104: Niche Clarity: Pick Your Mission

Stop posting everything and selling nothing. We dig into the real reason clients skip past broad menus and show how choosing one focused niche turns confusion into trust, trust into confident pricing, and confident pricing into predictable bookings. You’ll hear why “results” is an empty promise without a plan, how to spot the signs your current niche doesn’t fit, and the one question that instantly validates whether you’re ready to own a specialty right now.

I walk through the skill inventory I use with estheticians to uncover hidden advantages—think flawless facial massage, extraction mastery, perfect pressure, or deep ingredient knowledge—and explain how these small, repeatable skills become marketable, teachable methods. We also talk about why acne, pigmentation, and advanced aging can be risky starting niches for new pros, and how to fill the gap with classes, model clients, and documented protocols that form a clear, sellable journey from intake to aftercare.

To ground it all, I share a Utah spa case study that reframes facials as maintenance, not luxury. By simplifying delivery, clarifying the message, and aligning price with purpose, they solved a real problem for families, teens, and travelers who need consistent care. The takeaway: you don’t have to sound “advanced” to stand out—you need a promise you can keep, a plan you can teach, and a message people can repeat. Ready to refocus and grow? Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review telling us the one skill you’d stake your reputation on.

To learn more about Kari Jo visit: https://www.karijopatterson.com

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Links You May Want to Check out:

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Transcript

Welcome & Stay To The End

Announcer 0:00

Welcome to the Esthetician Podcast, where passion meets prosperity. Your host, K ari Jo Patterson, transformed from a solo esthetician into a successful business owner, achieving ultimate time and financial freedom at the age of 38. Kari is the author of Fearless Prosperity, empowering estheticians to build their empire and achieve financial freedom. And the creator of the Empire Growth System for Estheticians. Get ready for some empire building wisdom. Now welcome your host, Kari Jo Patterson.

Today’s Focus: Niching That Works

Team Niches Build Trust And Revenue

Why Broad Menus Fail In Marketing

Clear Message Beats Raw Effort

The Wrong Way To Pick A Niche

Choose What You Can Teach Now

Signs Your Niche Doesn’t Fit

Results Mean Nothing Without Skill

Simple, Well Done Outperforms “Advanced”

