Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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It was February 2007, and for about a month Krissy Simmons had been living her dream of attending
CHIC University of Cosmetology an Empire School in Portage, Michigan. “Things were going fabulously,” Krissy recalls. “I was enjoying
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school, and it was exactly what I was looking for—an outlet for my creative side. Plus I was meeting a great group of people!”
However, at this point Krissy was dealt a double blow: her great-grandmother, to whom she was very close, passed away, and two weeks later her grandfather took sick. Krissy’s parents went to Texas to be with her grandfather, leaving Krissy to look after her teenaged brother as she continued to attend school 40 hours a week and work roughly 20 hours a week. “This was probably the most stressful time of, not only my schooling career, but my entire 26 years,” Krissy says. “My mother was a wreck, as were her five brothers and sisters, and they were all 1,200 miles away.” Sadly, Krissy’s grandfather died within weeks.
“We had the funeral, and things slowly got back to normal,” notes Krissy. Then in April, two days before her
beauty school junior finals, her great-uncle, brother to her grandfather who had just died, also passed away. Says Krissy, “I spent my junior final ‘break’ out of town, attending a funeral and family dinners.” Next time, Krissy will tell us about a different type of stress when she takes her first client at the school’s salon.
Friday, August 22, 2008
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Why choose beauty? Here at
BeautySchoolAdvisor.com, we have a whole section on choosing to go to
beauty school. But whenever possible I also like to give you the opportunity to hear directly from current and past
cosmetology school students.
Another one of our websites,
FirstChair.com, includes testimonials from eight students at
Kohler Academy in Arizona. They each very beautifully recall the factors that influenced them when they were considering what to do with their lives. Two themes seem to be played over and over: 1) they want to help people feel good about themselves, and giving them a great look does the trick, and 2) they need an outlet for their own creativity.
Those dual goals echo what I’ve heard from so many professional stylists years after
cosmetology school has become just a memory. As a group, hairdressers are some of the most giving people I’ve ever met. Their hearts truly sing when they see a client leave their chair thrilled with their new look. Even the most quiet cosmetologist, who may not seem outgoing, is a “people person” when it comes to a one-to-one relationship with the client. And as for creativity, hair designers are absolutely as creative as artists who express themselves in drawing, paint or crafts. So go to FirstChair.com’s
“Kohler Academy: Why I Chose Beauty” and see whether you connect with what these students have to say.
Photo is courtesy of Kohler Academy
Monday, August 18, 2008
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I was reading a
New York Times article about twins who attend the same college, and it got me thinking about not just siblings but also friends who choose the same
cosmetology school. Is it a good idea?
Beauty schools tend to be pretty tight
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cultures, with everyone on similar schedules. It’s not like a big university where you may not even see each other for weeks.
The negatives revolve around starting your professional life not quite as independently as you would if you were flying solo. If you’re in class every day with perhaps your best friend from high school, and especially if you’re sharing an apartment or even just a carpool, are you allowing yourself enough room for personal growth? It’s exhilarating to meet new people who are as passionate about hair and beauty as you are. So this can be an easy time to form lifelong friendships, which you’re less likely to do with your friend sitting next to you.
But there are so many positives as well. That carpool or roommate can save you a lot of money. Plus, it’s motivating to have someone familiar going through the same classroom experiences, doing the same homework assignments and learning the same cool techniques that you are.
Cosmetology school takes only about a year to complete, so unlike a four-year college this situation is pretty temporary. When you graduate, the two of you can always work in different salons, so I think on balance it’s a very workable idea. Check out this
discussion of twins attending together.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
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While you’re researching your options for attending
beauty school, waiting for your classes to start or even already in the middle of your
cosmetology school studies, I suggest getting a job as a salon receptionist, which today we refer to as a front desk specialist or associate. To get hired for this position, you may need no more qualification than a friendly smile and an interest in beauty.
Working in a salon will heighten your insight into how the business operates. You’ll soak up the culture; learn the lingo; compare the duties of stylists, skin care professionals and nail techs; and observe the work ethic and habits that lead to success in this field. You won’t believe how much it will add to your cosmetology education. And let’s not forget that you could use the money!
When you graduate from
beauty school and get your license, if you’ve done a good job at the front desk the salon owner will almost certainly offer you a job as a technician. By then you will know so much about the retail products that you’ll be recommending as a licensed professional, and you’ll already be friends with your coworkers. But beware: you may find that you love working reception and want to stick with it! More and more, the front desk associates I talk to hold a cosmetology license and can talk to clients knowledgeably about their hair care needs. It can be a great career in itself.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
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We left off with Krissy Simmons as she was about to ask her parents whether she could move back home while attending
cosmetology school. Her school,
CHIC University of Cosmetology an Empire School, was only 15 minutes from her parents'
Portage, Michigan, home. It would be perfect—well, perfect if she weren't already 24 years old. She liked her independence, and her parents were not used to shelling out living expenses for their oldest daughter; two of their three other children were also in college. But her parents, and Krissy's brother still in high school, welcomed Krissy home.
"My parents made me feel good about the fact that I was continuing my education and not just living at home for a free ride," Krissy reports. "I went to school 40 hours a week and tried to work 20 hours a week in retail. Believe me, the money I made just went right back into my gas tank. Although my parents couldn't pay tuition, they were amazing in other ways. Gotta love free rent + utilities! They also helped with car insurance and occasionally car payments. I kept thinking that I should be on my own two feet, but my family never made me feel as though I owed them anything. I couldn't ask for better parents, let me tell ya!"
January arrived, and Krissy started
cosmetology school. At that point she had no idea that life had a few challenges in store for her in the year to come. Next time!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
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A Georgia massage therapist I was interviewing over the phone the other day isn’t the first to tell me that she went to
massage therapy school and got into the profession largely because her hands seem to have healing powers beyond her
own understanding. There’s a spirituality that accompanies this career more often than it does other
professional cosmetologist occupations such as hairdressing and nail care.
