Women really have taken over planet Earth.

57% of college enrollment is girls. Good news for guys, bad news for girls (no wonder the average age for first-time marriages has increased so much).

Guys aged 25-54 are now at the lowest employment since. . .only 81.2%.

This recession and recovery for the first time has excluded guys mostly due to the lack of construction and manufacturing jobs. The slight hope for guys is that guys are more willing to work in a different profession than girls but girls are the ones that have grabbed the jobs in health care and education (the two growing categories) over the past 3 years.

This past Monday one of our favorite guest artists, Eric Lindsey, did a sold-out Balayage class at The Academy. There was only one guy in attendance.

Walk into most salons and look for guy hairdressers. Unless they are the salon owner, they are few and far between.

While I have blogged about this before, the situation has really become exasperated. What happened to guys in the beauty salon industry? And what can we do to get guys back in?

If the PBA is really trying to do something fruitful for our industry besides overcharging its participants for trade shows and contests, perhaps they can get involved in this. We need to bring more hairdressers in from Europe. Most guys I know over the past 25 years are European heritage and virtually all the superstars are as such. Problem is that immigration is handing out Visa’s for hairdressers.

Just as colleges are 95% co-ed and thrive on this, our industry needs a better mix to thrive as well. Guys I know still in the business pull in six figures annually and know how good our profession is.

But how do we bring in guys in the USA that graduate from high school and are looking for a career opportunity? I have some ideas but would love to hear some from you.

Happy Wednesday!

March 16, 2011, Farmington Hills, MI

For Immediate Release

Shellac is attacking the USA and it appears both nail techs and consumers can’t get enough of it. “This is a good thing,” states Jacquie Johnson, VP of Sales for CND, “With all the bad news around the world these past few weeks, we’re thrilled that our Shellac Attacks are good for job growth, consumer spending and enhancing innovation.”

Shellac Attacks! are two hour events sponsored by CND that inform nail techs how to properly apply Shellac, answer questions and give tips to make Shellac the best consumer experience possible. The Industry Source has been holding Shellac Attacks at The Academy for months and has now expanded them to our new Dallas Academy.

“It reminds me of the days that we did Solar Nail classes,” explains Larry Gaynor, President & CEO of TNG Worldwide. “Back then, we had sold out classes upon sold out classes for manicurists looking how to do acrylic nails. The smell was awful but at the time, it was the smell of money. Not since those days have we seen such demand from nail techs for classes. All our classes have been sold out and we keep adding more dates.”

Perhaps the best reason for attending a Shellac Attack class is to learn the secrets of using Shellac properly. One of the secrets explained was to shake the bottle vigorously prior to use. Unlike nail polish, this actually blends the components inside the bottle for thin, consistent application. Another secret was for French Manicures, use a gel brush to create the smile line and if you make a mistake, do it again. One great thing about Shellac is that it doesn’t set until under the light so you can do whatever you want prior to. In all, more than seven secrets and tips were uncovered.

On a side note, we have all Shellac colors in stock and demand is soaring. Enjoy the short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Ra74yrt_I

Happy Wednesday!

Élan Sassoon, son of legendary Vidal Sassoon, decided to continue the family legacy by starting his own company and focusing on quality products and education.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Sojourn is that company. Over the past two days, we had the pleasure of hosting two sold-out hands-on classes and look’and’learn sessions.

Everyone I spoke with loved the presentation, the new techniques they learned and professionalism of the instructors. Although Sassoon cuts can easily take 75 minutes, the trick is to incorporate some of those techniques into everyday cutting where the average appointment is 30-45 minutes. Virtually everyone felt their time and $150 investment were well worth the effort. Even seasoned veteran Andy Bernard, owner of three salon locations, was totally impressed. “Heck, I’m always learning, trying something different.” Andy wasn’t satisfied with one mannequin head, he had two!

What I am most impressed about Sojourn’s education is they get to feed on Sassoon’s talent from all over the USA. This means each time we hold classes at TheAcademy, different instructors show up, each giving a fresh perspective on cutting and styling. Having grown up in the TONI&GUY world, this was their claim to fame. But with them, things changed drastically with the buyout and education suffered. Now with that behind us, we have something even better and it’s very exciting indeed.

