Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/120653
your niche Those Who Can, Teach What it takes to train future estheticians by Rebecca Jones Sherry Taylor never planned to become an esthetics instructor. She simply set out to learn all she could about her chosen field���medical esthetics���by going to trade shows, listening to speakers, networking, and staying in touch with her mentors. ���Little by little, I started building a reputation where people were calling me to ask my advice,��� Taylor says. So when she got a call from one of her former teachers asking if she would be interested in a newly available instructor position, she wasn���t surprised. ���I thought it might be nice for a short time.��� After she accepted the job in 2000, she fell in love with teaching. ���I do other things as well,��� says Taylor, who is the advanced paramedical skin care instructor for the Florida College of Natural Health in Pompano Beach. ���But I���ve never left teaching.��� Unlike Taylor, Kristy Black, a 14-year veteran teacher at the Ogle School of Hair, Skin & Nails in Arlington, Texas, knew early on that she wanted to teach. ���Teaching was all I wanted to do,��� she says. ���I wanted to help people better themselves.��� Black even went to a special instructor-training program to learn how to teach esthetics. Both women say that being an esthetics instructor is every bit as challenging as other jobs in the field. The hours are more regular and the workload steadier, but the requirement to stay current on new developments is ever pressing. ���People say our industry changes every ��� eople say our industry P day,��� Black says. ���I want to say it changes every hour. Students will come and ask changes every day. I what you think about this product or that want to say it changes treatment, and you have to be up to date.��� Taylor says she spends as much time every hour.��� ���Kristy Black preparing to teach her classes as she spent taking them. ���The first time I teach something, I spend three hours to prepare a two-hour lecture,��� she says. ���The next time it comes around, I���ll take maybe an hour to go over my notes. Some topics are straightforward���the anatomy of the face doesn���t change. But if I���m teaching lasers, I���m always rewriting my notes because there���s always something new to add.��� Because esthetics draws such a diverse pool of Sherry Taylor (center) conducts a practical class. students���from recent high school graduates to second- or third-career learners with advanced For those who can take on this degrees���Taylor says she must constantly demanding role, the job outlook is monitor her teaching style to make sure good. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics she���s connecting. ���If you���re teaching a 50 predicts a 25 percent increase in esthetics year old alongside an 18 year old, their jobs by 2020, and that will lead to a learning styles are completely different. The growing demand for people to train the biggest challenge is to be able to create an newcomers. The need for continuing atmosphere where all feel comfortable and education also drives demand. everybody works synergistically together.��� ���There are definitely a lot of jobs Not all estheticians are suited to being out there,��� Black says. And since schools instructors. Communication skills are often like to hire their own graduates, vital, as is a passion for sharing knowledge those interested in pursuing a job as an and nurturing beginners. Above all, instructor should stay in touch with their instructors must be patient, Taylor says. alma maters. ���Students can be difficult. Sometimes I have students who just don���t have the Rebecca Jones is a longtime newspaper reporter and passion. The most frustrating thing is freelance writer based in when I see something in someone, but Denver, Colorado. Contact her they don���t see it in themselves.��� at killarneyrose@comcast.net. Get connected to your peers @ www.skincareprofessionals.com 11