Today we’d like to introduce you to Toni Hustlez
Hi Toni, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Toni HuSTLez I’ve been doings lashes for over 5 years. When I was a little girl, I thought that I was gonna be a lawyer lol I never in 1 million years saw myself servicing ladies for a living. But after high school, I quickly learned that The job seen wasn’t for me. I tried everything before I finally found my niche. I was a rapper for a while but that didn’t make me any money..
I tried modeling and that didnt make me any money either..
I started selling hair extensions and that went really well that’s when I learned how to flip a dollar(the greatest lesson I ever learned) , but I’m not a hairstylist so selling hair just didnt make me happy I didn’t have a passion for it. In 2018 I got fired
From my job at express scripts for absolutely no reason The job had an audit and they let go 40 people. I had been working there for two years. The longest job I ever had in my life.
When that happened, I had been doing lashes but not seriously like not even charging people just practicing as a hobby at home. At the time that I got fired, my grandmother had just passed away. She had cancer and I had a little bit of her life insurance money so I decided to pack all my bags and move to Texas, but when I got to Texas soon after Covid hit and it was hard the only skill I had was doing lashes so I started taking it serious and I started taking clients. after taking clients for a few months the state reached out to me and threatened to fine me $7000 because I didn’t have a Lash license so at that point I had to go to school for about eight months to get my license(which I think the state of Missouri should definitely think about that offering one ) and after I got my license, I just took off with lashing it became my hobby and my job. In 2021 I had a daughter and that was kinda hard out in Texas by myself, so I moved back to St. Louis and continued my lash business here. As I continued to grown my business I started selling lash products to other lash techs and teaching lash classes since the state doesn’t offer it and it has been amazing! Being a Lash supplier and Lash instructor is really me living in my dream right now
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
the road was not always smooth when you start out as a lash tech NOBODY wants to let you do their lashes and for good reason.. it use to take me about 4 to 5 hour just to do 1 set and i didn’t even know how to do a volume set that was for classics set.. so i really am grateful for those few ppl who have been with me from the begging.
and building clients is not easy you can be the best of the best and nobody will book you and it can be very discouraging but you just have to keep going.
and in this business sometimes you take losses sometimes their major. ive paid a marketing company $1,400 before and i got a $0 return and thats not to say the marketing company didn’t do their job but thats just the business sometimes.
there have been times when i spent money on a restock and the entire order was just trash. and getting your money back is almost impossible and if you do get your money back you best believe it wont be all your money i lost $650 on that order.
and then sometimes i get ahead of myself when i first started out i went straight to a suit it was fancy and super nice but it was also $800 a month and i didn’t have any clients and i just knew because i was so talented and believed in myself the clients would come but that was super unrealistic and i ultimately had to break my lease and owed a lot of money lol
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
so i do any and all things lashes. i specialize in lash extensions, but i do cluster lashes, individual lashes, bottom lashes, henna eyebrows , needle-less lip fillers, teeth whiting , teeth gems, and i also offer lash classes and mentorships.
most people know me for my dramatic whispy volume sets. ima a girls girls so the girlier the set the better, my sets are unlike any other because of the craft and quality lash products. my sets are known to last for a very long time lol and im glad my clients love it but sometimes i like okay now when y’all gonna come back, some of my clients only need to come see me every 5 weeks !
and my products are the best in the city. my lash glue will have make your clients never cheat on you.
and my lash trays are better then any in the city because they come with 16 rows instead of 10. the lashes and dark and fluffy so you can make the perfect sets every time
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up i was a girly girl and a tomboy still. but i also knew i wanted to look good, i was the kid that wanted to be seen and i always ,made sure i was. i like to think i was sweet kid but my little sister might tell you different. i honestly thought i was going to grow up to be a lawyer or something like that i was a very smart kid with a very smart mouth and i knew how to twist the truth to my benefit very young but i didn’t do it a-lot lol. i had to littles sisters and 2 older siblings with me being in the middle i felt like that ment i was the boss cuz i understood the older kids and the younger ones. so naturally im bossy. i played many sports so i always knew how to work as a teams and i was caption on a few teams and i think that gave me a great sense of leadership
Pricing:
- lash extensions start at $100
- cluster lashes start at $35
- lash glue $22
- lash trays $16
- lash tray bundle 5 trays for $65
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thecandylashlab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecandylashlab
- Facebook: toni hustlez lashes
- Youtube: thecandylashlab
