Esthetics 103 Bellus Academy Alumni Spotlight

From Student to Spa Owner: How Esthetics 103 Alumna Raquel Cartlidge Built Fresh Face Spa

Esthetics 103 Bellus Academy alumna Raquel Cartlidge earned her certificate at the Chula Vista campus in January 2026. By spring, she had opened her own business.

Fresh Face Spa, tucked inside Phoenix Suites in San Diego’s Mission Valley, is where Raquel now helps clients with corrective skincare, from hyperpigmentation to acne. She built it while still working full time in a hospital stroke unit, a schedule most people would call impossible. Raquel calls it worth it.

Why She Chose Esthetics 103 at Bellus Academy

Raquel had already spent years getting monthly facials before she considered esthetics as a career. Her husband was the one who pointed out the obvious: why not turn that passion into a business?

When she started researching schools, one program stood out. Other schools she looked at only offered standard hour esthetics training. Esthetics 103 at Bellus Academy is a 900 hour advanced program at the Chula Vista campus, with 300 additional hours beyond the foundational curriculum. Between the extra training, the school’s reputation, and being close to home in Chula Vista, the decision was easy.

Finding Her Specialty in Corrective Skincare

Raquel discovered her focus early, while treating clients in the Student Salon and Spa. Many of the clients she worked with were older and dealing with hyperpigmentation, and their concerns sparked her curiosity about dark spots and melasma. Today, chemical peels are one of the services she offers most often.

She also holds a certification in fascia massage, earned through a two month training program after graduation. It has become something of a signature. Clients mention it by name in her Google reviews, and Raquel builds a facial massage into nearly every service she offers because of how visibly it improves circulation, lifts the face, and eases under eye puffiness.

A Client Transformation She Is Proud Of

One client came to Raquel struggling with mild acne. Consistent chemical peel treatments, paired with an at home skincare routine, made a visible difference over time, the kind of before and after Raquel says she is proudest of. She is quick to point out that results take consistency, not a single visit.

She also treats a longtime client, an older man with dry skin, who tells her every facial leaves him feeling rejuvenated. Raquel says she has noticed more male clients coming in for skincare in general, and she is glad to see it.

Balancing Two Careers

Before opening Fresh Face Spa, Raquel spent more than a decade working in healthcare. She still does. She works as a health care assistant in a hospital stroke unit, answering phones, supporting families, and assisting nurses on the floor, all while running her own spa.

During Esthetics 103, she worked her hospital shifts three days a week and spent the rest of her time in class. She says she took almost no days off during her seven months of training, and that her hospital supervisors were supportive of her school schedule the whole way through.

She is still working both jobs today, though she and her husband have started talking about shifting to part time at the hospital as Fresh Face Spa continues to grow.

Giving Back to Current Students

A school field trip planted the seed for Raquel’s business. While she was a student, Bellus Academy took her class to visit Sola Salon in Chula Vista, and the visit stuck with her. Once she had opened Fresh Face Spa, she reached out to the program director and offered to host a field trip of her own.

Around ten students and three Educators visited Fresh Face Spa, and Raquel gave them a full tour of Phoenix Suites, laundry room included. For a group of students weighing whether solo practice is even possible, meeting an alumna who had done it made the idea feel real.

Growing the Business

Raquel built her early client base the way a lot of new business owners do, by asking for help. She offered complimentary facials to about seven local influencers, including a wedding coordinator in her network, in exchange for an honest Google review and a social media shoutout.

Instagram has become one of her biggest tools since. With client permission, she posts video from her facials regularly. Continuing education keeps showing up in her plans, too. She has attended industry conventions in Long Beach and Las Vegas, where she earned a certification as an acne specialist, and she is already planning a trip to Miami next year.

Her Advice for Future Business Owners

We asked Raquel what she would tell a current student thinking about opening a business one day, and her answer does not take long: just do it.

“If I can do it, you can do it,”

It is a mantra she credits to her husband, and one she repeats to every student who visits her spa asking questions about rent, hours, or how to get started. She is also candid about the limits of any single program. Nine hundred hours built her foundation, she says, but continuing education is what keeps her skills current.

Ready to Build Something of Your Own?

Raquel’s path started with Esthetics 103 at Bellus Academy’s Chula Vista campus, also offered at the El Cajon and Poway campuses or Esthetics 102 at our Manhattan campus. If corrective skincare, advanced spa techniques, and hands on training in the Student Salon and Spa sound like your next step, request information to connect with an admissions advisor. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.