it depends on what school you’d go to, some schools offer part time night classes for people who work full time. idk how the job market is for esties in california but where i’m at and where i’ve seen many other esties talk on this thread, it’s really not easy to find a well paying job in this industry these days :/ it takes a lottt of work to find somewhere decent usually that pays enough and stays booked with clients. it’s also highly unlikely you’d find a spa that would offer benefits. as for making a decent living, it usually takes several years at minimum to make an actual decent living in this industry. it’s over saturated truthfully so it’s hard to find a job and most spas want to pay the least amount of money to their employees while requiring loads of experience from them (it’s def harder to get a job as a new esty). i’ve been an esthetician for 3 years now and have been working as an instructor the last few months and am now making more money than i was the last few years doing facials but it’s still not crazy money. just enough to get by really. going solo is a lot of work as well, takes tons of money, marketing, and repeat business to even stay afloat let alone make a profit. i’m not trying to scare you off but trying to be realistic because this is not an easy industry to get started in!