Meet Barbie Zarraga of Browaholic Brow Studio in Aventura

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbie Zarraga.

Barbie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Although I was surrounded by makeup, glam and art while growing up, I never thought I would find my passion and career in it. I come from a culture in which finding a job in an office is sort of the rule, and even though putting on makeup, modeling and dancing was really fun, that’s not where I was going to find success (or at least, that is what we are told in my home country, Venezuela). In 2011, when was time to go to college, I decided to go for Psychology and Modern Languages. During this time, my life turned 360 when my parents and my little sister had to leave our country to move to the U.S. At that time, I stayed by myself, quit both careers, I was 18 years old and I needed to find a job to survive. I had never had a job before, so I wasn’t sure if I really was good at something (*laughs). I went to a local beauty salon where they were hiring girls with no experience and that they were willing to train on how to shape eyebrows, Thank God, I got the job! I found out I was really good at something else besides cooking ramen in a microwave! LOL. Then, I decided to invest in a Beauty School to feed my knowledge and skills with more information and new techniques.

In those 3 years, I got to learn a lot. For being the first time doing eyebrows and having a job it went pretty good. Later on, I came to Miami to be reunited with my family again. When I got here, I started working in a mall selling phone cases, of course, that was not my thing. I felt empty and bored. So, one day, I grabbed my bicycle and went to all salons nearby. I was so happy I finally found a place! They allowed me to start as a receptionist so I could polish my English and after a few months they gave me the chance to start doing eyebrows. Almost 2 years passed by and they decided to let me go. The feeling of being fired from a placed where you had the opportunity to do what you love, reminded me to the pain of breaking up with someone that you’re still in love with. I told to myself: “Now, what? What am I supposed to do?”. I was so worry about not having clientele, not being able to find another place to go.

The next morning, I remembered I took a look at my phone and I had so many text messages and missed calls from a bunch of clients! I didn’t even know how they found my number but that was the pushed I needed to start with Browaholic Brow Studio. I transformed my bedroom into a small studio and the couch eventually became my bed. In such a little time, I started building a high volume of clientele that I had to move my home-based business to a beauty suite in Aventura, I went from having a 10am to 6pm job, to taking 6 clients a day at home, to now seeing almost 30 people a day! I am truly blessed and grateful to have such amazing and supportive family, friends and clients. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today!

Has it been a smooth road?
Nobody said that stepping out of your comfort zone was going to be an easy decision to make or that was going to be a smooth road. It took me a lot of time to accept I needed to run a business by myself. If I wanted to make something happen I needed to make the first step and take advantage of the opportunities the Universe had given me. When you make a new change in your life it always comes with fear and most of the time, that same fear will try to self-sabotage you. I have had long days and so little time to rest, I have felt lost, not confident at all and there were times that I was so close to giving up but when I look back and see everything I have overcome and achieve I feel so proud of myself and I keep going. I have learned so much along the way that I wouldn’t change this experience for anything.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Browaholic Brow Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
I am the owner and main specialist of Browaholic Brow Studio, based in Aventura, FL. We specialize in the beauty of eyebrows. We offer services such as eyebrow waxing, threading, and tinting, eyebrow design according to your facial structure, microblading, as well as, keratin lash lift, facial hair removal and professional makeup application.

At the studio, we celebrate the diversity and individuality of every client. We work hard to make every woman that sits in our chair feel beautiful and owning who they are. Beauty comes in all sizes, colors, and shapes and we need to embrace that. We live in a world that’s full of prejudice so we try to cheer everyone’s beauty.

I am known for my signature technique of using as many methods as I need to achieve the ultimate set of brows. Through the years, I have invested a lot of time into developing a custom method in tinting and shaping, to create a brow that was unique to each client and that perfectly complements their features. I have found how immensely rewarding is to see the positive change a flawlessly shaped arch could make to a client’s confidence.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Thanks to technology and social media, the beauty industry is constantly changing and it amazes me how so many new techniques and trends are created every single day! Even though thin eyebrows were IN back in the day, people are starting to notice the importance of having a killer pair of brows. They add youth and freshness to the face. My favorite style is the bushy and feathered brows (the natural the better!) The sculpt and bold brows were in style for a while, but I wasn’t a fan of that look. In my opinion, less is more and that’s why thick brows are here to stay for a long time!

Contact Info:

• Address: Browaholic Brow Studio
  1660 NE Miami Gardens Dr. Aventura, FL 33179
  Suite #6, Room #20
• Website: under construction
• Phone: 754-816-0940
• Email: infobrowaholic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/browaholics/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/browaholicmiami/
• Other: https://browaholicstudiobookings.as.me/

Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.