New Fairfield native, Connie Devine, celebrates her tenth
anniversary as an aesthetician this June and the time, she says, has just flown by! For 8 of those 10 years she has provided skin
care and beauty services at the Copper Lily Salon & Day Retreat in
Wilmington, NC. Connie’s success results from the fact that skin care is as
much a passion for her as her career. She credits the training she received at the IAAS for lighting that passion. While visiting Wilmington, NC two years after
graduation, Connie fell in love with that community and immediately moved
there. This resulted in her doing what she loves in a place where she loves
living.
“I tell everyone how rewarding being an Aesthetician is,”
Connie states. She first learned of
aesthetics as a career option when she was 21 years old and visited the IAAS as a client. “A friend of
mine was getting married and she took all her bridesmaids to IAAS. I had never
had a facial before and didn't know what to expect. Half way through the facial
I remember asking the student aesthetician if this was going to be what she’d
be doing for a living? When she answered
"yes,” my life focus changed.” As a corporate secretary at the time,
Devine had a great job with all the perks one could want in a career. What she didn’t have was a job she
enjoyed. The student aesthetician at
IAAS made her feel so good she remembers saying to herself, "I want to
make people feel this good and knew then, that's what I wanted to do.”
Devine continued to be a secretary for ten more years, all
the while thinking, “I could continue being a secretary and be miserable and
not feel like I make a difference, or I could take a leap of faith and follow
my heart.” When she finally worked up
the courage to switch careers, she enrolled in the night program at IAAS while
continuing to work. Once graduated, she dedicated herself exclusively to her
new career.
“I enjoy everything that I do and especially the connection
with women. Women need to take care of one another and encourage each other to
be the best that we can be. The healing aspects of my career make me feel as
good as it does my clients,” Devine states. “It means so much to me that I am
able to make others feel good about themselves.”
The training she received at IAAS has had a HUGE impact on
her career. She realizes that the structure of this dedicated program forced
her to learn all the important nuances of the trade that make her excel at what
she does. “Not a day has gone by in 10
years that I have not thought of what I learned while studying at IAAS.” She also knows that to remain successful “you
have to keep your passion about what you do, without getting burned out.” Her prescription for this is to practice what
you preach and take time to recharge by getting facials yourself, “everything
we promote to our clients is just as important for ourselves. It makes us
better aestheticians when we recharge.”
At the North Carolina spa, Connie offers numerous types of
facials which she customizes to the needs and interests of her clients. The
facials offered include long, short, hydrating, deep cleansing,
microdermabrasion and natural fruit peels.
Additional services include lash & brow tints, Brazilian waxing, and
Alexandria sugaring (another method of hair removal). As if offering facials is
not relaxing enough, Connie is also a certified reflexologist and incorporates
those relaxation techniques into her services.
