At 19, many are still figuring out what they want to do, earning cash at an interim job packing shelves, halfway up a mountain in a foreign country during a gap year, or stuck into the first year of a university qualification still to decide what they’ll major in.
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But Kylie Trevaskis, née Delanty, had her sights firmly fixed on her goal.
She knew she wanted to open Shepparton’s first day spa and, at 20, she did.
The founder of Wellsprings said it was one of those youthful decisions she jumped to without overthinking.
“I had a vision for what I wanted to create from a very young age; the idea of creating a one-stop-shop was a very unique concept and over the years I slowly built that dream,” Mrs Trevaskis said, as she reflected on the enormity of what her younger self achieved.
“I think when you’re younger, there’s so much time ahead of you and you just do it without letting all of the noise in.”
Despite the bold move, she didn’t go into it blindly.
She says she always felt at the forefront by bringing the day spa to Shepparton.
“Technology was the biggest change over the 30 years,” Mrs Trevaskis said.
“When I started, there was no appointments on computers; we still had appointment books and grey lead pencils and erasers, written client cards, answering machines on your telephones.
“The way we serviced people really changed, too. It became not just about the aesthetics of the person.
“It wasn’t just about making people look good. It was about educating people on how to stop, slow down, refill the energy cup and find fulfilment in the results of that process.”
Mrs Trevaskis sold Wellsprings Day Spa earlier this year, handing the reins to her friend and former employee Carly Wood, who bought the business.
She said selling up wasn’t a decision she’d made lightly, as the business had been her baby seven days a week for 30 years.
Still, after celebrating her 50th birthday last year, she’d had a niggling voice calling her to another phase of her working life.
“I had a month training Carly full-time and then a month at home and then started to get a little bit itchy to do something,” Mrs Trevaskis said.
“I had been playing around with a plan for my post-Wellsprings life and had been training in those skills over the last 12 months before selling.
“I followed my gut again and spontaneously flew over to the (United) States and met with one of the world’s top-five colour masters, Carla Mathis, and she agreed to train me one-on-one in colour analysis in a way which really spoke to me and that aligned with the holistic way I wanted to deliver my new services to the community.”
Mrs Trevaskis spent five days with The Style Core, working 9am to 6pm each day training her eye, learning how to do full colour analysis.
“Colour analysis is something I actually trained in 30 years ago, so it wasn't unfamiliar, but 30 years ago, it was a lot less involved to what it is now,” she said.
“I have a very different approach to colour analysis and I won’t be putting my guests into a box or a season as such. I will be creating unique colour palettes for people that resonate soul deep that will take in so many more aspects — still including their unique inherent tones, but also their personalities and their colour psychology.
“Once armed with this knowledge, it can be used to help shop for clothing, makeup, hair colour, jewellery tones and accessories.”
Mrs Trevaskis said she felt the pull to colour analysis again last year when she trained as a personal stylist and a small component of the course covered colour.
“I’ve worked as a make-up artist for 30 years, so colours are a very natural thing for me,” she said.
“Last year I completed my training as a personal stylist.
“After working with women for 30 years, I see this as an extension of my past and a new way to help guide and support women and men in another way.”
Mrs Trevaskis recently launched her new business, The Colour and Style Collective, and has opened her books.
“I now do body analysis prescriptions, so I can do education around teaching you how to dress for your body shape. For example, what necklines you should wear in your shirts and tops, what skirt shapes, what pant styles, what dress styles, how long your jewellery should be, all of that sort of thing,” she said.
“It's all very much going through linear patterns, looking for shapes within your face, within your bone structure, and balancing your proportions to design a wardrobe you can wear with confidence.”
Still living in Shepparton for the time being, Mrs Trevaskis will split her time working between the town and Melbourne.
She works out of the Runway Room with Alex Fevola in Armadale and potentially will be offering her services in Essendon as well.
“I also offer shopping experiences where I can take you on a personal styling session to complete your wardrobe either in Shepparton or Melbourne, and next year I will be hosting my first styling tour to Vietnam where I will take a group of women to some amazing tailors and jewellery designers for unique, custom-made items that I will personally oversee.”
In her career, Mrs Trevaskis has worked doing make-up at New York and London Fashion Weeks and has just recently been perched in the Birdcage at Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival doing make-up touch-ups for guests.
She says what you invest in yourself will come back to you tenfold.
“I still feel that about this new business that I’m offering,” Mrs Trevaskis said.
“I’m taking the years of experience and knowledge from running Wellsprings and creating a new version that I know will continue to elevate people’s self-esteem, confidence and happiness in a different way through this new venture.
“It’s just another way to care for people and that has been and still is my life’s journey.”
Senior journalist