🌈a MESSAGE OF PRIDE

Happy Pride Month to you and your loved ones! 🌈

I wanted to share a quick story about my first experience in the world of beauty, one that highlighted the importance of tolerance, acceptance, and being proud of who you are.

Since a young age, I've been captivated by the beauty industry. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when I turned 18 and it came time to apply for a job, I was determined to find my place in this field. I can still vividly recall the day I walked into my first job interview at a beauty counter in a bustling department store. Dressed in a crisp, all-black outfit, I was filled with a mix of eagerness and anxiety.

As I stepped into that interview room, I couldn't help but envision myself wearing a white lab coat, sharing my knowledge about skincare with the public day in and day out. For years, I had enthusiastically talked everyone's ear off about beauty, and now I had the chance to do it professionally. However, my excitement quickly faded moments after I entered the room.

The interviewer, a woman with stylishly cut greyish-blond hair and glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, greeted me politely and engaged in small talk about my commute and the weather. After a brief pause, she placed my freshly printed resume on the table and, in a remorseful tone, said, "Thank you for coming today." Removing her black acrylic specs, she leaned forward and continued,


"I think it would be fine for you to work in San Francisco, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be the right fit for our clientele here."

I nodded, forcing a smile, but deep down, I felt a pang of embarrassment. I thanked her for her time as she stood up and handed me back my CV. Exiting past the cosmetic counter, I bid farewell in my thoughts to the colleagues I would never have, the lab coat I would never wear, and the opportunity to work in my passion—skincare.

Was I the only one who failed to recognise how ridiculous it seemed to be a gay man working in this field? I was confused. The job application explicitly stated "equal opportunity employer," so why did it feel like my passion was out of reach simply because of who I am? It was something beyond my control, just like the color of my eyes or the texture of my hair.

Feeling foolish for even attempting, I temporarily put my aspirations on hold and settled for a job that left me dispassionate. Fortunately, at the age of 20, I shook off the lingering impact of that interview and, with unwavering support from my family, I enrolled in an Esthetics Program.

Now, 10 years after that terrible interview, I have my own studio and have been lucky to have worked on hundreds of you in the short year and a half since opening my doors.

Thank goodness, I didn't need to only work in San Francisco (🙄), and here in Cheltenham, with all of you, l I can come to work as my authentic self.

Thank you asking about me and my husband, thank you for supporting my queer-owned business.

I hope my space can be a safe haven for those wherever they are in their queer experience, to know that isn't something you have to worry about when seeing me.

Thanks for being a part of my story, my friend. Your support means the world to me.

Happy Pride month,

Raymundo "Mundo"