Jessica Mock got a baptism by fire – or rather sugar – when she was a freshly licensed esthetician fresh out of school. Her first experience being a body-sugar professional made her learn on her feet.

“I was briefly trained by the owner of the first salon I worked at, and when she came down with pneumonia and was out for a month, I was expected to take over her appointments,” Mock said.

She said she was extremely challenged by sugaring when she first started.

“My skin reacted so much better to it than it ever did to waxing,” she said. “So, I was determined to master it.”

Master it, she has. She’s now a sugaring educator in Savannah, Georgia, where many of her clients are in the military community.

“I am so inspired by and proud of their commitment to our country,” Mock said.

Her own commitment to teaching sugaring is also inspirational, despite a rocky start in her sugaring career. Giving her sugar education classes is the one of the best things she looks forward to each month, she said.

“I felt nervous and intimidated when I first started sugaring, navigating through issues like getting stuck by myself,” she said.

She credits this experience as why she’s able to provide a great educating experience to her own sugaring students.

“My first class was a full class, and I remember being so nervous and hoping that I’d be able to not only give my students enough guidance to make it worth their while, but that I would also love it.”

As it happens, it was a positive experience for all and Mock still keeps in touch with her students from her very first class as an educator.

“I loved seeing (sugaring) through the eyes of a beginner again,” she said. “When you’ve been sugaring for so long, you forget how confusing even just picking up the sugar and holding onto it can be. Even the simplest things are a struggle.”

She added that teaching requires you to remember those little things, and that’s how you better relate to your students.

“The most challenging part is finding a balance between demonstrating and letting the students struggle through an issue,” Mock said. “When someone is getting frustrated, my first instinct is to take over and do it for them, but I’ve learned to guide with my words instead.”

Mock first encountered Tamara’s Sugar when she left that very first salon where she got her baptism by sugar.

“I needed my own certification to continue to sugar, so I researched and completed training with Tamara’s company,” she said. “I loved my experience and the products, and I also loved the encouragement and support I received from the company.

“When I became certified,” Mock continued, “I never thought twice about a company other than Tamara's.  Although we have never met me in person, her support has meant the world to me, and the products work beautifully.”

What doesn’t work beautifully, Mock jokes is trying to be a professional sugarist on a typical Georgia July day with a broken air conditioner, a full schedule, and the naivety not to reschedule my appointments.

In addition to her sugaring specialty, Mock also is a makeup artist.

“I attended fashion school for four years before deciding that, although I love the industry, I’d rather be more behind the scenes of fashion,” she said. “My original intention was to become a make-up artist, and esthetics school was the logical choice in my area. I fell in love with hair removal by accident while attending school.”

She recently began a makeup artistry education program nearly two years ago and is combining both sugaring and a career in makeup.

“I am in love with all things beauty and fashion...dolling people up is what I do best,” Mock said.

Interview by Casondra Brewster, Creative Word Lab