Female Disruptors: Emily Trampetti of Skin Property On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
If you’ve done the best you can, that is enough. — I’m a sensitive person and tend to take things personally. I am incredibly invested in each and every one of my clients and never want to fail them. However, it is inevitable that as a business owner you will have to experience a frustrated customer or two along the way. And most of the time, it has nothing to do with you or your business.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Trampetti, LE.
Emily Trampetti is a multi-state licensed esthetician based out of Chicago, IL. After closing her successful brick and mortar skin spa in the heat of the 2020 pandemic, she founded Skin Property Virtual Esthetics, a completely virtual program that provides her clients with personalized skincare, education and clinical results, all from the comfort and safety of their own home. With her passion for helping clients navigate the confusing world of skincare and treatments, Emily is dedicated to providing empowerment and confidence to her growing clientele through targeted and unique education strategies, achievable skin goals and, most importantly, sustainable results.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’ve been super intrigued about beauty and wellness since I could remember. I had two very glamorous grandmothers that watched my sister and I when we were younger, and they sort of instilled this “take care of yourself” mentality that always stuck with me. They taught us all about fashion, makeup, washing our face at night and the importance of self-love and preservation. They also taught us to be fiercely independent and self-sufficient, which is why I didn’t exactly get into skincare as a profession until a little later in life.
I was groomed to become a businesswoman. It checked all the boxes — seemingly glamorous, lucrative, a great way to be independent, and it, of course, was what my big sister did (which I was prone to follow as a young woman). Fast forward through college and my first few marketing jobs in my twenties, I climbed the ranks of the advertising industry and had achieved all my goals by 30. The thing was, I was good at it, but also so unhappy and unfulfilled with all of it (and I know many of you can relate!). I was making good money, but never truly felt like I was doing what I was called to do in this life. There was consistently an urgent feeling that I was meant to nurture, heal and help others in the realm of skin and wellness. And while I don’t regret my first career — for I believe that everything is meant for a purpose in God’s greater picture — I knew that I needed to answer my calling.
So, I started over! I quit my corporate job and went to the best esthetics academy I could find. I worked my butt off, was top of my class, and in the midst of it, knew I was on the right path. But please believe me when I say it was the scariest thing I have ever done. In fact, I don’t think you know anxiety until you quit a lucrative career to start over in a second career. Then that anxiety is exacerbated when you choose to open up your own spa and start a business. Nevertheless, I knew I had to continue following this calling. But then in 2020, COVID-19 forced me to close the skin spa and I was faced with another scary decision. Do I give up and go back to advertising or find a new solution to continue growing my esthetics brand? Will I let this defeat me or let it be part of my journey? The answer was easy, but it begged the question, “How can my clients achieve their skin goals without ever going in for a facial or spa treatment again?” This is what inspired the birth and development of my virtual skin coaching services, and inevitably what sparked my new brand vision that lives today. What makes Skin Property Virtual Esthetics so special is the combination of completely personalized routines, hand-picked ingredients, consistent support, and targeted education modules that I created to help my clients have a deeper understanding of their skin. And I can happily say that my clients are experiencing better results and more confidence with their skin than ever before! With that, I’m reminded that sometimes things happen to us so we can receive or do something greater instead.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I don’t know how funny this is, but the biggest mistake I made in the beginning was thinking that I wouldn’t make any mistakes. Good Lord, how high and mighty is that? I spent so much time trying to perfect things before I did them that I hardly got anything actually done or started. I think the most ironic thing is that a successful business requires mistakes and usually a lot of them, especially when you’re pivoting or iterating on your business offering. I’ve learned in the last couple years that there will be mistakes, and that they are just part of the process. Progress over perfection is my new driving motto that I (try) to live by. We can’t be afraid of making mistakes.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Although there are many top estheticians, dermatologists, and cosmetic chemists that have inspired me along my journey, my best mentor has always been my father.
They say that children of entrepreneurs often become entrepreneurs themselves. I am no exception. My father, right before turning 30, started his own haberdashery in my childhood town in Wisconsin. The business ran successfully for 30 years, which was crazy because this was a small men’s clothing store in the age of Walmart, department stores, and inexpensive mass-produced clothing. People could definitely find cheaper and more accessible clothing elsewhere, but boy did he have a loyal following. His store brought the community together, and he always showed his consistent appreciation and love for his customers. Throughout my childhood, I learned about the importance of making your customer the most important part of your business. And what do customers need? Appreciation, community, nurturing, love and inspiration. That remains at the heart of my business today.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
I think one of the biggest issues we have in any industry is categorizing things as good or bad. Binary thinking usually gets us nowhere and this topic is no different. Industry disruption is essentially just change. And as we all know, change can be both good and bad and every color in between. We could also call it “progress.” Afterall, the car disrupted the travel industry, the internet disrupted the information industry, and streaming entertainment is currently disrupting cinema and television network industries. This is the way our world has turned from the very beginning — especially in a capitalist economy — through progress and innovation. But to your question, there are positives and negatives that come out of this. Obviously, disruption is necessary for innovation, without which we certainly wouldn’t be living the life we live today. But disruption inherently disrupts — or causes friction to the status quo. This, in human terms, can be very uncomfortable. This uncomfortableness is what sucks about disruption. Traditional businesses feel stress and require adjustment with change and progress. Expectation bars are raised and companies that want to succeed must meet or exceed them. Over time, this can be very exhausting, hard on businesses, and even hard on families and communities. But growth requires disruption, and sometimes that can be painful for all of us. But I’d much rather live in a world of growth than idleness.