Why Acne/Pigment/Aging Are Tricky Starts

Build Plans Through Patterns And Models

Do A Skill Inventory

Examples Of Real, Simple Niches

Confidence Comes From Reps And Clarity

Kari Jo 0:33

Welcome back to the Esthetician Podcast, guys. I'm so excited about this podcast episode because it is something that I think is going to truly change anybody who is stuck trying to sell their like services. And it can totally change the trajectory if you take what I'm saying so seriously. Before I jump into what this episode is even about, right? I want to tell you guys, you guys need to stay until the end of this episode because I am actually in Utah and I'm recording this episode. And there was the coolest spa that I've I was like, this is a genius idea. I want to tell you guys about it because it might inspire you with your business. And it does go down into like niching down a little bit. And it's gonna be it's really cool. So stay till the very end. Okay, so today's episode, let's go back. So today's episode, surprise, surprise, it is going to be about niching. And it's super important. So, like if you're this episode is really important, especially for those aestheticians that if you are the one that is your posting facials and lashes and chemical pills and doing all those different things. I say this all the time. If that's you, nobody cares about what you're doing and you aren't going to be getting a bunch of clients. And the the reason why is it's not because you're not talented, it's not because you're bad, but the truth is, is it's because you literally sound just like every other esthetician. Because every esthetician can do those things. So there's no reason I should choose you over Jo Smo down the road. So today we are going to jump in. I'm gonna help you fix that. You are gonna learn why if you and also this episode is also for those of you who have niche down and your niche is not working. Maybe you'll get some clarity on why your niche is not working in this episode, too. So before we jump in, guys, I have a surprise. I'm gonna surprise you guys right now. Um, when I first owned my spa, I was not niche down at all. I was known for being the best in town. That is true. And honestly, I'm not gonna lie, there was some luck in that. It's the right place at the right time. Uh, aesthetics hadn't totally taken off in the town yet. Um, lashes were just coming out, nobody else was doing them. So I did there was a little bit of luck in growing my company, right? I will tell you what made my business strong, not lucky. So while I didn't niche down, my business, why my business was so strong is every single person on my team was known for one thing. One thing. So I had one girl who was known for permanent makeup. She was the brow girl, like everybody knew her for that, and she was so good at it. I had another girl who was known for lashes, these lashes stayed on forever. I had another girl that was total medical. Another one was, I had another girl that um was niche down and waxing. The great thing about everyone being niche down was that for the business, okay, it was great because clients didn't ever belong to one person because they were going, the clients were going to whoever was the best, and they trusted the business, not necessarily each individual person. Now, what was really great for my employees is that because my clients, my girls were so niche down, they could charge top dollar for their services. My girls were getting paid ridiculous amounts, and nobody was in competition with each other because this girl was so good at that, you know. So referrals were so easy between girls. A client could go see Sarah, and Sarah could go refer to Jessica next. And um, it was easy, it was natural, and nobody felt like they were taking any clients, nobody felt threatened. And this is what I actually learned is that niching isn't necessarily about doing less, like I do less, but what it is is it is about trust. And I didn't fully understand that actually until I became a coach. And I'm gonna be honest with you like when it came to even coaching and doing what I do right now, guys, it took me two years to figure out my niche. I changed my niche so many times in the coaching industry. Like, you I could I could go through like I do this, I do this, I do this, and till I have finally landed on like what it is that I do and what I am really good at. It is okay to start with a niche. You start, you have to start somewhere, but it is okay to change it, it's okay to narrow it, and it's okay to pull back because the truth is, is I don't regret any of the niches that I did prior to because each time I learned, each time I learned what drained me, what gave me energy, and who it was that I actually really did want to help. And eventually you get narrowed down into like what is the one thing that you would that that that I would teach and do for free for the rest of my life just because I love it, you know? And once you get there, that is when things become so stinking easy. So going back into if that to you, like, and you guys, when I've like I said, I wasn't niche down when I started my company. When I started my company, I actually my my social media, I should I I should post it in my story. My social media marketing, I had a calendar and it was like Monday, I talk about lashes, Tuesday I post about chemical pills, Wednesday I post about microderm abrasion, whatever it was, right? And here's the thing maybe you don't have that kind of a calendar, but you're doing something similar. And what happens when you do do that is that because aesthetics have gotten so big, there's so many women that want to be aestheticians, the beauty fields just exploded, right? You blend in with everybody else, your message it gets lost, and people are scrolling right past you because okay, like you're no different than Micah next door. So, like, why do I need to come to you? I can go to Micah. You're not gonna pull anybody in because you're just not standing out. Here's what I've learned when it comes to marketing, and I've learned this the hard way. So, like when you are marketing to a town, it is a lot easier to market to a town. When you are marketing to like the world, it's like you have to take your marketing skills and like level it up a bunch, right? And here's what I have learned really hardcore is that the market, your market, your where you are, your town will never reward your effort. So no matter how much effort you're putting into your marketing and all