Given the right amount of dedication, perseverance, and passion, almost anyone can carve a niche for themselves and build a path toward success. After all, victories are better achieved when one ultimately sets their eyes on the prize. However, success does not happen overnight. Instead, it is a long and arduous process that requires not only a success-enabling disposition but also the resilience and patience to stay in the game, no matter how difficult the path may become – A journey that is ultimately familiar in the eyes of innovator and Certified Aesthetic Consultant (CAC), Alice Hatcher.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan and immigrating to the US with her family at 1, Alice Hatcher is a go-getter who has risen above her humble beginnings to become an admirable success, an embodiment of the much-coveted American dream. Growing up as an immigrant child in the 1980s, when racism was rife, Alice had a difficult childhood as her family struggled to make ends meet and lived in a one-bedroom apartment above their Chinese restaurant.
Her school life was no better as she was constantly bullied, had difficulty transitioning, being the only Chinese student in the entire school and was told she would never succeed because of her skin color. “The biggest challenge I faced in life was people telling me I can’t do it, that I’m not good enough and will fail,” she shared. However, every time she was kicked down, Alice’s resolve to prove her naysayers wrong grew stronger. The determined young woman would not let other people’s opinions sway.
She entered the skincare industry with a vibrant splash, trained beside Dr.Zein Obagi and graduated with honors from the Paul Mitchell Skin Academy in 2005. She went on to earn her Licensed Medical Aesthetician (LCE) credentials. Next, she became a Certified Aesthetic Consultant (CAC) with extensive experience working with skincare technologies, including ablative and non-ablative lasers, IPL, broadband light and RF platforms.
In 2005, the power player established her medical spa, Essential Beauty, one of the first medspas in Orange County, CA. However, the economic recession of 2006 threw the business into a financial crisis, and the enterprise could barely stay afloat five years after first opening its doors. It seems life was not done dealing with Alice, a heavy hand.
Through it all, Alice remained steadfast. She would go out and clients and leave flyers on people’s cars to get them to come to patronize the medical spa. “I would sell gift certificates in the parking lots and then take the clients back to the spa and perform the facial. I would also be the acting receptionist and check them out at the desk. I fulfilled many positions to get us through the financial crisis,” she shares.
In 2010, online shopping had just started getting big. So the power player capitalized on the emerging market and launched her brand’s Ecommerce skincare store, Beauty Addict, to address skin concerns and prescribe the correct products to clients nationwide and worldwide through virtual consultations. The online store proved a game-changer, doubling sales and elevating the brand’s digital authority.
In 2015, she started a new skincare brand called Precision skin RX, driving the brand to success by leveraging her aesthetics training and retail experience garnered from working at Clinique, MAC, Estee Lauder, and Stila, to name a few. Finally, after ten years of blood and sweat, Alice and her businesses could climb out of debt. Her multiple businesses are thriving, with Essential Beauty renowned as one of the top medical spas in Orange County, California.
Alice Hatcher is a prime example of how passion combined with creativity, hard work and unending determination can result in success. In the coming years, she aims to expand her brand, promote positivity through skin, fitness and mental health and inspire everyone never to give up their dreams. “Don’t care what anyone says cause, in the end, it’s all about you and your happiness and what you can turn your future into. So don’t ever give up. People say shitty things because they are unhappy with themselves,” she says.
