Ep 367 – The Esthetician Reset: Small Things We’re Changing This Year

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0:01:29.2 Maggie Staszcuk: Hello and welcome to ASCP's Esty Talk. I'm your co-host Maggie Staszcuk, ASCP's program director.

0:01:34.2 Ella Cressman: And I'm Ella Cressman, licensed esthetician, big fan of aesthetics and content contributor for ASCP.

0:01:40.3 MS: Ella, Happy New Year.

0:01:41.4 EC: Happy New Year. Did you have a good holiday?

0:01:43.2 MS: Yes, it was good.

0:01:44.4 EC: Yeah. Love that weather.

0:01:46.0 MS: Yeah. Ella, we have a shout-out.

0:01:47.8 EC: Oh my gosh.

0:01:49.6 MS: This is to Carrie Faulkner. She loves Esty Talk. She said to say hi to you Ella.

0:01:54.0 EC: Hey Carrie. Oh my gosh. I'm waiting for your DM, girl.

0:01:57.0 MS: It's January, which means I'm in full reset mode. But not the new year, new me kind. I'm talking about tiny little life tweaks that make everything feel just a little easier.

0:02:08.8 EC: Fully, a little bit. I'm on board. Can't wait.

0:02:12.7 MS: Yeah. So let's talk, what even is a reset anymore? Reset culture is this new trend of constantly starting fresh: new routines, new habits, new rituals. It shows up as life audits, seasonal resets. Maybe it's home or wardrobe makeovers. Do you find yourself doing little resets?

0:02:34.2 EC: I do. And I find myself having a list of intended resets, but not executing them though. Do you do that?

0:02:40.8 MS: I do. Without even thinking about it, I am doing little resets and I can see how it catches up with me.

0:02:49.4 EC: Okay. Oh, in a good way?

0:02:51.8 MS: Not always in a good way. I have intention and maybe I don't follow through on it or it's too much.

0:02:59.0 EC: Here's one for me. Big one. And I think there's something psychologically stuck for me. I have way too much stuff, period. Especially now after the holidays, we've got even more stuff. Ugh. And I think I'm gonna have a garage sale someday. So I have all of these like, "Oh, that'll go in the garage sale" things. But I'm probably not gonna have a garage sale. I don't know what it is that I can't just let it go.

0:03:21.5 MS: Yeah. I get that. Absolutely. So reset culture actually has gotten out of hand, according to some people. People are filming their reset more than they're living it. So it can be like little dopamine hit, not a lifestyle change.

0:03:39.0 EC: I understand. You know what's funny is that's what a lot of my stuff is from. I have this step aerobics step in a box unopened because of one of the resets I was going to do three years ago. That's in the garage sale pile. I don't need that.

0:03:54.0 MS: No.

0:03:54.1 EC: Yeah. A dopamine hit for me thinking I was going to be this hip-hop step aerobics artist, amazing person in 2023, but that's just not the facts.

0:04:02.5 MS: Yeah. Yeah. So reset videos are candles, matcha lattes, linen sheets, face masks. People filming this idea, but it's not real life. But real self-care is going to bed on time, setting boundaries, drinking enough water.

0:04:22.8 EC: That... I like that.

0:04:24.9 MS: So estheticians feel this pressure hard, I think, or some do. Estheticians are taught or pressured to perhaps constantly upgrade, refresh, revamp, elevate. For you and your business, do you put that pressure on yourself?

0:04:43.1 EC: I've seen it in a lot of practitioners. I feel like it's hard for me to say because we just went through a reset or redecoration, if you will, when Kiara, who shares the space with me, we added some things and it really was driven by her, but it needed to happen. If it wasn't for her, I would have kept the same decor, I would have kept the same... Very similar process. I've made small tweaks over the years, but not like a reset, basically what we did. We got a new window and everything. And I feel like when that happened, there definitely was an energy shift even in, I don't know where, in the ethos somewhere, where I did start getting an increase in retail sales. Isn't this ironic? And I did start getting new clients, which they wouldn't have known before either.

