We'd love to learn about your business and what you do. Can you share more?
My journey to creating Skin Sanctuary was anything but conventional. After realizing college wasn’t for me, I followed my mom's advice and pursued aesthetics, where my passion for helping others feel beautiful truly flourished. With my esthetician license in hand by 2017, I set out to build more than just a career—I wanted to create a dream. Skin Sanctuary is that dream realized, a space where women can embrace their authentic selves through natural, feel-good treatments, empowering them to not only look good but feel amazing inside and out. I offer facials, custom skincare, professional makeup artistry, results-driven aesthetic treatments, brow + lash services and waxing.
Achieving a balance between personal life and business demands is a hot topic. What strategies have you found effective for maintaining harmony in your life?
Being a business owner has actually brought the harmony to me more than working your average 9-5. Being in this industry doesn’t feel like work to me. I find it so much fun to build every facet of my business, whether it be social media marketing, researching the latest skincare treatments, attending events, it all feels like such a dream! I love the flexibility of creating my own schedule, I’ve found myself booking in self-care time for me to maintain the balance between work and personal life.
How do you leverage community and collaboration in your business strategy? We're keen to explore how female entrepreneurs are strengthening ties and creating synergies with other businesses and community members.
At Skin Sanctuary, building genuine connections and partnerships is such a big part of what we do. I’ve always wanted to create a space where women feel supported, not just through our self-care services but also by connecting with others in a real way. I love working with local, female-owned businesses that share the same values, and together we’ve created some amazing experiences for our clients. It’s about more than just collaboration—it’s about lifting each other up and growing as a community, both personally and together.
Failure is often seen as a taboo subject, but it can be a powerful teacher. Could you share an experience where you faced failure and how you turned it into a learning opportunity?
In aesthetics, everything is truly a process of trial and error. It takes a lot of time, patience, and persistence to perfect the craft, and even then, there's always something new to learn. I often find myself trying & failing at things, whether it’s trying a new technique, product, or marketing scheme. But one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that failure is just part of the journey. In fact, one of my mantras is, "if you’re failing it means you’re trying." Each misstep teaches me something valuable, whether it's how to better serve my clients or how to refine my skills. The constant evolution is what makes this work so rewarding because with every failure, I’m that much closer to success. It’s a humbling process, but it’s what keeps me growing and getting better at what I do.
Every entrepreneur faces hurdles along the way. Can you talk about a significant obstacle you've overcome and what you learned from it?
When I first opened Skin Sanctuary, I got a bit carried away and spent way too much money on equipment I thought I needed. I was so eager to offer the best services that I bought a bunch of things that, in hindsight, were totally unnecessary. I quickly realized I had invested in tools that just sat there unused, while tying up a lot of my budget. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it really taught me to slow down and be more thoughtful about where I put my money. Now, I focus on what truly benefits my clients and my business, instead of going all-in on every shiny new thing. It was an expensive lesson, but it helped me become a lot smarter about how I run my business.
What advice or tips would you have for other female founders starting their businesses?
Consistency is key. Keep showing up, no matter how hard it is, no matter how many hurdles you have to jump over or how many times you fail. Get back up, keep going, and don’t get too down on yourself. Usually things that feel huge and overwhelming are just tiny blips in time that you probably won’t remember in the future. Or you’ll look back and laugh at yourself for stressing over something so small. Authenticity is something I value so much as well, people love it when you’re real, raw and just yourself. You can do it! You’re on this unique path that you’ve been called to for a reason. :)
Find Cassidy on Instagram at @skinsanctuaryco.com and @cassidymichellle
Photos by Nathalia Frykman Photography
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