Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Yang.
Hi Melanie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey as an entrepreneur really began long before I started You Aesthetic Spa. I grew up in a low income immigrant household. My parents would always spill stories of their childhood during tea time. As a child, my father would start his mornings running down the dirt path to sell their home grown vegetables on the side of the streets to locals and tourist. Once they immigrated to the U.S., they worked long and laborious hours in restaurants to try and provide us their version of the American dream.
As the second oldest daughter, I helped care for my five younger siblings. This instilled in me a strong work ethic and a deep sense of responsibility from a young age. I was always drawn to beauty, especially with the mass growing YouTube gurus in the early 2000’s. Growing up in a low income household, I had to learn how to do every service I wanted on myself. My mantra now is, if I wouldn’t do it on myself, I wouldn’t provide it as a service.
At 17, I entered the industry through manicuring, but I quickly realized the fast paced and high turnover environment wasn’t fulfilling. Services felt rushed and very transactional. I found myself valuing the connection and conversations with clients more than anything.
Years later, Covid happened, it forced me to slow down and re-evaluate what I truly valued. It taught me how to balance my identity as a child of immigrants while chasing my American dream. As a licensed cosmetologist, I had the opportunity and a wide range to explore different areas of the beauty industry, and I found myself drawn to lash services. It allowed me to combine my creativity with precision while also giving my clients a confidence boost, both mentally and physically.
Nine years ago, I was trying to find my place in this industry. Today, I’ve built something that helps women feel confident and put together in a way that feels effortless and true to who they are.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I remember sitting in my empty apartment staring at my empty books, wondering how I would pay my rent and make my extra education worth it. I kept posting on Facebook, advertising for $25 promotional lash extension sets, mind you this took 4 hours for a session and I sold lash shampoo to cleanse their extensions. Funny enough, the product and not the service was really what helped keep everything afloat.
Today, I am extremely grateful that I have the opportunity of building a team and ensure my team is allowed the opportunity to embrace their craft without the stress of having to build from the ground up. We are always looking to add motivated, driven and passionate individuals.
As you know, we’re big fans of You Aesthetic Spa. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m the founder of You Aesthetics, and we’re a lash specialty studio, but more than that, we’re very intentional about how we approach beauty. For me, it’s never been about doing the most, it’s about doing what actually fits the person. We focus on enhancing your natural features without compromising the health of your lashes. Everything is customized: your eye shape, your natural lashes, your lifestyle. A lot of our clients come to us because they want something low maintenance. Something that makes them feel put together without having to actually do so.
Our Korean lash lifts are one of our most popular services because they give that clean, effortless look with minimal damage. And even with lash extensions, we stay very intentional, soft, natural, and wearable.
I think what sets us apart is that we’re not chasing trends, we’re refining the features our clients enjoy about themself. At the end of the day, our goal is to have our clients leaving feeling like themselves, just elevated.
What’s next?
My current focus is to build a highly trained, aligned team that shares the same level of drive, dedication, and passion for the industry. Looking ahead, I plan to expand into other areas with the goal of making high quality, intentional lash services more accessible.
Pricing:
- Master Artist (MA) Korean lash Lift $110+
- Junior Artist (JA) Korean Lash Lift $95+
- MA Lash Extension Full set $195
- Regular Lash Fill $89+
- Brow Shaping + Map $26+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/YOUAESTHETICSPA
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/YOUAESTHETICSPA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youaestheticspa
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/shorts/jHi55l8MUJ4?feature=share
- Other: https://youaesthetics.square.site/
Image Credits
KV DSGNS & JORDAN MORROW PHOTOGRAPHY
