Community Highlights: Meet Blanca Rivera of The Waxing Witch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blanca Rivera.

Hi Blanca , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always been into beauty, stealing my mother’s Mary Kay or Avon, or giving my friends makeovers. I knew I always wanted to be in that field and make people feel good about themselves. I was super into makeup at a young age but that changed when I went to esthetics school. I gravitated towards the more fast paced beauty treatments, chemical peels, waxing and makeup. Once I graduated, I landed a job at a medical spa called American Laser Skincare. While i absolutely loved being in that field, and am very lucky for getting laser certified through them, I felt it was more of an upselling environment and that did end up rubbing me the wrong way. They ended up closing their doors and I got laid off. I was devastated, young and lost. I tried to get another job in the same field but had a hard time, so I decided to try something new and worked at an animal hospital called Westside Animal Hospital. It was fun and exciting at first and I’ve always loved animals, however that job ended up wearing on me because you work with mostly sick animals and it was hard not to be sad about that. I still had a yearning in me to be in the beauty field, so decided to get back into it. I applied at a few waxing spots because I knew I enjoyed that in school. Decided to work at European wax center in castle rock. At the time it was a franchise and owned by a private owner, she was amazing and made you feel valued. I got amazing training and learned how to speed wax. I fell in love. Not only was it instant gratification, you could feel the immediate confidence boost it would give my clients. My clients would trust me, be vulnerable, go through things in life and confide in me, would tell me their secrets, would just open up in general. I would build friendships that I still have today. I became a trainer, and trained people all over Colorado. That was fun for a few years until corporate decided to take our center over and things changed. We didn’t feel valued and felt rushed, had to upsell in order to get our bonuses and the environment was a lot more strict. After a while I knew it was time for me to leave. I knew I had the knowledge and skill set to go on my own, so I did just that! I ended up partnering with a friend and we co- owned a wax suite and had individual businesses. I was pregnant and unsure of what was going to happen, but I knew i did not want to have my child and be stuck in a stressful environment. We opened our location in Littleton, but then I eventually went off on my own and moved to highlands ranch. Even though there will always be room for growth I have had my business for 3 years now and I couldn’t be more happy, I am no longer rushed, I can connect with my clients, and I’ve expanded to doing other services that i love such as lash lifts and brow treatments like brow laminations and hybrid dye.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, and it still isn’t. I was always worried I would fail, i went from seeing 200+ people a month and then I would be lucky to have 1 or 2 clients a week. Money was very tight. But I was lucky to have the support that I did, and I had a plan. You just have to do things in fear and trust that it will all work out somehow. I still have my ups and downs, and it’s hard to not get in your head. But it’s worth it!

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Waxing Witch?
I have been a licensed esthetician for 9+ years and throughout my career I have worked as a laser technician, a makeup artist and a wax specialist. I specialize in face and body waxing, particularly brazilians and eyebrows, eyebrow lamination, tinting, hybrid brows and lash lifts! I’m known for doing a brazilian wax in 15 minutes or less! I also love helping people achieve their brow goals, whether it may be growing them in or shaping them to fit their face. I am most proud of just being able to be my true self. The Waxing Witch is truly what I think I am, a powerful, magical woman. And I want every single client to feel that way when they leave my door.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
No one would ever know as I was building my business, I was also struggling with post partum depression and mental health issues. Having The Waxing Witch helped me through that and helped me heal. It was something that was my own and it was authentically me.
It also taught me to just be kind, smile at strangers, help them out if you can, you never know what someone is going through.
On a positive note I used to hike the manitou incline twice a week!

Pricing:

• Brazilian wax $65
• Eyebrow wax $25
• Hybrid dye $60
• Brow lamination $80

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Thewaxingwitch.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: @thewaxingwitchllc
• Facebook: The Waxing Witch