

We added a few new products and services to the salon and the spa: The salon saw Davines create the most sustainable product they have ever made. A shampoo and body wash combination called “We Stand.” Every ingredient can be traced back to the local farm it was sourced from in Parma, Italy. The spa saw our wax care brand, FUR, expand so much in its products that it was hard to keep up. They introduced their first ever deodorant, infused with the “Ingrown Concentrate” that we've all come to love over the years, and it quickly became a spahold name.

While they had a few more products launched in the year, the second product that stole our hearts was “All Body Butter.” In my six years as a skin therapist, I have never seen such a thick body butter that doesn't leave an oily, greasy feeling on your skin.. until now. We welcomed TWO new lines of [comfort zone], our Davines skincare, as well. Sublime, meant for all things lifting and firming and Hydramemory, meant for all things moisture—WITHOUT oil. The hydration without oils has been a trend for products this year, and we love it. It's more inclusive for our dry AND oily guests and works well for combination skin, too.

Microderms

The best thing, in my humble opinion, that we added to the spa was our Microderm Service. Before I joined my sister at Enlightened Beauty, I was a skincare manager who focused a lot on treatments of skin, with an emphasis on Microderm Infusions. I adore all skincare, but there is something about the instant results of a Microderm that scratches an itch in my aesthetic brain. Kayla decided to surprise me one day with a hand-held microdermabrasion tool, and I haven't looked back! 😂The results we’ve been able to achieve in such a short amount of time are so exciting. Learning and seeing change are some of the best motivators for me, and I'm positive most of my guests agree.

Beard Facials

I’m hoping my new service in 2024 will have the same effect—every bearded human has wanted someone to really get in the beard hair, scrub the skin underneath, and treat the hair with the softening care that hair on the head usually gets. That is exactly my goal with Beard Facials. Whether you have little-to-no hair and just get slight irritation, or if you have a full, long beard and get itchy or skin build-up, I will be able to use tools to get down to the skin, cleanse, scrub, soften, and moisturize all of it for a better feeling clean than just trying to scrub over or through your beard at home. There aren't many beard facial options in our neck of the woods, and my goal is to let people know that beard care is important and needed and that those services are perfectly okay to ask for or want. I strive for EVERY human to feel 100% comfortable in my room and get what they need or, at the very least, ask so we can work on creating that service or result for them.

I am SO excited to start the new year with all of our newfound confidence in who and what we are as a brand. You can expect to see us out in the community more than ever before, sharing new products and services and just being our authentic selves. If 2023 taught me anything, it would be that life doesn't get easier, just harder—and when it feels too overwhelming, just stand still in your faith. And that even with a teeny-tiny team, you can make a huge difference if you have the right players.

We couldn't have done it without each other and everyone around us. I may be biased on this front, but we have the absolute best guests. We wouldn’t be here without them. The unbelievable confidence and support we feel from them every single day is beyond anything I ever could have imagined I would ever have in my life. From baked goods to kind words to just stopping by, just to say hi—it's so appreciated and makes a world of difference in our lives. We honestly cherish every single relationship we have with any of them. They're the reason we do what we do and continue to push forward when times get rough.

And to my team—my amazing, hardworking, badass team—we move mountains. The little but mighty team of three. My little mouseketeers. In my 27 years of life, I have worked on small teams, big teams, and HUGE corporate teams, and have never felt the love, trust and vulnerability that we give each other so freely on a daily basis. It makes coming to work so easy, exciting, and fun. It's just like coming home. <3