Mansfield pupils get insight into beauty industry during online events week

Stylist Mark Maciver, whose clients include basketball player Lebron James and rappers Stormzy and Tinie Tempah, took time out of his schedule to speak to level two barbering students at West Nottinghamshire College during its ‘Employability Week’.

Students quizzed Mark on how he became interested in barbering at a very young age when he took the confident step to cut his friends’ and family’s hair.

Mark said: “I remember when I was about seven, my older brothers went with my next-door neighbour to get a haircut and they came back and were talking about the haircut. I just remember thinking ‘I cannot wait until I can go to a barbershop one day’.”

Mark spoke to students about the key skills needed to be successful, how to boost their portfolio by using Instagram as a promotional tool how to improve their skills and competencies with equipment and tools.

Meanwhile, level three beauty therapy students were able to take part in their own range of workshops, masterclasses and guest talks throughout the week.

Emily Bergan, a beauty therapist who owns her own salon ‘Beauty By Emily’ in Leeds, spoke to students about her career so far, how she set up her salon and how she’s coping in the pandemic.

Two more beauty professionals, Leanne Lewis who has just completed her teaching degree and Suzi Heath of ‘All Things Beauty’ in York shared information with students such as further training and its benefits, how to gain membership to specialist bodies and how to get on in the business.

Level 2 Beauty students were given remote tasks to complete at home such as self-tanning, applying gel nails and make-up artistry students were challenged with showing off creative make-up looks following an online seminar from Lauren Slater from Morphe. These students were also able to undertake 10-minute interviews with Lauren who provided feedback on their techniques.

Emily Bradford, who is studying on the Level 3 Advanced Technical Diploma in Beauty and Spa Therapy, said: “For me, employability week was a really great opportunity to make students much more aware about future jobs and the prospects they bring. It was also fun to get involved in the creative challenges and meet new people online.”

Head of hair, beauty, sport and public services, Sarah Morley said: “Employability week gives students an insight into so many different areas of industry that they can aim towards, often focusing on job roles which they’ve never explored before.

“We were very fortunate to be able to welcome a number of businesses owners and industry specialists to speak to our students online and share their knowledge and best practice and there’s been some great feedback from our students about how much they learnt throughout the week.”