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

Hi Aliesh, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think a certain degree of risk-taking is essential in life and in business. As someone who doubts themselves at every turn, learning this lesson has been challenging. Even after decades in my field, I still occasionally suffer from imposter syndrome. It can immobilize me. My saving grace is that, ultimately, I believe in the products and services I offer, I think people deserve to experience them, and I want to win,

That’s what carries me through. Focusing on how I can be of service helped me break through major blockages. In my 20’s I moved to Italy to start my career in fashion with next to no money. In my 30’s I uprooted my son and moved from NY to LA to revamp my makeup career. While my three main clients were all recording their next projects, I put makeup on hold and went to esthetics shcool my 40’s. When the largest education publisher in North America asked me to write a textbook, I took a risk hoping that my childhood issues with dyslexia wouldn’t prevent me from completing it. And now, in my 50’s I dared to shift again, moving to Philadelphia to open my own skin treatment room and launch my skincare line AskAliesh.

To make all these shifts I had to get over my fear of taking risk. It’s adding up to a life well-lived with tons of great experiences along the way.

What should our readers know about your business?
It was 2003 when I decided to put my career as a celebrity makeup artist on hold so that I could study skincare. After decades of layering makeup on my clients’ faces, I wanted “to get to the core of their skin concerns.”

My big break came a few years later when I was asked to author a textbook on professional skin care for diverse ethnicities. Having an interest in yoga philosophies, I was determined to incorporate Ayurveda and other indigenous practices into the training. This set the tone for my esthetics career.

So, it’s no wonder that I have held positions as the Director of Education for both a retail Ayurvedic skincare brand as well as a professional clinical line. This lead to contracts developing indy brands looking to enter the mutli-ethnic skincare market. I also served as the Marketing Manager of an award-winning, China-based cosmetics lab formulating with herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Opening my skin care practice mid-pandemic sparked an idea to create balanced skincare without harsh ingredients. So I contacted a pharmaceutical-grade extract chemist I know and the clinical Ayurvedic brand AskAliesh Skincare was born.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Atlanta? I would take them to Soul Veg. India used to order from there for every video shoot. It brings back memories.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh wow, this may seem a little airy-fairy but I want to shout out my spiritual gurus or mentors. They are the people who catch and help me hold onto my vision of my ideal future.

Rev. Michael Beckwith (Agape Spiritual Center) – For always reinforcing Divine consciousness
Dharma Shakti (Yogalution Movement) – For showing me how yoga releases internal blockages to get back into the flow of life
Rev. Twana Malone (The Center of Peace) – For being always being a spiritual shoulder to lean on
My mom, Rev. Sheila Pierce, founding minister of The Center of Peace – For raising me with a belief in infinite possibilities and teaching me how to co-create with the Universe to be a Master Manifester

Website: https://askaliesh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ask_aliesh/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliesh/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askaliesh

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlieshPierce/videos

Image Credits
Neil A France Photo (Headshot at massage table) Hosea Johnson Photography (Headshot w/ bottle) Candace McKenzie (Product shots)

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