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- [00:01]
A
Estes, your future looks bright and beautiful. The Massage Envy brand is focused on helping people not only feel their best, but also look their best. Would you like the opportunity to make a positive difference in your clients lives every day while growing your career in a supportive, nurturing environment? Join a welcoming team of like minded professionals at a Massage Envy franchise location near you. Visit massagenv.com sdcareers for more details and to apply today.
- [00:46]
B
Hello and welcome to ASCP's Estee Talk. I'm your co host Maggie Stasik and ASCP's program director.
- [00:52]
C
And I'm Ella Cressman, Licensed esthetician, certified organic skincare formulator and content contributor for Associated Skincare Professionals.
- [01:00]
B
Today we are thrilled to be joined by ASCP's 2026 esthetician of the Year, Armenthia Carr. Welcome to the show. Armenthea.
- [01:10]
D
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
- [01:13]
B
Before we dive in, let me tell you a little bit more about her. Armenthia Carr is an award winning licensed esthetician, master educator, content creator and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience experience in the beauty industry. Currently located in Little Rock, she is licensed in both Arkansas and Illinois and is the founder of IAMA Artistry and the Face behind your Skin Therapist where she specializes in corrective skincare, skin of color education, advanced aesthetics training and helping beauty professionals build profitable careers beyond the treatment room. Originally from Eldorado, Arkansas, Armentia has helped educate and mentor more than 1,000 estheticians throughout her career. She is the recipient of the 2026 ASCP esthetician of the Year Award, International Spa Beauty Awards Educator of the Year and is a contributing author for the upcoming milady standard aesthetics 13 edition textbook. Armenthia teaches nationally on topics including skincare for melanin, rich skin skin business growth, social media marketing, and creating multiple income streams within the beauty industry.
- [02:32]
C
Arminthia, first of all, congratulations again on being named ASCP's 2026 Esthetician of the Year.
- [02:42]
D
Thank you so much Ella. I appreciate it.
- [02:44]
C
Yeah, your passion for this industry is obvious not just in the work you do with your clients, but in the way you educate, mentor and really encourage other estheticians to grow and dream bigger, I think is the key for me. That's what I got out of the article that was written about you which was so good. So we're excited to have this conversation with you today. But to get started, let's go back to the beginning a little bit. What originally drew you into aesthetics and when did you Realize that aesthetics or being an esthetician was more than a job for you.
- [03:18]
D
So for me, I always love makeup. I was a girly girl growing up. I did have some tomboy tendencies, but makeup, skincare, those were things that I had a passion for. I love doing. I love planning makeup when my parents allowed me to wear it. So when I graduated high school, of course, the traditional route was go to college, work in corporate America, retire, and then live your best life. But one of the things that ended up happening is I never let go of doing makeup. It was just a hobby for me. So whenever I got to Chicago after leaving Texas and Arkansas, I ended up getting let go from the company I'd been working for for a couple for about five years. And I was like, what am I supposed to do now? And it took my baby sister, like, hey, she calls me by my nickname, which is Mint. She was like, mint, what do you love to do? Like, what would you do for free? And at the time, she was maybe. Maybe 15 or 16 years old. And so for her to tell me that, I was like, I don't know. I was. It was, like, really profound for a kid to ask me that question. So whenever she asked me, I really had to think about it. And I was like, well, I love doing makeup. Would I do makeup for free? Am I passionate about it? And that's when I was like, I am. So I started working in the beauty industry as a manager for Clinique. I worked my way up within six months to a million dollar counter. And then after that, I'm like, what's my next move? Because as the way that my mind process, think I have to figure out what my next step is. So I ended up talking to one of my friends that worked at the Mac counter, and he was like, oh, I'm in school to be an esthetician. I'm like, well, what is that? And he was like, you know, facials, waxing lashes. I was like, that's the thing? And he was like, yes. I was like, oh, let me. Tell me more, basically. So he told me all about the program he was in. And I'll never forget, I went home that night, and I called my twin sister, and I told her. I was like, I think I'm going to school to be an esthetician. And she hung up on me. And I called her back. I was like, you know, did we lose service? Back in action? She's like, no, I hung up on you. I was like, why? And she ended up telling me. She was like, I told you to do this years ago. And I was like, that's true, you did. But she told me to do cosmetology. And hair is not my calling, not my ministry. I cannot do hair, but I can take the hair off with waxing and threading and all those things. So I'm like, you know what, Let me explore this venture. And I ended up calling the beauty school on a Tuesday, did my walkthrough interview on a Thursday, and I was so excited, I started the following Tuesday. And that's what got me into the beauty industry. And when I say that was one of the best decisions I ever made, I can't even put it into words. It was just the doors that this has opened for me. I'm getting more, more opportunities with my license than I have with my four year college degree.
