You may know me as Pamela Springer Founder and CEO of Global Skin Solutions. But what you don’t know is that the journey to get me there was almost an after thought.
In the early 90’s, living in Los Angeles, I was into fashion. My niche market was plus sizes. I had the opportunity to have my own show on, what is now, QVC called Full Dimension. I had a production company that was doing all the plus size fashion shows for major retailers – Nordstrom, Saks 5th Ave, Bullocks, Macy to name a few. I was seen nationally on major shows, Oprah, Jenny Jones as well as local shows around the country. In the mid-90s, I was caught up with a recession where all retailers went into bankruptcy except for Nordstrom. Doing only 2 shows a year for Nordstrom was not an option to pay bills. Because television brought lots of exposure, an ethnic skin care company reached out to hire me as a National Director of Training.
With intense training on skin and ingredients that were compatible with darker skin, a new career was born. In 1995, I graduated from aesthetics school, received my license and opened my practice in a rented room in a full-service spa. Since there was lack of training on diverse skin tones, I was fortunate to be introduced to a board-certified dermatologist who was a professor training medical students Ethno Dermatology. I received a nine month internship to learn the nuances of the structure and function of people of color. To my surprise when researching this niche market, I discovered 80% of the world’s population were people of color.
Major skin care companies started to ask me to conduct classes at their trade shows because this market was overlooking. Eventually, I opened an aesthetics school, The Skin & Makeup Institute of Arizona, in 1999, developed a product line in 2008, launched in 2009. Now speak at medical conferences and a Continuing Education provider for the California Board of Registered Nursing.
Today, I am semi-retired with a new project – e Learning courses for licensed professionals and medical providers. I know one thing for sure – I love what I do and will never retire full time!
Who has influenced your life the most?
My mother!
What are your proudest achievements?
Being a risk taker and not afraid to fail. I learned more by failing than when I was winning.
Who inspires you?
People who know success is a mindset.
What advice would you give someone pursuing a career in what you do?
Have good communication and dexterity skills. Willing to keep up with the trends in this industry. The industry is constantly changing it is important to stay on top through continuing education. Consider finding a skin condition (hyperpigmentation, acne) you can specialize in, know subject matter where you become the expert or know ingredients to create treatments that give quick and great results, or know how to formulate your own products.
What makes an inspiring woman?
Someone who’s self-assured and knows their worth. Someone who is not looking outside of themselves to seek approval.
Tell us five things no one knows about you?
- This is going to be interesting since I am an open book.
- I am shy.
- I’m comfortable on stage.
- I am a homebody.
- I got a job teaching typing and couldn’t type.
- Thank goodness they had a monitor that you had to watch that selected the keys to press. I learned to type along with my students. They loved it because when we tested our ability to type so many words per minute, the students always won. They never ratted me out.
- I used to be 350 pounds and was the first plus size model for Essence magazine.
Until next time,
Sandra.
P.S – Sharing is caring!
