Meet Essence Mingo | Nail technician apprentice

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

Hi Essence, what’s the end goal, career-wise?
The end goal is to be a successful cosmetic chemist making a hair, skin, and nail line and owning brick & mortars as well as having some online exposure. I will start doing nail classes and expanding my business domestically. The people that I’ll train will have the opportunity to work there with me. Professionally my career focus is brand development with domestic and international presence, and research development for all beauty concerns.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from others is I care more about my client than about the money of the career. Of course, I love money; who doesn’t? But that is a minor priority for me. I care about the person, who they are, and what they like. Making sure I meet their expectation of what they want. Along with their health, anybody can put on a set of nails, but I’m concerned with nail health making sure people’s natural nail is in good enough shape for enhancements so they don’t run into any other health problems in the future.

I’m proud that I started doing nails at a young age and seeing my work improve. I was also proud of myself for figuring out a career path. It opened my eyes to discover that I want to pursue cosmetic chemistry. I’m so excited about it because it always took me a while to figure out what career path I wanted to go with. With this path, I combine my passion for science and cosmetics. I’m very excited to see how my life will change in the future.

I got where I am today through a lot of trial and error. First, I had to figure myself out to see what type of nail style I was into, building up my portfolio and clientele. While being in school and maintaining my grades made things a tad challenging at times because I would be worried about my mental health, classes, and clients. I wouldn’t have the best days at school, and having to come to work and have a bad client made it more complicated. But I overcame it because I sometimes had a good client, and that would keep me motivated enough to keep going, grinding, and mastering my craft. It allowed me never to feel discouraged and understand that not everyone will support me and what I’m building or my work. It wasn’t easy, but I would change nothing about my journey.

I would want the world to know that I started doing nails at a young age, and it took me a long, hard time to get the hang of it and reach my true potential. Now that I’m at a good point in my life, I have opened a business account and now have an LLC at 18. When I started nails, I was 16 years I never would have thought I would have an LLC or a business. I looked at nails as a fun hobby, something I could do on my own time just for friends and family. So to see me at this age building my business and meeting business people to help me along the way is a significant opportunity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting first, I would take them to some of my favorite spots, such as the High Museum of Art, Atlanta botanical garden, Centennial Olympic Park, Atlantic Station, Atlanta Ferris Wheel, Stone Mountain Park, and Atlanta Petting Zoo. I like to get out and have fun, so anything outdoors, hands-on, or suitable for pictures is my thing. I’m always taking photos and videos of everything. I love a good ambiance. Some other cool places are Lenox Mall and Perimeter Mall. I like Lenox a little better because they have more to offer more of my favorite stores are there. Ponce City Market, it’s so fun there. Little five points where you have some shopping places and food places too. If you’re a picture taker like myself, it is a good background for all your flicks. A place I always stop at when I’m over there is Cinnaholic. They sell over-the-top gourmet cinnamon buns that you can customize.

Moving on to the food. I have a couple of good go-tos when it comes to food. I’m big on Mexican, Caribbean, and Asian food, so some places I go to are a good mix of those, with a couple of brunch spots. The first place I would take my friends to would be the Breakfast Boys. I’m elementary when it comes to brunch, and this is hands down my favorite brunch spot. The only thing I get is the salmon scramble and French toast. And I’m not the most prominent French toast fan, but they take the cake for it. Next, one of my friend’s mom gave me this gem called Apt 4B. It has a great vibe and a welcoming staff, and the music is a bop. The food is Caribbean cuisine, and everything there was excellent.
Rreal taco. I go here more than you can imagine. They have authentic authentic-tasting tacos; the food melts in your mouth! And it comes out super fast. Raging Burrito is another one of my favorite spots. I go here more often as well. It is truly my go-to. Stk Steakhouse. I’m not a stake fan, but aside from that, the food is excellent, and the overall setting has a fancy and beautiful vibe. Ton Ton Ramen & Yakitori is the best ramen ever everything tasted so good, well seasoned, and fresh & hot. Lastly, ending up with my favorite, I go here every chance I get Thrill Korean Steak and Bar. I love this place so much; everyone there is incredible, friendly, and helpful. The excellent food for me is the rice cake I’m seriously addicted to, and the lemon pepper chicken.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Starting with my mom. She has been my biggest motivator, supporter, and overall promoter she has helped me along the way so much I’m so grateful for her. She helped me learn how to network learning to talk to the right people and keep them close to me because like she always says “A new person you meet might just change your life.” Her telling me an abundant amount of information through the years has made me more confident in myself and anything I put my mind to, especially my crafts. Without her, I probably wouldn’t have started nails when I did.

Moving on to my current boss Jennifer Pham I’ve known her since before starting nails, and she has always been an inspiration because she is so humble and creatively artistic watching her deal with people on the day-to-day while having 2 kids, and watching how hard she works without a sweat is inspirational. She also taught me how to master my craft she was a firm but helpful teacher training me to only produce the best work and also giving me a job out of the class.

Last but certainly not least my most influential mentor, Sandy Nguyen, has helped me and been so nice and welcoming to me. She has shown me the transparent side of being an entrepreneur and work-life balance. Learning that you can learn new crafts and build empires by yourself while having a kid is crazy strong and she makes it look so easy. Even though she’s in the esthetics and lash business and doing lashes wasn’t really up my alley she taught me body & eyebrow waxing. She still gives me advice on how I can build my business and how it can be great, puts me on the game and how to network as well, and now that I’m 18 she’s helping me with how I can improve my business and put my name out there!

These women helping standing with me by my side and showing me the way of the entrepreneur world it has opened my eyes to an understanding of anything is possible I just have to put the work in.

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

Image Credits
All images are Essence Mingo/Mingxrylics