Learn from the experts
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We want to help each person become their better self. This isn't just a business for us, it is a calling. Gezelle's mother helped change her self esteem by ridding Gezelle of very visible facial hair. Each of us is unique and special. We want to help uncover that beautiful person inside that has been held down by circumstances. For the transgender community it takes a lot of soul searching and effort. There is a process, an order of things to get done. We will be updating this page as we find more information, links and support groups. We do NOT want to do anything to create a problem for the community or individuals, so, please if you would, help guide us to help you safely.
One of the things we have observed is that it is easier to get rid of the hair if you have been on hormones for at least a six months. It isn't "necessary" according to the experts, but from our prospective, it helps weaken the hair. This is an expensive process as it is and we do not want it to cost you more than necessary. With Gezelle's husband joining the business, we can now offer simultaneous electrolysis, i.e., both of us working together to clear more hair faster. There does seem to be some confusion as to how many treatments are needed. Sometimes the verbiage used is confusing. If they say you need 3 to 5 treatments....my question would be, 3 to 5- five minute sessions or five hour sessions? I believe they mean "clearings". That means that each individual hair has been treated 3 to 5 times each. What we have currently gotten from Denver Health is that by the time of surgery, the hair does not need to be totally gone, but must be reduced to a fine hair. During surgery they will "scrape the follicle" from the under side while the patient is under anesthesia. I am happy to report that my experience has been that it doesn't take that many clearings given the way we do the treatments. If you have lots of dark hair, it has been shown to be helpful to weaken the hair with 3-4 laser treatments from a reputable laser provider before starting electrolysis. Laser isn't necessarily permanent, but electrolysis is and can "finish the job". It takes a lot more time for electrolysis to clear the area than you would think, so it is better to get started early than to wait and find out your surgery has to be postponed because of the hair. And there is the possibility of having your surgery moved up. It is better to be prepared for that possibility. |
Starting April 2024 Cameo is offering a safe place
to gather and learn from each other, Thursdays 6pm to 8pm.
Please feel free to show up or call to get more information.
to gather and learn from each other, Thursdays 6pm to 8pm.
Please feel free to show up or call to get more information.
Be YouBeauty is an inner issue, not just exterior.
Get connected with the community. Gretchen Jones has a long resume of experience as well as my clients recommending her for HRT.
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Feel SafeWhen you are here, we want you to know you are safe and being served by someone who cares about you.
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Don't waitIf you know what you want, don't wait to start educating yourself on what you need to know and do today. It is a long process and the wait lists are long. Denver Health is making strides in the right direction.
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Some thoughts from Tracy
"Just Say Yes"
by Tracy A. Lowe (Quinn), electrologist
July 2020
If you are reading this, then it means that my first ever attempt at being an author of anything and was scrutinized by someone with far more literary education than I possess and given a positive nod. It means that someone said yes.
A little over a year ago, I never thought I would become a full-time electrologist. My wife Gezelle, has been a practicing electrologist for a little more than twelve years. (We have been married a little over nine years.) I have been sort of a “jack of all trades” most of my adult life as I have been a full-time firefighter, emergency medical technician, and full-time police officer. I am also a professional musician. And scattered throughout, there have been a myriad of jobs from carpentry to mowing parks. Electrolysis was never on my radar. And oh yes, I’ve joked about becoming an electrologist, but it was at a time when my wife didn’t have enough business to justify my learning, so it was never taken seriously. Who knew?
We have all grown up learning things. Some lessons more important than others, some not important at all. Some lessons have changed the course of our lives. Some have left us scarred, and some have elevated our perspectives and perceptions of life. I would like to share some of my learned perspectives as they pertain to electrolysis today.
