Cosmetology Student Success Story: Francheska Helton

About Francheska Helton

When Francheska Helton was 10 years old, she was already dressing her friends. Not in store-bought outfits, Francheska would dress her friends in gowns she made herself from comforters and blankets, whatever she could find around the house. Fashion, creativity, making people feel something: it has always been her language.

Francheska is more than a creative. Before enrolling at EBC’s Olympia campus, she spent her high school years as an advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, doing Native American activism through her school’s Native Studies Program. She interviewed author K.A. Cobell about her thriller involving MMIW. She competed across the country in DECA, a business and marketing club where she got to flex her entrepreneurial instincts on a national stage. She also explored graphic design, designing shirts and logos that brought ideas to life visually. Francheska has always had things to say and has never been afraid to say them.

So when it came time to figure out what came next, beauty school might have surprised some people. It did not surprise her. “I have always loved everything cosmetic, and making people feel beautiful felt like a great way to reflect that into my work,” she says. The challenge was that the environment she grew up in did not always treat beauty as a legitimate path. A traditional four-year university was the expectation. But Francheska had parents who told her to follow her heart, and two weeks after graduating from River Ridge High School, she did exactly that. She applied to a handful of beauty schools, toured several campuses, and when she walked into EBC’s Olympia location, something clicked. The environment felt right, the location was close to home, and the reviews backed it up. She did not need any more convincing.

The Evergreen Experience

Francheska’s strengths in the salon come in two forms: highlights and brow waxing. Both are services she has embraced not just for the technique, but for what they do for a person. Highlights transform. She loves taking what a client brings her and sending them out the door brighter, happier, and more confident than when they walked in. Brows are just as powerful in their own way. “Eyebrows completely shape the face,” she says. “They can drag things down or be too high, so finding that perfect harmony is one of my favorite parts of beauty services.” For Francheska, getting the details right is not optional. In her world, there is no such thing as good enough. It has to be perfect.

Dimensional Summer Brunette Hair by Francheska

That standard carries through everything she does. Outside of hair, she goes out of her way to share knowledge with her clients about skin, makeup, and inner health. Having worked at Sephora for nearly a year alongside her studies, she brings a depth of cosmetics knowledge that goes well beyond what most students her age have had the chance to develop.

The person who has meant the most to her during her time at EBC is her instructor, Ms. Nicole. “She has been absolutely phenomenal for me,” Francheska says. “I always have so many questions and she always answers with a smile. She is just such a light in my life.” Francheska jokes that Ms. Nicole is her beauty school mom, someone she can bring anything to, beauty-related or not, and always feel supported. Her cosmo friends have been a big part of the journey too. They make every day easier, and that sense of community has been one of the most valuable parts of the whole experience.

The Next Step

Francheska’s vision for her future is one of the most thoughtful we have heard. After graduation, she plans to work independently, have her own space to do hair, and continue building her skills. She is also considering working on the side as a receptionist or barista while she grows her clientele, and she has her eye on eventually pursuing a college degree in marketing to strengthen the business side of things.

Dimensional Blonde Hair By Francheska

But her biggest dream is something far more personal. One day, she wants to open her own salon at her tribe’s casino and resort, a space she already has a name for: Sacred. The name is intentional. It speaks to the spiritual and emotional connection that Indigenous people share with their hair, and Francheska wants her salon to honor that. It is a vision rooted in culture, community, and everything she has been building toward since she was a kid turning blankets into ballgowns.

Her advice for anyone considering enrolling is honest and real: “If anything in you feels called to do beauty school, try it. But go in with a confident mindset, because it is not easy. Your confidence will be tested, and you have to be able to pick yourself up and keep moving. But if you love beauty and want to serve others with it, this is the place.”

Francheska Helton is expected to graduate from EBC’s Olympia campus in September 2026. Follow her work on Instagram at @_beauty.by.fran. We cannot wait to see Sacred come to life!

If you are interested in pursuing a career in the beauty industry, check out our Cosmetology program or Schedule a Virtual Tour at one of our campuses: Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Everett, North Seattle, Renton, Olympia, and Yakima.