Kathleen Shiffert

Kathleen Shiffert, a resident of West Reading, PA, is a hospice nurse. As one who works with those nearing the end of their journey in life, it is perhaps one of the most rewarding, and yet demanding professions, one can aspire to. It is full of joyful and painful moments, often at the same time, and requires a strong and caring heart to persevere. In a field where one is constantly reminded of how short time is, it’s important to learn to appreciate the beauty in life and in doing the simple things that make yourself and others happy.

As a young adult from a family of nurses, Kathleen always knew she wanted to be a nurse, too. She enrolled in nursing school straight after high school and has spent the last 23 years in home health care as a hospice nurse.  She works full time, from 4:30pm to 8am, caring for others in their homes, making sure they are comfortable and at ease.

Although she may not have realized it at the time, the world of eyelash application would soon prove a natural “extension” for her caring nature. “I wanted to have longer lashes myself,” Kathleen says as to why she looked into lash extension training. At the time, no one did them in her area so she researched training programs and happened across Xtreme Lashes®. As a nurse, her standards were high in selecting a company to train with. “I liked your policy on who could do them and that you don’t even sell supplies without the training. I really liked the standards and the educational program,” she says.

After taking her initial training in April of 2006, Kathleen practiced and prepared for Certification by applying lashes for free to everyone she knew. Although her first set of Certification photos didn’t qualify due to clarity, she says this didn’t deter her. In fact, it impressed her. “Again, I appreciated the strictness of the company,” she tells us. Her next photo submissions did qualify for Certification and shortly after Kathleen signed up for an Advanced Training to improve her technique and expand her creativity. “It makes such a big difference,” she says of her Advanced Training. “Shaping and being able to highlight effectively, although it takes awhile to master.”

Now a seasoned veteran of lash styling, Kathleen is still settling in to her second full time career. She juggles caring for her Hospice patients in the evenings and her Lash clients in the days. After working from home for a period of time and spending a brief stint styling lashes in a local salon, Kathleen opened her own lash styling location, Luring Lashes, on April 1st of this year.

While her nursing days may be numbered (she hopes to pursue lash styling as her sole business soon, now that she has opened a permanent location) she is destined to retain the lessons she has learned in that career. She embraces the philosophy that doing something simple, if it makes you feel better, is worthwhile. Outer beauty can have a profound effect on a person’s inner confidence. Never is that more apparent than with recovering cancer patients. Kathleen offers the first full set of lashes for free to anyone recovering from chemotherapy treatment, at any time. She just loves making people feel better, any way she can. “I love how happy the people are when they come and they have this transition.”

To help her new lash venture reach its full potential, Kathleen is currently advertising in the newspaper and on several wedding sites, including The Knot. She is also planning to join her local chamber of commerce. She has been featured on a local cable show, Comcast Tonight, and applied lashes for the show’s producer. With a steady 25 clients on her roster at present, she is looking forward to the growth her recent expansion will bring.

With two full careers demanding much of her time, Kathleen admittedly doesn’t have a moment for much else these days. Her off hours are spent with her husband, two daughters and her new granddaughter. She’s also passing on the lash legacy to her youngest daughter. Her youngest is just finishing up training as a medical assistant in order to join the Xtreme Lashes® family in the near future.

Kathleen will surely pass along not just her passion for lashes, but also her passion for people to her daughter. She has dedicated her life to helping others in a number of ways and found the intrinsic reward in doing so. She truly loves doing the little things that make others feel better, feel happier and, yes, even feel more beautiful.