Words by Josiah Hartline
Authors’s Note: I first met Kim at a boxing match. Quite the unexpected place but through our shared community and passion for fitness, we started chatting and I knew that I wanted to learn more about her journey. I had heard from a friend that she had an excellent practice and frankly from her excellent skin I knew she had the knowledge to have an impact here in Greenville. Very blessed to have met Kim and I hope you enjoy reading more about her story.
Today’s Highlight: Kim Bertrand
Some businesses are built to scale quickly. Others are built to hold people. Kim never set out to start a skincare company because she loved products or trends. She didn’t grow up dreaming about facials or owning a spa. What she was searching for, coming out of high school, was something that felt real—something that didn’t require her to force herself into a version of life that never quite fit. Like a lot of people her age, she felt the pressure of the expected path, but as she put it, “I didn’t want to do what I was supposed to do because it didn’t feel right. I was watching everybody follow it, and nobody looked fulfilled or happy or satisfied. I didn’t want that.” That instinct—to resist compliance for its own sake—would guide nearly every decision that followed, including her move to the Upstate.
A Hallway Moment That Changed Everything
Kim’s introduction to skincare didn’t come from passion. It came from curiosity. While working as an enrollment director at a trade school in Texas, she was tasked with showing prospective students different programs. One day, she opened the door to the aesthetics wing and caught a glimpse of a facial in progress. The room was dim. Candles were lit. Music played softly. The esthetician looked calm, grounded, unhurried. “I remember thinking, that’s what she does for a living?” Kim said. “She looked peaceful. She didn’t look stressed. And I didn’t know anything at eighteen, but it looked like something I wanted.” That moment stayed with her. What began as curiosity turned into commitment, and over time, into calling.
Learning That Skincare Is About People
As Kim trained and worked in the industry, something became clear quickly: clients didn’t just show up with skincare concerns. They showed up carrying stress, grief, insecurity, exhaustion. The treatment room became a place where people slowed down, talked honestly, and felt cared for. “I didn’t feel called necessarily to heal skin,” she explained. “Although that’s what I’m very good at. It was the interpersonal relationships. It taught me a lot about people—about love, compassion, empathy. People need it.” Skincare, for Kim, was never just about skin. She spent six years in Dallas working within a franchise spa system, learning leadership, mentorship, and structure, before eventually moving to San Diego, where Smartface would take root—but not without resistance.
When the System Pushes Back
In San Diego, Kim struggled to find a workplace that aligned with her values. She laughs about it now, but she’s direct about the reality: “When you have an entrepreneurial mindset, you’re not a good employee.” She constantly saw ways things could be improved—how teams were treated, how success was defined—and those questions weren’t always welcome. Eventually, the pattern became obvious. “I couldn’t find one that fit my values or my vision for how I wanted to treat employees,” she said. “So I had to start my own.” Smartface officially opened in 2017 after years of growing a personal clientele. The business expanded quickly. Employees came on. Revenue increased. By 2022, the company was on track for its biggest year yet. Then everything unraveled.
Collapse, Clarity, and Rebuilding
That spring, Kim walked into work to find her entire team gone. Nearly eighty percent of the business disappeared overnight. It was the kind of moment that could have ended everything. One newly hired esthetician stayed. Kim remembers standing at the front desk, stunned, when her teammate looked at her and said, “We got this.” That sentence mattered more than any business plan. “That should have ended me,” Kim said, “but it didn’t.” Instead, it marked the beginning of a slower, deeper rebuild—one rooted less in output and more in stewardship. “My first company was built with paper, straw, wood, hay,” she explained. “The testing fires came and burned it down. So I started rebuilding with materials that can’t be burned.”
Skincare That Serves
That shift eventually found language in a simple phrase: Skincare That Serves. At its core, it means service in every direction. It means caring for the people who work alongside her with the same intentionality she brings to clients. “When I started, I trained my team to be revenue generators only,” Kim said. “I was chasing a dollar amount. I didn’t understand what stewarding your team really meant.” Her long-term vision now is different—one where estheticians can build stable, fulfilling lives instead of burning out in an industry that rarely rewards longevity. It also means service beyond the business itself.
Project 5:14 and Giving Back
Through an initiative called Project 5:14, Kim is working toward directing a portion of Smartface’s proceeds back into the community. The name comes from Matthew 5:14—“You are the light of the world.” The vision isn’t fully formed yet, and Kim is open about that. “This is none of what I’ve created because I’m great at anything,” she said candidly. “The level of success my company has achieved is because God is working through it.” Some of that vision is deeply personal. Kim spent ten years in an abusive relationship, and the desire to help women reclaim independence—financially and otherwise—has stayed close to her heart. “I want to put money into the hands of people who are going to do good,” she explained, whether that looks like grants for women starting businesses, support for girls entering esthetician school, or partnerships with local organizations already serving the community. Rather than forcing a finished structure, she’s allowing the mission to take shape organically, guided by faith and timing.
Finding Home in Greenville
That same openness guided her move to Greenville. Kim didn’t relocate because of a job or a market opportunity. “It didn’t even feel like an idea,” she said. “It was just like—you’re doing this.” She hadn’t visited Greenville before booking a flight. On the plane, she casually looked up the housing market, connected with a realtor while landing, and made an offer on a home before flying back. On January 1st, she drove away from California. A few days later, she arrived in the Upstate. She spent her first months here observing—working from coffee shops, listening to conversations, watching how people interacted. “I learned really quickly how robust and heartfelt the small business community is here,” she said. “I missed people. I missed working one-on-one.” Eventually, she realized she wanted to build something local again.
Smartface Today
When Kim asked online about potential spaces, an unusual opportunity surfaced: a turnkey suite in Greer, above a doctor’s office, with seven treatment rooms, a lobby, and room to grow if growth ever came. “That never happens,” she said. “You don’t just stumble into something built like that.” Today, Smartface operates in Greer near the Thornblade area, grounded in the same philosophy that shaped it years ago, refined by experience. Services are intentionally simple. Clients choose time, not treatments. “A lot of people don’t know what they need—and that’s okay,” Kim explained. “My consultation is extremely thorough. The entire treatment is built around the client.” The plan is built with you, not for you.
Looking Ahead
Right now, success looks quieter than it once did. Kim isn’t chasing volume. She’s building relationships. Meeting people. Letting the business grow at a pace that feels earned. “I’m defining success right now as connection,” she said. “How do I contribute to this community?” When asked where she sees herself in five years, Kim doesn’t offer a rigid plan. “I do know that God knows,” she said simply. What she hopes is clear: that Project 5:14 will have tangibly changed lives, that Smartface will be a place known for care and integrity, and that growth—if it comes—will come naturally. In a culture obsessed with speed and certainty, Kim is choosing something different. She’s building slowly. She’s serving deeply. And she’s trusting that the rest will follow.
Connect With Smartface
If Kim’s approach to care resonates with you—whether you’re curious about skincare, interested in her philosophy, or simply want to connect—she welcomes conversation. You can find Smartface Brows & Skincare online or reach out directly at @smartface_gvl to learn more and start that dialogue.
If you are a local business and want your story told, you can reach out to me directly at josiah@upstate.press. It’s our goal to make a living archive of all the good things going on in Greenville so if you are a mover and shaker in our great community I want to talk to you! Shoot me an message today
