As incredibly challenging as it can be to raise children while you’re planning out your career, it’s certainly doable. If you’re a parent who wants to establish a future in a field that is in-demand, flexible, includes some hands-on work, and allows you the chance to connect with and positively impact others, then attending a medical esthetician school might change your life. One of the nice things about this profession is that it is not only consistent with child-rearing urges but also has legitimate potential for personal and professional development.
Here’s how working as a medical esthetician can fit into your life as a parent — and even help you become a more mindful one.
Learning the Value of Priority: From Diaper Duty to Dermaplaning
Parenting helps you learn to prioritize like a pro. You’re a homemaker, nappy changer, school runner, nap organizer, or task-doer of never-ending variety. The good news is that these time management skills will be useful to you in medical esthetician school. If you’re going full-time or part-time while maintaining a full load of family commitments, you will need to schedule not only the coursework but also the practical training and remain healthy.
Parenting Tip: Sync up a digital calendar with your family’s calendars to keep track of your class and study schedule. When kids see you planning out your day, they learn to appreciate structure and responsibility as well.
A Career That Is a Model of Self-Care
As a parent, the rest of the world often comes first. But self-care is not self-seeking — it’s a requirement. One of the leading views on medical esthetics is to cultivate a healthy skin care and wellness practice. As you train in the art of taking care of other people’s skin, you will probably find yourself being more mindful of your own self-care practices.
Parenting Tip: Allow your children to see you spending time on yourself, whether that be a five-minute skincare routine or simply a short moment to take some deep breaths. Teaching young people the importance of self-care could help develop their emotional intelligence and resilience.
Training That Fits Your Real Life
A number of schools offer evening or weekend hours to accommodate working students (including parents). Online theory components combined with face-to-face practical sessions can offer a more flexible approach to squeezing school in and around school pick-ups and soccer practice.
PARENTING TIP: Talk with your support—your spouse, grandparents, and friends. Tell them when you are going to need someone to help with child care during exam periods or clinic time. Involve your kids, too! Older kids might enjoy the opportunity to “help” mom or dad win.
Support for Education and Financial Security
The price of learning is always a consideration, particularly when raising children. Fortunately, at most esthetician programs, financial aid or payment plans are available. With a certificate in medical esthetics, many graduates can be promised a steady job within a dermatology clinic, a med spa, or a wellness center. This field is growing, and people can definitely plan for the future.
Parenting Tip: Share your goals with your kids and explain why you are returning to school. This serves to normalize the concept of lifelong learning and to show them that it is never too late to pursue a dream.
Transferable Parenting Skills
As strange as it sounds, your mad parenting skills have already put you ahead in the esthetics business. A great medical esthetician is patient, empathetic, and a good listener with problem-solving skills. You’ve already learned how to ease anxiety, multitask, and keep a cool head under pressure, skills that apply to putting clients at ease during treatments.
Parenting Tip: Make everyday occasions into confidence builders. As you’re praising your child’s progress, honor yourself when you finally master a new technique or ace an exam. Adults also respond positively to a reward.
You Can Take Back Your Identity
You become a parent, and necessarily, your identity shifts, but still, you are you. Attending medical esthetician school can be an empowering way for you to reignite your personal interests and passions outside of your role as a parent. It is an opportunity to invest in yourself, to connect with others, and to feel proud of a new achievement.
Parenting Cue: Model for your kids that it’s acceptable — and great for everyone — to have dreams beyond being a parent. They’ll grow up knowing that ambition and family can dovetail perfectly.
Entrepreneurial Prospects
After you have some experience, you may also want to consider opening a med spa of your own or working as a freelancer as an esthetician. This type of career flexibility is particularly appealing to parents who desire to work around their kids’ schedules or to stay home for part of the week.
Parenting Tip: Include your children in your business venture. Have them helping you with labels, logo designs, your swampy massage maneuvers, etc. It’s a fun way to bond and teach them entrepreneurial thinking.
Final Thoughts
Opting to go to medical esthetician school as a parent can seem overwhelming at first, but it’s completely possible and so incredibly rewarding. This job has a lot of flexibility and creativity, and the dynamic of helping people feel confident is great. More importantly, it gives you an opportunity to develop as a professional as well as a parent.
You don’t have to wait until the kids grow up to travel. With a good plan and a little support and a lot of heart, you can create a beautiful life for you and your family—and help others do the same.