Starting Over! I am doing it. I am going to do a complete career change — all thanks to one of my besties who has made me an amazing offer to learn the electrolysis trade and step right into her business as soon as I finish my State Board Exam. (600 Hours of School in Monterey CA.)
My passion and mission is to help women of size and women with P.C.O.S. (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) remove their unwanted hair. I also want to specialize in permanent hair removal for women of color, gender affirming hair removal for trans babes, and to create a space where all LGBTQIA people feel welcome.
Electrolysis is the only permanent hair removal option. As a woman of size, I can tell you that most women my size feel very uncomfortable going to a salon of any kind because we are often worried we will be shamed about our bodies. I know that many of my queer friends also feel anxious about hair removal or any kind of spa/salon services because they are not always certain they will be welcome. Also, I happen to know that women with P.C.O.S. tend to have a lot of unwelcome hair on their faces and they often want it all removed. They sometimes also get dark hair on their arms, legs, breasts and chest which can make many of them pretty uncomfortable. I want to create an environment especially for them them; one where they feel comfortable asking for and having their undesired hair removed.
A Career Change for a 50 Year Old Woman! I worked in high tech for 15 years. I have been self-employed for the past 16 years. The past 6 years, I owned the first-ever Plus Size Lingerie Boutique in San Jose. But, due to some health issues on my part and some other extenuating circumstances, I had to close my brick & mortar store, Curvy Girl Lingerie. Now I am going to go to trade college and am learning the electrolysis trade thanks to one of my best friends. (My friend who is mentoring me in this has been doing electrolysis for 27 years! My office is on Campbell Avenue near downtown Campbell. I hope to see you there.)
Thank you so much for reading all of this and thank you so much for your donation. I have options for people who might want to lend me money, too. Check out my perks and we can take it from there.
The various ways you can help me are here:
-
Donate to my iFund Women campaign here : iFundWomen Crowd Funding Project Link If this link does not work for you, you can paste this into your browser – https://ifundwomen.com/projects/all-bodies-welcome
-
Hire me to blog for your business / write newsletters for your business / help you with your FB posts. (I have great client reviews from my current clients.)
-
Donate money or lend me money to my Venmo account @curvygirl
-
Mail a check which can be a loan or a donation. (I can start paying back a loan in May and I can pay 12% interest. Email me for my promissory note and my address if you would like to mail me a check to blissconnection@gmail.com )
-
I do have a Payoneer account. I can also send you a request for money via my Stripe billing program.
-
Help me with my Facebook Business page www.Facebook.com/AllBodiesWelcome
-
You can buy some of our T-Shirts, too! It all helps me to pay me for college: GRAPHIC T-SHIRTS http://bit.ly/2thEKe5
Since I have over 4,500 friends on FB and another 3k that follow my personal page, I figure if everyone can donate $5 – I actually only need 400 of you to donate $10 each.
And, if you do not have $10 to donate – believe me – I get it! Been there and done that. I am just so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life who have helped and supported me every step of the way and like I said, there are so many more people that need more than I do. I have a comfortable place to live and I get to eat a meal or two every day, ya know.
So thank you for reading all of this and thank you for allowing me to feel safe enough to be vulnerable and tell you all about all of my crappy stuff. I love you all so much – you all make my heart so full.
=========================================================================
More detail about what has been going on in my life for the past couple years that led me to this point: The below is my more EMOTIONAL plea that I wrote last night.
Some of you know I have been on a path for the past 4 months to change careers. Thanks to a wonderful friend of mine, I am studying the Art and Science of Electrolysis. (Permanent Hair Removal.) She has been in this industry for 27 years and she invited me to learn all about it and start my own business which I am calling “All Bodies Welcome.”
Initially, I was hoping to raise funds to go to this special trade college down in Monterey/Pacific Grove area via KIVA.org. But, after going back and forth with them a few times, they told me that I can only raise money for my new business once I START my new business. Going to the trade school is expensive, but it’s going to be worth every penny. KIVA.org will not let me “crowd borrow” on their platform for it, though.
I closed my Curvy Girl office last Fall. I closed my Curvy Girl Boutique September 2017. (A pic of two of my biggest supporters – Karen & Shawn, btw.)
*** I was REALLY into using the KIVA platform because I wanted to BORROW money from my network. Not ask for donations. *** So, I created a Crowd Funding project here instead. *****
Lots has happened in the last few years and me getting neurological disorder called Trigeminal Neuralgia is what made me decide that, once and for all, I needed to close my boutique. I wrote about my T.N. a bunch on my bloghere. The best way I can describe it is like a pinched nerve in my brain on the right side of my head near my right ear. My business took a REAL dive once Facebook started suppressing my Curvy Girl lingerie posts on my business page. That was around 2015 when that all changed dramatically – right before we moved to our bigger location. Between Facebook, the move to the new location, the higher rent and then all of the aggravation from our store getting vandalized and robbed – the 5 years was enough for me. The pinched nerve in my brain was my SIGN to take better are of me. (Also, trying to negotiate our Curvy Girl T.V. show with a total asshole network who would not give me final editing approval also stressed me out big time. First time in my life I had high blood pressure. Thankfully my b.p. is back to a healthy range.)
I am still treating my T.N. with accupuncture and Gabapentin. The meds manage the pain and now I am ready for it to go into remission completely and heal 100%
But, those 5 years with the boutique and the 1 year after the boutique in our office in Willow Glen really put me in a bad position financially. (Paying off back taxes, credit cards, etc.) So, when I tried to get a loan for school, there was just no way. Also, I took about 3 or 4 months off from work due to some intense personal stuff going on in my life that was awful, but truly a privilege. But, that really put my C.G. business in a dark place and I spent I had to give over $12,000 in refunds for that time. I got kicked of Paypal and Shopify for all of the refunds and charge backs. It was a tough few months, but I kept telling myself “This too shall pass.” My Grandpa use to say it all the time when the shit hit the fan. And, in my experience, it always does work out eventually.
So, now I am down to only needing about $4,000 more to finish paying for school and then one day in the near future, I may need to buy the hair removal machine which will be another couple thousand.
But, here is the deal. I have a roof over my head thanks to my sweetie and previous to that, thanks to my one of my best friends, Karen. I never go without a meal and I am doing everything I can to back back all of my credit cards and my back taxes. And, as much hell as it was owning the boutique for 5 years, I would not trade it for any reason. I made so many amazing friends and have over 450K followers on my Curvy Girl Facebook page.
Since so many people have had it so much worse than me, I have been shy about asking for financial help. Between the CAMP fires in Paradise / Comcow area and the government shut down – it’s been hard for me to ask my community for help.
And, btw, lots of you have ALREADY helped me! You have hired me to consult for you on your business blogs, newsletters, your social media and all kinds of other fun projects. Some of you have donated to my I fund women Crowd Funding project. Some of you have lent me money. Some of you have sent me money to my VENMO. Some have mailed checks! I am TRULY TRULY very blessed. Thank you to all of my various communities for your help and love.