Social Media Training for Stylists and Salon Owners, NY and LA

Kelly Ehlers is a recognized leader and expert in social media and mobile media for the salon and beauty industry, working with salon owners, schools, celebrity stylists and manufacturers. As president of Evoke Brands, Ehlers spearheads a team that specializes in providing innovative digital solutions for salons, stylists and brands looking to connect with their customers in today’s technology-driven society. Most recently, Kelly was recognized for her social expertise by being named a semi-finalist for Entrepreneur magazine’s 2014 Emerging Entrepreneur of the year.

The following is an overview of the classes to be held at the Wella Studio in Los Angeles and New York, where Ehlers will walk attendees through the social media basics, hands-on learning and also strategy development. Learn more about the sessions below – and to register, call: 1.800.422.2336.

CLASS 101: An Introduction to Social Media: Building Your Brand Through Social Storytelling

ABOUT: In this Introduction to Social Media, Kelly Ehlers will walk you through the most applicable and popular platforms for your salon and/or personal brand. You’ll receive a high level overview of the basic skills; explore the anatomy of popular and applicable social platforms and proven strategies that drive business.
• Los Angeles: November 3rd
Details – http://bit.ly/WESoMeLA
• New York: November 16th
Details – http://bit.ly/EvokeWENYC
- SOCIAL SKILL LEVEL: Beginner – Intermediate
- COST: $50
- LENGTH: 2 Hours

CLASS 201: Master the Technical Basics: An In-Depth Hands-On Technical Workshop

ABOUT: Ready to dive in to learn the ins and outs of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? Grab your devices for this interactive, hands-on workshop. From creating and properly setting up your social profiles to optimizing your platforms for search, the Evoke Brands team will demonstrate tips and tricks to make social media easy for even the most novice of users.
• Los Angeles: November 3rd
Details – http://bit.ly/EvokeWE201LA
• New York: November 16th
Details: http://bit.ly/EvokeWE201NYC
- SOCIAL SKILL LEVEL: Beginner – Intermediate/Technical Novice
- COST: $150
- LENGTH: 3 hours

CLASS 301: Creating and Implementing a Social Strategy: Developing your Brand’s Voice

ABOUT: Your background. Your history. Your personality. These are all factors that make up your story - the story that sets you apart from the crowd and creates interest around your brand. Now that you know the technical ins and outs of your social platforms, we’ll take you through the process to create a social storytelling strategy in this workshop. In addition to ‘filling the books,’ we’ll teach you how to use story media to promote your brand and elevate the profile of your salon above and beyond your current community.
• Los Angeles: November 4th
Details: – http://bit.ly/EvokeWE301LA
• New York: November 17th
Details: – http://bit.ly/EvokeWE301NYC
- SOCIAL SKILL LEVEL: Attendees should be familiar with the technical use of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram prior to attending.
- COST: $200
- LENGTH: 6 Hours

TO SIGN UP, PLEASE CALL: 1.800.422.2336. Please note, the classes are open to all industry professionals. For more educational or service offerings from Evoke please go to: www.evokebrands.com

Why Doesn’t Society Take This Industry Seriously?

I recently saw a meme that received many ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on social media.  It displayed a huge ream of paper a few feet tall and had “What you might not have learned in beauty school” imposed on the stack.  My initial reaction was less than positive. Allow me to give credit where credit is due.  Above the image was a link to an article that embellished on the sentiment displayed by the meme.  It talked about the value of continuing education, building upon the basics, not assuming you know everything there is to know the day you graduate.  But how many of us click on article links?  We see the image and we judge it for what it represents whether it’s in context or not.

Without question, I am a huge supporter of schools.  They are not all perfect (which of us is?), but they are so very necessary.  It is where we learn the basics, the fundamentals to build upon.  Robert Fulghum wrote a book titled, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. This title, in all reality, is absurd.  There’s so much more to learn than what we learn at the age of 5 or 6, but the author’s intent was to say the core fundamentals are building blocks for a long life of learning and being a productive human being.  If we don’t get that right, it’s likely we’re going to have a difficult time later in life.

There are so many wonderful beauty education programs with school owners and administrators who strive for excellence in education.  They are the rule and not the exception.  But beauty education is under attack right now.  The federal government is challenging the beauty school system.  State governments are challenging the need for licensure and lawyers with less than desirable intentions are waging lawsuits that aim to financially cripple educational facilities, whether by intent or unintended consequence.

Do you want to know why we’re struggling with deregulation?  Why society doesn’t take this industry seriously? Because this meme appears, and others like it, seeming to diminish the value of beauty school education and it is lapped up happily by many of us, making this industry appear weak and seeking its own destruction by affirming exactly what lawyers, politicians, and those outside of the industry believe and use against it. We all do it because it’s funny and everyone has an appreciation for self-deprecating humor, but all eyes are on us.

We are an ecosystem reliant upon each other.  Consumers need salons to offer beauty services.  Salons need licensed professionals to service consumers.  Professionals need schools to get licensed and work in salons.  Schools need students with a desire to learn and succeed in the beauty industry.  Students need schools to train them and salons to hire them.  The cycle repeats itself and manufacturers rely on all of the above to sell their products.  It does not serve our industry well when we turn on each other, point fingers at the other, attack or make fun of each other.  We must raise the bar for this industry and lift each other up in order to survive and, more than that, establish beauty careers as the legitimate and premiere careers they are.

To all of you, Milady pledges to always represent you and this industry in the highest light.  We strive to provide you quality education that is truly brand agnostic.  We commit to you resources that will build upon the sound education you received in school, no matter whose curriculum you used.  We believe in laughter and having a great time, but we also take you and your dream very seriously.  We ask you to not diminish yourself, your peers, or your profession for the sake of a good laugh.  Think before you “Like” or “Share” memes that might damage the image of this industry. Most of all, we ask that you act and speak in unity with every part of this industry.  You know what they say: united we stand, divided… well, let’s not go there!

Respectfully,

New York Fashion Week 2014

By Joan Stern in Style Women on September 3, 2014

 

New York City’s Lincoln Center is getting ready to host fashion week for the ninth time.
Over the course of seven days in September, more than 300 designers will showcase their Spring/Summer 2015 collections to fashion lovers, buyers and critics at the New York Fashion Week.
Among the designers set to show off their latest work is Kyiv-born Lubov Azria.

She explained how long it generally takes to prepare her collections.

“We start working on ideas about nine months in advance,” said Azria. “So, we start doing colour, concepts and then it’s sort of, you know, it has to come together organically. There is nothing that can be forced in fashion, otherwise it looks like it’s forced. It looks like you’re trying too hard. And I think the best collections are the ones that look very effortless, that just come together like nature does.”

In 2006, Azria and her husband debuted the ‘Max Azria’ and ‘BCBG Max Azria’ collections during New York Fashion Week. Two years later, the couple added ‘Hervé Léger by Max Azria’ to their line up. The brand has grown bigger and bigger and today it’s a global fashion house.

In the immediate run up to the most important fashion event in North America, the brand’s Chief Creative Officer spends her time finalising music for the shows and selecting the models.

“It’s not just about a beautiful face,” said Azria. “You know, they have to be able to exude confidence, they have to have strength, they have to, you know, have the sort of body that can carry the clothes. But the other thing is, when we do castings, it’s about the character. You know, we have six months pretty much of work, for ten minutes. There’s no words, it’s just music and lighting and you’re telling that story. So if the model cannot tell the story with the way they walk, with the way they sort of, you know, their intelligence, then they probably won’t be doing our show.”

Running between September 4 and 11 2014, New York Fashion Week is considered the official start of the international catwalk season.