Are there teaching requirements?

Esthetics is not a regulated industry in Alberta, Canada. However, industry guidelines exist to help estheticians reach their goal of becoming effective industry educators. We recommend that estheticians have at minimum 2-3 years of experience in their field before taking the next step into education.

Different roads to teaching esthetics.

Depending on your final goal, there are different ways to become an esthetics instructor in Alberta. Ask yourself a few questions to help you clarify your goal. For example, do you visualize one-on-one training or large classes? Do you want to be self-employed? Or would you prefer to work for a school?

Working at an existing school is a good path for those that want to mentor future service providers without worrying too much about administrative details . This pathway follows a student-centered approach where the focus is the development of your students.

Schools have their own criteria when hiring these positions. Leadership and organizational skills are important qualifications for instructors.

Smaller classes or one-on-one training, also known as private trainers or private vocational training, is the path for entrepreneurs.

Private trainers develop their own curriculum. In addition, they are often responsible for student recruitment and procurement of goods. One-on-one training is a good way to start as it allows for low delivery costs with little financial risk.

Certainly regulations exist at most levels of government to ensure private trainers meet minimum licensing requirements in their fields. Consequently, there are many requirements to meet to achieve a training license. For instance, private trainers must show that they have consulted industry leaders in approving their curriculum.

Will I need a teaching license?

If you are visualizing larger classes or courses that will cost students over $1,000 in tuition fees, you will need a teaching license. This license is different than a business license issued by your municipality.

Not all private educators have curriculums that require a teaching license. There a few exemptions to licensing revolving around the price and purpose of your course amongst other factors.

What is the difference between licensing and accreditation?

Licensing refers to the provincial government’s approval of a private trainer. Accreditation refers to the ability to offer students federal and provincial student loan options to pay for their tuition.

Other Career Development Resources

Use our online resources including our TRAINING 411 Beauty Educator directory to help you get started!

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
(780) 604-2772 (Call or Text)
info@executivespagroup.com

Why it matters…

Your goals and values will help you decide whether you want to pursue a job versus a career. But first, let’s clarify the difference.

Job vs. Career vs. Occupation

An occupation is a group of similar jobs that require some type of training and the continuous development of your skills and knowledge in order to remain current in the field. An occupation is a specific category of work; examples of occupations in the beauty industry include Estheticians, Hairstylists, and Nail Technicians. People can have different kinds of jobs within the respective occupations; for example, Hairstylists can choose to specialize in specific skills within their position, such as cutting vs. colouring.

A job is a particular position you hold doing specific duties. In the beauty industry, if the occupation is Laser Tech, an example of a job is all the duties you would provide at any particular spa, for example, providing IPL/Laser treatments, product sales, customer service, sanitation duties, and any other duties you may agree to when you accept any given job.

A career is the sum of all work activities. You can think of it like a portfolio of all the efforts you make that are related to field you work in, in our case, the beauty industry. In addition to the work activities you achieve, also included are any activities that you do at home, at school, in your community, etc.

Career Development Resources

Use our online resources including our job bank and TRAINING 411 Beauty Educator directory to help you get started!

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
(780) 604-2772 (Call or Text)
info@executivespagroup.com


Photo credit: Pixabay

Never stop growing.

Career Development is essential to a long lasting beauty career. With so many new services and the advancement of existing ones, it’s important to stay current.

However, work gets comfortable and it’s easy to forget about career development. Updating your skillset every couple of years increases the longevity of your career, in addition to your satisfaction!

How does ESG help?

Connect with our Career Consultants. As trained professionals, we can help you clarify your goals and organize your career path.

ESG can guide you through the ever-expanding world of beauty educators. Our experts can help you answer questions like, “Are there night classes available?” or “What’s the best course for my budget?” In addition, we can help you find loans or grants to pay for your education when applicable.

What happens AFTER training?

ESG can assist you in finding employment or starting a small business after completing your training.

Use our online resources including our job bank and TRAINING 411 Beauty Educator directory to help you get started!

Career Development does not end there…

Furthermore, ESG can provide other resources for every new step in your career. If you reach a point in your career that you decide to hire staff, we can help with that too. Contact us today!

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
(780) 604-2772 (Call or Text)
info@executivespagroup.com


Photo credit: Pixabay

Beauty Industry salaries vary greatly due to tips and commission. The chart below identifies the salaries of specific beauty occupations for 2021.

Occupation	Min. Education	Avg. Wage	Regulation
Esthetician	Diploma	$22.35	Not regulated
Hairstylist	Apprenticeship	$21.86	Regulated
Lash Technician	Module course	$22.35	Not regulated
Laser Technician	varies	$22.35	Not regulated
Massage Therapist	Diploma	$33.61	Not regulated
Nail Technician	Module course	$22.35	Not regulated
Nurse Injector	Degree	$45.40	Regulated
Salon/Spa Manager	varies	$32.63	N/A
Salon/Spa Receptionist	n/a	$15.40	N/A

Is Provincial Regulation a good thing?

Unregulated occupations, such as esthetics are ran by spas, schools, retailers, etc. The collective of all businesses and organizations with beauty services and sales as the common goal is what we call the beauty industry. Moreover, business owners decide the acceptable minimum education of their staff. While many are open to on-the-job training, many of them require at least the minimum training.

