There’s a vibe brewing in our industry and like all seasons that blow through, I was hoping this would pass… but like that glaringly obvious pimple that’s been brewing under the surface, it’s time to give it a squeeze and get it moving right along out of here!

I’m dusting off my corneotherapist cap and throwing it into the ring to have an open and honest discussion about this ugly era of “one-up-manship” that’s plaguing the industry I love with all my heart. 

I’ve been keeping a low profile lately. Our industry has felt noisy, with everyone trying to “make a name for themselves”. It seems the louder or more controversial one can be, the more influence can be had…. But for what? For why? And for WHOM???

We seem to have found ourselves in an era of trying to outdo each other. We brag about our conquests of how many clients we see, how much money we make, how viral we can go, how few hours we work yet still make more money than the rest… all in a pitch to sell to each other, in an era of “everyones a course creator”. (Because that’s where this started, in trying to sell to each other and blurring the lines between therapist and teacher)

There’s a fine line between using controversy to bring attention to much needed education, and raise the bar vs shaming an entire industry and putting others down for personal gain, all to get likes. 

It’s a line I walk daily in sharing my passion for corneotherapy and skin knowledge, wanting to stir our industry into passionately advancing our education, so we ALL can win. If you’ve been in my circle at any point over the last two decades, you know my heart is to inspire your growth and confidence through knowledge. 

Right now though, we’re in a season of stepping on each other for our personal gain and we’ve lost sight of why we’re really here. 

Our 16 year old selves would be giving us a punch in the twat if they could see what we’ve become. It’s not what our former aspiring beauty therapist selves signed up for and not why ANY of us worked so hard to get into this industry!

But you know the real losers are here? The ones copping the fallout out?

Our clients. 

THEY are the reason we get out of bed every morning, they’re the real reason we have a job (even if you’re on the teaching/B2B side of our industry… if you aren’t supporting therapists with the greater intention of them helping even more clients… it’s time to step out of the ring and pick another industry to peddle your wares)

When we blur the lines on our social media and start performing to the industry and stir controversy, to get a reaction (or as fuel for viral content) we’re no longer talking to our clients or focused on their experience with our industry.

But guess who has a front row seat? 

Our clients. And they’re watching us. 

Right now, our industry’s true skin is showing and it’s not looking pretty. 

I truly don’t believe that this is who we are. It’s certainly not the heartbeat of the industry I have dedicated my life to enhancing and so I’m dropping into inboxes around the world this very minute to instigate a much needed change before we end up too far down this slippery slope that we can’t go back.

It’s time to put our clients back in focus.

We wonder why they’re flocking to Tik Tok for skin care advice, because who would trust an industry that’s more focused on performing to each other than being what their clients need? 

(I know we’re all feeling the global shift in our clients booking behaviours right now…but what if it’s all our fault? And what if we can fix it?) 

I’m drawing a line in the sand. Are you ready to step across with me and be the revolution our industry so desperately needs? 

It’s time to change our focus. Because where our focus goes, energy flows. 

And it needs to start TODAY.

So where do we start?

1. Instead of looking outward to the industry around us, it’s time to look inward. 

Look into our business, into our clients, into ourselves and rediscover who and what they need!

When we are focusing on what’s out there, what others in our industry are doing, our energy leaks. We become less potent in the treatment room and our client connection weakens over time. 

 When we turn our energy to our clients, and spend all of our effort into becoming the therapists and businesses they need us to be, (and truly being it) this is transformative for both our clients and our businesses.

2. Use YOUR voice to speak to YOUR clients (and forget about industry peers.)

We’re not here to perform for our peers. We’re here to show up and serve our clients, delivering education that will help them live their best skin life. 

I get it though, my book “Skinside Out” almost didn’t go to print because I was worried what my peers would say (Imagine if I had listened?!) Your clients need YOU, they need your voice, only you can explain skin the way you do! 

Let go of the fear that someone in our industry will come after you for your typos or mispronounced cell anatomy. And if they do… send them my way!!! I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that what they say about me says more about them and their deeper insecurities!

3. Be discerning of your own community.

The longer I am in this industry, the more curated the people I surround myself with. It’s too easy to be overwhelmed by the noise when we’re trying to stay in touch with too many people who don’t align.

We join groups forums thinking it keeps us abreast of the industry, but they’re not all conducive to community. Yet we stay under the guise of “information” and stay for the popcorn drama, thus feeding into the group and not in a constructive way (it’s human nature, but one that currently isn’t serving you or your clients!)

Let this be your permission to unfollow, mute, leave the group. 

You don’t need to be there, you don’t need those words in your ear, you don’t need to keep a toe dipped in that water. 

You get to set the boundaries and choose the energy that filters into your life.  

Pssst! There are pockets of amazing communities within our industry, find yours and be nurtured there. (not sure where to look? The Squad is linked below)

4. TRUST YOURSELF – (yes, I’m yelling it!!)

Sometimes the voices in our industry can be loud and overbearing. (But it’s true what they say about loud voices, they aren’t always the ones with the most knowledge- just google the “Dunning Kruger effect”)

Sometimes these loud voices can make us question our own knowledge and lived experience and call into question our own way of treating skin.

But just because someone with “influence” has a lot to say about a treatment or methodology, doesn’t make them an authority.

Telling others they’re wrong in order for themselves to look right speaks volumes of their intentions.

So before you throw everything you’ve ever known into question, first take a step back to see who and why this voice is making you feel this way.

Oooooohfft! Can you feel it?

The collective sigh of relief as we get this out in the open and finally have a deep and real conversation about something we’ve all been thinking and feeling behind closed doors?

Already it feels lighter in here, knowing that it’s not just me, that we are just here with the one goal (clients) and now we’ve got the road map back to focusing on what we’re ALL here for (clients)!

I can already feel shoulders relaxing, confidence rising, knowing that this is the email giving you back the power of your own voice and the confidence to use it to help… you guessed it… our CLIENTS!

Will this shift happen overnight?

Probably not.

Where we find ourselves now has been years in the making.

But the more of us who turn towards our clients and shift our focus in that direction, the quicker we will see the tide turn and start to see a collective transformation across our industry.

When we remember that is ALWAYS about the clients

SO wherever this email find you, however YOU treat skin, may you do it in alignment with YOUR values and YOUR level of knowledge and with utmost respect to the function of this amazing organ that we all came here to treat!

With all the mamma bear energy I have within,

Robyn xx