Meet Trakeeta Duggan | Licensed Esthetician

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

Hi Trakeeta, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Over the past year a few things has changed. So a little background about me is that I have a full time job as a Quality Inspector at a local warehouse and on my days off I run my day spa. At first I was wearing myself out because I didn’t have a schedule. I later found out that it was less stress for me if I plan out my days. So I started to take a day towards the end of the month where I sit down and plan for the upcoming month. A few things I plan out is my work days and hours at the spa, make a social media posting schedule, make notes of any special events/holidays for that month, schedule for my monthly bills/expenses, etc. I also schedule out my personal life during this time. It help me out a lot because I knew in advance what I had plan for the month and I wasn’t stressed out /overwhelmed because I make sure I balance out separate time for myself and to building my business. I think having balance is very important so you wont overwork yourself to the point where you don’t get a chance to enjoy life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I always knew from an early age that I wanted a career in the beauty industry. It took me close to 20 years to figure out my place but I never gave up. At the age of 19 I thought I was going to be “America’s Next Top Model” lol because of my height so I took a female modeling course with John Casablanca Modeling Agency. There I learned about fashion, makeup and skincare. Being in front of the camera didn’t work out for me, so a few years later decided I wanted to be a retail buyer and eventually own a clothing boutique. I attend American InterContinental University for Fashion design and Marketing. During that time I would help some of my peers with their fashion shows and photoshoots for their clothing lines. I got a chance to see model, fashion designer/stylist, and makeup artist work together as a team to create magic!

Fast forward to 2010 I decided to pursue a career as a Makeup Artist. I attended Charles Gregory Makeup Academy. I partnered with a lot of up and coming photographers, fashion designers, and models as a makeup artist and one conversation that constantly came up was skin care. I would get ask questions from “what skincare products they should use” to “what’s causing them to breakout” and I didn’t have the answer I only knew basic skincare that I learned from being a model and what we learned from the makeup academy. I wanted to learn more about skin and how to correct certain skin issues that women of color deal such as hyperpigmentation. I attended Hogan Institute of Cosmetology and Esthetics in 2018 and graduated in 2019. This was the best decisions I made every thus far. I’m now a licensed solo esthetician and owner of Blushing Ave Skintique. I partnered with one of my classmates from esthetics school and we have a very chic full day spa located in Decatur, Georgia. I provided services such as customized facials, makeup artistry, bacials, and now body contouring. I also have a line of handmade lip glosses that will relaunch spring of 2021.

The road to becoming an entrepreneur has not been easy at all, During all of this time I worked a full time job 12hrs and sometimes 6 days a week. When my job went through changes and I wasn’t working as many hours and days as a use to, I took advantage of that and dedication the extra time to building my business. The most important things I learned on this journey is having a positive mindset and being disciplined is everything! It’s going to be days when you want to give up and you will have to push through to get to the next level!

My future goal is to walk away from my job and work at my spa full time. I would also love to work on movies sets, tv and web series as a makeup artist/ skincare specialist.

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?
So if I had a friend visiting some eating spots I will take her to Milk & Honey for breakfast, and maybe a nice Mexican restaurant for lunch. I’m really not into the night life so we would probably grab some wine from the store and cook dinner at home. To hang out we would probably do some shopping like TJ Maxx, Ross, etc. we will definitely hit up some thrift stores, I absolutely love thrifting, attend a paint and sip class and last but not least we could try and catch a Wine Down Wednesday concert, I would take her to visit Stone Mountain, the Botanical Gardens and a few of the popular murals around Atlanta.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yes my family who has had my back since day one. My friend Latrece Covington she constantly pushes me to be great. My spa colleagues Nichole Rose-Turner, Latifah Bucknor, Karma Fouch and Natalie Johnson for being so positive and very supportive.

Website: www.blushingaveskintique.com

Instagram: @blushingaveskintique

Twitter: @BSkintique

Facebook: Blushing Ave Skintique

Image Credits
Veneekia Daniels IG @veneekia Kenya Baccus IG @kenyaunleased Daruis Baccus