that, it will never reward it. It will only reward you if you have a clear message and people actually know what it is that you're doing. What I find that most people think they are doing is that they are niching down. The truth is, is they are not niching down, but they think that they have niched down. And the problem is how you have chosen to pick your niche. This is what is going to be the game changer for you. Most of the time, this is what I see. And no joke, get off this podcast, go start looking up estheticians. You're gonna see this exact same thing right now, and you're gonna be like, oh, okay, she's right. This is how most estheticians are choosing a niche. They are picking it on what sounds really impressive because they want to sound really good, or what they they want to sound advanced, like they do advanced stuff, or what gets the most like, or most importantly, they're picking niches on who and what they want to be someday, not who or what they are right now. So what happens is if you are picking a niche and you are just picking it because you're like, well, I really want to, I really want the before and afters, and you've never really gotten the before and afters yet. That's not your niche. What I want you to do when you are picking your niche is I want you to ask yourself this one question. What is it that I understand so well that I could actually teach this all day long? That I could actually guide someone through the whole entire journey. Like, what right now, not in the future, not like I don't understand pigmentation, but I'm gonna be a pigmentation specialist right now. What do you know so stinking well? Because what I do see is I see people that are like, oh, I want to specialize in pigmentation, but then they can't really tell me how to get rid of someone's pigmentation. They're just like, oh, just chemical pills or whatever. They can't even tell me, tell me about what a tyrosinase inhibitor is, and they don't even know what that is, but yet you want to be a pigmentation specialist, you know, or they say, I want to specialize in advanced aging. Okay, tell me about advanced aging. Why is it that I have gels? Why is it that I have under-eye bags? But then you can't tell me about the three fat pads in my face and how they're moving around and how you can't actually change that. Are you really doing advanced aging? Or they say, I want to do transformations. This, guys, do you see where this is falling apart? Is that what's happening so often is you are choosing the result that you want before you actually have the skill to deliver that. Normally, what happens is you want to sell the ending, but you don't actually have the steps to get there. And when you don't know the steps, and I see this so many times, I I've seen this with so many of my coaching clients, right? Where like they pick a niche and they they're like, yep, this is it. I know, yep, uh-huh. And then what happens is that when they go in, it all falls apart because you picked the wrong niche. What does falling apart look like? How do you you know if you picked the wrong niche? You know, because you can't actually explain the plan. What's the plan? If you are truly niche down, you understand something so well, you have like you actually know exactly the steps. It's it's oh it's a protocol, like you already got it. I'm the best at massage. And guess what? I have a really dang good massage protocol for it. When you have niche down, like this is how you know if you have niche down wrong, is you don't have a plan. You can't actually explain your plan. People ask you questions and you can't answer them. You can't price and you aren't pricing it with confidence. Instead, what happens is you like want to discount because you're like, oh yeah, I'm not getting the right clients, maybe I'm not priced. When I know what it is that I'm talking about, I have no problem charging what I'm worth. None. So if you're questioning your pricing, you're not niche dry. If you can't lead the client in whatever that problem is that you're solving, then what happens is when you come when it comes time to actually sell and to close the deal and to make some money, then you freeze, you don't ask for the rebooks, you lower your price, you talk too much, and you completely doubt yourself and you ramble because like you're just trying to make up what you got going on. So, so this is why for me, the one word that I personally cannot stand is I cannot stand the word results. Because to me, when aestheticians are like, I'm about results, I want results, it feels like an empty promise to me. And that's because results without skill means absolutely nothing. You cannot build a niche around something where you don't understand it well enough to teach it. And confidence doesn't come from you picking a niche that like you are really interested in. It comes from the it comes from the confidence of knowing what it is that you're doing. When I do a deep dive on why it is that these aestheticians, like why estheticians are doing this, the main things that I see is I feel like we want to sound professional. Like we went to school, we got a degree, we want to sound professional. We want to be taken serious as the girl next door. Like we're we we love what we do, we want people to take us seriously, and we're not making enough money, we want to charge more, and we just don't want to sound boring. But the truth is, which you guys, I can't wait till stay till the very end. I gotta tell you guys about this spa that I'm going to. Okay, anyways. But here's the truth is that when you do if you do something that is so simple, but it is so well down, well down, if you do something simple, but it is so well done, you're gonna beat out any advanced person that's marketing every single time. Every single time. Here's what I want you to do. I don't want you to try to pick a fancy title. I don't want you to pick a fancy niche. I want you to pick a niche based on what you do right now that and you do it so well, not what you hope to be later on. And I did kind of hit this earlier on. Let me talk to you a little bit about two niches that I see most people wanting to niche down to, which is acne and pigment pigmentation. And yeah, advanced aging. Like, and you guys are they're so generic, so like whatever. Anyways, okay, here's the thing with those three. If you are a brand new esthetician right now and you're trying to niche down your niches in acne, pigmentation, or advanced aging, the problem with that is is