How to Become A Lash Tech Part 8 | Where Else Can Lash Extensions Training Take You?
Whichever way you slice it, careers in the beauty sector are very often underestimated and seen as nothing more than a side-hustle, or something to pass the time while you qualify for something else. We do not believe that for a second, and we’re going to tell you why, but before we do we just want to clarify that taking a lash extensions course with a view to it being just a side-hustle is absolutely fine, and something that we advocate for if it’s what is right for you. Students and stay-at-home parents in particular benefit from offering lash extensions part-time on the side of their other responsibilities, because it’s a vocation that lends itself so well to those lifestyles – set your own hours, work from wherever you like, and choose your products based on your budget. To find out more, we have another article that goes into more detail about why exactly being a lash technician is perfect for students and stay-at-home parents in particular. If you’re keen to find out where a lash extensions course can take you, read on…
Start A Lash Business
It’s no secret that you can become a successful business owner by taking a course in lash extensions, and you can grow that business pretty much without limits. As an example, let’s say you’re a student and you start offering classic lash sets to other students in your halls of residence and people on your course. You can then expand to friends of friends, to residents in the local area and beyond. Beauty businesses are scalable, which means that you can grow your client base as much or as little as you like.
Filling up your appointment slots is great, and if you want to close your client list after a while that’s perfectly fine, but consider that word of mouth is powerful, and in the age of social media it’s easier than ever (in theory, at least) to be seen by potential clients.
With that in mind, it’s not unusual for part-time lash techs to completely fall in love with lash extensions, and either decide to go full-time (if they’re able to) and/or rent a salon where they can get other lash and brow technicians on board, in order to take on additional clients.
Having your own salon is the dream of a lot of lash techs and is absolutely doable as long as you put in the work to do it. Know that it's not going to be a quick, overnight success story, and take the time to build slowly so that you have a solid foundation in place to build a business upon.
Offer Training
We all have to take a lash extensions training course before we do anything else, and while it was common 10 years ago for lash extensions trainers to not be lash techs themselves, it’s quite unusual for that to be the case these days when you go to a trainer who specialises in lash extensions. With that in mind, it’s quite common for a lash technician to pursue a career as a lash extensions trainer, so that they can pass on their knowledge and passion to future lash techs.
How many students you train is entirely up to you, whether you solely want to offer one-to-one training courses or mentoring sessions, open up a little academy space to teach small groups, or if you want to do all of that and take your specialities elsewhere, it’s always an option to take your workshops and masterclasses to international locations!
Win Awards
This is less of a career progression and more of a polishing of skills, but don’t underestimate how much being an award winning lash artist can change people’s perceptions of you and boost your business! If you’ve placed in a lash championship, you can increase your prices and hugely expand your client list.
Become a Competition Judge
On the topic of lash championships, it’s always very exciting to be invited to judge at lash competitions. Since 2020, a lot of championships have moved online so you don’t even have to travel to judge those, but we’re now seeing a bit of a resurgence in popularity of live championships, such as Lash Battle, which we held in London earlier this year! Judging at competitions gets your name out there, but it also opens the door to international travel and countless networking opportunities.
Speak at Conferences
This one is similar to the above, and goes hand in hand with being a lash trainer. Lash conferences are happening all the time, all over the world and they’re extremely rewarding to be a part of. As a Lash Tech, we recommend that you go to at least one as the information you get from them is priceless, as are the opportunities to meet and potentially collaborate with other lash techs.
Getting to speak at conferences really shows that you’re at the top of your game – you have the knowledge and passion that others aspire to, and you can use that to make a positive impact on their careers. Of course public speaking isn’t for everyone, but even if you’re unbelievably shy, don’t rule it out!
Becoming qualified in eyelash extensions might seem like a good way to pass a couple of hours and make a bit of extra cash at the same time – and for what it’s worth, it’s perfectly fine if that’s all you want it to be – but it can take you to places others can only dream of! If you keep your skills sharp and don’t rule out any possibilities, there’s no telling what you can achieve!