For me, in particular, COVID-19 disrupted my skin spa brick and mortar. All facials and “close-to-the-face” skin treatments were completely prohibited in Chicago for the greater part of 2020, leaving me no choice but to find alternative ways to help my clients achieve their skin goals. This disruption gave me two options — I could innovate, pivot and find new solutions, or I could be defeated. This is how I see disruption.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
One. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.
As a (recovering) perfectionist, I have always believed that I need to know everything and anything about the skin to be successful. I need to read every book, get access to every medical journal, attend every conference, and try to learn something new every day (Yes, I was also a teacher’s pet all through grade school). I tend to fear that if I don’t know something, my credibility as a professional will be questioned. But here’s the thing, my clients have told me personally that what they value most about me and my business is my authenticity, warmth, honesty, and realness — not my infinite knowledge of skin physiology and histology. They work with me because I make them feel cared for and prioritized. These are the things that they write, unprompted, on my surveys. So while being knowledgeable is important, I need to remember that my overall value isn’t as pragmatic as that. This advice is also echoed and proven in much of Brené Brown’s work. If you want to understand the true power of vulnerability and living authentically — in your business and personal life — definitely start exploring her incredible work.
Two. Listening is the best way to grow.
As an entrepreneur, keeping a proper pulse on your customer value is paramount to your success as a business and brand. It’s easy to get swept up in operations, internal business affairs, and self-serving endeavors while forgetting about what keeps our business afloat, which is consistently providing unique value to our customers. Because of this, I think it’s sometimes hard to plan for the future of your business — we get distracted by shiny objects, trending innovations, and even let our ego be our guide. But when we remind ourselves that we have the best group of business advisors right in our pocket — ready to tell us what we need to do to be successful with them — it becomes easier to clear the runway. For me, I do this a few ways. One, I keep an open dialogue with my clients all year round. I work on my listening and communication skills to ensure I create a safe and nurturing environment for them to provide feedback and know that I strive to serve them better. Two, I do a major survey each year to measure various value metrics and gain an understanding of what my clients like, dislike, want, and need when it comes to my offerings. And three, I visually and mentally view my clients as my “boss,” which helps me to keep my own ego in check and make sure I listen more than I speak. Investing in “listening education” is always well spent — in your business and personal life alike.
Three. If you’ve done the best you can, that is enough.
I’m a sensitive person and tend to take things personally. I am incredibly invested in each and every one of my clients and never want to fail them. However, it is inevitable that as a business owner you will have to experience a frustrated customer or two along the way. And most of the time, it has nothing to do with you or your business. For me as an esthetician and skin health professional, my job is often connected to self-confidence, insecurity and body image, which can be very emotional for many people since our skin is the first thing people see. The majority of my clients come to me with unrealistic expectations when it comes to what their skin should look like, along with unrealistic expectations on how I should be able to “fix” their issues. Side note — this is also why I do what I do — so I can continue to bring truth to what normal, healthy skin looks like vs. continuing to lead customers to believe that pores, wrinkles and texture are curable conditions. And while I do the very best I can to set clear expectations up front, be as transparent as possible, and help each and every one of my clients understand what their skin is and is not capable of, it’s very hard for some clients to hear this — especially if their self-worth is tied to some of these unrealistic beauty ideals and expectations (Thanks social media filters!). Sometimes, clients just will never be willing to let go of those expectations, and will become frustrated with the reality of their situation. I have to remind myself that this has nothing to do with my worth, or expertise, or even skills. But it’s always hard, and sometimes I lose sleep over trying to help my clients love themselves more. But the only person that can do that is them.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Here’s my radical dream — to help women (and men) focus on nourishing their skin for optimal health, not for living up to unrealistic beauty expectations. The Skin Property brand is about empowering clients to become more in love and confident in their skin, while becoming smarter and more discerning in their skincare strategies. The beauty industry still preys upon and makes its money off of the insecurities of women, which only continues to perpetuate a world that teaches each generation to never believe they’re good enough. I want to reach everyone I can and teach them that their skin is, in fact, normal, and that there are simple solutions to improving its health, which is directly connected to how it looks outwardly. I want people to know that they don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on injectables, medical treatments and more to have beautiful skin. I want them to have an intimate understanding of how their skin works, therefore also developing a more gentle relationship with its care. In the future, it’s my hope that I continue building a community of women and men who spend less time and energy stressing about their skin, and less money figuring out how to care for it. So far, my coaching business has been very successful with this dream of mine. In the future, I hope to add to the more macro movement of self-love, self-acceptance and prioritized self-care. If I can push that along, I know that our world will be a slightly better place.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