you did not learn acne in school. You did not learn pigmentation in school, you did not learn advanced aging in school, and that's not your fault. School teaches you how to pass your boards, but it doesn't teach you how to master the skill. So, like you haven't actually built real client journeys through those problems yet. So that's why it's not going to land. You got to go take some classes, get some model clients, figure out the journey. That's why model clients is so important. But you have to be able to do that until you can actually see a pattern of like how to fix something. Once you see that pattern, that pattern that you have created to fix something, that is the plan. And then that becomes why it's so easy for you to explain the problem. And then that's when you get the confidence to actually sell it. A niche does not need to be a skin condition, a niche doesn't have to be a big transformation, and it does not have to be something advanced. A niche can be anything that you do better than anyone else, and you are doing it already, you just don't even think about it. So I want you to do a skill inventory. If I was to coach you right now, I would say, let's let's do a skill inventory right now. I want you to think about everything that you do well right now. I want you to think about when you were in school, what did everyone think that you did better than everyone else? They should do this in school, actually. They should have a teacher like be like, okay, let's all tell everybody what what they do better than everyone else, you know. Um, you know, I had a girl who knew ingredients better than anyone else. In fact, actually, I just did a podcast interview with this girl, and it's gonna be coming out soon. She went to school for pharmacy, and so she knows ingredients more than anyone else. She just barely got into aesthetics and she's doing so well. Do you want to know why? Because she's mastered ingredients because she understands that, right? So think right now in your skill inventory. What is it that you do so well better than anyone else? And I'm gonna give you some examples, right? It could be a facial massage, maybe your massage. You can relax anyone, right? You can put anyone to sleep. That's an issue. What if it is like you have the best touch, the best pressure? Guys, that is that is, I'm not going to lie. I am so like I was so good at facials, and it's because I have the right touch and the right pressure. Every single esthetician, I'll there, there are two extremes. And I'd say like 80% of estheticians that came to work at my company, they press press way too light, way too light. I kept being like harder, harder, you know what I mean? And they do it on the clients and they'd be like, Yeah, harder, harder, you know. Um, and then there are a few estheticians that had harder pressure, and you could be like, you could lighten up a little bit, but those are few and far beyond between. But but maybe your pressure point or your pressure is like amazing, like you have the best pressure. Maybe you are phenomenal at extractions. Guys, I have a girl that I coach out in California. She is like the extraction specialist. That's not what she's like known as, but I know that she's the extraction specialist because when she hires people on, she criticizes, or I don't want to say criticizes, that's the wrong word, critiques, and like she hounds the extractions. Are you so good at extractions? You do it without like the tool. You don't use a tool, maybe you just use your fingers and you're just so freaking good at it. That's a niche. Maybe you're the you're great at extractions. Um, I have another aesthetician, she's built her entire company, and you know how she's built it with time and presence. She does not stack that. They are long, she has like she wants to take her time, and you know who she attracted. She attracted all of those baby boomers that just want time, but they sure pay a penny for it, right? Because her niche is like, I'm gonna take as long as I want, and she does, and that's what she's good at, right? You might be a niche niche in chemical pills. Maybe you don't fix acne yet, but maybe you know every single chemical pill so freaking well that you're like the chemical pill genius, you know, or maybe you're a lash artist and you are like the master of classic lashes, maybe you're the master of volume lashes. A niche is usually just one small skill that you've done a thousand times and you don't even think about it. Those skills that you're not thinking about right now, that's your niche, guys. Do not from this podcast, do not pick a niche just because it is advanced, and it's niche down is be scared to niche down into something so simple because it's not advanced enough. Because clients are not going to buy advanced, they only buy confidence. Confidence comes from doing it so often, from understanding it, from owning it, and that's from doing something that you already do right now so well. Once people trust you because your message is clear, you are right, you have the confidence, then your business just starts like it's like a snowball, it just rolls. And it's because when your niche matches your real skill, selling is easy, pricing feels totally fair, confidence starts showing up, clients trust you 10 times faster. If your niche is a dream of the version you want to be, you're gonna hesitate, you're gonna explain way too much, you're gonna undercharge, and you're gonna doubt yourself. So stop choosing your niche right now based on who you want to be someday, and start choosing it on what you already do well. Master that, get known for that, and then expand. And that is how real businesses are built. You don't need to do more, you need to say less, but you need to say it better. You're not behind, you're not failing, you're just one decision away from moving forward. And if you need help, guys, jump on a phone call with me. You can book one in the link below, and we will jump on a phone call and we can help figure this out together. Okay, now that's the end of that episode. But before we jump off, I have to tell you guys about this fall. Okay, because I was like, this is genius. I have a client right now that there is one consistent thing that comes up in our phone calls, and her clients constantly are talking about the price that she is charging over and over again in different ways. Do you know what I mean? It's not saying that she's not worth it or anything like that, but like the the truth is is in business, your