0:05:31.8 EC: So that definitely needed to happen. But I don't know that I've felt the pressure as much. I do feel like there is an influence of try this new treatment or do this new style, but it goes kind of to what you're saying, more of the content creation world than the actual... Other than those that, I don't know, it didn't have as much of an impact on my business as I thought it would. But we see that with trends, too. Our industry's kind of built on that, resets or trends or following certain pathways.

0:05:54.3 MS: Yeah, totally. I'm curious too, in the new year, do you also see an influx of new clients because they have decided on a New Year's resolution or a little mini reset? They need to change the routine or they want better skin health or just self-care in general, and so they're now seeking out an esthetician?

0:06:21.0 EC: Not the last two years. Last year, 2025, January was like a crash, I guess, like a screeching halt for new business. And then existing... This is just for me and it might be just where I live, but a screeching halt for new business at all and a stretch of existing business. So rather than coming in once a month, they wanted to come in every other month or every six weeks. That has since changed. I think it's kind of coming back. I have had a lot of new clients November, December, and on the books now for January, like brand new people. I say a lot, but a lot compared to last year, which was none, which was minus.

0:07:03.7 MS: That's interesting. So it's... Maybe the industry is just evolving or shifting in general.

0:07:08.2 EC: Yeah. I think that could be something, and that could be something to consider for marketing efforts. I feel like a lot of people are energetically hungover in January. So it's really hard. They're focusing on, what do they call this month, sober month or some... Dry January?

0:07:23.1 MS: Yeah. Dry January.

0:07:23.8 EC: I'm like, I don't even know what the people call that. But I feel like there's a lot of things and they're coming off of the energy of being so social that you know what you're making me think of for next month even is having some kind of a reset protocol, maybe.

0:07:39.8 MS: Oh, smart. I love that. So speaking of resets for your business, let's talk about what our tiny little resets are gonna be for this next year, 2026, or maybe it's just for the month like you mentioned, Dry January.

0:07:54.6 EC: I think that's easier, bite-size for me, because I feel like we all do this New Year's resolution thing. They say a good example is at the gym. January 1st, the gyms are packed. January 15th, it's like half as many people because it's well-intended. But I feel like we all go into that going, "This is my year." Have you ever said that to yourself?

0:08:18.6 MS: Every year.

0:08:18.9 EC: "This is my year. This is the year things are going to be easier. This is the year things are going to be more productive. This is the year I am fit. This is the year." And then we get to March and we forgot those words that we said.

0:08:34.2 MS: Yeah.

0:08:34.5 EC: And then we could look back and be like, "Dang it. Well, maybe next year." And then we go March through December just kind of figuring it out.

0:08:41.3 MS: Yeah. I mean, even my little resets, I'm saying them. I'm not gonna live by them.

[chuckle]

0:08:50.0 MS: Hold that thought. We'll be right back.

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0:09:38.0 MS: Okay. Here we go. Let's get back to the podcast.

0:09:41.8 EC: What are yours?

0:09:42.7 MS: Less coffee, more me time in the mornings, turning off my work notifications after hours, so setting those boundaries. And like you just said, I'm also telling myself, "This is the year I'm going to be more fit. I'm gonna get better sleep," like everything. I'm gonna be a whole new me.

0:10:02.6 EC: Hallelujah, 2026.

0:10:03.5 MS: Oh, yeah, look out.

0:10:06.3 EC: Not me. I'm not. I'm done. I was done disappointing myself.

0:10:11.1 MS: Yeah. Because I do that too.

0:10:13.4 EC: But what I might try... So I had lost a bunch of weight before. I mean, my whole life I've been trying to lose weight or get healthier or whatever. But what really worked well for me instead of being so inhibitory or strict was one little thing at a time and then adding onto it a week at a time.

0:10:31.7 MS: Oh, okay. Tell me about this.

0:10:33.4 EC: So being very specific. So what I did, I mean, who wants to give up bread and cheese?

0:10:37.8 MS: I will never give up bread and cheese.

0:10:39.6 EC: I did it for two years.

0:10:41.8 MS: Wow.

