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What does it look like to build a business that actually feels like you?
That’s the heart of my conversation with Larissa Stewart, esthetician and founder of Clover Skin Studio in Fairhaven. Larissa has been an esthetician since 2011, and over the years, her work has evolved into something deeply rooted in holistic skincare, intuition, rest, and meeting people exactly where they are.
In this episode, we talked about the early days of her business, the pivots that brought her back to skincare, how motherhood shaped her work, and the beautiful new Fairhaven location she recently opened in Bellingham, WA - with skincare services upstairs and a curated boutique downstairs.
But more than anything, this conversation was about trust.
Trusting your body. Trusting your timing. Trusting your intuition. Trusting the quiet pull that keeps showing up until you finally listen.
As Larissa shared, “Every little step was trust, trust, trust.”
Connect with Larissa
Visit her website: cloverskinstudio.com
Follow along on Instagram: @CloverSkinStudio
Visit the shop: 1003 Harris Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225
From Esthetician School to Building Her Own Business
Larissa’s journey began in 2011 when she went to school to become an esthetician. After completing her program, she started working in a resort-style spa, where she learned the industry from the ground up.
And when I say from the ground up, I really mean it.
She wasn’t just stepping into the treatment room right away. She was learning how the whole business worked. Laundry, reception, client care, tea orders, bridal suites, events, treatments...all of it!
That kind of foundation matters.
Larissa talked about how valuable it was to understand every layer of the spa experience before eventually becoming the person providing services. She learned through mentorship, repetition, and hands-on experience, which gave her a deep respect for the care people are trusting her with.
After moving to Bellingham, WA in 2015, Larissa tried a few places that didn’t quite feel like home. Eventually, she took the leap into working for herself, sharing a space with a friend and exploring what that could look like.
Those early days were not perfectly polished. They were experimental and full of learning.
And honestly, isn’t that how so many small businesses begin?
You don’t always have the full plan. Sometimes you just know the current thing isn’t quite it, and you’re brave enough to take the next step.
Letting the Business Evolve
One of the things I loved about Larissa’s story is how honestly she allowed her business to evolve.
At one point, she was doing lash extensions because it was a quicker way to gain clients and build her business in a new town. And while the meticulous nature of the work was satisfying in some ways, she eventually realized it didn’t fully align with the kind of care she wanted to offer.
She missed skincare.
She missed the work that felt true to her.
That became such a powerful theme in our conversation: knowing when something has served its purpose, and being willing to let it go when it no longer fits.
As Larissa put it, “If I won’t do it on my own face, I can’t perform it for someone else.”
That kind of clarity is such a gift in business.
It’s easy to chase trends, say yes to what people ask for, or keep offering something simply because it brings in money. But Larissa’s approach is different. She listens to the quiet signals - in her body, in her work, in her clients, and in her own sense of alignment.
“The business changed when I stopped chasing what was trendy and started trusting what felt true.”
That quote feels like such an important reminder for any small business owner.
Whether you offer a service, make a product, run a shop, or are still dreaming about what you want to build, you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. You don’t have to build a business around trends if those trends don’t feel right to you.
You get to build something honest.
A Holistic Approach to Skincare and Care
Larissa’s work today is rooted in holistic skincare, lymphatic drainage, gua sha, botanical products, and a slower, more supportive approach to skin health.
But what stood out most to me was the way she talked about care.
Her work isn’t about forcing skin into submission or chasing quick fixes. It’s about meeting the skin where it is. It’s about supporting the body, paying attention to its responses, and helping clients reconnect with their own intuition.
One of my favorite things Larissa shared before our conversation was this:
“I want everyone to lean into trusting their body, its responses, and their own intuition when it comes to care and rest.”
That line stayed with me because it applies to so much more than skincare.
It applies to business.
It applies to motherhood.
It applies to creativity.
It applies to the way we make decisions and the pace we allow ourselves to keep.
Larissa shared how motherhood changed the way she viewed her time, her body, and her energy. After having her daughter, she became even more aware of the need to make her work sustainable - not just financially, but physically and emotionally too.
