MY STORY

Hello. Before I start, I would like to thank you very much for your time and attention. 

My name is Dace and today I would like to tell you more about myself. Not only about the business but also about my life and about who I am, and why I am here doing what I am doing!

I will start from the beginning. I was born in Riga, Latvia on 30th July 1992. My mum has given me my name – Dace. I am coming from a large family and I am the youngest child (4th child). Unfortunately, my two brothers have passed away and it is only myself and my sister left. I have been raised by my mum and a stepfather. My stepfather was a huge support to my mother and we consider him a father. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us for more than 10 years. I have never seen my biological father. 

I am coming from a poor family and often we could not afford things we wanted. We could barely pay the bills and buy the food, however, my parents did everything they could to provide for our family. Most importantly, we could be together. I have never had a very close and lovely relationship with my mum, however, it has improved in the last 10 years which I am happy about.

I started living my own life when I was only 14 years young. I was studying and working and trying my best. I have always loved working and helping others, and have never been afraid of any jobs e.g. babysitting, mopping the floor, cooking, or working in the warehouse. I have always been proud of myself! Why? Because, of everything I had in my teenage years, I have earned and bought myself! Yes, maybe it was not always brand new and trendy, but mine, whilst other children my age got everything from their parents or grandparents. I have always been able to defend myself and be proud of who I am and what I do!

How did I get to England? I have never thought that I could travel somewhere abroad, as I haven’t even been to many places in Latvia, mainly because I couldn’t afford it. I started living together with one of my schoolmates. Nothing serious, it was just cheaper to live together, however, he proposed to me at Christmas and I said yes! After a couple of months, I suggested that we should go to England for work to be able to save money for the wedding. It was not a problem as he has been to England before and many of his family members were still there. The decision was made and we started to pack our suitcases to get ready for our adventure.

What an excitement it was when I first saw the plane. When I arrived in the UK, I started working at the warehouse from an agency. We saved the money and flew back to Latvia to get married. After the wedding, we realized that we have no money left, no job or place to live. Let’s go back to England and save more money? It was not a problem at all, very soon we have been offered a permanent contract at the factory and we also had a place to live. So I worked at this factory for another 2 years until I got pregnant with my son. When I went on maternity leave, I knew that I am not returning to work at the factory. After giving birth to my son, I started thinking of how I can utilize my free time. The first idea was to do hair extensions, and yes, it was the first beauty course I did. Soon after I realized that with this I won’t be able to earn enough money and that I would like something more, something different. I was looking for ideas and one of my friends suggested joining the lash extension course as they were very popular. I was doubting myself: ooh noo...I cannot do that! It is not for me! It will be hard! However, I have decided to go ahead, because why not? There is nothing to lose.

Then on the 6th of February 2017, I flew to Latvia and completed my first lash extension course. First 2 months I was doing lash extensions for free to everyone who wanted them! Yes, because practicing is very important in everything that you do and nothing is easy at the beginning. After 2 months I started to charge a little for the lash extensions and I was so happy. I fell in love with my work and wanted to learn more and more... The next course I did was volume eyelash extensions. Moving forward I did some courses every 6 months to enhance my skills and knowledge and improve my work quality. Every course I did was very special and I was eager to learn more and more. Some people have asked me why am I learning so much? You have already learned how to do lash extensions, that is enough! No, for me it is never enough and there are always ways to improve. This is the quality I love in myself! And my clients appreciate my hard work.

As well as developing myself professionally, I also decided that I would like my eyelash brand because it was difficult to find the perfect eyelashes at a great price. The next step was to find a factory that offers such a service - eyelashes with my logo and on my order.

Honestly, it took a long time to find the right supplier and I have tried more than 10 different companies, and I spent lots of money. However, after 1.5 years of searching, I did it! Yes, I found the factory which I am satisfied to work with! My experience proves that if you want to achieve something, you must never give up and a miracle will happen!

The next step in my career took a little longer- to work towards AET Diploma, which is required to be able to teach others. However, I have done it and I am very proud of it! After the completion of AET, I also took 2 additional courses for Trainers to improve my knowledge and gain more confidence. 

Where am I at now with my business and what exactly am I doing?

I have a pool of excellent regular customers and many new ones that are willing to book an appointment, but I only have 2 hands and 2 eyes ( okay 4, as I wear glasses when working haha).

I also have an online shop where I am selling the products for lash extensions that I love and have tested myself. I am also a qualified Trainer/ Teacher of Lash Extensions. 3 businesses that complement each other and fill my heart with energy and willingness to never give up!

Many of you do not have a clue what is behind the scenes- what is my daily routine? I can tell you that every day is very colorful, and filled with emotions, energy, and happiness in my clients’ eyes. 

My duties and responsibilities include everything: customer service, consultation, booking clients for beauty treatments, planning the day, bookkeeping, photography, managing social media accounts, answering calls, messages, and emails, ordering and testing products, managing the online store, consulting and supporting Learners, managing courses, business development, attending various courses and seminars to develop myself professionally, tidying and cleaning the workplace, decorating, preparing little gifts for my clients- this is only a brief summary of what my work entail. In addition to the above-mentioned, I also have to manage my duties at home, doing the school run, cooking, cleaning the house, planning holidays, and looking after my 3 cats.

Yes, I am a mum of my son and 3 cats and a wife to my husband. A woman, who loves her job and her self-created everyday life! Not, that it is not easy to keep everything under control and manage all work, but what is easy in this life? Nothing!

And also I have never stopped dreaming and fulfilling my dreams! I want to grow and develop myself! And I can do it because of YOU! I would like to thank every lady that has booked an appointment with me, ordered products from my online store, or attended a course- THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I would also like to THANK YOU- for the time that you spent reading this story. I hope it was interesting and you got to know me a little more!

I appreciate your support- private messages, comments, sharing my posts with others, or simply liking my posts. You are my support and inspiration!

With love and respect- Dace Makuza- creator and owner of DaMak Beauty