Milady Director of Marketing and Training, Gerard McAvey
Milady Director of Marketing and Training, Gerard McAvey

Since 1927, Milady has been a leading provider of educational and business training resources for programs in Cosmetology, Esthetics, Barbering, Nail Technology, Makeup, Massage Therapy, Salon & Spa Management and Business Training. Milady has helped more than 10 million beauty professionals achieve their license. There are also many resources available for instructors, including a library of videos and online ebooks and interactive materials. Recently, MODERN SALON spoke with Director of Marketing and Training, Gerard McAvey, about how Milady is evolving to respond to consumer demand and to trends, specifically the call for nail services in salons and the need for education that hairdressers can access anytime, from anywhere.  

MS: Describe your approach to educating the aspiring nail technician.

GM: We’ve seen that the interest in becoming a manicurist and developing the artistic technique is growing. We recognized that we would need to revise our curriculum and work with subject matter experts to figure out what the market is demanding.      

We just revised our whole nail technology curriculum and our stand-alone programs to keep up with what the market is providing and the consumer is requesting. We want to continually accommodate and inspire today’s nail technician student.

Milady released an updated edition of our textbook, “Milady Standard Nail Technology.” It’s the number one book in the marketplace of nail tech programs. In conjunction, we’re also going to be releasing training videos and content on our MiladyPro.com site. Nail technicians have professional development needs and they need hours to keep their license and we want to help them meet them.

MS: The Milady Education Network is now MiladyPro.com.  Tell us more about this professional learning site.

GM: Milady has always been synonymous with high quality education for the beauty and wellness industry and MiladyPro is the next-generation platform to deliver that education. MiladyPro.com is an incredible resource, offering hundreds of articles, webinars and videos from the industry’s top talent.

We know what a day in the life of a stylist is like. Oftentimes, there is very little, if any, free time to take advantage of educational resources that can be digested in five, 10 or 15 minutes.  With robust search functionality, better content filters and a mobile-friendly design, all of the information, resources and tools professionals need for success will be at their fingertips.

MS: Milady announced that future classes on MiladyPro will cover topics such as customer service, marketing techniques, increasing retail and service sales as well as infection control. What will we be seeing coming from some of your expert voices? 

GM: We just announced the release of Razor Cutting Online with Nick Arrojo, four all-new online classes available exclusively through MiladyPro. These four classes include Razor Basics, where stylists will learn how to properly handle a razor and three classes focused on different razor haircuts.

 http://www.miladypro.com

 

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.