As children, adolescents, and teens, we have all been part of a club, clique, group, faction, or even a gang. As humans, we have all placed labels upon people. Good, bad, helpful, hurtful, uplifting, destroying. Labels have defined us positively and negatively for thousands of years. Hopefully one day as a people we can all learn to live together without the need to label people just for cause. As per society, my current label is “African American”. Over the course of my sixty years, I have been labeled “Colored”, “Negro”, and “Black”. (Not to mention all the negative words I am sure you can imagine.) Racial labels. We are all guilty of using a racial epithet in our lives. If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar. Maybe no one has ever heard you say it, but you said it. And negative labels are not specific to any one color or class of people. We all know this! We’ve all experienced this. Which brings me to the basis for this essay.
As professional electrologists, our job is to remove hair. Period. Oh yes, we are also counselors, babysitters, dog watchers, momentary moms and grandmas. (Although as a black man, I don’t think I’ll ever be looked at as “grandma”. Just saying.) We alleviate fears, counsel relationships, calm nerves, give support, or just offer a shoulder to cry on. Our clients are our joy, our misery, the reason we get up in the morning, the reason we stay in the office late. Some of our clients give us pause to scratch our heads and ponder, “Just what were you thinking!” Some of our clients you just want to slap. Some make us cry. Some make us angry. Some clients are so intelligent they are quirky and weird. Some clients are dumb as bricks but make you laugh so hearty you lose half a one-hour session because of laughing, and they don’t mind! Suffice it to say, if all our clients were the same, electrolysis would be a very boring and mundane profession.
In my adult years employed first as an EMT, then firefighter/EMT, and finally as a police officer, I have seen the best and worst in people. I have witnessed people give everything they had when they had nothing to give. I have seen individuals at the top of their lives turn their backs on children. And I have witnessed prejudice on every level to every class and color of people. I have been spit on as a black man, and as a police officer. As a professional electrologist, I have learned more about life from a specific class of client than any other. The LGBTQ/transgender community. Do I still have your attention? Good. Years ago, if I had heard “LGBTQ” I would have asked, “Just what are you trying to spell?” We have all heard the ugly labels this community has been given. More than some of us are guilty of using these hateful words at one time or another. Sad but true.
I have learned as an electrologist more over the last year about the negatives that plague the LGBTQ community than I ever thought I would. The loss of jobs, the ostracism from churches, families and friends, loneliness and depression, substance abuse, and unfortunately, suicide. And just the prejudicial hatred of people who look upon the community as “unnatural”. Who are we to judge who a person wants or needs to be? Who are we to tell a person “NO” because we do not like or are uncomfortable with their lifestyle? Who are we to judge a person because we do not agree with their sexual orientation? Truthfully, IT’S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS!! I am an electrologist, not a life coach. (Although we do help our clients with some of the most outrageous issues!) But most importantly, THERE IS NO ROOM IN THE PROFESSION OF ELECTROYSIS FOR THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR!!
I am very fortunate that my client base ranges from young to old, every race, male and female, straight, gay, and transgender. I have clients where it is a real challenge to find that single hair that is turning their world upside down because “it’s so big and right there!” And I have clients that could stand in for Chewbacca the Wookie! But it’s my LGBTQ/transgender clients that this essay is truly for and about. It is to this wonderful community of people that we need to learn to say “Yes” to.
In a world that is currently fraught with negatives: Covid-19, racial injustice, financial downfall, unemployment, political imbalance, we are hard pressed to be the best we can be because we as a people are weary. Our patience has been pushed to the limits as we can’t enjoy the world that is because the world that is may kill you. “Wear a mask” “Social distancing”, “Stay at home”, ”Everything is closed”. Many businesses are closed and may not reopen and that includes electrolysis. If you are fortunate enough to have a client base which can support reopening, then I’m glad for you. All my transgender clients have had to endure negative setbacks. Waiting to get on a surgical list, having to find/budget the money for electrolysis, scheduling time off from work, some having to hide their transition. And now due to the pandemic, all surgeries have to be rescheduled. Though we as electrologists are not considered “essential”, we are extremely essential for the transgender community. Here is where the understanding to “say yes” comes to light.
