Welcome 

to this week's episode of Beauty Babble. Today we're talking to Aimee Steers about her time as a traveling esthetician. Aimee is a Cidesco certified esthetician and nail tech with over 10 years experience in the industry. She's also the owner of her own nail salon called Aimee's Beauty. Hi, Aimee.

Hi, 

Suzanne. Hello, Darine. Hello, Aimee. Welcome, welcome. We're so excited to have you here today. As soon as you said when we met a few months back, it was a cruise ship. So I went, Oh, we need to talk and bring you on here because I don't think people realize, you know, in the industry, what it takes to be able to get to the cruise ship world of employment.

So if you want to tell us your journey, how did you get there? Where did you start? How did you find out about this? 

Actually through my mom. So my mom has been an esthetician for the past 35 years. And she took her Sadesco diploma. I want to say back in like 2009. And since then, like, I've always Kind of known about Sodesco and when I went to school we had a list of jobs that we could do and cruise ship was one of them.

So that was kind of my end goal from the time that I started in school and yeah, it's just kind of escalated from there. I graduated from my Sodesco diploma in 2016 and then in 2018, I had applied to work on cruise ships because I wanted to get a little bit of work experience in the industry.

First and by January of 2019, I was headed to London for my training and I was on board a ship the next month after that. Wow. So did you have 

to actually take specific education? I've heard you mentioned 

Sidesco. Yes. So I have, in order to work on cruise ships as a beauty therapist, you have to have an international diploma, whether it's Cidesco or iTech.

I definitely recommend Sidesco because their standards are very equivalent to those in the European side of things, which is more on cruise ships, right? So I did that. And then. In London, I actually had to go through training as well with the Steiner Academy, which is now called One Spa World.

And I was there for six weeks doing training with their brands, with their treatments. It was really amazing. Six weeks of full time, is that it? 

Yeah. I know years, years and years ago, it was They did have an academy out of Vancouver, and then if you kind of pack that, then you would go into their full academy and in the UK.

Is that right? 

So I actually had to fly to Vancouver to do my interview which was on board a cruise ship. And right from that moment, I was like, Oh my goodness, this is absolutely what I want to do. And back in the day, they did do like a practical sort of interview, but because we were on board a ship, we couldn't do it at the time.

So I just sat and met with the recruiter. We had an interview and then she asked me to send a video of me doing like a facial. at home on a client. So back at my home spa which I did. And then within the week I was approved and I was getting ready to go to London. 

Wow. So how much notice do they give you?

They, so for my first contract, I had three months to prepare because I wanted to spend Christmas with my family. Right. Cause I didn't know when I'd be home again. So I had three months and then on January, I think it was like January 4th or something of 2019. I headed to London on my own and was in the Academy the following week.

Wow. 

That was quite the journey. 

Yeah. 

I was on board for nine months. So I came back in. At the end of September,  

So January, like I was in London for six weeks, and then I think it was the second week of February.

That's when I went out to my ship, which I boarded in Jamaica. I was on, on board Marella Discovery 2, which is a British cruise line, and I was on that ship up until the 28th of September. So I was on board for eight months. 

Your home was the ship, the cruise ship. 

My home was the ship. Yes. 

Wow. Did you get to board, like get off the ship when you boarded or when they docked at all?

Yes. So as a SPA employee, we had like two and a half days off a week. So usually it wasn't like a full day off. It was half day. So I would have like every other morning off. And if we were in port, then yes I would go off and get to explore. So that was pretty cool. But yeah, the ship was my home.

I had a cabin. It was about the size of a walk in closet. And there was a bunk bed, so there was two of us in there. We had like half of a closet and a tiny little bathroom with a curtain and like a shower, toilet, and sink all in one. So. It was interesting. 

 What was the appeal, first of all, because that sounds not appealing to me.

Yeah. Right? What was the appeal going into it and then was, was that part of a shock or something that you didn't expect? 

Travel. I had wanted to travel, right? And getting paid to do what I love while traveling seemed like a really good payoff for me. And it really was. I mean, of course the cabin wasn't the greatest part, but really you're only in your cabin to sleep, right?

So yeah, it was the travel for me. Like I saw 26 different countries in less than a year, so that was phenomenal. That's amazing. 

It was very amazing. I think, I don't know, I agree on the cabin part. Like, when you first saw that, you're like, Okay, like, I, I have a roomie and we can do this in this closet.