She talked about how some services were hard on her body and no longer made sense for the life she was building. Instead of ignoring that, she listened.
That is such a powerful lesson for women in small business: your body is allowed to be part of the conversation.
Your energy matters.
Your capacity matters.
Your season of life matters.
Your business should support your life, not quietly drain the life out of you.
Trusting the Pull Toward Fairhaven
Larissa’s new location in Fairhaven is such a beautiful part of this story because it wasn’t something that happened overnight.
In fact, she had been drawn to this particular space for years.
When she first visited Bellingham, long before opening her own shop there, she walked through Fairhaven and remembered thinking how incredible it would be to have a shop in that area someday. There was one specific space that stayed with her - the space that eventually became Clover Skin Studio.
Years later, the timing finally lined up.
Not when she forced it.
Not when she rushed it.
Not when she tried to make it happen before she was ready.
It happened when the next step was actually ready to be taken.
As Larissa said, “I took my intuition’s hand, and I let her lead me.”
Her new Fairhaven location is two doors up from the gazebo on Harris Avenue. Upstairs, she offers skincare services. Downstairs, she has created a boutique filled with products and goods that reflect the same sense of ease, care, and intention that runs through her services.
The shop is not overdone. It’s not trying to be everything to everyone. It feels curated, calm, and personal.
And that was intentional.
Larissa shared that she doesn’t need to offer three versions of everything. She wants to reduce decision fatigue and create a space where people can walk in, breathe, and find something that feels supportive.
The whole space feels like an extension of her philosophy: less forcing, more listening.
Creating a Space That Feels Like Ease
When I asked Larissa what she hopes people feel when they walk into the new space, her answer was simple: ease.
That word says so much.
Ease doesn’t mean the business was easy to build. It doesn’t mean there weren’t hard decisions, unknowns, or late nights. It means the experience she is creating for her clients and customers is grounded in calm.
She wants people to leave feeling lighter, cared for, and refreshed.
From the treatment room to the boutique, everything has been chosen with that feeling in mind. The color of the walls, the products on the shelves, the space between the displays, the way the shop invites you to slow down - it all reflects her intention.
That kind of clarity is something I think every business owner can learn from.
Before you add more, do more, sell more, or offer more, it’s worth asking:
- What do I want people to feel here?
- What do I want my work to be known for?
- What actually feels aligned?
- What am I offering because it is true to me, and what am I offering because I think I “should”?
- Larissa’s story is such a good reminder that you don’t need to build a business for everyone.
“You don’t need to build a business for everyone. You need to build one that feels honest to you.”
The Behind-the-Scenes Tools That Keep a Business Running
Of course, behind every beautiful business is a whole lot of behind-the-scenes work.
Larissa and I talked about the tools and systems that help keep a small business running. For her service-based business, Square has been a helpful tool for payments, reports, inventory, and keeping important information in one place.
As someone who has run my own handmade leather bags and accessories business since 2013, I always love hearing what systems other business owners use. The creative work is one thing, but the systems behind it are often what make the creative work sustainable.
We also talked about what could be next for Clover Skin Studio, including the possibility of offering online shopping in the future.
That opened up a conversation about Shopify, which has been such a game changer in my own product-based business. For me, Shopify has made it easier to sell products, manage inventory, connect sales channels, and grow without having to piece everything together manually.
If you’re a small business owner thinking about upgrading your website, adding e-commerce, or creating an online shop that can grow with you, Shopify is worth looking into.
You can check it out here: Shopify
I loved this part of the conversation because it was such a natural reminder that growth often brings new needs. What worked in the early days may not be what carries you into the next season. Sometimes the next right step is a better system, a stronger platform, or a tool that gives you more breathing room.
And sometimes, the upgrade is what allows your business to meet the version of you that is growing.
What’s Next for Clover Skin Studio
Larissa’s new space is already opening the door to new possibilities.
She shared that she is excited about community events, workshops, pop-ups, and creating opportunities for other people to use the space too. The shop has a beautiful central table and an open area that could host small gatherings, classes, and creative experiences.