I think we still live in a world of double standards. Aggressive, disruptive, confident, and progress-pushing men are still seen as inspiring leaders while women of the same nature are hardly seen in the same light. I think a lot of good work is still being done about this, but I have not seen the needle move too much from my view. Since my industry is pretty female forward, I luckily don’t have to deal with much of this double standard, but I am all too aware it exists from my previous life in corporate America. I do think, however, that women in the beauty industry tend to be a bit cutthroat. I think this says that many of us are scrappy, creative and driven, but potentially have a hard time supporting one another. And since this is a highly saturated and competitive industry, I can definitely understand why that has happened. I, luckily, have been fortunate enough to have had some pretty supportive peers and mentors around me my entire career. My goal is to be just as supportive as they were to me as the next generation of disruptors comes up the ranks.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
There are a few resources that have made a definite impact on my thinking and my motivation to continue being an entrepreneur, esthetician and coach.
Everything by and from Brené Brown is good, but I found a lot of growth with The Gifts of imperfection. My perfectionism was the main hurdle in the way of me starting my own business and staying in a miserable corporate job. If I wasn’t able to be successful or “get it right,” then I didn’t know if I wanted to do it all. But really, it just required a lot of vulnerability and that is scary as hell. Through Brown’s work, I was able to realize that stepping out into vulnerability and the unknown is often the only path to growth and self-fulfillment. One of my favorite quotes from her book is, “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgement, and shame. It’s a shield. It’s a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from flight.” (Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection)
I’ve also had my mind blown from the theories of Marshall B. Rosenberg PhD, author of Nonviolent Communication — A Language of Life. Rosenberg teaches the foundational principles of creating and maintaining connection with others, which is amazing for anyone working in the people industry, or who want to enhance their relationships all around. The tools in this book are some of the most influential factors in my client satisfaction and trust today. I highly recommend reading, along with attending the group workshop. This goes back to the power of listening and proper communication — it can truly change the world.
My favorite podcast at the moment, which has impacted my skincare knowledge and thinking is The Eco Well Podcast. Jen Novakovich, founder of The Eco Well Podcast, is a cosmetic formulator that strives to bring scientific fact and reliable research to the cosmetics industry across the world. Her work allows estheticians like myself to have access to some of the most reputable scientists and experts in the world. It’s so important to stay close to what is going on in an industry that changes daily, so I appreciate the people that bring these resources to the forefront.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I want to shatter the idea that perfect skin exists. I think we are doing good work in the realm of body image these days (perfect bodies don’t exist either), but there is still a lot of work to be done. Skin is very far behind. The norm is to do anything possible to have skin that consistently looks like a smooth, porcelain doll, no matter what age you are. And the worst part about it is that we have companies telling us that it’s actually possible — which it’s not for the very large majority of people. Skin is dynamically human, which means that it is not perfect and always changing. Yet we are taught to spend our life savings on keeping it looking perfect and young and poreless forever. And might I add that many of the things we do to achieve this can actually set our skin health back. Because when we are focused on unrealistic and superficial looks, we are typically not focused on proper nourishment and health. My goal is to continue creating a community that flips this on its head. I dream of a day when 20 year-olds aren’t spending retirement savings on Botox, but rather caring for their skin with reliable, proven ingredients that promote graceful aging over time. Or when teenagers stop using filters to show up on social media, making others feel that perfect skin is obtainable. Or even when a bad skin day doesn’t keep you from enjoying a night out. I want to build a movement of skin health warriors, because healthy skin is the real beauty ideal.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’m a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and his writing. One of things I admire most about him is his aptitude for explaining complex and often spiritual ideas with undeniable logic and intelligence. Many of his books and writings have inspired me in many ways. One of the quotes I most love from him is this,
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I love this quote because it beautifully illustrates the truth of being human. How change and evolution will always be inevitable. We cannot remain unchanged, but we always have the choice and power to respond to that change. Sometimes we will hatch, and sometimes we will fight change and “go bad.” Every time I read this quote I am able to apply it to a new part of my life since it holds so much truth.
How can our readers follow you online?
I offer free skin tips and knowledge on my Instagram page @skinproperty
You can also learn more about my services at www.skinproperty.co
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
This was so much fun, thank you!
Female Disruptors: Emily Trampetti of Skin Property On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.