Yeah, I mean, it was really nerve wracking because of course you're put into a room with somebody you've never met before and it's... can be a very invasive experience, right? But I ended up becoming really good friends with my cabin mate. And then she actually left a month later and I had another cabin mate.

But she had a partner on board who had his own cabin. So she stayed with him most of the time. So really for, you were on your own. I had my own cabin. 

Match you up with the staff or, or each department kind of worked to get like. 

With the spa staff, we were all partnered together, so we were partnered with another member of the spa team with other departments.

So it can depend like there's unfortunately very much a hierarchy on ships. So usually like your like your cleaning staff, your cooks, your weight staff, they're all kind of a little bit on the lower end of that hierarchy. And then you have your spa staff, your Like your entertainment team, your casino, and they're kind of in the middle.

So fortunately we were partnered with somebody from our own department, whether it's like casino or spa, right. Whereas those other ones would be partnered with each other. Interesting. 

What is something that you weren't expecting? Whether it was positive or constructive, we'll say. 

Yeah, all of my expectations of working on cruise ships were completely gone once I got on board.

It was nothing like I 

expected. What were your expectations, and then what actually 

happened? I definitely went on board expecting it to be super strict when you're in the Academy, it's very much like you do this, you get kicked off, you do this, you get kicked off. And I expected my spa manager to be really mean and strict and just very much retail based.

I expected the cabins to be worse than what they were. I thought I was going to be roomed with like four people instead of just the other one. So when I got on board, definitely my expectations were a lot better. Like you get on board and you go right into your onboarding, which is like a safety onboarding.

And my spa manager walked in and. As soon as I saw her, I was like, really intimidated, but she turned out to be one of my very good friends and we're still in contact to this day. So it was an amazing experience. There definitely were some expectations, like the time off was difficult. The more you hit your targets, the more time you got off.

So, it can be definitely pretty challenging if you aren't like a salesperson, but they do train you in a lot of retail aspects when you're in London.  

Your targets, were they retail targets that you had 

to reach? So we had retail and service targets. My target was set, I think it was at 5, 000 pound a week, which is about close to 10, 000 Canadian.

And half of that had to be retail. But when people go on holiday, they want to spend more, right? So I definitely learned really quick how to get people to spend money on retail. 

Interesting. And did you, was this part of the training or did, were you, is this something how you are as a person or did you find from all of your trainings from when you first went to aesthetic school, your Cidesco, and then their training and onto the cruise ship, that whole aspect, does it all tie in together?

Did you find that you really learned a lot 

from? Absolutely. First of all, Cidesco on its own is an amazing training. They teach you how to deal with people, how to deal with conflict resolution, as well as provide excellent service, right? Their standards are incredible. But when you do go to the Steiner Training Academy in London, they give you a breakdown of how to retail properly.

There's very much. A whole week where it's just spent on training on how to sell to clients. And then of course when you're on board your spa manager, the rest of the spa team, like we're consistently doing trainings every week to try and kind of increase revenue. So that was really awesome. Wow.

And 

what were some, were there any challenges you faced with it when you were first approached with this idea? Because a lot of, I mean, I come from that time. I think during O2 that it was part of. Most places you have to hit targets when you're in this industry. And I don't know what it's been like the last few years, considering most people are doing their own thing out of their home.

So that pressure isn't quite there anymore. I don't think like it was before. So 

it was definitely rude awakening because again, like. I was a nail tech to start right and nail techs, we don't usually try and sell lots if it's cuticle oil nail file. Yes. But when it comes to skincare and body care, it's a total, totally different ballgame right like retails where you're going to make the bulk of your money.

So that was definitely a challenge. But I do find. As a Canadian, when you're working abroad with Europeans, people are a lot more friendly towards you. They approach you a lot more. So it was definitely a little bit easier for me because of my nationality. And because I could speak, I could speak fluent English, right?

Like a lot of. People on cruise ships are from different countries and they're not like English is in their first language. So that definitely gave me a huge advantage. But it was, it was very intimidating when I got told my target was going to be 10, 000 a week. And I had to have 5, 000 of that being retail.

I was. nervous and I didn't hit it at first. Like it took me probably a good two months to hit my target for the first time, but then I was consistently hitting it. And I actually, for the rest of my cruises, I did. hit it, whether it's like I hit my whole target or I hit the retail. Sometimes I wouldn't hit the retail target depending on where we were.

