Recently I read in The New York Times (July 9, 2010) the article titled, “An Entrepreneur Who Took A Chance on Herself”, written by Prerna Gupta about her own unlikely entrepreneurial path.

She describes her supposed dream-job, “fresh out of Stanford with a degree in economics”, which bored her silly and left her dreading each day. Desperate for change, she thought that perhaps a new career in venture capital would fan her flame. But after six weeks at a new position in that arena, she was, again, by her own description, “miserable”.

So she quit, because she had an idea. She’s now the queen of “reverse karaoke.” Her iPhone music app, called LaDiDa, creates background music when you sing into a microphone. It even seems to correct the howling of bad singers.

Her Times piece is far from sugary. She states flatly, “My future is perhaps more uncertain than it has ever been. But the realization that I face a high likelihood of failure is not enough to send me back into the corporate cubicle.”

A few days later, also in The New York Times (July 16, 2010), an article titled “The True Calling That Wasn’t” by Phyllis Korkki discusses why many people are dissatisfied with their jobs. Some of the reasons cited include that parents, peers and teachers may influence our choices early in life, before we’re sure about who we really are. Especially if a job delivers prestige or a fat wage, we may find ourselves stuck, unwilling to leave it. But the fact that the job doesn’t click with our authentic selves leads to disillusionment.

Okay, doesn’t “reverse karaoke” sound made up to you? Like a joke? Just the idea reminds me of comic Zack Galifianakis’ hilarious description of his dream-job as “Vice President of Eternal Frisbee.” Remember that this is the man who starred in the dark comedy, Visioneers, as a successful executive destined to literally, spontaneously self-combust—i.e. burst into flames—because he is so mindlessly productive.

Gupta, Korkkii and Galifianakis are unlikely birds of a feather. What they seem to be telling us is that it doesn’t matter what other people think about your work and career. What matters is what you think. This is the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit, but also the key to satisfaction if you work for someone else.

The skin therapist has chosen a career in a service profession. This means that the skin therapist must ALWAYS be courteous. As with a wait-person in a restaurant, an airline reservations associate, or a hotel employee…regardless of how flippin’ rude a customer gets, the service professional must never, ever respond in kind. Tempting though it may be. (I will say this, however: if your airline luggage is forever being misrouted to, say, Sydney…you may need to ask yourself why.)

And, as a professional skin therapist who trains other skin therapists worldwide, one of my most deeply held beliefs is that courtesy is a two-way street. I am always coaching my fellow skin therapists on how to show the client respect. And—as a client—you must do the same!

The industry standard is now that the skin therapist or other pro will call you to confirm. As part of my trainings, I advise that the pro always leave a phone message or send the client a quick text confirmation. Likewise, I advise that clients put the appointment right into their “crackberry” or iPhone calendar on the spot! It is also industry standard to charge you for a missed appointment.

For this reason, and for common decency, always show respect for the therapist’s time. Realize that if you arrive more than 15 minutes late for an appointment, you’ve really done some damage to the day’s bookings. Whenever possible, call ahead when you’re stuck in traffic or running late for whatever reason—sometimes we can shuffle the calendar around to accommodate everyone.

And if you just simply show up late, do show sensitivity and offer to cut your visit short so as not to completely twang the timing of the next client. And, add an additional 5% to the tip. Call it guilt-money. Whatever, luv, just do it!

If a skin therapist, hairdresser or other pro keeps you waiting more than 15-20 minutes, you’re well within your rights to leave. Don’t storm out, just tell the receptionist and then leave. The forfeit of the appointment and its revenue should be enough to send a very clear message to everyone involved. The marketing-savvy professional will call you in the morning with the offer of a comp service—“comp” in this case meaning to “compensate”. If not, then you are well within your rights, from any etiquette standpoint, to take your business elsewhere, without apology or explanation.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Annet King, Director of Global Education for the Dermalogica brand, and for The International Dermal Institute.

I’ve been a professional skin care educator for 20 years, and I’ve worked with students and professional skin therapists around the world. One thing I know for certain is that first impressions are indeed lasting impressions, and being introduced properly to someone else is the best way to start things off on the right foot, both professionally and personally.

A proper and courteous introduction is the foundation to a comfortable social relationship. And that’s exactly what this new blog is all about: forming and maintaining mutually beneficial social relationships.

If you’re a client at a skin care center, a salon, or spa, you should never be accosted by the receptionist or other employee asking, “Are you my 4:00 o’clock?”. If this happens, you have every right to slowly lower your copy of whatever you’re reading, glower icily across the room, and say in measured tones, “Well, I’m not certain about your schedule. But my name is Mildred.”

The bloody, bloomin’ flippin’ nerve, really! I feel the same way when friends and I are shopping, or seated for a nice dinner, and a wait-person or other employee asks brightly, “How are you guys doing?”, as though we were all being hosed down in a communal shower-pit and might need more soap. Whatever happened to “Good afternoon,” or “Good evening, and welcome” ?

Yes, I am English, but that’s hardly the point. Do British people have better manners than Americans? In general, perhaps. But trust me, this is a learned skill.

