Love yourself more

Sometimes I use this space to share more than just Afrercancerwhatnow#.
I use it to share my experiences in the beauty industry. My blog has now helped me achieve my dreams of being a professional beauty writer.

 This is why my blog posts have been less frequent. I have been working on different projects.

I wanted to share an article I wrote for the beauty industry in the beginning of February.

 I had intended to get it out to my usual media junkets and beauty industry magazines to get it published but life got busy.

I only sent it to two magazines then started working on another project. I’m sure the content wasn’t anything  the majority of the audience was interested in at that time. My email was stamped February 24 th in the pic below the day I sent it to the the publication s I now see how needed this article was in our industry and only wish I worked harder myself to get it published. I was on the brink of something big. I just wanted to help others to be prepared for a financial situation they had no control over. My situation was cancer but you can lose your income for any reason at any time and I wanted others to be ready. It is now a little too late but wow too think of the two that passed on this article this could have been a pinnacle article to their magazine foreshadowing  the future. 

I don’t blame either one, because there wasn’t enough time to go to press. If anything I should have submitted it months earlier but my life got busy. If we were taught anything from this virus hopefully it was to slow down and not take anything for granted.

Here it is below 

                 Love Yourselves More.           

 I like to joke that I’m a 10,000,000 million dollar 

baby, but it’s no joke my treatments cost much more than that.

 I was anything but ready to lose my income as a Esthetician.

 After recently making the leap and becoming fully booked within the first 3 months on my own.  I couldn’t be more excited to see where my skills and business sense would lead me in this industry.

Unfortunately I had no idea my road ahead would be lined with hospital beds and treatment rooms and surgeries.

 Yes I had liability insurance but never knew how much I or any Esthetician needed disability insurance before it was too late. 

It doesn’t have to be cancer, it could be something as simple as a broken arm that makes it impossible to work for 2 months.

 Do you have the money to pay your bills if you can’t work? I never asked myself these questions.

 In 2015, when the Federal Reserve Board surveyed adults about household economics, 53 percent said they don’t have a rainy day fund.  They couldn’t even cover themselves for three months. More troubling, nearly half of respondents — 46 percent — said that faced with a hypothetical $400 emergency expense, they don’t have the cash to cover it.

 We need to love ourselves more and include in our business plan how to save for emergencies for ourselves.

According to the Social Security Administration,

 1 in 4 people who are 20 years old now will be disabled before they reach age 67.

We all like to think we are invincible and I myself was guilty of this.

 If you become disabled because of an accident, injury or illness, long-term-disability insurance typically pays 50 percent to 60 percent of your income, while you’re unable to work. The length of time the policy pays varies; some policies pay until you reach age 65.

  Every treatment and anything associated with cancer for me was in the upwards of thousands from sending me home after chemo with a $5,000 shot weekly to being part of a clinical trial that would cost my insurance over 3.5 million alone. 

Yes I had medical insurance but what about everything else? Thankfully I had a spouse to help me with my bills but going from a two income house to a one with no warning is a position I never wish on any of my Este sisters.

 We often talk about the physical and emotional effects to our mind body from a devastating disease like cancer but what about the financial side? It will drain your savings as fast it drains the color from your face. 

 I wish this article fell on my lap years ago.

I would have been forever grateful.

It really puts things in perspective and I wish planned differently.

 After being left with surgical abnormalities from my four surgeries I finally came  to the realization doing what I loved was impossible and it forced me to find a new place for myself in our industry.

I was lucky enough to merge my college major of writing and Esthetics together so I could continue in the field I love.

If you are a business owner or even working at someone else’s business always remember you need liability insurance that covers you and your business and disability insurance if you can’t work you are unable to work.

 Can you answer this question with a yes? If something happens where I can’t work will I still get paid ? If you don’t know the answer or it’s a no than you need better health insurance because in our field anything can happen.

Even a six figure Esthetician will lose it all if they haven’t planned for emergencies.

I have preached to my friends since the beginning of my diagnosis in 2017 on the importance of being prepared. 

 Unfortunately my treatments and four surgeries lasted over two years. Imagine two years without a salary. 

This could happen to anyone at anytime.

 If you listen to my words you will have peace of mind and sanity through the worst of times. 

  No one ever wants to think about this 

 I thought I would be working continuously, building my business and my bank.

Unfortunately sometimes in life we don’t make our own path, the path leads us and to places we never imagined. 

 Cherish every second, live, love ,laugh and learn in this beautiful field.

Tomorrow isn’t promised but we are lucky and blessed to be in a field.

 Love what we do but love yourself more than your business and put yourself and your future first.

Your future depends on it.

Yes maybe 2/24/20 wasn’t early enough. This article could of made a difference to so many small business owners.