Today we’d like to introduce you to McCall Richardson.
McCall, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My entire life I have been a very creative person and my parents even made our storage room in the basement into a craft room where I would spend hours creating. As I got older, I got into decorating, floral design, and DIY projects as my creative outlet. I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up but knew I wanted to be able to use my creative talents. I quickly realized the traditional college route wasn’t for me. I begged my parents to let me attend esthetician school but they told me I wouldn’t make enough money in the beauty industry. I decided to go to college and went to a university where I could do event planning with an emphasis on floral design. This made my parents happy doing the college thing and me happy doing my creative thing.
During college, I met my husband and we got married my sophomore year. During my junior year. I got pregnant. We were poor college students and I knew we needed a way to make money. I saw a local salon was doing an eyelash certification that allowed me to shadow the salon as much as I wanted after I learned how to do eyelash extensions. I had been getting lash extensions on and off since I was in high school and loved them. It wasn’t esthetician school like I dreamed of doing, but it was a step in the right direction. I decided to sign up for the $600 training and learn the art of eyelash extensions. I absolutely HATED it. It was very tedious and took me four hours to do a full set that wasn’t even full. I was distraught that I had spent so much of our precious money on this certification. My husband and I decided that I would do enough full sets to pay back the money I used for the certification and then I would be done lashing. I was charging $30 for a full set, so it took me a couple of months to pay back the money. By the time I paid it back, I loved lashing. I started raising my pricing and gaining clientele. Within six months, I had a full clientele and was making great money.
After my husband and I both graduated from school, we moved to Round Rock, TX. My wedding planning was picking up and so was my lash business. Within three months, I had a full clientele for eyelash extensions and was thriving. I worked early mornings and late nights to work around my husband’s schedule so I could raise our daughter. I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to both wedding, lashes and raise our daughter. I decided to give up wedding planning and pressure my lash career. I got my lash license in Texas and knew that I wanted to one day open up a salon where young mothers could work around their kid’s schedules and make a great income. I had struggled for so long and wanted to be able to help others not make the same mistakes I have.
I was telling one of my clients about how my best friend who also did lashes and I always dreamed of opening a salon and that she was moving from Oregon to Georgetown, so we could actually make it happen. After her appointment, she and called her son who was a relator, Blake Carter. Blake, started hunting and he found the perfect location in Georgetown that was an art gallery in an old mint house right off the downtown square. It is about 900 sq feet and the perfect size to start an esthetics salon. I met Juli (my client) and Blake at the house and fell in love instantly. It was full of clutter but I knew we could transform the space. I called my best friend Kenlee (who I convinced to take the same eyelash certification and was moving to Georgetown) right after I walked through the old mint house and told her it was time to open the salon we had dreamed about since we were pregnant with our girls.
FACES at the Square was opened two months later on January 16th, 2021 despite the pandemic. Many of our friends and family were worried that I was opening a salon during a time of unknown, but I knew we could thrive regardless of the circumstances. We have been open for about three months now and are thriving. We have gained so many new clients and have an incredible staff of moms and young professionals who are wanting to leave an impact on their clientele.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
During the last four years, I have moved from Idaho to Texas and while I have lived in Texas, I have moved the location where I am lashing four times. I have had to build my clientele on my own during all my moves. I have also worked through a pandemic and through two pregnancies.
Opening a salon has been such an eye-opening experience. I am not only managing my clients but now an entire salon of clients. We deal with no-shows, last-minute cancellations, complaints, and so much more. Customer service has always been huge for me and I am big on customer relationships and bending over backward to keep clients happy and coming back. Being in the service industry isn’t easy. It requires a lot of sacrifices. I personally have missed birthday parties, events, and family time to do my client’s appointments. I have started appointments as early as 6 am and ended my day as late as 1 am. I have had 15 hour days with back-to-back clients with no breaks.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I absolutely love doing eyelash extensions. There is both art and science behind the skill and each client challenges me. They challenge me because every face and set of eyes are different. Some people’s lashes grow straight and others are curly. Some lashes are long and others are super short. It is always a different set of challenges on each client and takes continuing education to keep up with the latest styles and curls to keep my clients happy.
I am not only known for my lashes but my “therapy.” Most of my reviews say something about how my client loves talking with me. I have always made it a point to remember my clients and details about their lives. When they come in for fills, I love to hear updates on their lives. I have a close connection with many of my clients and they tell me things their own partners or families don’t even know about. I have known clients were pregnant before their husbands even knew. I love that my clients feel close enough to me to call me after a hard breakup or after they are purposed to. I am not only a lash artist to my clients but a close friend who they trust. I am proud of the clientele I have built and the life I have created for my family. I do what I love and am able to do it on clients I love.
What were you like growing up?
I have always been a very extroverted person and thrive when I am around people. I played different sports throughout jr high and high school and I loved being part of sports teams for the friends I made and not necessarily the sport. Connecting with people has always been very important for me.
From an early age, I have always been a very creative person and my parents turned part of our storage room into a craft space for me to create. I would invite my friends over and we would spend hours in there working on projects and crafts.
For many years, I would organize a neighborhood Christmas nativity. I would create the set, the costumes. write a script, cast the characters, and direct the entire thing. We would perform it for all the parents and have treats after. I also ran two different ballet classes with my best friend with all the neighbor girls and would hold a recital twice a year. We would choreograph the dances, hold weekly practices, make the costumes, and hold dress rehearsals before the big recitals. The reason I added this in here is that I have always loved to be in charge and run things from an early age. I like to take risks and taking the risk to do eyelash extensions and then open a salon during a pandemic wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t take risks when I was a young girl.
Pricing:
- Eyelash Extensions $55-300
Contact Info:
- Email: info@facesatthesquare.com
- Website: www.facesatthesquare.com
- Instagram: @facesatthesquare
- Facebook: FACES at the Square
Image Credits
Freshi Photo
