As many of you know, I’ve been working on film and tv sets for the better part of fifteen years. The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have absolutely decimated my ability to earn a living (and I’m not mad at them - I support the strikes 1000%), and made me realize I need an ability to make a living should the industry fall out again. Without entirely shifting gears and totally retraining myself, I figured a reasonable lateral move would be to get my esthetics license, and besides which, I’m already a skincare nerd. I’ve been debating doing it for several years, and I figured the time when the industry is down would be a perfect time to commit. I have also learned that doing lash extensions scratches a weird itch in my brain the way hair punching prosthetics and dummies does. What I wasn’t banking on was there continuing to be no end in sight for the strikes by the time I graduated. I opted for a competency based program, and I am already halfway through my program, but in order to take the state licensing exam, I have to have my entire tuition balance with the school paid off for them to release my transcript to the state. I can long-term finance my remaining balance after graduation, and I do have a long grace period to take the test, but I’d feel a lot better if I can get out and get going and start working. I’d also like to avoid picking up any more debt if at all possible. Last year also brought with it an emergency car purchase right as used car prices were going through the roof, wherein I had little choice but to overpay. I love my little pumpkinmobile, but it’s the truth. What I would like to do with this fundraiser is this: I don’t particularly want straight up donations. It’s my own personal hang up - when I have it, I’ll donate to people freely all day long. Mutual aid is great. What I would like to do is use this as a way for folks who have interest in getting work from me to prepay or pre-purchase. The instant I’m licensed, my goal is to become a mobile service, and while I love to work with everyone and anyone, I want to prioritize gender-affirming services for the trans community, such as lash extensions, facials, waxing, and makeup services and lessons for trans femmes and skin care and home care plans for skin issues that may arise from beginning HRT for trans mascs and non-binary friends (and waxing, because let’s be real - hair removal or lack thereof isn’t gendered. You want to be dolphin smooth? I want to help with that.) I’m trying to cover as much of my tuition as I can on my own, and if the world were more normal, I wouldn’t be as worried about it. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my novel. The way these funds will be used? Paying off my remaining tuition balance. Anything additional, should I make it past my basic goal, will go towards licensing costs (state, independent contractors license, etc), the appropriate insurance, and if I get really lucky, purchasing additional equipment like LED lights, microdermabrasion tools, wax pots, and the like to incorporate into my services, because who doesn’t like a gadget? I want to keep things affordable and accessible, especially for this preliminary stage. If you’d rather buy a sticker pack, I’ve got plenty of those as well. I will post updates on the fundraiser for accountability, marking milestones in my process as I work towards the end goal of licensing. I’ll even post my grades if you want. While my completion date on my student ID says 2/22/2024, I will more likely be done with my markoffs and class work by November. I’ve already gotten 98 out of 140 needed for the first half of the program and it hasn’t been a full month yet (what can I say, when I get hyper focused, I get shit done).
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