I’m an electrologist now because our client base began to increase at an incredible rate and my wife felt it was a good time for me to learn. I started small and now I am as busy as she is. I have learned to accept all potential clients unless they feel more comfortable with a female. This is just standard operating procedure for business. You build your business by building your client base. And we have been fortunate. But it is incredibly amazing how many of my clients have stated they were turned down by other electrologists because of their sexual orientation. Whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, they were told “no”. We understand there are a few electrologists that work exclusively on women, or only on men above the waist. Whether it is due to morals, ethics, or whatever, these potential clients are still hearing “no”. A prejudicial decision was made without ever getting to know the potential client because “You’re gay” or “You’re lesbian” or “You’re transgender”. Unfairly judged for being who they want to be. And unfortunately, some have been denied service because “it’s against the electrologists religious beliefs”. In this day of chaos and turmoil, we need to take the lead and show acceptance to all people until a time comes when that person demonstrates they do not deserve it. It brings us no joy and no justice to exclude anyone. A person’s orientation has no bearing on my existence. But what bearing does my existence play upon their orientation? Is my ignorance showing as hatred? Is the fact that I am a heterosexual man clouding my judgement of a person who in every aspect of life is an incredible individual? Am I just being insecure? Uuuuhhhhh, PRO-BA-BLY!!
We only become stronger as a community if we are open to education and change. As electrologists, we are positioned to show the world that “If not us, then who!?” Who will stand in the gap and protect the virtue of those who just want to be accepted for what is in their heart? Who will be the champions of change for a specific community of people? We are Electrologists!! We remove hair from the body! We are not here to tell anyone who they can and cannot be with (unless it is determined that person is really not good for them! Our clients are a captive audience you know!) In our business, we must learn to put on blinders and say “Yes”. We must maintain a professionalism that has taken many years to perfect. We must show every potential client we are an entity that can be trusted to provide a specific service sometimes under special circumstances. We are considered a “non-essential elective service” by the medical community. I can accept that determination. But to some of our clients, our service is extremely essential to the positive outcome of their lives. And this does not just pertain to the LGBTQ/transgender community. It is amazing what I have learned concerning unwanted hair growth! What most of us may consider just an inconvenience can turn someone else’s life upside down! As an electrologist, I am so proud to be able to say “Yes!” Above and beyond the fact that I can help my family by being a good husband, father, and provider, I can help my wife maintain a great business, and I am able to be an integral part of a process that changes someone’s life for the better! By just saying yes, you can open an incredible world of people who will most likely leave a positive impression on you. By just saying yes, you will automatically become someone’s hero. By just saying yes, you will show you are supportive of their needs, no matter how small or how large. Gender and sexual orientation notwithstanding, just saying yes can be the tide that turns a person’s world around and starts them on a path to positive existence. By just saying yes, you show you respect them as a person, and their decisions to be whomever they want to be. By just saying yes, you show your potential client you are person of integrity and character and your willingness to provide service is tantamount to their need for your service. We all have clients we would rather be rid of. It comes with the territory. Some are obstinate, arrogant, opinionated, and let us not talk about hygiene! But alas, they are still your clients! And they are your clients for a reason! And the reason is because they trust you, it’s because they are comfortable in your presence, it’s because they do not feel judged, but most of all, it is because they love and need you!! And let’s face it, you really love them also! Beyond the fact our clients pay us, they bring us a beautiful sense of accomplishment in knowing we have made them feel better about themselves or that we have helped move their transition along just a bit further. But mostly, our clients are our clients for one very important reason……………………….it’s because we said “Yes”.
A little over a year ago, I never thought I would become a full-time electrologist. My wife Gezelle, has been a practicing electrologist for a little more than twelve years. (We have been married a little over nine years.) I have been sort of a “jack of all trades” most of my adult life as I have been a full-time firefighter, emergency medical technician, and full-time police officer. I am also a professional musician. And scattered throughout, there have been a myriad of jobs from carpentry to mowing parks. Electrolysis was never on my radar. And oh yes, I’ve joked about becoming an electrologist, but it was at a time when my wife didn’t have enough business to justify my learning, so it was never taken seriously. Who knew?