0:10:42.3 EC: I did it for two years and soda and anything drive-through except for Starbucks, anything processed. So I had basically fajita vegetables, sweet potato. I can't even say the word anymore. I definitely burned out on it. But it was something I just, like, this first week I'm gonna do no bread. Then I still have cheese, I'm fine. And then the next week I'm like, okay, I'm gonna stop with coffee creamer. Okay. And then the next week I'm gonna stop with cheese. And so I slow-rolled it out and it worked. And so for you, you said less coffee, but what does that mean? So do you normally have, like, three cups?

0:11:18.1 MS: Yeah. I would say sometimes it's four.

0:11:20.9 EC: So would you say instead, "I'm gonna have two cups of coffee"?

0:11:23.9 MS: Even just hearing you say this, I'm having anxiety.

0:11:27.7 EC: Your face is getting red. It's getting red because you have to commit to it. It's so much easier to throw it out there like, "I'm gonna get better." But what does more me time in the morning mean for you?

0:11:38.5 MS: Okay. So I'm already doing this.

0:11:40.8 EC: She's getting anxiety, you guys. Her face is... [laughter] She's sweating.

0:11:46.1 MS: This is not the day to discuss it. I am sweating. It's just one armpit.

[laughter]

0:11:50.1 EC: She's half-anxious.

0:11:54.1 MS: So more me time in the mornings is making sure I'm out of bed with enough time that I can have those four cups of coffee.

[laughter]

0:12:05.0 EC: Okay.

0:12:05.6 MS: And maybe it's like read a little or just chill. So it's not I'm rushed, I'm feeling late, I don't have time for the breakfast.

0:12:17.1 EC: Yeah. I love that. I think that is doable. I think that maybe you should pick one. I would pick the second one.

0:12:21.7 MS: Which is what?

0:12:26.3 EC: More me time in the morning.

0:12:27.9 MS: Oh, you mean of my resets?

0:12:29.5 EC: Of your resets. Pick one and do that for a little bit and then the next one and the next one. Because you're calling these tiny resets, but these are big deals.

0:12:33.5 MS: Are they?

0:12:37.5 EC: Yeah. Less coffee? I saw your face. This is a big deal to have that coffee because that coffee is something for you.

0:12:41.4 MS: It is.

0:12:45.2 EC: It's more than just hot liquid. It's a... Probably...

0:12:48.8 MS: It's a source of life.

0:12:49.5 EC: Yeah. A hug. It's a hug for you. So I don't know. I have a hard time doing a resolution, but what I've been working on is connecting more with my physical self. I feel like... With my diagnosis of IIH in 2021, I really kind of succumbed to that and I let that lead physically for a while. So I'm taking charge back of my state of physicality. So that means I have this watch, it's a Fitbit, but whatever. So I'm doing a walk challenge. So at the office or at the shop, I get up and I walk around more, a lot more. So those are things that I've added into, I have to hit X amount and then I've made myself accountable to my friends because we're in this group and we have to text each other at 9 o'clock that we had this many steps.

0:13:38.3 MS: Oh, so smart. I love that.

0:13:39.9 EC: Because if it's by myself, I'm gonna be like, "Oh, tomorrow, tomorrow." And I'm gonna resolution just like a New Year's resolution and it'll be that. And then the other thing is a water challenge that we do.

0:13:50.1 MS: Okay.

0:13:51.0 EC: Because it's hard.

0:13:52.1 MS: It is hard.

0:13:52.7 EC: Yeah.

0:13:53.3 MS: It's really hard.

0:13:54.0 EC: And that's it. That's all I'm doing for 2026. Anything else is bonus.

0:13:57.7 MS: Okay. I think these are really good things, though, and they're not little either.

0:14:01.8 EC: They're not. It's a big deal because I tell you at 5 o'clock, I've got four hours left and if I'm 3000 steps behind, I'm literally walking in circles around like a crazy person.

0:14:12.4 MS: You're going on a little hike.

0:14:13.5 EC: Indoors because it's January.

0:14:15.9 MS: Yeah. Yeah. I hear that. Okay. So we've kind of been talking about this a little bit already, but making resets work for you. I guess everybody is different, but you gotta find those little tricks that work. And I love what you said about one week at a time. I'm gonna implement that. I'm cutting that bread for one week.

