The Breakthrough That Built an Empire: Desarae’s Decision to Rewrite Her Story
Written by: Lauren Gonzales
When you meet Desarae Marhofer, the powerhouse founder and CEO behind Beautiful You Skincare Academy, you’re immediately struck by her warmth, composure, and undeniable strength. She’s the kind of woman who radiates quiet confidence, the kind you only earn by surviving storms most people never see.
Today, she oversees multiple esthetics academy campuses across Southern Colorado, leads a thriving studio, and empowers hundreds of women to build careers in the beauty industry. But her journey didn’t start with success. It started with struggle, soul-searching, and a moment of divine clarity in the most unexpected place.
Growing Up & Searching for Direction
Desarae is a proud Pueblo, Colorado native. But unlike many entrepreneurial success stories, she doesn’t sugarcoat the truth:
“I wasn’t a great student growing up,” she admits.
School didn’t come naturally, and despite her parents’ encouragement to pursue college, she found herself drifting, still unsure of who she wanted to be or what path she wanted to follow.
That lack of direction led her into relationships and circles that didn’t serve her. She became surrounded by people and habits that pulled her away from her potential, and eventually, she entered into a relationship with a man who became increasingly abusive.
It was a chapter marked by fear, confusion, and emotional exhaustion. And yet, in the middle of it all, she kept searching for purpose, even if she didn’t yet have the words for it.
Breaking Points & New Beginnings
After one terrifying night, Desarae moved to Fort Collins, hoping distance and a fresh start might change everything. She tried college again. She tried to build a new life, but when school still didn’t click and she flunked out, she returned to Pueblo, feeling defeated, directionless, and slipping back into familiar patterns. She reconnected with her abusive partner, who was arrested soon after, pulling her deeper into a cycle she didn’t know how to escape.
Back at home with her parents, still tethered to an unhealthy relationship, she felt completely lost.
“I felt hopeless,” she remembers. “I didn’t know what else to do or who I was supposed to become.”
And then came the moment that changed everything.
A Divine Answer
One day, she drove to the Canon City jail to visit her boyfriend. On the drive, exhausted by the weight of her life, she whispered a desperate prayer:
“God, if there is more for me in this world than this, please show me.”
She walked into the visitation room as she always did, expecting nothing to be different, but sitting across from her boyfriend was a woman she didn’t recognize, his mother.
Desarae sat down beside her. They talked. And then, almost out of nowhere, his mother asked her:
“What do you want to do with your life?”
In that question, Desarae felt something in her shift. She realized she didn’t know the answer… and that not knowing was the sign she had been praying for. Then came the moment of divine intervention: His mother looked at her and said, “You should be an esthetician.”
Desarae had never considered it. Never even thought about the beauty industry as an option. But in that instant, it felt like the world paused. Something clicked. Something awakened. She walked out of that jail and never went back, because in that moment, she finally believed: God did have a plan for her… and this was the beginning.
Becoming the Woman She Needed When She Was Younger
That moment of clarity cracked open a new chapter. One filled with intention, discipline, and purpose.
Desarae enrolled in esthetics school. She poured herself into learning. She grew as a woman, a professional, and eventually, as a leader. She built her own esthetics studio from scratch, one treatment at a time.
And soon, she realized she wasn’t just meant to provide beauty services…
She was meant to transform lives.
That’s when Beautiful You Skincare Academy was born.
A Closer Look at Beautiful You Skincare Academy
What started as a dream became one of Southern Colorado’s fastest-growing esthetics academies. Beautiful You Skincare Academy (BYSA) stands apart because it was built with intention, not as a traditional beauty school, but as a boutique esthetics academy designed to change the industry from the inside out.
1.) Small Class Sizes, Big Support
Instead of classrooms overflowing with students, BYSA keeps its classes intimate. This ensures individualized attention, hands-on mentorship, and deeper confidence-building for future estheticians.
2.) Hands-On, Real-World Training
From day one, students gain practical experience—not just in treatment techniques like facials, waxing, dermaplaning, peels, and microneedling, but also in real client interactions, client communication, and professionalism.
3.) A Supportive, Empowered Culture
Perhaps the most important pillar: BYSA is built on community, connection, and woman-to-woman empowerment. Students don’t just leave with a license—they leave knowing their worth.
Creating Connection & Lifting Others
What stands out in her leadership is a collaborative mindset. She emphasizes hiring the best from within, mentoring her students long after graduation, and cultivating a culture of genuine support.
Beyond technique, Desarae teaches confidence. She teaches identity. She teaches self-worth.
Her leadership reflects everything she learned the hard way:
That your past does not define your future.
That women are capable of rewriting their story at any moment.
That resilience can be taught.
That skill creates opportunity.
And that support is a lifeline—not a luxury.
Beautiful You Skincare Academy is not just an esthetics school.
It is a safe space. A rebirth place. A launchpad for women who need someone to believe in them.
Desarae’s journey reflects everything we stand for inside the Boss Babe Academy and Boss Babe Networking community.
Just like the Boss Babe mission, Desarae proves that:
You can rise from anything.
You can rewrite your future at any moment.
Community and mentorship can change everything.
Your story is powerful, especially when shared.
Her life is living proof that your dreams don’t have to make sense right away. Sometimes all it takes is one moment of honesty, one whisper for guidance, or one woman believing in you, before you believe in yourself.
And that’s exactly what we cultivate at Boss Babe Networking:
A space where women rise higher together, rewrite their stories, and walk boldly into the purpose meant for them.
