The story of Arch & Point can be directly tied to finding out that I was pregnant with my daughter about 8 years ago. It brought me so much joy and excitement along with fear and doubts, which lead me to reflect on what I want to do in life - for myself and for our budding family. 

        People often ask me how I got my start in Microblading and are confused when I say I was working in the Administrative/Executive Assistant sector for over 10 years before all this. I was laid off from my job a week after announcing it to my employer, but I told myself I wouldn’t let that ruin the happiness, so I moved on and enjoyed my pregnancy. 

        After having my daughter, I really wanted to contribute to our home so I began job hunting again. Starting from square one is never easy, but I looked and looked and found a job as an executive assistant at an artist management company. Unfortunately the job wasn't fulfilling and I felt an immense amount of guilt going to work everyday and leaving my daughter to be raised by someone else at daycare. I had a lot of sleepless nights, but on one of them, I came across a Microblading video online that left me in complete awe. It looked challenging but I was intrigued enough to dig further. I found a school that offered a 6 day intensive course, but they were full for another 6 months and the course was expensive. I didn't register right away... I sat on the idea for a couple weeks, discussed it with more people and finally took the leap. In the meantime, I quit my job, raised my daughter and ate up every minute with her until I had to start my course. 

        I completed my Permanent Makeup training in October of 2015 and left feeling excited but now that I had the skill, it was overwhelming to think of the next challenge - starting a business. Shortly after I was offered a job at Vancouver's leading digital publication company as an Office Manager, so I took it. I saw immense opportunity at this company and was even promoted as the People & Culture Manager after a few months, so I told myself to stick with it; but as time went on, I itched for more. 

I wanted my own freedom... The freedom to do the kind of work I wanted, how I wanted, and be able to have a schedule that fit around my family, not the other way around. 

I also wanted to explore my creative side. Growing up I always loved drawing, writing and being hands on; being in an office was stifling my creativity and I feel that played a huge part in my unhappiness. 

So I started… day by day, chipping at the rock. Finding a space, buying materials, applying for licenses, designing my logo, getting business cards, and creating a website - while balancing our then 2 year old and full time job. Believe me when I say that starting is the toughest but most important part, it took me a while to get there, but when I did, things started to move fast. Fast forward to that summer, things started to really come together and I quit my job. My plan wasn’t fool proof and knew it would be hard, but I also knew I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. 

And now… here I am! 4.5 years later. I am now a proud mom of 2 wonderful children, living in our new home and a business owner - I could not be happier! I have had my challenges, no doubt, but for the first time in my life, I’m working towards something that’s my own and that I can be proud of. One of my biggest fears was not finding a path that would make my family proud of me... now the look my daughter gives me when she visits me at work strongly affirms I made the right choice and motivates me to keep pushing forward. 

I don’t know what the future olds, but I’m excited! I’ve never been the type of person to get too high on my own supply, but i guarantee you this - I am going to keep enjoying the process and see where it takes me!

Thank you to all of those who have helped me along the way and thanks to YOU for choosing me as your artist and supporting my small business!

xo Carolina