Meet Adriana Keith | Licensed Esthetician & Master Lash Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adriana Keith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adriana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started my journey into the beauty industry while in college at North Carolina A&T State University as only a lash artist. My workload was heavy as I simultaneously handled both work and school. Servicing all college students and seeing the impact that just one lash appointment had on my clients was an amazing feeling. My passion for lashing grew rapidly as I saw how greatly I can make someone’s day by just applying lash extensions and allowing my at-home salon to be a safe space for venting, catching up on much needed rest, and just the overall pamper experience. At that moment, I knew I had fell in love with lashing and decided at that time that I wanted to make a career out of it and start my own business. I was only two years away from obtaining my degree, so I decided to plan for esthetics school after graduation since a professional license is required to legally work as a Lash Technician. In May 2020, I graduated from North Carolina A&T State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and immediately moved back to Chicago, IL to enroll in the Esthetics Program at Tricoci University of Beauty Culture in Bridgeview, IL. There, I received training in body waxing, high frequency, LED light therapy, brow tinting, cluster eyelash tabbing, etc. In December 2020 I graduated from Tricoci and immediately afterwards I registered for and passed the state board exam and received my license. After school, I became a solo business owner and immediately started working on legally structuring my business and continuing to express and share my passion with others.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
A lot of people ask me “Where did you get your name from? What does Aureate mean?” Well, first my best friend helped me with my brand name. She threw the word Aureate out and I started to do my research on it. The definition of Aureate is made of the color gold, or highly ornamented. Ornamented is when you make something attractive by adding decorative items. When you think of the color gold, you think rich, glamour, power, and confidence. After retrieving all of this information about the word Aureate I thought to myself “Wow, this is perfect for my purpose”. Let’s talk about what helped me overcome so many challenges, starting with confidence. We all want a successful business, but you cannot have a successful business if you are not confident. You as the business owner have full control of the direction that your business will travel. Who else is going to believe in your business if you don’t? Now for power, I don’t think that a lot of us really know just how powerful our words, thoughts, and feelings are. I’ve taken so many L’s and I learned that there’s a lot of ups and downs in entrepreneurship. There will be bad months and there will be really great months, but even when things are looking bad, always speak, think, and feel positivity and watch that will become all that you attract. Watch how you word things that you’re asking for. Don’t use words like “I want” or “I need” because those terms represents the lack of. Instead use words like “I have” to claim what’s yours already even if you don’t physically have it yet. Your mindset is super important! As previously stated, I fell in love with lashing because I enjoyed making women feel beautiful, safe, confident, and empowered. I’m excited that I can actually do these things and inspire others. Everything I do with my business represents Aureate. We’re all feeling golden, rich, confident, powerful over here. We’re ALL winning and living without any limits placed upon us!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m still kind of the new girl in town. I’ve been living in Dallas for about 3 months now, so I’m still finding cool places to hang out. One of my FAVORITE, and I mean absolute favorite restaurants is Terry Blacks BBQ. Why haven’t anyone told me that Texas brisket is so good?! And their beef rib?? Slides right off the bone. Their sides are AMAZING with the mac & cheese being my favorite. I’ve probably been there over 100 times already and I’m not ashamed. Hands down the best BBQ I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t want to make this a Terry Blacks BBQ review, but if you haven’t checked them out yet, run don’t walk! Now another place that I would visit with my bestie is the Happiest Hour. My friends and I loveeee our mimosas on Sunday at brunch and they have these huge mimosa towers. We do love to sight see so we’d visit downtown Dallas and check out the museums and other attractions. If my bestie wants to hit up some nightclubs or lounges I’ll take her to Izkina, Cru, Rokwood, and if we’re not tapped out and sleep at 10pm we’re definitely going to the best after hour spot, 5AM.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Starting a successful business is for sure not easy and it’s definitely not for the weak. At times it will take a mental and emotional toll on you. You start having doubts and belittling yourself because things are not working in your favor AT FIRST. It takes a really solid and strong support system to keep you going when you’re on E and ready to give up and I am so thankful that I have one. To be specific, I first want to give a big shoutout to my mom and grandmother. Not only have they been funding, but they have been supporting my decision from the start. I tried to give up so many times, but we all know to never tell a strong black mom that you’re giving up. That’s a foreign language to them. They pushed me to be greater and to always believe in myself. They did not allow me to give up and I’m so appreciative of that. I want to give another big shoutout to my little brother and all of my close friends for that same tough love that kept me focused. Failure was never an option to those I surrounded myself around. Aside from the physical support from my family and friends, I found a few books that were very inspirational. You Are A Bad Ass by Jen Sincero, all of them. I highly recommend if you’re starting to have doubts about yourself, your business, your future, etc.

Website: www.aureateaesthetics.com

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Image Credits
@cshareecreatives @naharastudios @_ashtonty