Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Davis.
Hi Ashley, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I got into the field of esthetics through my love of makeup. In high school, I would dabble here and there and would do mine as well as my friends. Looking back on those days it wasn’t the best, but we didn’t know that at the time! This trickled over into my collegiate years at the College of Charleston where I was an Accounting major. In my junior year, I decided that accounting wasn’t my passion and that I wanted to be a makeup artist. So I started looking into programs for makeup artistry and finished CofC with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and enrolled in Trident Technical College’s Esthetics program. During the program, I ended up loving the aspect of skincare even more than makeup, specifically medical-driven esthetics. At the time, job shadowing was a part of the program and I ended up shadowing at a local dermatology office and absolutely loved it and felt good about my decision to go into the medical esthetics field. The rest, as they say, is history!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wish I could say it was a smooth road, but saying that wouldn’t be realistic at all. My biggest battle back then was my youth. Fresh out of school, I jumped into an Esthetician position replacing someone who was older and had already rapport with her clientele over a couple of years. Here I was, this young, black girl, with a quirky personality, working in an office whose patient demographic at the time was middle-aged and older…and white. So getting that clientele to be comfortable with me and my abilities was definitely challenging. I distinctly remember one of the last questions I was asked during my interview for this position being about how I would respond to a patient who questioned my experience due to my being young and black. In this day and social climate, an employer would never get away with asking something like that–and at the time it did make me uncomfortable. But in all honesty, I appreciate the question, it was a fair question and I did actually deal with that scenario a few times during my employment. I had to build rapport with current clientele, learn all of the new job duties, and I had to find ways to bring in new clientele. I even went on marketing missions to local businesses in my downtime to introduce myself and try to get into new business!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a medical Esthetician at The EpiCentre (an OBGYN office offering a complete women’s wellness experience). Essentially my job description is a skincare therapist. I do a variety of facials, chemical peels, laser hair removal, and various other treatments that help to improve the appearance of aging, scarring, and textural abnormalities of the skin. I’m known for delivering results…and “harassing” my clientele about consistency and sunscreen!
I am most proud of how far I’ve come in the skincare industry here in the Charleston area. I worked hard to get where I am and know what I know. As far as what sets me apart from others, simply me being me. Learning never ends for me (I’m currently in nursing school!) and I like to think that I give skincare my all and am dedicated to what I do and changing how people feel about themselves and the skin they are in.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Hmm…well this is a hard question because I’m not really sure I have one! That’s not saying I didn’t have a great childhood because I did. I guess I’d have to say one of my favorite memories would be me thinking I was going to be a chef and being in the kitchen cooking up all kinds of concoctions and making my family eat them for dinner.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.epicentrecharleston.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/glowpro_ash
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/glowproash
- Other: tiktok.com/@glowpro_ash