But I was consistently hitting target and I, because of that, I did get promoted to assistant manager, which was amazing.

That's great. 

Amazing 

 You mentioned that if you didn't hit your targets had something to do with your time off. So can you 

explain that a little bit more? I mean, automatically, you're still going to have that two and a half days off a week. They can't take that away from you. But. The more you hit your target, we have like incentives.

So you'd get like an extra hour off. If you hit a certain amount of your target, or you'd get like the full day off, if you hit your full target, like things like that, they couldn't take away your time off, but they could add to it if you did hit that target. So it was a nice incentive. Cause of course we're in all different places.

And especially when we got over to the med, I was like. I want time off. I want to see Europe. Like, this is amazing. So that was definitely a good incentive for me to hit that target.  

How are the other people you worked with in the industry?

Were they, because you would have met people from all over the world. 

I did. Yeah. And some of them I'm still in contact with and I talk to every day. Like, I have friends that I've known since birth and we only talk like maybe once every couple of months, but These people that I met on board, I talk to every day.

They're some of my very best friends. So I have friends all over the world, which is amazing. Definitely there are some, there were some people in the spa that I didn't really get along with. Especially when you go from being just the therapist to the assistant manager, a lot of people don't like that, right.

So it was difficult at some points, but for the most part, we all got along really well, and I have friends all over, which is amazing. So you said you had your, 

Promotion. I mean, to be a assistant manager couldn't have been just because of your sales.  

It was because of sales as well as I kind of took on like I took the initiative, right?

Like I was out there promoting myself. I was getting the clients in. I was friendly. And I was around the spa. So it wasn't just the sales. They definitely, in order to get up there, they want to see that you're hitting those sales targets consistently. For sure. 

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. And what was your role as an assistant manager 

then?

Well, I still did treatments, so I was still a beauty therapist, but I did a lot of, like, the front desk. I did a lot of team trainings like end of day reports, end of cruise reports. I was pretty much, I just, I helped the manager quite a bit I was her eyes and ears when she couldn't be in the spa, like, when she was at other meetings and such.

And then I also went on as a part of the safety committee on the ship as an assistant manager for the spa. Oh, 

wow. So you said that you were there from February to September. Did you do more than one round and how many, how long were you doing 

it for? Yeah. So I got home in September and then by the middle of November, I had joined the ship again.

So I was home for about. Two months. I want to say a little bit less than two months. And I went to the same ship. I was put on as assistant manager again. And then this, like the last time I was on, I was a massage therapist instead of a beauty therapist. 

I have to ask, like, what would be your, your best moment and what was your Well, not such a great moment.

Well, I met my husband on board, so that was probably my best moment. Where's he from? He is from England, yes. We met it was like my first week on board and he came into the spa for a haircut. So right from then I was like, oh, who's that guy? And, yeah, we have been together for, I guess, almost five years now.

Okay, well, matchmaking. Did he 

work on the cruise 

ship? Yeah, he was a part of the entertainment team, so he worked in like their show lounge and he did all the lighting and like stage rigging and stuff like that. That's awesome. Did 

he go the second time when you went too? 

 My second one was supposed to be nine months, but of course, COVID happened. So that got cut short. Yeah, so usually about seven to nine months. 

What was Maybe the one big, unexpected, terrible moment that you can 

share.

COVID. 

COVID, okay. COVID, yeah. Overall, overall then, it's just, it was just a really good experience 

for you? It was phenomenal. I, like, I was 22 when I left and it was probably the best experience for your early 20s. Traveling with friends, seeing the world making money. It was amazing. I would highly recommend it to anybody.

Speaking of making money, I'm going to ask the sensitive question, and you don't have to share how much you made, but do you think it's, is it more than you would normally make if you worked in a local spa? 

Depends on the cruise line. So it's very much dependent on the cruise line you're with. When I was on ships, Automatically, we got 800 U.

S. dollars a week minimum. And then from there, we made, I can't remember the commission we made, but we made commission on both retail and services. And the retail commission was actually higher, which is a little bit different than your spas here. So that's why they want you to sell more retail, right?

But it really all depends on the cruise line you're on. I was unfortunately placed on a British budget cruise line and they don't like to buy. So I still made it work. I still hit my targets. I still did a lot of retail, but had I been placed on like Royal Caribbean, Princess, something like that, I definitely feel I would have made a lot more money.

