u/Negative-Board-8574

Hi all!

Whether you’re a electrologist or a client, I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say electrolysis has changed my life.

I’ve had a career in electrolysis in the back of my mind since my very first treatments years ago, but the thought of a career change discouraged me back then. Fast forward to many years in the corporate world, the push for AI, outsourced jobs and a spiraling job market, I feel incredibly jaded in my current career and more determined than ever to pursue a career in electrolysis.

I like to be very thorough in my research but sometimes feel like information about electrolysis is hard to find. So I’m here asking the good folks of Reddit for their thoughts! I have questions broken up by topic :)

School options:
I’m in Northern California. And the closest school to me is in Monterrey Bay, but I hear they only teach 1 modality. There are other schools in Southern California hours apart from each other, and I have relatives in Los Angeles, who have graciously agreed to let me stay with them. I hear that the best school in Southern California is Electrology Academy CEA for its program and instructors. However with traffic, CEA is easily 2 hrs away from my relatives, so the commute would defeat staying with family and I would be better off just staying near campus. There’s another school in Los Angeles called ZMS that is about half the cost of CEA but has mixed reviews. I don’t know if it’s one of those “you get what you pay for” type of schools, but I would save a lot of money in tuition and in housing because I could stay with family.
Does anyone have any thoughts about either CEA in Corona or ZMS in Los Angeles?

Questions about business costs:
I have limited business acumen, and a bit overwhelmed on where to start when it comes to starting a business. And I doubt that I should realistically expect to learn enough about running an electrolysis business in school… so aside from becoming licensed electrologist in my state, what kind if business-related permits should I be aware of? Does anyone have good online resources where I can find more info on the business aspect of things?

Questions about startup and recurring expenses:
I’m saving as much money as I can for now to get through my ramp up period. Can I get some help itemizing my major startup expenses? I’m aware the machine cost will vary, same with table/chair, magnifying lamp, loupes, etc. So what other costs are there associated with starting up and/or setting up my space? Thoughts on websites vs social media?
Also, what recurring expenses do you all have as far as treatment supplies, client post care product samples, insurance, client booking software?

If you made it this far- THANK YOU! I’m ready to pour myself into this career but like to inform myself as much as I can, so thank you for any insights you have!

So I’ve been getting electrolysis on my face a while and recently went to see a new one because my old one retired. My previous tech had worked on me to the point that they could clear my face in 45mins to an hour. The new electrologist was ok skipping the consult because I explained I’m familiar with how it works. I booked the usual time I was booking before (1 hr).

Fast forward to my appt, and they immediately start commenting (almost complaining?) on how thin the hair is, and say they’re going just to treat the straggler coarse hairs.
Mind you, at this point I’ve learned what vellus hair is, and the hair on my face is not vellus. It has decreased in density and thickness because of my past treatments, but definitely not vellus. The electrologist didn’t outright call it vellus, but the fact they refused to treat it made me ask myself what would be the reason they refused to treat those hairs. So I stayed puzzled on why they refused to treat my cheeks because I didn’t want to become argumentative or question their methods.

However, as we moved on and they’re working on the thicker hair, they keep complaining that my “pores” are too small for the insertions… something I’ve never heard before. My past electrologist did switch over to gold probes, but never mentioned too small follicles. They kept muttering my “pores” were too small and couldn’t do the insertions. They kept repositioning me, and eventually I felt like they were just killing time.

So basically, they treated like 20 hairs and I walked out looking the same and $100 poorer. At this point, I know to hydrate well and my past techs haven’t mentioned me being dehydrated during treatments, so I also ruled that out as a possibility on why the new one would refuse to treat my “too thin” hair and struggle with “too small pores”.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?