#TUEmpower by Yuliana Nyoto

I graduated from college with no clear direction on exactly what I wanted to do in life, I settled for a nine-to-five job—a job I had no passion in—for almost 2 years. I was restless and miserable inside. I felt an endless desire to break free and find my own calling.

But I’ve always believed that we have control over our own destiny. If we’re unhappy, we have the power to change that.

And so, with enough determination and curiosity in the right places, I gathered my courage to venture out of my comfort zones and looked into classes that could help me find my passion. After lots of trials and exploration, I decided to become a Lash Artist.

Back then, a career as a Lash Artist was unheard of; nobody knew what it was. But having always been into arts and beauty, it made sense to me. I had a strong instinct to open a Lash Salon back in 2015. People thought that the business wasn’t going to make it because the concept of lash extension was unknown and obscure.

But the thing is, I’d rather fail than never try and live with the regret of not knowing at all—and so, Everlash was born.

Life as an entrepreneur wasn’t always easy. As excited as I was about starting this new journey, it required a lot of self-learning and perseverance. Being a quality-focused company, to have Lash Stylists with the right skill set is critical—and people management was our biggest challenge. To find the right type of talent, train them with dedication, and to provide them with a life-changing career, was (and still is) a big part of Everlash’s mission.

So at the time, profitability was a second priority to me.

I just focused on providing high quality lash extensions with the best service to create an outstanding experience for my clients, so they’d return and spread positive reviews to their family and friends. I spent long hours in and out of the office to make the business run with the least cost. I was prepared to hustle hard and pushed myself a little more each day so I could move closer to achieving the success I’d envisioned. And here’s the thing about working with passion; however exhausted I was, deep down I felt a sense of satisfaction as I witnessed the growth of our company and the impact it had on our clients and our team each day.

However, another struggle came to light when I became a Mother.

My husband, my two sons and I.

I have an added responsibility to care and spend time with my sons. Time management isn’t my forte, and I struggle with dividing my time between work and managing my household. I’m lucky to have a supportive husband who understands this and encourages me to share my burden. Through time, I’ve learned that no matter how busy I am, my kids are my biggest investment. Though some sacrifices have to be made, I make sure to have quality time with our kids every day. With open communication, adaptable approaches to my ways of working, and discipline,

I realized that I didn’t have to choose between career and family—instead, I took the third way.

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Mrs. Yuliana Nyoto’s story is an exclusive blog post by Things Untouched.