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Andrea Monteclaro is a young entrepreneur who is a lash tech in Seattle, Washington. In 2017, when Andrea was just 16 years old, she started doing lashes as a hobby. She quickly decided that she wanted to pursue this passion, turning it into her career. She was just a sophomore when she started her business. She had close friends and classmates to practice on for free and she finally got a consistent clientele by the end of her junior year of high school. She went to Evergreen Beauty College in 2020 and eventually leased her salon studio under her LLC, Drea Do My Lashes, LLC in 2022. 

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A LASH TECH?  

¨It’s a pretty simple answer— But I got a Groupon to be a model for someone who was doing  lashes. It was my very first time getting my lashes done, And when I was done I loved the  outcome, and I thought that I could do this too. So I asked for an eyelash extension kit for  Christmas, opening it as soon as I got it. That same night I practiced with my best friend at the  time. This was in 2017. The last job I had was at Key Bank and it was an internship but once my  internship ended and I realized that I could support myself only doing eyelashes, that’s when I  made it a full-time thing and that was the only thing I did after that job.¨ 

Do YOU WANT TO PURSUE BEING A LASH TECH YOUR WHOLE LIFE? 

¨No, eventually I want to be on the selling side rather than the serving side where I could be just  behind the scenes. I want to make my lash brand so I can sell my product instead of doing other  people’s lashes.” 

Can YOU SAY MORE ABOUT GETTING TO KNOW EVERYTHING MOVING INTO THE LASH BUSINESS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE? 

¨I feel like people don’t know everything, I feel like once you are in an industry like this, it’s like  continuous education, trends are different. When I first started doing eyelashes it started with  classics, everyone was getting classics, and then slowly lashes started getting thicker and now  they are getting thinner again.¨

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BEING A LASH TECH? 

¨What I like about this job is that I enjoy having the chance to meet new people every day and  getting to hear new stories from my clients, and ultimately providing service to my community. But my favorite part is to talk to my clients. Basically, I’m getting paid to talk to people–  Sometimes I forget that I’m doing eyelashes. All day I just talk to my new or long-term clients,  catching up with them and asking what’s going on in their lives. Just girl talk.¨ 

Do YOU HAVE ANY MORE REASONS WHY YOU LIKE THIS JOB?

“It’s very freeing, I’m good at what I’m doing and I can do whatever I want basically, I can create  my own schedule and I can create my own prices.” 

WHAT DO YOU NOT LIKE ABOUT BEING A LASH TECH? 

¨I don’t like that I’m the only one in charge, everything falls on me, it falls on no one else but me.  Since I have to deal with everything myself, that’s booking my clients, updating my social media,  taking pictures, posting pictures of myself, and sometimes I forget and I don’t do it and It’s just  remembering to do things since it’s just me.¨ 

IS YOUR JOB TIRING? 

¨Yeah it is, it’s physically tiring on my body and mentally tiring, sometimes especially if… You  know I’m basically my client’s therapist where it’s like sometimes it’s a lot where I’m taking in a  lot of sad information at one time. So sometimes it’s physically and mentally draining, that’s it… I  can’t complain too much though.¨ 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY? 

¨If I could describe my day it would be fun and eventful, every day is eventful because I’m  seeing my clients, new or long term, I feel like we just have girl talk all day, we get to catch up, I  get to learn about them, and it’s just a lot of talking… It’s kind of like therapy…. Yea it’s fun, it  feels like I’m hanging out with my friends while doing their lashes¨ 

WHAT DOES YOUR ACTUAL DAY LOOK LIKE? WHAT DO YOU DO?¨ 

¨I wake up… Feed my daughter breakfast, drive to work, gossip with my clients while doing  lashes, listen to podcasts, and music, and drive home once times done, which is around 3-4.¨ 

HOW MANY CLIENTS DO YOU TAKE IN A DAY? 

¨Before, I started taking in 6 clients a day, starting my day around 8:30 but once I became a  mom I started taking in 3-4 clients a day, I start around 10 am and I should be done around 3-4,  I go home and hang out with my family afterwards.¨ 

HOW DID YOU MANAGE YOUR JOB WHILE BEING PREGNANT?  

¨When I was pregnant I was in beauty school while doing lashes. I would take one client before  school around 12 and finish by 1 and be at school by 1:30 and after that I would take a client  after school at 6. That’s how I managed when I was pregnant.¨

WAS BEAUTY SCHOOL HARD? 

