I believe I have become an accumulation of my life experiences and the choices I have made. I have learned to trust in the process of life and to honor my intuition by choosing trust over fear.

When I was a young girl, around 8 years old, my parents divorced. I was the youngest of 6 children. When I was 9 years old, my mother moved myself and 4 of my 6 siblings to Utah from Idaho. At that time, she bought a sporty Mustang with a T-Bird engine. I didn’t know much about cars but my siblings were always excited to ride in the maroon colored Mustang. We didn’t have much, but the way we felt when my mom would beat every young driver that challenged us to a drag race at the red lights was priceless. Wow – it made us feel like we were special and had something to be proud of.

One day, my mom came home and announced that we needed to trade the prized Mustang to acquire a more economically fueled vehicle. She was a single mother raising 4 children on a woman’s wage. We were devastated. How could this be? That car represented all that we had materially to be proud of. Nevertheless, we traded in the prized Mustang for a Dodge Dart Swinger. It wasn’t as flashy, but certainly better on gas.

My mother and I were very close. She taught me how to calculate gas mileage. Every time we filled up our car, we recorded the mileage and calculated our MPG. I soon realized the Dodge was far more economical than the Mustang. I felt comfortable with this because I knew the value of the money. My mom was teaching me how to write checks, pay bills, shop for groceries, and balance our budget each month.

About three weeks after purchasing the Dodge, I was alarmed at the gas mileage I calculated one day at the gas station. We started averaging 36 – 60 MPG and that continued over the next year or so. Wow, it was unexplainable and did not make sense. Nevertheless, we chose to count our blessings and give thanks.

One day, my mother came home from work and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital with her to visit our next-door neighbor, Bill, who had been hospitalized with cancer. “Cancer,” I asked, “what is that?” She explained, “We don’t know what it is, but it usually does not turn out favorable to someone who has it.” I said that I wanted to visit Bill and had no idea that he had been sick.

Bill died shortly after that. The interesting thing was that I noticed our gas mileage had gone down. It seemed like good fortune was not to be had in our neighborhood. Soon after the funeral, my mom noticed people at Bill’s house and went over to see if she could be of assistance. She came home after a couple of hours and sat me down.

She explained to me that the people who were at Bill’s house were his family and close friends. They told her of a story he told them about a neighbor lady who was trying to raise 4 children on her own and was struggling financially. He wanted to help but knew she would be embarrassed to receive a handout. When she bought a new car, he saw his opportunity to help. He snuck out of his house every 2 – 3 days at night and put gas in her gas tank, a little at a time, so she wouldn’t notice or suspect anything.

When I heard this story, it was as though my life stood still, suspended. Everything I had ever been taught, believed, and had learned was real and had just manifested itself. How was I so blessed to have had this experience? In that moment, I knew I wanted to be a “gas can”. I vowed to forever seek out opportunities to be a person with “the gas can”, ready to share and assist another in need.

At 49 years old, I found myself in a state of emotional struggle. Having experienced a divorce, rejection, and abandonment, I found myself alone and feeling undesirable. I found comfort in knowing I was and am a very strong person. I pondered ideas for my future, and how those options could assist myself and others. I decided to go back to school to become a Master Medical Esthetician. My plan was to acquire that licensing so I could work while I went on to become a nurse. While going to school, I realized I had a passion for helping others feel beautiful and confident in themselves. After participating in eyelash extension theory and clinical classes, I became obsessed with this procedure. It turned out I was a natural!

I started dreaming and imagining all the ways to make this procedure easier, more cost effective, safe, and healthy to the client. It turned out some things needed to be invented. So, I went to work on my ideas.

I came up with the name Girlfriends Beauty, which would in time become the mother company for Utah Lash and Day Spa and LASHBOMB. While going to school and working, I organized and developed an eyelash extension supply company and began to perfect my talents as an eyelash extension specialist. I began to sell my product and train others in my method.

In a very short time, my schedule started to get booked out two years in advance. I was working 6 – 7 days a week and 10 – 15 hours a day. I realized I needed to expand. Upon the insistence of my daughter, I started bringing on new girls in my studio and I trained them to apply eyelash extensions. We grew our space in no time.

Four years later, Utah Lash and Day Spa has hosts 10 – 15 girls doing lashes daily. Our lash studio has expanded to an additional studio in Arizona called Arizona Lash. Throughout this time, I have continually developed the supply side of the eyelash extension business that has become LASHBOMB. We feature our lash supply line at trade shows, on the Internet, and through beauty school networks. Through a cosmetic chemist, I have had lash growth serums, lash sealers, and lash cleansers formulated for lash nutrition and health. I continue to research products, services, and opportunities to offer individuals seeking to support themselves, their families, and their loved ones.

Thank you for considering to advance your training with LASHBOMB, and I look forward to seeing the success each of you will achieve in your life.

Jill Kindall