- [06:11]
C
Isn't it crazy how the universe will shift you the way you need to go? The doors that are opened for you that feel, like, heavy or feel, I don't want to say desperate, but, you know, like those feelings of, oh, my gosh, panic that really actually end up being a blessing.
- [06:28]
B
Yeah, that's so true. So, Armandia, you really have such a multifaceted career at this stage, and this is everything from like corrective skincare to education, mentorship, business development. Was there a moment where you really felt yourself stepping into your purpose?
- [06:47]
D
Yes. I will say when I finally left Chicago back in 2021, because when I was in beauty school, as soon as I got ready to graduate, I found out like, five days before graduation, I was pregnant with my son. And I went through my entire teaching program pregnant with him. Never missed a day, never went home sick or anything. Like morning sickness was horrible during my first trimester. But I kept pushing through because he was my motivation. I was a single mom, and I just kept thinking, okay, push, push, push, because this is going to provide better for me and my son. Well, in 2020, Covid hit the world shut down completely. And when the world shut down, I was still able to teach remote but towards, I would say, like, I'm going to say the end of COVID Because Covid spiked. And then it went back down and spiked again. It was towards one of those lower moments. I ended up getting really sick. And in Chicago, I have my grandmother, my uncles and my aunts, but no immediate family, like my twin sister, my baby sister, my dad, and a lot of my friends. So I ended up getting really sick. And it had told me that, hey, if, you know, these oral antibiotics don't work, we're going to have to put you in the hospital. And for me, instead of thinking of my health, my first thought process was, who's going to take care of my son? Because I can't take him to the hospital. Because during COVID especially in Chicago, it was only the person that was sick. So I'm like, he's maybe almost two years old. I can't leave him at home by himself. So who's going to take care of my son? So that was my eye opener. Like, okay, I need to get back around my twin sister, my baby sister, my dad be back around my family. And my whole plan was, okay, I'm going to stay in Chicago until 2024, and then I'm going to move back to Arkansas because my sister is doing things in Arkansas that she wants me to help her with. Well, I was always told, if you want to make God laugh, tell them your plans. So my plans was 2024. God was like, no, you're going to go back in 2021. So in April of 2021, I ended up coming back to Arkansas. And that was the best decision ever, because within a few months, my twin sister opened her med spa, and I was able to help her get that off the ground running and grow. But then I got to the point I started missing teaching. So the thing that was like the biggest, like the height of my career of being an esthetician educator was helping the Paul Mitchell School in Little Rock, Arkansas, open up their first aesthetics program. When they hired me on, it wasn't just, hey, we want you to teach aesthetics. No, we want you to build the whole program. I was like, oh, okay, this is going to be a lot of fun. And I was able to build out a whole program, watch the construction happen for the area that wasn't even built yet, watch that be done, and then not only go through the process of it showing, like, enrolling all of the students, but watching 22 people start a program, 22 people finish a program within a week of each other. Like, they all graduated within a week of each other, and over half of them graduated license before they even finished the program. Like, that was the biggest, like the, the biggest thing in my career. And I still, still, I'm in awe of that whole process because at the time, I was one of the only aesthetic instructors we had hired one person on, and she ended up leaving shortly after. And then towards the end of the program, another person got hired on. So I was teaching these students from 9 in the morning to 7pm three days a week and I was exhausted. But at the end of their program, it was all worth it. It was all worth the late nights and the early mornings.
- [10:32]
C
Hold that thought. We'll be right back.
- [10:34]
A
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- [11:20]
C
Okay, here we go. Let's get back to the podcast. That is quite the story. You've already been through so much in just those few short years and it pivoted and went left and went right, but landed still in the beauty industry. And so I want to ask you an honest question right now because, you know, also having been in the space for a while, both Maggie and I talk about this sometimes. Is it's the burnout or the low moments? You mentioned the low Covid moment, but I'm thinking of like the low energy moment when you feel just kind of depleted. But you seem so inspired, so energized, and then obviously you have a deep drive to aesthetics. What keeps you motivated and excited about this work.
