A week in the life
Ever wonder what I do during an average day? Or a day off? Maybe not, but you’re here so you might as well find out, eh? I share behind the scenes stuff on my social media accounts fairly regularly, but I thought it might be fun to share my typical week with you. I know that personally, I love taking a peek “behind the curtain” of businesses. Let me pull it aside for you.
I set my alarm for 5:30 every morning, even on days off. My husband wakes up a half hour before me, grinds some fresh coffee, and then comes back up to snuggle with me for a few minutes before we actually have to get out of bed. I know, I know, I’m lucky. What can I say, I chose well. I’m downstairs wearing my favorite robe with a cup o’ joe in my hands by 6:15. My husband leaves for work shortly after (on weekdays), and I sip my way through 3 cups of coffee as I approve appointment requests, panic about last minute cancellations, respond to client messages, consume some type of personal development content, and write in my journal. Eventually, I realize that I’ve spent too much time doing this and have to run upstairs and get ready. I wash my face, apply a serum, and slap on my SPF (365, baby!). After a couple of swipes of mascara, a brush of some brow gel, and a few swears that I’ll start adding more than just that to my makeup routine, I head out the door at 8:30 and drive approximately 1.5 minutes down the street to The Willows, where my business calls home. During the week, I open at 9:30, but my job requires a decent amount of setup. I have to turn the wax pots all the way up in order to melt it, and continuously add wax beads to it until it’s full, then regulate the temperature once it is. I have to soak towels and then pop them in the towel warmer so that they have time to get hot before my first client of the day arrives. And of course, I clean all of the nooks & crannies of the room. Weekends look a little different-I open a little later and tend to have errands to run in the mornings, either heading to the laundromat or the grocery store (but usually both). In that case, I run in to take care of the setup routine between errands. Coffee is still involved, I can assure you-it just occasionally comes from a takeout cup instead of my favorite mug.
Once I’m set up, I spend my day taking clients! Because I do waxing and facials, it can get chaotic. I have a certain amount of time to welcome a client, perform a service, check them out, clean and sanitize, and then get my next client in. This is why being on time for appointments is vital-if someone is late, it makes me late for the rest of the day. I’ve had to work through my break many times. But anyway, that’s a blog for another day! My day can vary wildly. Sometimes I’ll find myself doing all eyebrow waxes. Sometimes it’s all facials (which require a lot more setup/cleanup time than waxing does-some supplies need to be cleaned, dried, and remain in sanitizer for a minimum of 10 mins. Can’t rush safety protocols!). Sometimes a mix of both. Never a dull moment! If I have a gap in my schedule, I try to fill out my first time client thank you cards, do some stretching to keep my body in working shape, eat something, organize supplies, etc. When I’m done for the day (I close at 4:00 most days, 6:00 on Mondays), I clean, sanitize, check to be sure I’ve turned my wax pots and towel warmer off about 5-7 times, lug my laundry to my car, then panic that I left my wax pots and towel warmer on so I run back in to check again. The cleanup process takes about 25 minutes, and then I head home. We like to eat dinner pretty early (generally with an assist from Trader Joe’s), and then we hang out and digest before jumping into some activity. After all of that, I will either work on behind the scenes stuff (blog posts, newsletters, new ideas, inventory tracking, ordering, more checking in with clients, more panicking, etc.) or watch an episode of something if my brain is feeling too overloaded. I’m always upstairs for bed by 8 or 8:30, where I get to hang out with my husband for a little bit before I fall asleep, which usually happens within 30 seconds of attempting to do so. For someone with anxiety that makes my brain feel like a fly trapped in a jar, I sure can turn it off at night pretty easily!
Days off (usually Wednesday and Thursday) start the same way. Coffee grinding, husband snuggles, panicking and journaling. But almost every day off heads straight into a visit with my nieces (my nephews are school aged). I barge into my sister’s house and steal those sweetie pies away. If you follow me on social media, you have already seen Lilly’s budding makeup artistry skills-I’m sure Phoebe will be dipping her toes into the water (and fingers into my eyeshadow) soon enough. Once the girls start getting cranky, I leave my sister to do the mom thing and then head out to do errands. Wednesday is usually a Trader Joe’s day, which means I get to replenish my stock of fiochetti and sweet potato gnocci so I always end up in a good mood. Once I’m home, I try to get a little cleaning done so that I can settle in to do some work. When you have a business, there is always always always something to do (even if it’s something you just did a few days ago!). This is where it gets tricky-how do you know when to stop? I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Thank goodness I love what I do, because if I was putting this much effort into something I didn’t, my head would probably explode.
Much like your own life, there are a million little things that happen in between all that I’ve shared with you here. But I wanted to show you a little glimpse of it. I’ve also put together a little compilation so that you can see it for yourself too-check out my TikTok video for a little visual behind the scenes!
Things are always changing, which keeps it exciting. Who knows what my life and business will look like even six months from now? I love that life keeps me on my toes. Here’s to hoping that you love your life and job as much as I love mine!
love & lipstick,
Cherrie