¨Beauty school was draining but it was worth it, I learned a lot, it teaches you your skills.¨ 

HOW ABOUT WHEN YOU BIRH, HOW DID THAT AFFECT YOUR JOB? 

¨I had a good support system so I could go back to work. I had 3 months of maternity leave and  my family watched my daughter while I worked. Before maternity leave, I had money because I  had my FAST FA returned. I started taking 4 clients on the weekends and I would only take one  client on the weekday.¨ 

WAS IT HARD FOR YOU WHEN YOU TOOK THAT MATERNITY LEAVE?  

¨Yeah, because I am self-employed I don’t make money unless I’m working, but I had support  from my partner and my family.¨ 

WHAT RISK DID YOU TAKE WHILE STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS AT SUCH A  YOUNG AGE? 

¨Everything is my responsibility. I had to sacrifice time in high school, especially in my junior/  senior year. Instead of hanging out with my friends, I took 2 clients every day after school. I had to risk time with my family, 4 months after I gave birth to my daughter I went back to  school even though I wasn’t fully comfortable with leaving my daughter but I had to do it for my  future. I had to work 3 jobs at the time to get the money for my lash equipment, but my biggest  sacrifice was stability because I didn’t have anyone giving me a salary or creating my  retirement. It is all on me to iron out the details. There are a lot of sacrifices since it’s only me.  Working by myself was a big investment. When I first started I spent more money than what I  was making and so I would work part time when I started my business. I would use most of my  paycheck… and I was only working part-time on the weekends .. for 11 dollars an hour, to buy  all the lash equipment and sometimes I wouldn’t get my money back… I’m an independent  business owner and I don’t have anything to fall back on. If I don’t schedule anyone I don’t get  money.¨ 

DiD YOU EVER WANT TO QUIT BECAUSE OF ALL THOSE RISK? 

¨No, I never wanted to quit because I enjoy what I do.¨ 

HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR MONEY? 

¨I wait until my business account gets to a certain amount of money before I pull out. Instead of  taking the money every single day cause I was doing that for a long time, and I wasn’t smart  about my money, because I knew I was going to make money the next day, so now I pay myself  instead of every day, at the end of the week.¨ 

WAS IT STRESSFUL MANAGING YOUR OWN MONEY? 

¨It was stressful.¨ 

DO YOU WISH YOUR JOB REQUIRED HEALTH BENEFITS?

¨Yes, that would be a lot easier getting insurance from someone else than having to pay for my  own insurance. It’s just more work.¨ 

WAS IT HARD, ESPECCIALLY WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER? 

¨When I was young, yeah. When I was younger and I didn’t have any bills, I would spend as  much money as I had. Let’s say I made 500 dollars in a day if I knew I was going to make  another 500 dollars the next day. I would spend the whole 500 dollars, just because I knew I  was going to make the same amount the next day. But now it’s better.¨ 

WHAT WERE THE GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS? 

¨The government requirement is that I have to have an LLC which is a business license and  then I have to make sure I track down all my expenses, like track how much money I make, and  track down my tips. Just keeping track of all the money I make and make sure I record that  correctly for the IRS¨ 

ARE THERE ANY HEALTH BENEFITS ALONG WITH YOUR JOB? 

¨There are no health benefits.” 

HAVE YOU PURCHASED YOUR MEDICAL BENEFITS? 

¨Yes. I have to– I’m not employed by anyone so I have to on my own.¨ 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN  BUSINESS OR WHO WANT TO BE A LASH TECH? 

¨Start it now. Practice on your friends, classmates, and coworkers. Just invest in it and practice  now, and don’t give up because when I started doing eyelashes, I didn’t like my work for at least  a year after I started. It took me 2 years to be confident. It was also a lot of trials and errors  where I would feel bad, like when the lash extensions were not good because those are  people’s confidence.¨ 

DO YOU GIVE THIS ADVICE TO EVERYONE? 

¨I tell everyone the same advice but if you have any interest, go to beauty school. Beauty school  teaches you

everything.¨ 

CONCLUSION

It’s never too late to pursue what you want to do. Starting a lash business at a young age  shows how determined and motivated the entrepreneur is. Getting going early not only builds a  strong base for career development, but also sparks creativity and flexibility in a competitive  market.  With the combination of skills, business acumen, and the ability to keep up with beauty  trends, a young businesswoman in the lash industry is well positioned to achieve long term  success and make a significant impact on her clients and the beauty community at large.