- [12:04]
D
So in this industry, one of the biggest things that happened when I started was I didn't see a lot of people that look like me. And what I mean by that, women and men of color. And I'm always I want to be the change that I need to see in the beauty industry, meaning having a teacher that looks like me, having a school director that looks like me, having someone in some form of authority that looks like me and that can teach on my level. Not to say that others can't, but it just, it comes off a little different where if you have somebody that's actually gone through it, it's kind of like somebody going through any traumatic situation or illness or something of that nature. It's easy to talk about it, but if you've actually been through it, you can talk about it. You know what they're going through, you can feel what they're going through. And that was something that I noticed even in the beauty industry. Skin of color was one of those things that really wasn't touched on. So that has been one of my biggest missions and drives in this industry to make sure it's inclusive, to make sure that people are understanding that, hey, the. The Fitzpatrick scale is more than just what is touched on in this book. It's the foundation of how to treat all skin, including skin of color. And that was one of the biggest things that has always been my drive and my motivation is representation. Making sure that people understand the beauty industry is not just black and white. Black, white, brown. You have all the colors of the rainbow in the beauty industry. And showing that representation every single day has been my drive and my mission.
- [13:42]
B
A lot of estheticians listening, they're still trying to figure out what they want their career to look like. What advice would you give someone trying to build a career that feels authentic to who they are?
- [13:54]
D
Never change who you are. I have a quote that I tell all of my. My mentees or anybody that I've taught. It's stay in your lane, mind your business, drink your water, and wear your sunscreen. And that is so true, because when people start looking outside of their lane or looking at the other person or looking behind them, even, you're supposed to look forward. Mind your business, look forward. Don't look at the other person as your competition. That's your collaboration. And don't try to rush the process. When you rush the process, you miss the lesson. You miss the lesson and you miss the blessing. So just be patient with yourself. Learn all the things you need to learn. Even if you feel like you know it all, you don't. You just have to stay true to yourself and stay focused. And don't. You're going to get discouraged. I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat it and act like you won't. You will get discouraged. You will have some moments where it's going to feel like, I can't do this anymore. I have those moments often. But one of the biggest things that I've even told my students and as well as anybody who's been interested in going to aesthetic school or cosmetology school, what's your reason for doing it? What's your why? If your why is because I want to make money, this isn't the career for you. If your why is because I want to be famous, this isn't the career for you. Your why needs to be something that almost scares you. Your why needs to be something that's meaningful. Because when you hit those moments of burnout, when you hit those moments of doubting yourself, your why, it's what's going to push you through those moments.
- [15:35]
C
I think that is 100% true. It's so easy to, I guess, look at what other people are doing, look to the left, look to the right and think, oh, I need to catch up, or I need to be on that same level, or there's something I'm. I'm insufficient at. I think a lot of just even being on social media makes you think, oh, my gosh, I'm not doing enough content or I'm not taking enough before and after pictures. And if we truly can see it as complimentation instead of competition, I think we are better for it. So I'm glad that you are sharing that message with students, like, straight away. Love that. When you're talking to your students, what would you say is one lesson that you learned early in your career that
- [16:18]
D
sticks with you today?
- [16:19]
C
Do you ever share that with them?
- [16:21]
D
Yes. So when I talk to any of, like, my former students or mentees or anybody, the biggest thing I tell them is never stop learning. The second you stop learning is the second you stop growing us. Because the beauty industry changes so much every single day. It seems like there's a new product, a new ingredient that's hitting the market, and we don't necessarily need to know everything, but we need to know what's going on. So the second that you stop learning is the second you become idle. And the second you become idle, that's when the next person that didn't stop learning, that's when they take your job.
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C
For me, that I often say, too, is like, if you're the smartest person in the room, you need to go to another room.
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D
Right?
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B
Yeah.
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C
Because that's the other thing. No matter how long, like, we've all been in this industry for so long, but we are still learning. And we're learning from people who are, you know, fresher than us. Not that we're not fresh, but you know what I'm saying? Like, it's. You have to be open to that and not think that you're above. You're right beside other people and learning from your clients, learning from learning what not to do, you know, all those different things.
- [17:28]
B
Yeah, I think you're so right about that, Ella.
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C
Oh, my gosh. Mark this day,
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B
Ella, you know way more than me.
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C
You know more than me. So we're a good compliment. Okay. And Arminthia knows more than both of us.
- [17:40]
B
That's true. 100% true.
- [17:42]
D
Still learning to.
- [17:44]
C
Okay, I have one thing as we're wrapping up.
- [17:46]
B
Yeah.
- [17:47]
C
You said I'm always thinking about what's next. So what's next?
- [17:53]
D
So actually, in July, I will be opening my own spa in central Arkansas. Yet I am so excited. It will be called your skin therapist, and it was, for me, a place where I could do both teach and be able to take my clients. So I am very, very, very excited about that. And then, you know, long run, hey, I might even open a school. We never know.
- [18:20]
B
Now, listeners, we want to hear from you. Share with us on social media through Instagram or Facebook, or send us an email@getconnectedscpskincare.com in the meantime, thank you for listening to ASCPSDtalk. For more information on this episode, ways to connect with Armenthia, Khar, Ella, or myself, or to learn more about ascp, check out the show notes.