“I’ve been told that I have a healing touch,” Jo Ann Taylor told me. “I’m very spiritual; I basically let God handle it. I open my heart and don’t get in the way of the work, although I don’t talk about that with my clients.” Relying on her hands to perform the perfect massage for each client, Jo Ann finds deep-relaxation massages easier to give than a light-touch or flowing rub like the Swedish massage. “I have to really work at getting my fingers not to feel everything,” she explained.
As a massage progresses, both therapist and client can enter that sort of “place you go” when you let go of worries and concerns. At
massage therapy school, you’ll learn to let your hands direct the procedure as they feel for knots and tension and then soothingly remove all of that. This gives clients an experience they really can’t get any other way. People like Jo Ann are perfectly suited for the career. If you feel that your hands have a bit of magic to them, you might try massage therapy as well.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
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When you graduate from
beauty school and become a licensed cosmetologist, you’ll have nearly a 50/50 shot of being self-employed rather than working for someone else. In 2007, 46% of the 1.7 million active
professional cosmetologists
worked for themselves, according to “Job Demand in the Cosmetology Industry,” a report released late last year by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences (NACCAS).
That figure includes salon owners and freelancers but primarily what we refer to in the industry as “independent contractors.” When you work independently within a salon, if you do hair you lease a station with a chair; for nails, you have a table; and if you’re an esthetician you rent a room. Regional trends play into this, with west coast cosmetologists most likely to be self-employed.
Beauty schools are responding to this reality by offering more business-related courses. For example, the
Empire School in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania, has partnered with nearby Bucknell University to hold business classes onsite at the cosmetology school to provide students with the skills they’ll need to run a small business. That includes everything from negotiating a lease, securing insurance and following government regulations to marketing your business, handling the accounting and purchasing products and equipment. And what if you become a salon employee instead? You may not be buying furniture, but you’re still in charge of getting business into your chair or your room. Any business training you receive will be a huge help to you, I promise.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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I know that for some of you nails are the true passion, and I encourage you to find a
nail technology school or a nails program within a general
cos
metology school that provides you with the education to go have a fun career doing nails. I guess it’s no surprise that girls who enjoy all things nail are out there blogging. There’s one blogger in particular I’d like to introduce to you if you don’t already know her.
Michelle Mismas is an Ohio accountant who started blogging in early 2007 about her fixation on nails. She describes her blog,
All Lacquered Up, as “the premier source for nail polish reviews and news on the web. I’m Michelle, a self-proclaimed lacquer fanatic and your guide to nail info, tips and tricks.”
I learned about Michelle through the people at China Glaze, who picked up on Michelle because of her particular affection for China Glaze products. But Michelle doesn’t blog to push products; she talks about the polishes and accessories in a very unbiased manner. She really wants to help people to have beautiful nails. If you’re thinking about enrolling in
nail technology school, I think you’ll enjoy the discussions. Michelle gets lots of comments—lucky her ;)—so if you want to add your voice to the discussion you’ll have plenty of company. Another website to check out just for the visuals is
nailpassion.com. If you have an opinion on how long is too long for nail length, leave me a comment!
Friday, July 25, 2008
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When we left Krissy Simmons, she had been accepted to the January 2007 program at
CHIC University of Cosmetol
ogy an Empire School in Portage, Michigan, and was preparing to quit her full-time job in order to accommodate the five-days-a-week, 9-5 type of schedule that
beauty school typically requires. Switching to part-time work, Krissy anticipated major problems paying her tuition. Her parents were unable to help since two of her three younger siblings were also in college. To sort out her options, Krissy made an appointment to meet with Don, CHIC’s head of enrollment.
“Don was the most helpful, understanding, approachable guy!” Krissy recalls. “And let me tell you what he had to deal with every day:)! I didn’t qualify for hardly any financial aid, but Don helped me get as much out of the available student loans as possible. I took out approximately $13,000 in student loans sent to me in quarterly checks. About $9,000 paid for school, with the rest helping me pay bills. Later on, in June 2007, I would finally get a little help from Uncle Sam. Until then, I was on my own.”
At 24, Krissy was used to her independence but knew that moving back home would save her beaucoup bucks. Her parents seemed supportive of her decision to enroll in
beauty school, but would her request to live at home change their attitude? Next time Krissy will let us know how this played out.
Monday, July 21, 2008
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I’m always looking for places you can go for information about attending
beauty school or entering a
cosmetology career, and I just found a great one for you. (Yes, it’s free!) Go to the salon coaching site
www.crystalfocus.com and click on the “Wild Wednesdays” tab. Next, click on the “Upcoming Events” link and then on
Choose Your Career, Pick Your Path, set to air live this Wednesday, July 23, at 7pm eastern time. Fill out your email address, and Crystal Focus will send you a dial-in phone number and access code so you can listen to two interviews live over any phone.
The first interview is w
ith Jim Cox, executive director of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools. Jim will talk about all of the opportunities you’ll have as a professional cosmetologist—beyond just salon work. The second interview is with Paul Barry, who’s very active in staging student hair styling competitions so that you don’t have to wait until you graduate to show your talent. I’ve spoken with both Jim and Paul, and they have a lot of information to share!
I also was talking to the interviewer, Shelly Kovach, who explained that even if you miss the live broadcast you can hear the interview later over your computer or download it as a podcast. You can do the same with past “Wild Wednesday” broadcasts. While you might enjoy them, too, this week’s topic is specifically of interest to current and future
beauty school students. I hope you enjoy it!
Photo: Salon coaches Shelly Kovach (left) and Kristi Valenzuela of Crystal Focus