We have all grown up learning things. Some lessons more important than others, some not important at all. Some lessons have changed the course of our lives. Some have left us scarred, and some have elevated our perspectives and perceptions of life. I would like to share some of my learned perspectives as they pertain to electrolysis today.
As children, adolescents, and teens, we have all been part of a club, clique, group, faction, or even a gang. As humans, we have all placed labels upon people. Good, bad, helpful, hurtful, uplifting, destroying. Labels have defined us positively and negatively for thousands of years. Hopefully one day as a people we can all learn to live together without the need to label people just for cause. As per society, my current label is “African American”. Over the course of my sixty years, I have been labeled “Colored”, “Negro”, and “Black”. (Not to mention all the negative words I am sure you can imagine.) Racial labels. We are all guilty of using a racial epithet in our lives. If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar. Maybe no one has ever heard you say it, but you said it. And negative labels are not specific to any one color or class of people. We all know this! We’ve all experienced this. Which brings me to the basis for this essay.
As professional electrologists, our job is to remove hair. Period. Oh yes, we are also counselors, babysitters, dog watchers, momentary moms and grandmas. (Although as a black man, I don’t think I’ll ever be looked at as “grandma”. Just saying.) We alleviate fears, counsel relationships, calm nerves, give support, or just offer a shoulder to cry on. Our clients are our joy, our misery, the reason we get up in the morning, the reason we stay in the office late. Some of our clients give us pause to scratch our heads and ponder, “Just what were you thinking!” Some of our clients you just want to slap. Some make us cry. Some make us angry. Some clients are so intelligent they are quirky and weird. Some clients are dumb as bricks but make you laugh so hearty you lose half a one-hour session because of laughing, and they don’t mind! Suffice it to say, if all our clients were the same, electrolysis would be a very boring and mundane profession.
In my adult years employed first as an EMT, then firefighter/EMT, and finally as a police officer, I have seen the best and worst in people. I have witnessed people give everything they had when they had nothing to give. I have seen individuals at the top of their lives turn their backs on children. And I have witnessed prejudice on every level to every class and color of people. I have been spit on as a black man, and as a police officer. As a professional electrologist, I have learned more about life from a specific class of client than any other. The LGBTQ/transgender community. Do I still have your attention? Good. Years ago, if I had heard “LGBTQ” I would have asked, “Just what are you trying to spell?” We have all heard the ugly labels this community has been given. More than some of us are guilty of using these hateful words at one time or another. Sad but true.
I have learned as an electrologist more over the last year about the negatives that plague the LGBTQ community than I ever thought I would. The loss of jobs, the ostracism from churches, families and friends, loneliness and depression, substance abuse, and unfortunately, suicide. And just the prejudicial hatred of people who look upon the community as “unnatural”. Who are we to judge who a person wants or needs to be? Who are we to tell a person “NO” because we do not like or are uncomfortable with their lifestyle? Who are we to judge a person because we do not agree with their sexual orientation? Truthfully, IT’S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS!! I am an electrologist, not a life coach. (Although we do help our clients with some of the most outrageous issues!) But most importantly, THERE IS NO ROOM IN THE PROFESSION OF ELECTROYSIS FOR THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR!!
I am very fortunate that my client base ranges from young to old, every race, male and female, straight, gay, and transgender. I have clients where it is a real challenge to find that single hair that is turning their world upside down because “it’s so big and right there!” And I have clients that could stand in for Chewbacca the Wookie! But it’s my LGBTQ/transgender clients that this essay is truly for and about. It is to this wonderful community of people that we need to learn to say “Yes” to.
