Salon System educator discusses the vital role of education in the nail space

Lisa Stone, Salon System educator, chats to Scratch about her favourite Salon System courses to teach, how much you should spend on a quality course, and what she thinks is the must-have course for 2022…

Lisa Stone

How long have you been an educator for Salon System and Training Solutions?

I have been teaching with Salon System and Training Solutions for 17 years. I absolutely love my job and even after all these years I still get a buzz and a huge sense of pride working with such an amazing team of professional, talented people who inspire and motivate me every day.

Why should qualified beauty professionals still take courses?

Just because you qualify in an industry doesn’t make you an expert and you will NEVER know everything, as no matter how long you’ve been in the industry you simply NEVER stop learning.

Our industry is constantly changing and evolving, with new techniques and trends shaping and influencing everything that we do, so being qualified is just the start of the journey. Beauty professionals must keep training and learning so you don’t get left behind on trends and techniques, as it’s so easy to full into the trap of complacency.

This means you are able to offer your clients anything new and exciting, and training and up-skilling will keep you ahead. This will also inspire you, motivate you and shows your clients that you’re willing to invest in them too. Also, attending courses helps you network and meet like-minded people that can help boost and build your confidence, making you a much more professional and experienced therapist.

What courses would you suggest beauty pros take in different stages of their career?

If you’re just starting out in the industry, there are many different paths you can take – you may wish to commit fully and attend full- or part-time college or even attend a night school. For people who wish to learn as they earn, then you could go down the apprenticeship route.

Some people may be working and need to learn around their current job, so then attending short courses is the perfect option. Salon System and Training Solutions offer award winning short courses perfect for the beginner.

For more experienced professionals, Training Solutions offer a wide selection of “insight skill building learning courses” that can help you grow and expand your knowledge. This is perfect for refreshing or updating techniques, keeping you motivated and helping you offer the best services to your clients.

Courses that are essential for running a business such as health and safety, business skills, leadership and management, professional standards, first aid, social media, and marketing. Training Solutions group offer some great online courses that can help in many of these areas with online social media course, online marketing your business, online professional standards and online health and safety, which can all can be done in the comfort of your own home.

Would you recommend participating in courses outside of the industry?

I feel extremely passionate about mental health and have undertaken a mindfulness course, which made me motivated to learn to become a mindfulness practitioner, as I could see the benefits this could have on my clients.  This has also allowed me to incorporate mindfulness mediation into my treatments and has helped my clients get the best experience from my services, but it also comes into my teaching and training courses also.  Learning mindfulness can help you personally but also help clients and colleagues and staff.

First Aid is another important course that I feel everyone should do in or out of our industry. I have had to use these important skills on more than one occasion in my working and teaching environment and I’m so grateful I had this training.

Your business will benefit and grow if you can use social media correctly to promote and market your business and reach large amounts of people. These are skills that often need to be learnt so attending online social media and marketing courses will be a great advantage.

Another incredibly valuable course is an online course in skin cancer awareness. MASCED is only £20 and aimed at beauty and hair professionals to help spot the early signs of skin cancer. We see our clients on a regular basis and we are often looking at parts of their body they don’t normally look at. With this valuable training you could potentially save a life and spot if there are any changes in moles or lesions or if anything irregular appears, and advise them to seek medical attention.

How much should a beauty professional spend on education?

I don’t feel you should put a certain amount of money on education; I think it depends more on making sure you dedicate enough time to your learning and collecting a certain amount of CPD points in a year. You don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive courses. Attending trade shows, reading articles, blogs, and watching free webinars all can contribute to your learning.

Look at what will work for your business and clientele, and do your market research before investing in expensive training. Check that you are working with a good training company, make sure the courses are fully accredited, and that you can get insurance. Always do your research.

What are your favourite courses to teach?

I love teaching everything, but I’d say my top 3 courses to teach are:

1. Salon System Essential Waxing. I love showing off Salon System’s wonderful range of waxes and seeing how students work so confidently with it. I love how amazed students are at how painless they can make a treatment when taught the right techniques and working with the correct products.
2. Salon System Lash Lift and Brow Lamination. It’s great to see the instant results from the students. It gives such a wow factor and that gives the students a real buzz to see the techniques happening.
3. Facials and Massage. I’m a very holistic person and I love teaching the A&P (anatomy and physiology). I love the calmness of these courses. I always finish the day feeling very zen like.

What’s the best way to discover courses?

Speak to your manufacturer or check their website. Salon System lists its courses on the website. Talk to or visit your local wholesaler too – as they’ll list their courses in store and online too.  Plus, the Training Solutions website has lots of information focusing on both hair and beauty courses for beginners and experienced advanced therapists.

What do you predict will be the must-have course to attend in 2022?

Lashes and brows! The lash lift is still such a strong requested service along with brow lamination. Both are still very strong trends for 2022.

I strongly feel that therapists will look at training in mindfulness and start to incorporate it into their services too.

I feel we want 2022 to be the year all about looking after you!

Find out more information about Salon System courses here.