We often think that students require mountains of motivation to keep them present and ensure their success—but what about teachers? On the second day of Essie’s three-day education summit, an annual gathering of Essie’s nationwide education team held June 21 to 23 in New York, New York, each and every educator is dancing. Yes, dancing—as that adage says, “Like nobody’s watching.” They’re kicking up their heels, throwing up their hands and every last one wears a smile so big, it’s infectious.
The day prior, they traveled to L’Oréal labs in Clark, New Jersey, where Essie products, including those much sought-after lacquers, are manufactured, and each educator made his or her own color while speaking with lab technicians, Essie lead global educator Rita Remark and Essie professional assistant vice president of education Gino Trunzo. But today, in a small room with stadium seating, they’re dancing and finding motivation—an aspect that can get lost when one teaches.
Nail Pros pose at Essie’s annual educational summit
They’re being led by Johnny Stellato, an inspirational speaker and former salon owner, who’s helping team members sharpen their business skills, refresh and refine their presentation techniques, and hone in on their communication abilities through a series of exercises. And, yes—he’s motivating them to help build up their self-esteem, which is so vital for teaching.
Confidence boosting is a pillar of the Essie education summit. “Essie strives to create an inclusive community where educators feel comfortable showing their weaknesses and working together to turn them into strengths,” says Trunzo. “We want the education team to always feel loved and supported in all facets of what they do. We then want to be able to go out and do the same for our nail professional customers. Our goal is for the student to become the teacher.”
By the end of the day, tears have been shed, but everyone feels stronger as professionals, peers and educators. Trunzo, who shapes Essie education, couldn’t be more pleased. After all, the summit exists to cultivate personal discoveries and takeaways for educators so they can go back into the field and elevate not only the Essie brand, but also the industry as a whole.
Says Trunzo, “We are on the path to help shape, mentor and lead the current and future generations of nail professionals to reach a higher level of learning and growing.”
For more information about Essie’s Educational summit click here.
-Karie L. Frost
[Image: Courtesy of Essie]
To check out this full article as well as other nail news in the September 2017 issue of NAILPRO Magazine.
Nail Pros pose at Essie’s annual educational summit