0:14:34.3 EC: Oh my gosh. It could be your bread. It could be whatever is important to you.

0:14:37.4 MS: Yeah. Yeah. So tiny life tweaks shifts your energy in the treatment room, I think.

0:14:46.4 EC: Absolutely. Because you're giving confidence or you're taking confidence away depending on the tweaks that you're setting or the reset that you're starting or the resolutions that you're setting. If you're like, "Oh, this is my year and I'm gonna double my profits," and if by June you haven't doubled your profits, you're gonna feel down.

0:15:04.9 MS: Yeah.

0:15:05.1 EC: And so if you feel down, that energy is transferred in the treatment room. They can feel it.

0:15:10.2 MS: Yeah.

0:15:10.4 EC: So instead of finding small goals that are attainable that just boost you up, make you sit taller, taller, taller, when you're in the treatment room or when you're walking into a consultation with a brand new client, they see that. They think, "Oh my gosh, I want that. I want that." And that's somehow inferred and transferred to me what they have.

0:15:30.2 MS: So the difference between giving up and letting something stop taking energy. So I'm done taking everything to heart. Not every comment is a crisis.

0:15:42.3 EC: Yes.

0:15:43.0 MS: Again, referring back to the treatment room. So also letting some things be easy this year and we don't need to earn our rest.

0:15:53.2 EC: Interesting subject because I think this goes back to hustle culture where we think we've gotta go so hard so that we can earn a day off. And it's kind of how corporate world is structured. After you get one day a month or whatever, I don't even know, it's been so long since I've been in that space, but that there's a reward for putting in so much instead of approaching it like I am investing in my work by resting right now.

0:16:20.0 MS: Yeah, totally. Okay. So you said something about being unbothered. That was interesting. What do you mean by that?

0:16:27.4 EC: Not letting those little things get to you. Maybe you have a client whose energy is down, don't let that energy take you down. Or if you didn't hit a particular goal perhaps that you had for that day, don't let that bring you down.

0:16:43.3 MS: I think that's important, a way to disconnect from the metrics personally and professionally. I think that there's also, I mean, can you relate to this? I'm sure, then our listeners can relate to it too. I have 5000 five-star reviews, but I have this one bad review and I'm focused on this and I'm hyper-focused on this and how should I word this and what should I say and how do I rebut this? But if someone's going to look at your profile and they're looking at your stars or how you're rated and they're looking at that one star, it's just to gather information. They're also gonna look to your response.

0:17:22.2 EC: Can I tell you a story?

0:17:23.1 MS: Yeah.

0:17:23.6 EC: There's this massage place in town here and they are brutal with their responses. For me, it's hysterical because they're no-nonsense, I'm not taking anything. But I can see how it would be very off-putting too.

0:17:37.9 MS: Yeah.

0:17:38.0 EC: So just not acknowledging or something to the effect of, "I'm sorry that was your experience. Reach out." I feel like as someone who does look at ratings or reviews, don't let it... Don't worry if you got one bad one. It just makes you look legitimate.

0:17:52.3 MS: Totally. And also, reviews are hard because I think sometimes people also are posting reviews simply because they want to complain.

0:18:01.3 EC: Yeah. They had a bad day and they want someone else to hurt because they're hurting.

0:18:03.1 MS: Yeah.

0:18:04.8 EC: I often think of those people as having to go to the bathroom in traffic. You can have empathy for that. It's very uncomfortable.

0:18:08.0 MS: Yeah.

0:18:11.2 EC: Yeah, entirely. So that might be one of my little tweaks, my reset, is resetting my thinking, my frameworking faster.

0:18:22.2 MS: Yeah. I like that, kind of putting up a little boundary almost.

0:18:25.3 EC: Yeah. Boundaries are so important.

0:18:28.0 MS: Listeners, we want to hear from you. What's your esthetician reset? Share with us on social media through Instagram, Facebook, or by emailing getconnected@ascpskincare.com. Thank you for listening to ASCP Esty Talk. And as always, for more information on this episode or for ways to connect with Ella and myself or to learn more about ASCP, check out the show notes.