To the Lash Artist Who Feels Overlooked
Let’s be vulnerable together for a minute…
The 2025 Lashie Award Nominees were announced today, and my name wasn’t on the list.
My heart sank.
This is my third year applying. And let me tell you, this year felt SO different. It was my year. I just knew it. In previous years I feel like it was more of a ‘let’s just see what happens’…but this year I truly thought it was mine. I believed it with my whole heart.
This year I didn’t just fill out an application and hit submit. I poured my heart into it for weeks. So many late nights, hours and hours spent staring at my computer screen until my eyes were burning. Writing and re'-writing each question so many times until they expressed everything that was in my heart. Reading everything over and over, tweaking little words here and there until it was perfect. I wanted every bit of it to sound like my heart, to express my love for the industry and the amazing career that I have found myself blessed to be a part of. To show everything that I pour into my clients, students, and this industry.
I truly gave it everything I had.
I thought it would finally be enough.
In the last year I’ve grown in so many ways, I’ve accomplished SO MUCH. I became a Light Heart Ambassador, Educator Partenre, and Retail Partner. I went back to school to earn my Facial Instructor License. I did a full rebrand on my business and even invested in a custom website to showcase my work and professionalism. I’ve elevated my trainings, transformed my work space into something that I am so extremely proud of. I was even recognized as an Oklahoma lash educator with Oklahoma’s NextGen under 30 award for Adult Education (I can’t wait to walk that stage and accept that award!)
I have poured my heart and soul into becoming the best version of myself, not just for me but for every single woman that is in my circle. Every Client. Every Student. Every Lash Artist who reaches out to me asking for help.
So yeah…I really believed that this was my year.
Silly as it may sound, I had a dream a couple nights ago that I won ‘Best Customer Service.’ I saw everything so vividly…the dress and the stage, the music and the recognition. I heard my name called and I WISH I could describe the feeling that I had in that moment. In that dream.
Then today happened, and it all came crashing down.
I scrolled that list over and over again, searching desperately for my name. Kinda makes me feel silly now if I’m being completely open with you. But the feeling when I realized my name wasn’t there was absolutely crushing. I sat here looking at my phone, replaying all the time that I spent pouring into this application. I felt overlooked. Small. Invisible.
After letting myself feel all the feels…because yeah I sat here staring at that screen, crying. I looked at my husband and told him I wanted to write about it, because I know I’m not the only one crying tonight. And its true.
I know I’m not alone in this. And that’s why I’m choosing to share it. Because I know I’m not the only lash artist feeling overlooked at the the 2025 Lashie Awards, and I know I’m not the only one about to walk into LashCon doubting myself. And I know that maybe, just maybe, someone else needs to hear that they aren’t alone.
Even through the hurt of today, a nomination doesn’t define us. A trophy doesn’t define our worth. Its the clients who pre-book months in advance. The students who trust us with their careers. The lash artists who come to us for advice. Our families and friends watching us chase our dreams and showing them that they can chase theirs too. THAT is what matters.
So yeah, I’m disappointed. Truly, I’m heartbroken. I’m grieving that moment in the spotlight that I thought was mine. But I’m also here to remind us both that we don’t need a nomination to prove our greatness. We just need to keep showing up.
If you’ve ever felt overlooked. If you’ve ever poured your heart into something and still felt unseen…I see you. I feel you. I understand. I’m standing right here with you.
And if you’re going to LashCon this year, come find me! Let’s remind each other that we are NOT invisible. We are a part of something bigger than an award list. We matter.
xoxo - Kimmie