Typical Day
At 7:00AM, Fay Shall wakes up to her phone alarm. She goes into the kitchen to take the dogs out, then fixes them breakfast: meatballs and dog food. At 7:20AM, Fay wakes her son, Manny, up for school. He's grumpy this morning, but what's new?
While she packs his lunch, she snacks enough on the lunch meat and mozzarella sticks that she decides to call it "breakfast." When Fay was first starting out as an esthetician, she was really careful with her diet: healthy unsaturated fats from avocados and almonds, a bite-sized square of dark chocolate for a treat, and no dairy—ever. After she had her son, though, things had to change. Growing kids need their calcium, and stressed-out parents need their frosted brownies.
At 8:00AM, Fay drops Manny off in time for school. She goes home to do some miscellaneous chores—checking her email, keeping the dogs from eating the furniture, etc.—before hitting an exercise class near the spa where she works at 10:30AM. She justifies the expensive gym membership by telling herself that healthy skin begins with healthy living.
And she once met a client in her class. The woman had been dissatisfied with a recent laser treatment, and Fay had whipped her business card out stat. Best client she's ever had. Buys everything. Wants every treatment.
Fay is at the office—fed (PB&J and some carrot sticks), showered, and looking fresh—by 11:45AM. In the thirty minutes until her first client, Fay reviews client histories, cleans up her work area, and sterilizes her equipment. She likes to take her time with this process; the ritual of it calms and focuses her for the day.
Many of the other estheticians who work at the salon take their lunch break from around 12:30-1:30PM. Fay prefers to eat two mini-lunches on either side of the typical lunch hour so that she can catch the "lunch rush."
Years ago, she discovered that some high-income clients, like the executives at the office buildings nearby, were interested in quick, lunchtime facials. Fay's not one to turn down business—even if it means eating four little meals a day instead of three. Plus, richer clients usually means better sales. Fay tends to take in about twice the amount of commission during the lunch hour.
Like clockwork at 12:37PM, Steven McCullough power-walks in wearing his usual power-tie, power-suit combo. Fay smiles, "Hey Steve."
"We have an emergency Fay." He replied flatly. Clearly there was no time for pleasantries. "Look at my face, it's hideous! Why are you laughing?!"
"No reason Steve, you look fine, but I can definitely take care of that clogged pore for you." She sees his body loosen and ushers him to her station.
"Thank goodness. Fay, you're a life saver."
"I know it." She laughs. "Important meeting today, or what?"
"Worse. My brother's visiting from back home for the first time. He thinks he's so much better than me. I'll show him. I've got the perfect job, his dream car, and I'm gonna tell him all about it with a spotless face."
Fay rolls her eyes and gets to work. Steven always had some sort of wacky excuse for why he needed perfect skin "right this instant," but he tipped well and bought all kinds of extravagant products from her. So she likes Steven.
At 2:30PM, Fay breaks for a quick "second lunch": quinoa salad leftovers tossed with balsamic, and garnished with some hummus. Then she hits the work area again, with the same routine: client consultation ("What're we looking for today?"), treatment, and finally, the sales pitch.
Fay makes decent money at her job, but she needs the commissions. The additional fifteen- to twenty-percent commission on the products she sells helps keep her and her son afloat.
She never lets a client slip out the door without at least recommending three to five products they might like—and stressing one to two that she's sure they'd love. And, finally, because they obviously loved their time with her, Fay always tries to schedule the next meeting on the spot.
"I can get you scheduled right now if you like," Fay says for the ninth time today. Because she's always looking for ways to expand her client base, she adds: "And don't forget, if you invite a friend, you can get an additional fifteen percent off your next massage."
The woman smiles and nods—but doesn't bite. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
By 8:00PM, Fay says goodbye to her last client of the day—a woman who had a severe case of acne. A "pimple-popping job," Fay calls it, but never out loud. She washes and disinfects her hands, disinfects her equipment, and puts it into the cupboard.
She says goodnight to one of the other estheticians, the only one who stays later than she does, and makes the long drive back home. At home, she checks her son's homework, eats a late dinner around 10:00PM, and drifts off to sleep by midnight.