And I have, like, I have friends who've worked there and they've made a lot more. So it really, it's all dependent on the cruise line you get placed on. 

And you don't get a choice? 

No, you do not. No. When you first go to the academy they, from the moment you walk in that door, they're placing you on ships.

So, based on your personality, your experience, your nationality as well it tends to be Canadians will get placed on more difficult ships because we chat. We're more friendly. 

Interesting. 

It is. Makes sense. Yeah. So yeah, from the moment I walked in that door, I think I was set to go on a British cruise line.

But yeah, it all depends on how you're doing the Academy and what they have available. Right. So at that time, the reason I had to stay so long in the Academy is because they knew that I was going to go to the ship that I did. And they just had to wait for the therapist that was on that ship to come off in order for me to go.

Oh, wow. 

Interesting. Yeah. Oh, those are a lot of things I didn't know about. Yeah. The cruise ships and that whole backside of it all. Now you talked about personality. Now not just being Canadian is going to get you there. No. Can you tell us a little bit about, if someone was going to look at doing that what should they look at within themselves?

To be successful, meaning happy and do well financially and yeah, just make it an overall great experience that you had. What do you think it takes in a person that they really need to look at themselves? 

I definitely think going into it with an open mind. Don't set your expectations like super high or super low but go into it with an open mind, right?

Because there's a chance that you could get placed on seven star, six star luxury cruise line. You could get placed on Disney. You could get placed on Princess. You could get placed on Morella. But go into it with an open mind and just be yourself. Be friendly. Be outgoing. Be yourself. Definitely don't try to be someone you're not because that's just going to set you up for failure in the future, right?

Again, they're going to... base your ship off of your personality and how you handle certain situations. So make sure to be yourself for sure. Did they set you 

up with different like scenarios or situations that you could 

get thrown into? They absolutely did. Yeah. , 

what kind of scenarios did they like actual, like the people that your customers that would be coming or clients that are becoming those kinds of scenarios or.

Yeah, very much. A lot of the time they'd give you like a little script almost to do some role play with your, with a partner and how to approach different personalities approach different nationalities as well, and what to do when people say no, right? So there was a lot of time spent on how to have those proper conversations with clients.

Wow, that should almost like be in the training of aesthetics. 

Definitely, for sure. And 

all the service, really, eh? Yeah.  

Moving out of working as a travelling esthetician or on a cruise ship and coming back to Edmonton, having your own business now, what do you think is a lesson that you learned along the way that helps you now in your business?

Again, just being myself not trying to people please as much as you think you should in this industry. Of course, you want to serve your clients, but be yourself and people who are going to have those same values as you are going to be your best clients, be your most loyal clients for sure. And yeah, just don't try to be someone you're not.

That is my biggest thing. Cause I definitely tried that in the beginning. I tried to be such a perfectionist and tried to please everybody. And, and honestly, it's just going to come around and not be good for you in the long run. Absolutely. That's good life 

advice. 

Hey, yeah, for sure. 

. So you mentioned Cidesco. Now, was that your objective? Was the cruise ship so you had to get Cidesco? Or was Cidesco training diploma just part of it and then you found out after?

Like, what was the reason to choose that over, my gosh, there's so many programs out there, right? 

So my mom, actually, she took her Cidesco at EIE which is where I went as well, and Harmony, who's one of the longtime educators there taught my mom, and she taught my grandma, and my mom wanted me to be taught by Harmony as well, so Harmony was probably one of the biggest reasons that I went to EIE, And it happened to be the Cidesco program, which when I went for my tour, told me all of the things that I could do with the Cidesco program and cruise ships is one of them.

And I was like, yep, this is, this is where I want to go. 

 Wow. There's just so much involved. And so are you just doing, you're not just doing your own business though, are you Amy? 

No, I'm actually educating at EIE now. So I am a full time educator at the European Institute of Aesthetics. So I do both their full time aesthetics program and their advanced clinical.

I teach some of those classes. And then I have my own little nail salon out of my home and I'm working evenings and weekends doing that. 

Wow, that is so cool. Is there anything 

else you'd like to share with us? No, I think that was everything. Thank you so much for having me.

I'm so glad this finally worked out and we could get together with you. It's always fun to learn new things and new ways in the beauty industry. , it was, it was great chatting with you today. 

Thank you so much chatting with you too.