Likewise, educators can opt to award students with an acknowledgement of participation, or certificate.

Regulated occupations, such as hairstyling, do not have as many freedoms. As a result, the integrity of these occupations remains intact. Service providers working in a regulated occupation must be tested to ensure they meet standard technical skills.

In conclusion, there are pros and cons to provincial regulation.

Tips can make all the difference.

Don’t forget to consider the money you will earn from tips as “income”. Tips can take your wage from $15 to $30 per hour. Though tips do not provide a consistent amount, they are a constant addition to your bottom line.

Tips to increase your tips.

Salons and spas with good reputations usually attract higher paying clients that are likely to tip a bigger percentage on the service. In the same vein, these employers will have higher expectations of you as a Service Provider.

In addition, training in higher ticket services will increase your tips. Generally, clients tip their Service Provider 15% of the service. Therefore, the bigger the service price, the bigger the tip.

Similarly, you can also increase your tip percentage by providing excellent customer service. Dazzling clients with your skill and personality will earn you a long-lasting career!

Commission also makes a difference.

Like tips, commission can add a few dollars extra per hour to beauty industry salaries. Commission rates vary depending on your employment agreement.

All staff members can take advantage of making money through commission sales. For instance, a salon receptionist can take their wage from $15 per hour to $20 per hour in commission sales.

Increasing commission earnings

“I’m not a good salesperson.” We’ve heard this one time and time again! Don’t let the thought of selling products scare you away from your beauty industry career. The trick to commission is understanding your client and product knowledge.

Firstly, think of yourself, not as “pushing” a product on a client, but as “prescribing” a product to help your client achieve their goal. Secondly, setting an attainable daily sales goal will help you stay organized. Lastly, familiarize yourself with your available products to select the best solution for your client.

Other ESG resources…

We know beauty careers! In other words, talk to us about starting your career in the beauty industry. We can help you develop a career path that will lead you to your goal in time and cost effective manner.

Choosing a training provider can be overwhelming, the choices are endless! Moreover, you want a training provider that will prepare you mentally for your new career. Whatever your long term career goals are, we can help you design a career path that is right for you!

Check out some of our other resources:

TRAINING 411: Beauty Educator Directory

Alberta Beauty Industry Job Bank

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
Beauty Industry Resource Centre
(780) 604-2772
info@executivespagroup.com

Matt M., owner and operator of Practical Esthetics shares his advice on operating a beauty industry business from home.

So Matt, how and when did you decide to join the beauty industry?

I’ve always been interested and loved the beauty industry personally, I was known growing up for the only guy with flawless brows. I got my university degree, did that career for years but was really unhappy with my life and dreaded going to work. A change needed to happen and I needed to be happy.

Yes, you can change career paths even at 30 years old!

Matt M.

Do you have a specialty? If so, why did you choose that specialty?

A friend of mine told me about body sugaring and how she goes to a home business for it as well as how much she paid per session. The gears got turning.

Being part of the LGBT community, I know many men and trans people have a hard time getting hair removal services because many providers will not service men or people who were assigned male at birth.

I’m personally comfortable with accepting everyone so this was a HUGE demographic that was untapped. Along with a large number of men (as well as some women) simply aren’t comfortable going to a woman for their services.

What are your favourite benefits of having a home business?

 WRITE 👏 OFFS👏 Home businesses drop your living costs significantly. Internet, electrical, gas, rent/mortgage, lawn maintenance… you name it, odds are it’s connected to your home business in some way and can be partially written off come tax time. Everybody likes keeping more of their money right?

Another benefit is I can work whatever hours because I’m always “at work” so accepting a client at 9pm on a Sunday night because her wedding is coming up and her photographer had to last minute reschedule… That can happen. I set boundaries but am also able to be a better service provider due to flexibility.

What challenges have you faced as a beauty Industry home business owner?

Biggest challenge of me being in the beauty industry… I’m a dude. I hate to pull that card but it’s been thrown in my face many times. Another hurdle of having a home business regardless of gender is being taken seriously.

There are too many people who fly by night and give home “businesses” a bad name. Keep yourself professional and treat your business as your business. Greet your clients in your uniform, make sure everything is spotless and try to remove the “home” atmosphere for a place of business.

What is your advice for beauty service providers considering starting their own home business?

Make yourself professional. Having a good website is HUGE! Make sure your SEO is optimized to the nines and the site is easy to navigate as well as interact with.

Make sure you’re registered, insured and inspected. Get your name out there any and ALL ways possible. If you’re not on a main road with lots of traffic, people won’t know you exist and you will flop. Advertise wisely, pinch pennies, get flyers and business cards made (I have little lexan stands to put flyers and business cards at other relevant businesses so we can work together).

Have 3-6 months of living expense money ready at hand or keep another job. It takes a while to build a client base to turn a profit. It will be slow but if you are persistent, you can make it successful.

Google reviews are priceless! Yelp is a waste of money and a trap. Always look for free/inexpensive ways to advertise and shamelessly plug your business whenever you can as well.

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
Beauty Industry Resource Centre
(780) 604 2772