It has been a positive, forward-moving, and productive year for me. And now tradeshow season has begun. The International Congress of Esthetics and Spa kicked off in Miami last month, and this month professionals from all over the southwest are headed to Dallas. When you think of attending a tradeshow, what comes to mind? My first thoughts are the networking opportunities – catching up with existing relationships and creating new ones. But mostly, I think of continuing education… The atmosphere is always charged with positive energy; it is full of learning, excitement, growth, and opportunity. One of these topics I feel most strongly about is learning.
I recently read One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. The cover quotes this book as “The All-Time #1 Bestseller on Managing Your Work and Life.” If that were even partially true, I figured that I owed it to myself to put in the time to read. The book was basically broken into three different sections: one minute goal setting, one minute praising, and one minute reprimand. While the focus of the book is how to make your work and life better, there were other gems of perspective that stood out to me. For example, the authors cite research that suggests 50 to 70 percent of a company’s money is spent on their employee’s salaries. Does this seem reasonable? The statistic makes sense to me as employees are an invaluable part of a business. However, the authors also point out that less than one percent of an average company’s budget is allocated to training their people. I can imagine in a typical suit-and-tie business, this ratio can seem normal and even practical. But, in an industry such as ours, that statistic seems unimaginable or even negligent. In a service-based industry, education – and continuing education – is a cornerstone to growth… and definitely one of the most important things to include in a budget, whether it is for ourselves or for our staff.
Continuing our knowledge in the aesthetics industry is much more than just learning about the newest products or treatment techniques. Education should resonate within and keep passions alive. Whether it is through tradeshows, local classes, company webinars, trade magazines, online communities, forums, blogs, or textbooks, continuing education should account for more than one percent of your budget.
My favorite line in One Minute Manager read something like this: “It has been said that ‘the best minute I spend is the one I invest in people.’” Let’s renew our committment to invest in ourselves, in our education, and in our future.
Amanda Strunk Miller
Associate Publisher
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