Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Madsen.
Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I worked in corporate environments most of my adult life (yuck!). Most recently as a Human Resources Manager for a large company based out of California where I lived my entire life before moving to Salt Lake City in 2016. I received a promotion and with that came the move to Utah.
As a young single mom and the sole provider for my son, I worked very hard to get where I was with my career. I had no formal education and prior to this success, I struggled. I made many mistakes and plenty of wrong turns. The fact that I got to that level was a miracle in itself.
But, perhaps “miracle” isn’t the best description. It was a lot of not giving up and determination. It was taking night classes to get an HR Management certificate to compensate for lacking a degree. It was continuing to push myself every day so that I could be the best mom to my son and so that we could have the best life possible.
The toll was getting to be unbearable and ultimately, just not worth it. My work was very difficult. It was confrontational. It was delivering a lot of bad news. It was weighing on me all the time. My mental, emotional and physical health was suffering tremendously. I wasn’t sleeping well and I had lost a lot of weight due to the unsurmountable workload I carried.
I had to make a change. My options were; to find another job in HR and likely be just as miserable, run away to Spain for a year to clear my head, or just flip the table and completely start over. My more practical side got the better of me and I took the leap.
I resigned from my HR job and enrolled in school to become an Electrologist and Master Esthetician. When my son was very young I got my basic esthetics license, but unfortunately wasn’t in a position to spend a year or two scraping by while building a clientele at that time.
I completed school, received both my licenses, and opened up a small business as a sole operator in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic!
I am so passionate about skincare and removing hair because of my personal challenges with both. I started having issues with my skin as a teenager which continued much further into adulthood than I thought was possible. Then, with the hormonal changes of pregnancy, I started growing hair on my chin in my twenties. Yeah, not fun. I personally understand how deflating it can be to your confidence.
I do this work to help people look and feel their best. The way I get to interact with others now vs. my former career is so refreshing and rewarding. It requires vulnerability from my clients and I’m so grateful that I have their trust.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
My journey as a whole has been anything but smooth which I alluded to previously. From being a single mom, going through a divorce, experiencing legal issues, and climbing the corporate ladder without a degree to mental health challenges, you could say it was a bit bumpy.
With this last stretch of road, I have been extremely fortunate. It was pretty scary to leave behind the stability of my corporate career, not to mention the steady paycheck and health benefits. I hadn’t made the decision to start my own business right from the start. Although, it was always my goal. Initially, I thought I’d try to get a position with a med spa to gain some experience for a couple of years. I bit the bullet and took a front desk position at a day spa while I was completing school so I could build my resume in the industry.
It took a lot of careful planning and research, but I realized It was possible for me to go into business for myself right out of school. The other fortunate piece for me is that there are very few electrologists, not just here in Utah, but everywhere. Hair removal is also a highly sought-after service so my business and clientele have grown quite naturally.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do electrolysis which is permanent hair removal using a small amount of electrical current. Most people today are familiar with laser hair removal, but that’s different. Laser is not permanent which may be surprising to some. However, electrolysis is the only method of hair removal recognized as permanent by both the FDA and AMA. It’s crazy because the technology was invented in 1875!
It’s old school and I really dig that. Electrolysis works by inserting a tiny hair-like probe into the follicle. The probe delivers the electrical current into the follicle which coagulates the tissue within, kills off the surrounding stem cells that help to grow hair, and cuts off the blood supply. Also, unlike laser, electrolysis works on any skin or hair type. (Laser is completely ineffective on blonde, gray, white, or red hair and can be very risky for those with more melanin-rich skin.)
I’m an electrologist who also happens to be a master esthetician. My business is focused primarily on hair removal, but also having a skincare background is really advantageous. Because of my dual licensing, I am able to treat advanced skin lesions like broken capillaries, skin tags, cherry angiomas, and ruby points. I can also do really fun (for me) and effective skin treatments like chemical peels and microneedling. My goal is to deliver the most effective treatments possible within my scope of practice. This is why I don’t offer the fluffy day spa type facials, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I just want to deliver results.
I would say the most precious part of what I do is working with the LGBTQ+ community. Primarily the transgender community. I have learned so much more about the process of transitioning, the overall community, and the people since setting out in this field. I still have a lot to learn and I feel it’s my duty as an ally to continue to listen, learn and support. I have learned some invaluable lessons.
Hair removal can be a significant part of one’s transition in terms of how someone outwardly appears and it’s a critical preparatory step for gender-confirming surgery. I get to spend a lot of time with my transgender clients for which I am so grateful. They are trusting me with one of the most vulnerable parts of their life. I have the utmost respect for that vulnerability and those willing to share their journey with me. It’s truly an honor.
So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why.
Look, I’m an old-school tattooed punk rock chick so don’t get me wrong here… but peace, health, happiness, and simplicity. I am at a point in my life where I’ve done all the hard stuff.
Learned all the hard lessons. The whole purpose of my starting my business and getting into this field was to have some peace. Making this change in my career was an act of self-love. Hopefully, I’m also giving some of that to my clients as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: slcelectrology.com
- Instagram: @smoothlakecity
Image Credits
Joe Fury @playingdeadphotography and Layna Mecham