In more formal times, people in polite society literally did not speak to one another socially until they had been properly introduced by a trusted associate. No need to go quite that far. But with so much talk these days of technology eroding our language and communication, I do feel that the very humanity of human interaction itself may be restored if we make more of an effort to be simply courteous to one another.

We cannot exactly demand good manners from others. We can only lead by example. Starting today.

Try out a “please” or a “thank you” where none has gone before. Instead of grunting the usual monosyllabic responses “Yup”, or “Nope”, try answering a question with a complete sentence, as in, “Yes, it is”, or “No, it is not.” This becomes habit-forming, and the next thing you know, you’re no longer a rude person.

In which case, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

On location in British Columbia, filming his upcoming movie release “The Big Year,” Jack Black made a “love” connection with Dermalogica through his makeup artist, Lisa Love. Jack’s fave’s include PreCleanse and Active Moist. He even visited Shifeon, a nearby Dermalogica account on Robson Street, to snap up his own skin care supplies. Now, that’s a pick of destiny. Rock on, Jack!

Well, if not, it’s okay. And my picture is not on the cover of ROLLING STONE magazine, but it’s even more amazing than that.

I was just in New York where I was photographed by Annie Leibovitz, my new BFF. Perhaps I exaggerate. But it is no exaggeration to say that Annie is considered the most influential editorial portrait photographer of the past half-century. She did indeed put lots of people’s pictures on the cover of the ROLLING STONE – she was that magazine’s house photographer for the first ten years of its publication. And she’s created many of the most iconic, unforgettable images, mostly of celebrities, many for VANITY FAIR and other magazines.

Many of these images, for me, have a lot to do with skin. She likes to get people naked. She photographed Bette Midler naked, covered in heaps of long-stemmed red roses. One of the rumors, perhaps true, about this photo is that Annie, being a bit of a stickler, had assistants remove all of the thorns so as not to prick Ms. Midler.

Annie photographed Whoopi Goldberg roaring up from the depths of a deep, old-fashioned bathtub filled with milk—surely Cleo herself would have been jealous. She famously photographed a very pregnant Demi Moore naked. You can almost feel the double heartbeat in that image.

Those are three of thousands of pictures Annie has taken that we can’t forget. And, she just photographed me for a forthcoming book about the politics of women’s sexuality. I was lucky enough, earlier in the summer, to participate with Gloria Steinem (ooops—and I told Gloria she was my BFF — hope she doesn’t get mad!) in a roundtable hosted by STEP UP WOMEN’S NETWORK and Bayer Healthcare, addressing, among other things, the 50th anniversary of the Pill. And this roundtable formed the content for the book, which will be published in 2011.

Did I get naked for Annie? Wait and see.

Jane Wurwand, founder and owner of Dermalogica, was joined by Gossip Girl cast member Kelly Rutherford and over 400 Step Up Women’s Network members to celebrate and recognize the empowerment of women at the grand opening of Dermalogica Academy located in the heart of Chelsea, West Manhattan.

The Academy is the brand’s first undergraduate facility and the first learning institution of its kind within the professional skin care industry, offering skin therapists a comprehensive pre-licensing education, including training in every aspect of business, marketing and retailing, with an emphasis on mentoring and networking. Several more Academy locations are planned to open within the next five years. For more information visit dermalogicaacademy.com.

Editor’s note: High school student Franzene Gonzalez currently works as a summer intern at Dermalogica headquarters in Carson, California. Anticipating her senior year at Gertz-Ressler High School in 2011, Franzene came to us through her work with Step Up Women’s Network (suwn.org), a national empowerment-oriented nonprofit organization.

So far, summer, 2010 feels like no other. My sisters got their careers on-track through Step Up Women’s Network, and now I am following in their footsteps through working at Dermalogica. I know that getting any summer-job is considered lucky these days, and I am especially honored to be here. The HQ building is unusual, and very modern.

For the past few years, I’ve worked at Franzene’s Flowers. When recruiters look at my resume, they think our family floral business belongs to me! Actually, it’s my mom’s business, and I have worked part-time for her since 2007. She named the company after me. ☺

I think working with her, as well as other projects, has given me a knack for business. I’m good at math. My plan after graduation is to study chemistry, maybe pre-med. I’m looking at a couple of colleges right now.

At Dermalogica, I work with the sales department. I take even the smallest task seriously; this is a business skill I learned from my mother. I’m learning about the company’s territories and sales regions, and supporting the business consultants, so I’m learning a lot about how a big company runs on a day-to-day basis.

I work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., then I go to my mom’s flower shop. And I swim, and try to get my exercise outdoors– I love getting out of the house, especially in the summertime. This internship is going to be a great learning experience for me and I can’t wait to share more about my time here on my next blog entry.

In Marie Claire, the Mad Men star revealed Super Sensitive FaceBlock SPF30 is a must-have.
And on totalbeauty.com, she revealed she’s “much more vigilant” about protecting her skin. “Living in L.A., just driving around, I’m getting sun and I freckle easily. I use Dermalogica.”

Check out the article on Christina Hendricks right here, right now!