r/Estheticians

Don’t get me wrong I love what she does but every time I book a facial with her it’s roughly an hour long and she talkssss the whole time. Even when I go quiet. Not even a few seconds later she’ll start another conversation. I’m not sure if she just doesn’t like the quiet? I don’t think it’s awkward when it gets quiet. I’m starting to find myself drained when I leave. There’s music in the background so it’s not quiet quiet. I get facials to relax and not think about stress and work so usually I don’t feel like talking or don’t have any social battery. I wish some estheticians booking site have the option for a silent appointment.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for honest advice from other estheticians because I’m feeling really lost right now.

I graduated in March and recently got hired at a small spa. It’s only me and the owner working side by side. Since I’m new, I don’t have an established clientele yet. She’s been telling me that I need to bring in my own clients or I’ll be sent home if there are no bookings for me. She also told me that any spa I work at will be the same way, if I can’t bring clients in myself, I’ll be sent home.

I wanted to work under someone first before eventually going out on my own, so I could gain experience, confidence, and slowly build a client base. But now I’m starting to question if that’s realistic or if I’m already behind.

I’m also struggling because her clientele is mostly older women with higher disposable income, and I’m young, so it’s been hard to figure out how to connect with that demographic or attract people who fit the spa’s target market. She stays fully booked most days, while I’m left cleaning and waiting for appointments that don’t come.

I have been trying. I’ve posted in local Facebook groups, used multiple apps, posted consistently on Instagram, and told people I know. I’m not just sitting around expecting clients to magically appear. I genuinely want to work and grow in this industry.

So I wanted to ask what helped you get clients when you were fresh out of school?

I’m honestly feeling really discouraged. 🫤

I have been using Vagaro for my skin care clinic for about 7-8 years and recently the system has been a HUGE headache. I have appointments disappearing from my calendar or appointments being shown as booked multiple times. For example just yesterday I looked at my schedule at the start of my day and made a mental note that my last appointment is 7pm, then I checked back in twice only to see that appointment was not there so I thought maybe I had looked at it wrong. Thankfully that client messaged me saying they may be a few minutes late, at which point I clicked back into my calendar, had to pull down to get it to reload and that appointment now magically reappeared. This appointment was booked days ago and nor myself or the client made any changes to it. What if that client had not sent me a message and I had closed up and left? A few weeks ago, I had a client come in for a $150 service, having paid $75 (50%) online, when I went to checkout after the service, the treatment costs was showing as something completely different and the deposit being like $45. Each time I would refresh or close the app and reopen, the amount (cost & deposit) would change but not to the correct price. She is a loyal 10+ year client so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind checking her banking to see what she was actually charged as a deposit and it was $75 but Vagaro kept showing a lower amount. I then took a ton of screenshots of what I was seeing to send to Vagaro and they replied 2-3 days later telling me it now looks right on their end. No explanation of why this happened, no looking into it or acknowledging the system was making an error. Just a “looks good now”. Vagaro also makes it confusing for clients to book multiple services & their requirement of clients making an account is a constant headache. A little while ago Vagaro also took away the ability for business’s to update client information. For example if someone calls me asking to update their email, phone number etc. - I can’t, which is really really frustrating. Anyway to conclude - Vagaro really really sucks but I’m also worried about doing all the work to switch to another platform and encounter the same or new problems. I would really really appreciate anyone’s advice on other platforms available. I’ve been looking for a few days and I have to say, I really haven’t been able to find a great solution.