The Early Struggles: The Times I Nearly Quit & Why I Didn’t

Every business has a beginning, but mine didn’t start with excitement or momentum or a long list of clients waiting at the door. It started with uncertainty, slow weeks, self-doubt, and a version of myself who wasn’t yet the woman I am now.
People see the Angel Lash brand today — the awards, the demand, the trust, the polished experience — and it can be easy to forget that I almost walked away from this career more than once.

The early years weren’t glamorous. They weren’t aesthetic. They weren’t soft.
They were a test — of my resilience, my discipline, and my ability to believe in myself long before anyone else did.

This is the truth behind the parts most people never hear.

The Silence No One Warns You About

When I first started lashing, the silence was the hardest part.
Silence in my booking system.
Silence in my messages.
Silence in my income.
Silence in the room I prepared every single morning, hoping someone would walk through the door.

There were days where I refreshed my booking calendar over and over, waiting for something — anything — to appear.
There were weeks where not a single client booked.
There were moments where I sat on my bed after packing away all my tools and wondered if maybe I had chosen the wrong path.

It wasn’t the lack of money that broke me — it was the lack of movement.

When you’re new, you don’t just question your skill.
You question your worth.

The Moments I Wanted to Quit

There were several times I genuinely thought about leaving this industry.

Like the time I did a mobile appointment that went terribly — bad lighting, no space, difficult angles — and drove home feeling embarrassed, convinced I wasn’t cut out for this.

Or the day I opened my first home studio in Madra and spent months cleaning, prepping, setting up, and resetting a room no one came to.
I remember sitting on the edge of the lash bed, wondering why I tried so hard for something that wasn’t giving anything back yet.

There were tears.
There were breakdowns.
There were days I wanted to book a flight home to Estonia and start over.

But something inside me kept whispering:
“Keep going. Not because it’s easy… but because you know this is yours.”

Why I Didn’t Walk Away

The truth is, I stayed because quitting felt more painful than trying again.
There was this quiet pull — the same one that brought me to Australia at eighteen — that kept telling me there was something here for me if I could just push through the beginning.

I didn’t stay because I was confident.
I stayed because I was committed.

I reminded myself:
– skills can be learned
– clients can be gained
– experience is built over time
– confidence is earned through action
– every expert was once a beginner

I stopped expecting overnight success.
Instead, I started building consistency — the thing that would later become the backbone of Angel Lash.

What Changed Everything

What finally shifted things wasn’t one big moment — it was a hundred tiny ones.

It was showing up for myself even when no one else did.
It was investing in education when I could barely afford it.
It was practising for hours, redoing sets, studying lash health, rewriting my marketing, refining my brand.
It was switching from “I hope someone books” to “I’m creating something worth booking.”

Clients began to find me slowly — one referral at a time, one returning client at a time.
And each one felt like a reminder that the struggle had meaning.

The more I grew, the more I realised that those early challenges built the discipline and integrity that define my brand today.

The Struggles Became My Strength

Now, when I mentor other artists or watch new lash businesses open around Perth, I see the same fear in them that I carried in myself.
But I also see the same potential.

The struggles didn’t break me.
They shaped me.
They gave me standards.
They gave me boundaries.
They gave me resilience.
They gave me depth.
They made me a better artist, a better educator, and a better business owner.

Angel Lash isn’t successful despite the struggles —
it’s successful because of them.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the beginning of your journey — whether you’re brand new, rebuilding, or doubting yourself — I want you to know this:

The slow seasons don’t define you.
The quiet months don’t predict your future.
The struggle isn’t a sign to give up — it’s an invitation to grow.

The times I nearly quit are the same moments that built the woman I am now.
And if I had walked away, I never would have created the brand I have today, or the life I built from scratch in a place that once felt so far from home.

Keep going.
Your breakthrough is rarely loud — sometimes it’s a quiet decision to try again tomorrow.