Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacquelyn Malloy.
Hi Jacquelyn, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I became an esthetician in 2011, originally thinking I wanted to be a makeup artist (ha!) because I was modeling/doing makeup at the time and wanted to advance my credentials. In school, I fell in love with science because I am a true science geek to the core of my being! I started working at one of the biggest salons in Austin at the time (Aziz) straight out of school, which was a mix of fun, stress, learning lessons, and more. I moved on to one of the longest-standing salons in the city (Bella Salon) in 2013, where I had dramatically more autonomy and freedom. This is where I spent the next nine years honing my craft, building relationships, growing my clientele, and constantly learning. I became a Master Esthetician in the fall of 2019 and continued perfecting my craft, figuring out my methodologies, and creating a brand.
Simultaneously, I was inadvertently building a side project doing astrology. I have been practicing astrology for over 20 years and dove in especially deep with one of my closest friends around 2012/2013. That is when I realized that this was more than a hobby. This is something I believe in wholeheartedly. I watched how every ounce of my life could be traced to an astrological event and started predicting my own future using the ephemeris. I started giving readings to friends and family, and with some coaxing from Said friends, I even started charging. This felt very strange but also… exciting? Imposter Syndrome is a bitch, lemme just say that, haha. Now, simultaneously, I was also building another project! This time in the realm of health coaching. I was a personal trainer many years ago back home in California and realized that nutrition, functional health, and holistic healing were at the core of my fundamental values. So in the spring of 2019, I started schooling to facilitate this dream after YEARS of self-taught practice. My passion resides here because I have suffered from innumerable and consistent health problems that never seem to be helped by western medicine alone.
In my esthetics career, I’ve seen countless humans come to me with serious internal issues contributing to their skin problems that topical skin care just won’t fix. I knew that I needed to expand my repertoire in order to truly help people the way I knew they needed. Then BOOM! The pandemic hit in March 2020. Everything came crashing down. I ended up becoming pregnant in June of 2020 and getting married in august! Meanwhile, my career(s) we’re all at a standstill. Once we were fully back in business AND my maternity leave had ended, I realized that I was no longer happy at my current place of business, Bella salon. And it was truly because deep in my heart, I was restless and wanted something more. I had hit my ceiling, so to speak, and became increasingly frustrated with the standstill of 2020 that we all experienced. Late 2021, I told my husband I could no longer “do this”. I HAD to change my path. I have always had this inner drive, this deep seeded passion, for helping people. And I felt so stuck! I also am a very unconventional, autonomous type of girl! So being held in a box, even one as loose as my dear bosses at Bella had me in, was too restricting.
Finally in April of 2022, I opened my own business, Violet + Vesta. My business motto is “where science meets spirit”. My philosophy is that the modern world is waaaay too compartmentalized. We as a society have created so many tiny little boxes for ourselves, and it can leave people feeling empty in many ways. This is especially true in the theory of soul work. You are a divine being having a human experience – and if you focus solely on your human experience (work work work), you are neglecting your soul. I believe that the line between science and spirit is extremely thin! Smaller than the modern world leads us to believe. So within my business, I marry the two. I provide spiritual services like Reiki (I’m Level 2 certified) and astrology, spell work and energy work – as well as providing medical esthetics and nutritional/functional health coaching. When you utilize the power of both science and spirit, you are treating the entire self. Not just small parts, as the western world has sort of mapped out for us.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The pandemic! My pregnancy! Buying a home! Becoming a wife and a stepmother! Going through intensive OCD therapy! Wow, those were all bumps in the road on the way to where I’m at. You never quite appreciate motherhood until you experience it for yourself. My idea of pregnancy was a joke! One of my biggest life lessons was to slooooowwww down. I am SUCH a busy body. I thrive on productivity. But I get restless when I am not “doing” and pregnancy truly forced me to stop nearly everything. A very difficult lesson to learn for a stubborn lass like me. Although invaluable! I also completed a very intensive OCD therapy while I was pregnant. This was a pinnacle moment for me, as OCD had controlled my life for about 30 years. 2020 was the year that shook everything up and I was forced to rebuild.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Oh, I think I talked a lot about this in the previous box. But what sets me apart, truly, is my business model that fits ZERO molds. My nickname has always been “Jack of all trades” because I have had so many hobbies/jobs/interests and I really just want to do it all! I realized very young that I didn’t quite fit into this world as I experienced it. I never blended in well with a certain group or niche. I also never EVER believed that my job was just a job. I have known since I was very little that my career would be my passion. It’s taken me nearly 2 decades to realize that I could do whatever the hell I wanted with my life, with the philosophy that I would attract my tribe. So my business model today, combining Reiki, crystal therapy, medical esthetics, meditation, witchcraft, functional health and nutrition coaching, is unique because it blends a bunch of modalities that modern society deems wildly different from each other. But that’s not how my brain works. And it’s my mission to help women living their best lives by inspiring them to self-heal using universal energies as well as modern sciences.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My husband and my mother are my biggest cheerleaders. Both of them believe that I can do anything. In fact, they may have a slightly aggrandized view of me as some Sort of superwoman 🤣 But truly, they have fully supported my ideas and dreams and unconventional ways since forever. Any time I feared that everyone would find me to be stupid or a fraud (hello imposter syndrome!), they were there to build me up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.violetandvesta.com
- Instagram: @violetandvesta
Image Credits
Take Space Photography for my main photo
