Community Highlights: Meet Nikkia Beech-Moore of The GLO Gallery

I was born in The Bronx and raised in Syracuse, NY. I first went to college in Buffalo, NY, and left my junior year because I felt I wasn’t there for my own passions.

I found my passion for Public Relations while consulting for a coffee shop, an entertainment company and collaborating with local artists after I decided to leave college. I was working anywhere from 3-4 jobs at a time because I needed to still feel creative.

I had a co-worker who went to college at Bennett College for Women, and her love for the experience piqued my interest. I applied a few years after our meeting and got in. That brought me to NC to attend Bennett as a non-traditional student at 24/25.

It’s funny how ultimately your life’s trajectory provides hints early on, and you don’t realize it until later. I had no intentions of NC; the only thing I knew about it was when our family would occasionally visit because my godmother is from there. I came to attend Bennett, graduated, and never left. I appreciated the calmness of living down south and the extended seasons without extending Winter.

I was a full-time Real Estate Acquisition Agent for the state of NC when I decided to attend an Esthetics program. I had always loved figuring out what products worked best for my skin because I battled with breakouts and hyperpigmentation in high school until my mid-30s.

So it was a passion before I recognized I could help heal others and turn my passion into a career.

Coincidentally, I found out in my 30s that my paternal grandmother [Gloria] had helped one of the larger beauty brands formulate color, and she was a cosmetologist. But she was also an entrepreneur, as she had a brownstone in Harlem that had a vegan restaurant on one floor and her salon with a spiritual center in the rear on another floor. My maternal great-grandmother was an entrepreneur, too. Where she cooked and baked, then sold her products to many of the locals in Cape Charles, VA. My maternal grandmother sold Avon. My great aunt eventually opened her own restaurant in her hometown. So ultimately, I guess you can say that I have been surrounded by black women entrepreneurs all my life.

I am honored and feel fortunate to have been able to leave a corporate job that was comfortable and lucrative during COVID; to step out on faith and pursue my passions. I also attribute that extra push and support from my wife, who at the time was my girlfriend. She reminded me that I was an amazing esthetician, but I just needed to take the “risk” of leaving what was “safe.”

During COVID, we started a vending company and pursued various entrepreneurial ventures. The GLO Gallery was created in May of 2022 after I chose to rebrand myself from Precision Artistry Esthetics. It was finally time to become a full-time esthetician and secure my first official location.

Is life ever linear?! Lol. Technically yes, but it never seems like it while we are in the thick of it. There have been delays, setbacks, and struggles for me to get here, including getting my license years after graduating from my program. But I wholeheartedly believe that everything happens when it’s supposed to. Also,  everything changes when your environment represents you honoring your worth.

The name of my business came to me because I wanted to honor my grandmother; her name was Gloria. She was a cosmetologist and entrepreneur. She deserved it [being honored] because I had to read her autobiography to find out about her creating color with that beauty brand. I feel many black women creatives and entrepreneurs’ stories get left untold.

My biggest goal in creating healthy skin is also the glow people have when they are confident in their skin. Their aura is brighter! Everyone deserves to feel beautiful and be recognized… just as we admire art in a gallery, hence, The GLO Gallery.

I specialize in healthy and customized skin care. I educate my clients on how to love their skin while clearing it of acne and hyperpigmentation or loving it through the aging process.

I want my clients to know that my passion for skin care is much deeper than vanity; it is about self-preservation and self-care through caring for the largest organ in their bodies.

What sets me apart from other esthetician’s is my attention to detail and the creative experience of the intimate exchange that happens when visiting me as an esthetician. It’s a vulnerable place to be in. So I’m not ever judging a client; the whole point is to be educated on how to do better. I have branded myself as “Your Personal Skin Curator and Brow Sculptor” because every client has a canvas that I am helping them to magnify. I offer customized skin care services, including facials, waxing, brow services, and body treatments. I always want to educate myself on treatments that will benefit my clients in the long run, not just instant gratification.

I want people to know that quality skincare is attainable for everybody. I promote “Skin Equity” for melanated individuals because the industry has always catered to, centered around and highlighted Eurocentric beauty.

I technically don’t believe in LUCK. I believe in KARMA. The intentions in which you move and what you put out in the universe are what you will ultimately receive… I choose to be authentic, vulnerable, and transparent. I am fortunate and abundant in everything I do. And everything that I will do.