your goal once you are in business is when there's a problem, your job is to solve it, right? So when your clients are telling you something over and over again, they're saying, This is my problem, solve it, right? I come to Utah and I'm like on TikTok, and all of a sudden I get this TikTok. I gotta find this on my thing. I got this TikTok that popped up on my page, and I was like, what is this? And it was this business in Highland, Utah. And what it is, it's this business is called, oh my gosh, guys, it's Kari, just like my well, I think it's Kari Skin Care in Highland, Utah, but it's spelled K-A-R-I. No wonder why I like them. It's my name, guys. I didn't even realize that. Okay, but you should go to it. So this company, what they did is like I just wanted to go check them out and see like what it is that they're charging. Guys, they are they have just an open room with a bunch of beds, so it's not like you get like your own little one-on-one bed. You um you're in like this open room when you go to like look at how much their services are, so their facials for like a third 35 minute is like $20. Okay. Let me tell you why this was so appealing to me. Is I'm here in Utah right now. This is why I caught my eye. I'm here in Utah right now, and my daughter, like, she needs a facial. Now, do I really want to spend $100 for my daughter to go get a facial? No, I really don't. Like, she's a teenager. I don't want to spend that, right? But when I saw this, I was like, are you kidding me? She can go get like she doesn't need all that hoop and whatever, dude. Even me, like when I travel, my skin gets really dry. Like I want to really, really, I want to moisture, I need lots of moisturizer when I'm traveling. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this place is so amazing because what they did is they solved the price dilemma. So what they do is they do Korean skincare, and it's just Korean skincare, right? They've niche down into that, and you come in and you get 35 minutes of this Korean skincare, and it's $20, and like it's a bunch of chairs lined out. You there are a few add ons that you can do, like um, I don't know, like you can add on light therapy, you can add on extractions and everything like that. But the thing that was so cool about it is that they solve the price. I don't need to always go and get, well, actually, take this back. What I love, and if you go to their Instagram account right now, their Instagram account, the very first photo, this is what I love. Facials aren't luxury, they're maintenance. I love this. It just hit me really hard because how many of us are like facials aren't luxury, they're maintenance, but then you are charging a luxury price. You can be luxury, and that's fine, and you can market that way, right? But if you're sitting there saying, like, facials aren't luxury, they're maintenance, and you're charging a luxury price, like these guys have a clear message and it actually is accurate. They're like, it's maintenance, so it shouldn't be luxury price, right? So you go into their place. No, you're not getting this like whole luxuries, big luxury treatment. But what you are getting is your maintenance. And guys, I'm at a point in my life right now, and I don't know who I'm one person, how many others I want maintenance? Like, I don't need luxury every single time, I don't need this whole big thing. What I care about, like, dude, if you give me this price, I'm gonna be able to take me and my daughter. Oh, and I just told my sister about it, and she's like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna take my son, my son. The reason why this came out in Utah is because so many people have kids in Utah, right? But like your kids have acne and stuff like that. When you have more than one kid, which most people in Utah do, there is no way you can pay like $300 for your kids' face every single month, right? But what did they do? They saw the problem. There are kids that need, and this isn't just marketed to kids, but like there are kids that need facials, there are parents that need facials, but they can't afford that. So, like, how can I create, how can I make a treatment where they can afford it and come all the time and we just pump them out. There's this haircutting place in my town where the only thing that they do is haircuts, men's haircuts. That's it. They don't do anything else, they don't take appointments, it's just walk in and like it's always lined up, anyways. This place was really cool. I really loved it because it personally solved my problem where I'm like, oh my gosh, I would literally send my daughter there every single month for her skin, every single month, because it's priced exactly what I would be willing to pay for my daughter. And then when I come out, not only how when I come to visit my daughter in Utah, not only do I just send her, but I too can go to, and I don't feel like it's like breaking the bank, right? And I get what I want, which am I getting the whole luxury? No, but when I want a luxury experience, I'll go find that, which could be someone else's niche, right? Another company who's known for like the most luxurious facials, I'll go pay that. But when I just want my maintenance, give me some maintenance, like I don't need all of that. It is a really interesting. Um, I love the business concept. Um, it really like I saw it and I was like, I want to take this model and blow this up and put it everywhere across America. It probably will. I need to have these people come on. Oh, that's a good idea. Maybe I should. Okay. Anyways, that's my little tidbit of this company that they actually niche down so well that they solve maintenance problems, right? That we're not luxury, we're maintenance. And it should your skin should be maintenance. Love it. Their message is clear, it hit me. I have like my whole entire family going there now because it's affordable and all their kids need treatments and it's keeping their estheticians booked. Yeah. Look into it. Kari K-A-R-I. All right, see you guys next time on another esthetician podcast. Bye, guys.

Announcer 29:56

Thank you for listening to the Esthetician Podcast with Kari Jo Patterson. Each week, Kari brings you real world lessons on how to grow your empire. To learn more about Kari's fearless prosperity mastermind group, one on one VIP coaching opportunities, and more. Visit www.karijopatterson.com. That's www.kariopatterson.com. See you next week for more insights and strategies on the Expetition Podcast.