Photo courtesy of Gaby Chavez.
Born-and-raised Dallasite Gaby Chavez, who has lived in Oak Cliff since she was 4, took a leap of faith to kick start a new career nearly a decade ago. After working in the dental industry, Chavez decided to take her hobby as a lash artist and turn it into a full-time gig.
“I’ve been doing eyelashes for about 14 years, and when I started doing eyelashes, it was a rare thing to do,” she said. “And I remember when I started getting into it, people were like, ‘What? You’re crazy. Who would pay you for that? And why do you pay for that?’”
Chavez is the founder and lead instructor of Learn.LASH.Repeat Training Academy, an Oak Cliff-based cosmetology school that specializes in “lash extension and esthetician programs, certifications and continuing education for beauty enthusiasts and aspiring entrepreneurs.”
Learn.LASH.Repeat Training Academy is located at 5546 S. Hampton Road. Photo courtesy of Gaby Chavez.
Though she had a passion for the craft, having earned her Eyelash Extension Specialty License in 2012 while working as a dental assistant, Chavez said she went into the industry full time “kind of unwillingly.”
“My grandmother had passed away, and there was just a lot of stuff going on. My mom was diagnosed with cancer that year, and so it was more of a leap of faith. I was so scared because I had a fixed income, but my mom needed me,” she said. “I had my second child, and I had already built somewhat enough clientele, but it was more of the fear because you never know what can happen when you work for yourself, and so I took that leap of faith and I just told myself, ‘Well, if it doesn’t work out, you can fall back into dentistry’ because I had that license.”
Learn.LASH.Repeat Training Academy has reached nine years of providing education, something Chavez said was scarce when she first got into the field.
“The reason behind me opening the school was because there was a lot of lack of education to the lash extensions because it was so new, and people that did know the industry had been doing it for some time, and they were kind of scared to show or share the technique because they felt like it was going to take away from them,” Chavez said. “So for me, it was more like let me show the fundamentals of this artistry because that’s what a lot of people were lacking.”
Chavez wanted to not only help others receive certifications, but get their license and also have flexibility within her program. She noted that many corporate schools have daily requirements that make it more difficult to complete courses with other responsibilities.
“It’s almost like you have to pick and choose between still being a mom or a wife at work and things like that …” she said. “So being able to help moms that want either to get out of staying at home, or they don’t want to work that 9-to-5 job anymore, and being able to help them work around it without having to sacrifice their entire life for the next 6-8 months because they want to make that transition, and there’s always that fear behind anything we do.”
With Learn.LASH.Repeat Training Academy, Chavez said that she took her time as a student and put what she felt she lacked into her own practice.
“I feel more success with the school side of it because I feel like I’ve been able to help more people. Not only just help them get licensed, but also motivate them, and being able to help and give them that flexibility of ‘Hey, it’s OK. We all go through hard times, and if you need to take this week off because you know whatever you have going on, we can pick up next week exactly where you left off,’” she said. “To me, that makes me feel real happy because I’m able to help, and I’m able to help them not only help themselves, but in the long run they’re helping others. Them doing well shows me everything that I’ve been working so hard for.”