In a world that is currently fraught with negatives: Covid-19, racial injustice, financial downfall, unemployment, political imbalance, we are hard pressed to be the best we can be because we as a people are weary. Our patience has been pushed to the limits as we can’t enjoy the world that is because the world that is may kill you. “Wear a mask” “Social distancing”, “Stay at home”, ”Everything is closed”. Many businesses are closed and may not reopen and that includes electrolysis. If you are fortunate enough to have a client base which can support reopening, then I’m glad for you. All my transgender clients have had to endure negative setbacks. Waiting to get on a surgical list, having to find/budget the money for electrolysis, scheduling time off from work, some having to hide their transition. And now due to the pandemic, all surgeries have to be rescheduled. Though we as electrologists are not considered “essential”, we are extremely essential for the transgender community. Here is where the understanding to “say yes” comes to light.
I’m an electrologist now because our client base began to increase at an incredible rate and my wife felt it was a good time for me to learn. I started small and now I am as busy as she is. I have learned to accept all potential clients unless they feel more comfortable with a female. This is just standard operating procedure for business. You build your business by building your client base. And we have been fortunate. But it is incredibly amazing how many of my clients have stated they were turned down by other electrologists because of their sexual orientation. Whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, they were told “no”. We understand there are a few electrologists that work exclusively on women, or only on men above the waist. Whether it is due to morals, ethics, or whatever, these potential clients are still hearing “no”. A prejudicial decision was made without ever getting to know the potential client because “You’re gay” or “You’re lesbian” or “You’re transgender”. Unfairly judged for being who they want to be. And unfortunately, some have been denied service because “it’s against the electrologists religious beliefs”. In this day of chaos and turmoil, we need to take the lead and show acceptance to all people until a time comes when that person demonstrates they do not deserve it. It brings us no joy and no justice to exclude anyone. A person’s orientation has no bearing on my existence. But what bearing does my existence play upon their orientation? Is my ignorance showing as hatred? Is the fact that I am a heterosexual man clouding my judgement of a person who in every aspect of life is an incredible individual? Am I just being insecure? Uuuuhhhhh, PRO-BA-BLY!!
We only become stronger as a community if we are open to education and change. As electrologists, we are positioned to show the world that “If not us, then who!?” Who will stand in the gap and protect the virtue of those who just want to be accepted for what is in their heart? Who will be the champions of change for a specific community of people? We are Electrologists!! We remove hair from the body! We are not here to tell anyone who they can and cannot be with (unless it is determined that person is really not good for them! Our clients are a captive audience you know!) In our business, we must learn to put on blinders and say “Yes”. We must maintain a professionalism that has taken many years to perfect. We must show every potential client we are an entity that can be trusted to provide a specific service sometimes under special circumstances. We are considered a “non-essential elective service” by the medical community. I can accept that determination. But to some of our clients, our service is extremely essential to the positive outcome of their lives. And this does not just pertain to the LGBTQ/transgender community. It is amazing what I have learned concerning unwanted hair growth! What most of us may consider just an inconvenience can turn someone else’s life upside down! As an electrologist, I am so proud to be able to say “Yes!” Above and beyond the fact that I can help my family by being a good husband, father, and provider, I can help my wife maintain a great business, and I am able to be an integral part of a process that changes someone’s life for the better! By just saying yes, you can open an incredible world of people who will most likely leave a positive impression on you. By just saying yes, you will automatically become someone’s hero. By just saying yes, you will show you are supportive of their needs, no matter how small or how large. Gender and sexual orientation notwithstanding, just saying yes can be the tide that turns a person’s world around and starts them on a path to positive existence. By just saying yes, you show you respect them as a person, and their decisions to be whomever they want to be. By just saying yes, you show your potential client you are person of integrity and character and your willingness to provide service is tantamount to their need for your service. We all have clients we would rather be rid of. It comes with the territory. Some are obstinate, arrogant, opinionated, and let us not talk about hygiene! But alas, they are still your clients! And they are your clients for a reason! And the reason is because they trust you, it’s because they are comfortable in your presence, it’s because they do not feel judged, but most of all, it is because they love and need you!! And let’s face it, you really love them also! Beyond the fact our clients pay us, they bring us a beautiful sense of accomplishment in knowing we have made them feel better about themselves or that we have helped move their transition along just a bit further. But mostly, our clients are our clients for one very important reason……………………….it’s because we said “Yes”.
