If you’re deciding whether competing is worth the time, the entry fee, and eight weeks of documenting a result, you deserve an answer built on what players have actually told us, not on a promise. We made the bigger-picture case in How Winning The Skin Games Changes Everything for an Esthetician, so this post is the evidence side, with names, quotes, and links back to where they said it. If you want the full season first, start with Everything You Need to Know About The Skin Games 2026-27 Season.
Pricing: what Tammy Duncan told us
Most advice on how to price esthetician services starts with your costs and your local market, and both matter, but neither one gives you much to point at when a client asks why your rate went up. In October we profiled Tammy Duncan of Skin by Tammy Duncan in Oklahoma City, who competed in four categories at TSGx, our 2025/26 season: Compassionate Esthetics, Age Management, Acne, and Lash Lift. The profile says “the impact on her business was immediate,” and that “she was able to confidently raise her prices.”
She didn’t give a percentage, so I’m not going to make one up. The word I’d hold onto is “confidently.” The same profile notes that “her before and after photos showed real transformation,” and a documented result is a much easier thing to price against than a feeling.
Client trust: what players said in their own words
Kamila Koziara, our 2019 Esthetician of the Year (the 2018/19 season), was asked in an interview how The Skin Games had helped her business. Her answer: “Clients are more trusting and comfortable with me as a result, and I get more clients who wanted to change their life.”
You don’t have to take home a title to get something out of it, either. Faith Yanez was a top 10 finalist at the 2019 event in Las Vegas, which was the 2018/19 season, and she told us, “My business has definitely increased since being a top 10 finalist in 2019.” She also said, “I was able to get exposure and my clients love watching the progress,” which she shared in her interview. She came back for TSG2020, and the TSG2020 winners page lists her in four categories: first place in Pigmentation, second place in Holistic, and third place in both Acne and Compromised Skin. Melinda Rosario, who describes participating and placing, put the practical side simply: “I can show potential clients what we can achieve in just 8 weeks!” That’s in her interview. And Voula Makropoulos, in hers, said, “My clients love to hear all about The Skin Games and what I’m doing next.”
New doors: sponsors, jobs, and invitations
Tammy’s profile also says she “was also offered a position as the esthetician at M&K Willow Salon,” and that “the skincare brands Tammy was using believed in her enough to sponsor her.” Kamila told us, “It has made a huge difference in my professional career as I get so many invitations for interviews and conferences.”
Our May post goes further with two more winners. It says Jennalee Dahlen, the 2025 winner, used her platform to scale Yoso Wellness into a business with a team of 13 professionals, and that Diana Diep won the New Esthetician category in 2023 with barely a year of licensing behind her, which the post says fast-tracked her path into laser tech specialties, spa ownership, and a seat on the judging panel. [[VERIFY: both claims come from our May 21, 2026 post with no source cited. The post spells her name “Diana Deep” in the text and “Diana Diep” in the image caption. Confirm both claims and the spelling with each winner before this goes live.]]
What none of this promises
Nobody quoted here put a revenue figure on it, and I’m not going to either. Not everyone in this post won a title: Faith was a finalist when she gave that quote, Melinda says she placed, and Tammy’s profile doesn’t mention a title at all, which is exactly why the question is better asked as what competing is worth than what a trophy is worth. Results vary with your market, your category, and the work you put into your case study, so treat these as what real players said happened for them, not as a forecast for you.
Where to start
If any of this sounds like the business you want to build, TSG XI, our 2026-27 season, is the one to plan for, and the season guide lists every category and how to enter: Everything You Need to Know About The Skin Games 2026-27 Season.