The Professional Beauty Association (PBA) announced today that Nina Daily will be the company’s new Executive Director (effective 6/30) as Steve Sleeper retires after more than 25 years. PBA will also be kicking off this new era with a three-year strategic plan focusing on strengthening membership support, resources and overall growth.

In his 20-year tenure as Executive Director, Sleeper has worked tirelessly to elevate and unite the professional beauty industry. Over the years he worked with the PBA’s volunteer Board of Directors and Leadership Councils to offer business tools, education, advocacy and more to PBA’s diverse members and the professional beauty industry as a whole. Under his guidance, the members of the Beauty & Barber Supply Institute (BBSI), the American Beauty Association (ABA), The Salon Association (TSA), and the National Cosmetology Association (NCA) joined forces to create the Professional Beauty Association, which has become the industry’s largest and most comprehensive trade association. As Sleeper moves into retirement, Nina Daily will be appointed as Executive Director, moving from her current role as Chief Marketing Officer.

“Nina Daily is ideal to take over as Executive Director of the PBA,” shares Sleeper. “She has shown incredible leadership and drive as CMO, and combining her industry knowledge with her past experience, is poised to lead the new era in growing the PBA.”

Daily has been with the PBA for the last 2.5 years and brings over 20 years of business and marketing experience to the role. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to become the Executive Director of the PBA,” explains Daily. “I’m looking forward to leading a team of capable and committed professionals who are passionate about the professional beauty industry, and who together, can help spark a new era of development for the PBA and the industry as a whole.”

Under Sleeper’s administration, the PBA completed its five-year strategic plan in 2020 with many key success milestones, even amongst the unprecedented challenges the last year presented to the PBA, its members, and the industry with the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights include: 

• 300% membership growth and engagement

• Government affairs that helped prevent deregulation, state level licensing reform, and more.

• Member-centric events and education

• Raised over $1.6 million -- the largest in history -- for stylists during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Insurance, business blueprints and more to provide essential business-building blocks for salons, spas and Business of 1 Members

Over the last nine months, the PBA pivoted its strategic plan programming to create industry and member support due to COVID-19, including the COVID-19 Relief Fund, which raised over $1.6 million to help the industry with the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the PBA provided ongoing virtual education resources, community-building education, back-to-work programming, safety protocol guidelines and resources, government affairs, and more. These changes have led to the development of a new sales and business development strategy, identifying a need for a more integrated sales approach. Leading this critical new development initiative will be current PBA lead team member and industry veteran Bob Myers. Myers has been with PBA for over 3.5 years leading the membership team as General Manager and brings over 25 years of professional beauty industry business development experience; making him the perfect leader for this new strategic direction.

“The PBA is moving into the next three-year strategy with real momentum, but with the continued challenge of the COVID landscape,” shares Sleeper. “COVID has forced the hand of many to utilize constrained resources to reinvent in new and innovative ways. With large events still largely off limits until at least Q3 of 2021, under Daily’s keen eye, Myer’s focus on integrated business development and the continued outstanding leadership from the rest of the Team, PBA will continue toadjust its budget to allocate resources to serve its members at the highest level possible.”