Taking her beauty business to the next level

Before she was The Facialist, even before she was Ashleigh Scott Facialist, she was a young employee in the beauty industry, bored and uncertain that she was in the right job.

Finding the passion

After working in the beauty industry for more than five years, Ashleigh moved to London, thinking she was going to do something completely different. But once she got there, that plan changed. “It was a whole different way of working there,” she says. “I learned so much. It reignited my passion for the industry and led me to what we do now.”

Ashleigh had found her London calling — but what would happen when she returned to New Zealand? She knew New Zealand didn’t have the same approach to beauty offerings.

Yet.

Taking the plunge

When she arrived back in Auckland, Ashleigh realised that if there wasn’t a place that would let her do what she was best at, she’d just have to open it herself.

“Just going back into another job would be going backwards, in a way. So initially, it was just me creating a job for myself.”

She started out by herself, renting a room in a hair salon, giving all the facials herself. In fact, it was here that she first encountered Timely, which her friend used to run the salon.

Ashleigh loved the look of Timely and found it easy to learn, even though she calls herself “terrible at computers.”

“Technology is not my thing at all! But Timely is so easy to use!”

In opening Ashleigh Scott Facialist, she was taking a gamble on the future of the beauty industry. Ashleigh believed that specialisation, rather than one-stop shops, were the way forward. Instead of hedging her bets by offering other services, she doubled down on her valuable skills as a facialist and hoped that Aucklanders would appreciate her bespoke offerings.

As it turns out, the gamble paid off. Since opening Ashleigh Scott Facialist, she’s moved to a larger space, hired 2 staff members, rebranded, created her own product line and has started teaching and mentoring others in the beauty industry.

Becoming The Facialist

The change to from Ashleigh Scott Facialist to The Facialist was an easy decision, according to Ashleigh. After she hired and trained two new staff members, she took a step back and realised that “it’s about all the facialists, and they’re all amazing.”

Since Timely takes over most of the reception role, Ashleigh was able to make sure both of her new hires were working with clients, instead of handling admin like scheduling.

“Timely is what runs us. It’s cut out the need for a receptionist and that whole side of things. It’s invaluable!”

Ashleigh moved her business to a new location in the heart of Auckland and Timely was running her front desk. She said that “I found a lot of value in Timely, using the reports, tracking our sales and just keeping people really organised. It does everything we need it to do.”

Ashleigh somewhat reluctantly tried online bookings six months after getting Timely. She found them to be “a massive lifesaver.”

“Online bookings have been a massive lifesaver to us. I love it! It’s so easy from a customer’s perspective.”

In fact, between Timely and her new staff, Ashleigh now has more time to work on her business, and not just in it.

She’s taken on more of a Creative Director role, something she sees herself leaning into in the future. “Something I’ve learned in the last year is that I’m really good at the business side, that’s what I really enjoy doing. What I’ve managed to do, which is step back from working with clients, is what a lot of people struggle to do.”

“When you work with clients and are in the treatment room all day every day, it’s really hard to work on a business and grow a business.”

Looking forward

Ashleigh works from home more often nowadays, creating her products and planning her training sessions, and Timely lets her keep a close eye on her business from wherever she is. “Where I am now is not where I ever imagined we’d end up,” she says.

“When you find that passion and purpose, everything just snowballs into place!”

Now that Ashleigh’s able to be the Creative Director, she wants to share her knowledge.

She already offers workshops training fellow facialists from around the country in her successful techniques. She also started mentoring other beauty business owners after realising that she had a knack for it. “A lot of the people I mentor are stuck where they are and want to move forward, to grow their businesses.”

By building a community, Ashleigh is also building the future she wants to see in New Zealand’s beauty industry. It’s a future that’s proud to specialise, and proud to share knowledge.

And it’s one that Timely is very proud to be a part of.