If you have a couple minutes to spare, I did a little video clip of the event. Sojourn will be back next month and all classes are nearly sold-out. Life is good for Élan Sassoon and TNG Worldwide.

Happy Wednesday!

Monday was a very special day and night indeed. It’s the day Michael and his COO, Nicole, came to TNG and The Academy and set a new direction for education, products, inspiration and down-to-earth fun.

During the day, Michael’s sold out cutting class was filled with awe-inspired hairdressers. Many commented they learned more in this class than any other. They loved the energy, commitment and devotion Michael shared. It was great to see.

Day followed night with the sold out launch party. Instead of 3 models as originally planned, Michael did 6 models while keeping the audience glued to the stage. Nicole made sure the music was in gear and Michael’s high energy carried him throughout the night.

Here are some photo highlights:

All in all, it was a great success. We are now getting ready for the Label.m launch party and Tiffany featuring DREAMS event October 3 at Andiamo showplace in Warren.

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

2010 launched with thebeautybook, all new nailco gold and incredibly the January/February issue of The Industry Source magazine, the #1 business publication for the pro beauty industry.

We refined the magazine for 2010 to include more stories about our customers and getting our readers more insight into what salon owners are thinking. Don’t worry, business stories abound and we know from many of our customers that they read the magazine from start to finish.

Kemon will continue to be a featured section as more and more hairdressers and colorists across the USA use and experience Kemon products. You will read real stories how Kemon has changed the salon’s perspective and why they are excited once again about pro products.

Also new for 2010 is a complete education calendar featuring both The Academy and S.P.A. Since we offer many unique courses throughout the year and offer CEU credits for many states, we had many requests to include this information. It’s gratifying to know that many professionals come from all over the USA to attend our courses.

Later this year, we will put the entire magazine online and also feature previous articles. I’ll keep you posted when this will happen.

In the meantime, the magazine continues to be complimentary to nailco gold members or $24.95 for an annual subscription. For more info, click on http://www.tngworldwide.com/content/magazine.

As always, your comments are appreciated. Enjoy.

Happy Wednesday!

 

In the midst of the worse recession; in the middle of the slowest month of the year; and when most people are taking vacation days, TNG rocked yesterday like it was the era of prosperity.

The day started with our Kemon on Tour event at the Taylor store. Aaron Michael and Randy once again wowed the group. It was intriguing to witness hairdressers actually learning something new that they thought they mastered over the past 30 years.

We had veterans of 36, 29, 27 and 19 years. Most used Matrix and L’Oreal products and complained about gray coverage, shine and fading. But along the way, they learned about technique, chemistry, color wheels, tone-on-tones, lifting, highlighting, bleach, and most of all, they learned themselves hands-on.

They all fell in love with Kemon. But what I think hairdressers like these are really falling in love with is that someone cares enough to reach out to them and get them excited about color and products again. And even veterans are finally coming around and saying "it’s not too late to learn."

And that’s what I’m most excited about. The Academy was hopping all day with the Kemon "Bob" course. Over 50 were on hand to learn from our Bob experts, Janan Delly and Denisa Cito (Michigan Hairdresser of the Year).

In the S.P.A. Academy, a be PRO advanced makeup workshop was going on where makeup artists were learning new tricks of the trade.

The grand finale was the Moroccanoil launch event at night. I grilled cheeseburgers and salmon burgers while Liz and Dan took care of the details. Anthony, MO’s guest artist dazzled the audience with his 7 languages and humor to go along with the languages. The 150 in the audience soaked up the knowledge and left energized and excited. Special guests on hand were Miss Michigan, Nicole Blaszczyk, as well as Jon Jordan, fashion reporter for WDIV Channel 4.

All in all, nearly 250 industry peers sought out to learn something new, get motivated about their careers and bring a new level of excitement to their salons. When it comes to education, TNG rocks.

Happy Tuesday!