From gua sha workshops to bouquet-making classes to seasonal events, Larissa is thinking about how Clover Skin Studio can become more than a skincare studio and boutique.
It can become a community space.
That feels like such a natural next chapter for her because community has been woven through her story from the beginning. From her early days working in a resort spa with a large team of women to sharing space with another business owner, and now opening a storefront that can welcome others in, Larissa’s work has always been about more than the service itself.
“Sometimes the next big step starts as a quiet pull you can’t ignore.”
Larissa’s Advice for Anyone Starting a Service-Based Business
When I asked Larissa what advice she would give to someone dreaming of starting their own service-based business, her answer came back to intuition.
She talked about the importance of asking yourself where your “why” is in every decision.
“Where’s my why in all of these decisions? And is it authentically tied to my intuition?”
That question is such a good filter.
It can help you decide what to offer, what to stop offering, when to grow, when to pause, and when to trust the next step.
Starting a small business can bring up so much noise. Everyone has advice. Everyone has a strategy. Everyone has an opinion about what you should do, what platform you should use, what trend you should jump on, or what your business should look like.
But at the end of the day, you are the one who has to keep showing up for it.
So it matters that the business feels like you.
It matters that your choices are tied to your values.
It matters that you trust yourself.
It matters that you know who you are serving and why.
And it matters that you remember you are not meant to serve everyone.
As we talked about in the episode, not every customer is your customer. Not every client is your client. Not every opportunity is yours to take.
That’s not failure. That’s clarity.
A Reminder for Women in Small Business
This conversation with Larissa was such a beautiful reminder that business growth does not always have to be loud, fast, or forced.
Sometimes growth looks like letting go of a service that no longer feels right.
Sometimes it looks like waiting for the right space.
Sometimes it looks like choosing sustainability over speed.
Sometimes it looks like trusting your gut even when you don’t have every detail figured out.
Larissa’s story is not one of overnight success. It’s a story of listening, adjusting, learning, and allowing each version of the business to lead her closer to the next one.
And I think there’s something really encouraging in that.
You don’t have to have the entire plan today.
You can trust that your business is allowed to evolve as you do.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, we talk about:
- How Clover Skin Studio began
- What the early days of Larissa’s business really looked like
- The value of learning every layer of a business before running your own
- Why Larissa moved away from services that no longer felt aligned
- How motherhood shaped her approach to work, care, and energy
- Trusting your gut when making business decisions
- The story behind her new Fairhaven location
- Creating a boutique and treatment space that feels calm, easeful, and intentional
- The systems and tools that help keep a business running behind the scenes
- Why Shopify may be a helpful next step for small businesses adding e-commerce
- What’s next for Clover Skin Studio, including community events and online shopping
- Advice for anyone dreaming of starting a service-based business
Favorite Quotes from the Episode
“Every little step was trust, trust, trust.”
“I took my intuition’s hand, and I let her lead me.”
“I want everyone to lean into trusting their body, its responses, and their own intuition when it comes to care and rest.”
“If I won’t do it on my own face, I can’t perform it for someone else.”
“Where’s my why in all of these decisions? And is it authentically tied to my intuition?”
“The business changed when I stopped chasing what was trendy and started trusting what felt true.”
“You don’t need to build a business for everyone. You need to build one that feels honest to you.”
“Sometimes the next big step starts as a quiet pull you can’t ignore.”
Connect with Larissa
You can find Larissa at Clover Skin Studio in Fairhaven, located two doors up from the gazebo on Harris Avenue.
Visit her website: cloverskinstudio.com
Follow along on Instagram: @CloverSkinStudio
Visit the shop: Clover Skin Studio in Fairhaven, Washington
Whether you’re looking for holistic skincare, a thoughtful boutique experience, or a calm space to reconnect with care and rest, Larissa has created something really special in the heart of Fairhaven.
Resources Mentioned
Shopify: Start Here →
If you’re dreaming about adding e-commerce to your own small business, upgrading your website, or creating an online shop that can grow with you, you can check out Shopify here!
