Marin Magazine, January 2018.
“REINVENTION”
by Calin Van Paris and photos by Lenny Gonzales
Featuring our Lead Clinical Esthetician, Marin Location, Allison Quistgard, LE
Ten days before the birth of her first son, Allison Quistgard-Scherer woke to discover that half of her face was paralyzed. “I knew what it was, because my cousin had Bell’s palsy before I did,” she says. “It was really a difficult time. We never really realize how much we take our faces, or our looks, for granted.”
As Quistgard-Scherer began to navigate her next steps, she found herself drawn toward the familiarity of her career in tech. After all, this was a field within which she had bounced around for well over a decade, working for companies like Oracle, and ultimately landing the role of vice president of sales for Ethan Lynn Consulting.
But a decade later, at age 47, she gave it all up.
“My paralysis played a huge role in my internal need to make a change,” she says. “Even though I knew I would make a fraction of what I was earning, technology felt empty to me, I needed to be hands-on – literally.” And so the mother of two – now single – went back to school to pursue a career as an esthetician.
“It’s a crazy time to change, you know? Divorced, single mom. It’s expensive to live in Marin,” Quistgard-Scherer says. “I would get myself up early, make a hot breakfast, and day, ‘OK, you guys, Mom’s gotta go to school,’ and I would leave for my school and the two of them would ride their bikes together to theirs.”
Seven years later finds her working as a clinical esthetician and medical assistant at Hayes Valley Medical and Esthetics, a career she balances with time spent on her own company, Sprig and Glow, a website and blog dedicated to wellness, beauty and coaching clients towards healthy skin.
Her advice for those looking to make a change? “Do it now. Life is short. Time flies by. And the one thing we can’t get back is our time.” But we might find surprises: along with a reinvigorated career, Quistgard-Scherer has regained 75 percent of her facial mobility.
Sprigandglow.com | Hayesvalleymed.com
