By Winn Claybaugh
How well you can do hair,
nails, and skin care may
be at the bottom of the list
of importance for potential employers.
They want to know if you're willing to say
"yes." When they ask you to come in on your
day off to clean up the dispensary, or stay late to
help with the models for a fashion show, or participate
in a salon fundraising event, will you say "yes?"
- Did you enter Beacon?
- Did you enter the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA)?
- Did you participate in the extra activities available at your school, such as student council, design team, student-run clubs and competitions?
- Do you come early and stay late?
- Do you pick up cigarette butts outside, even if you're not a smoker?
- Are you willing and able to take on any task, assignment, or request?
I often receive e-mails from future professionals saying
they want to do hair and make-up for fashion photography,
only to find out that they've never done their own photo shoot.
When I ask why not, they sometimes respond with, "Well,
nobody's hired me yet." I then ask, "Do you have a camera?
Do you know someone who has a camera? Do you know
someone who has hair?" Produce your own fashion shoots.
Experiment with them again and again, 100 times. Once you
get that down, maybe somebody will hire you.
Let this be your year. Let this be the time where you shed
your high school attitude and muster all the energy and passion
you need to say "yes" to your future. Let this be the year
where you show the entire beauty industry that yours will be
a career worth talking about!
Winn Claybaugh is the author of Be Nice (Or Else!) and "one of the
best motivational speakers in the country," according to CNN's Larry
King, who wrote the foreword for the book. Winn is the founder and
Dean of Paul Mitchell Schools, with more than 90 locations throughout
the United States.
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