Four years.
For the fourth year in a row, I was incredibly proud to be named a finalist for Educator of the Year at the Australian Beauty Industry Awards (ABIAs).
And no, I didn’t win this year.
Would I have loved to hear my name called? Of course I would have! But sitting in that room surrounded by 11 other incredible educators, I actually had one of those moments where I stopped and thought about what being an educator really means to me.
Because after almost 17 years of teaching lash and brow education, I’ve realised that the biggest reward isn’t necessarily the trophy.
It’s what happens to my students after they leave my classroom.
Four Years as an Educator of the Year Finalist
Being recognised as an Educator of the Year finalist four years in a row is something I’m genuinely very proud of.
This year there were 12 finalists, and I was honestly girl-fanning over so many of them!
The beauty industry in Australia is filled with educators who are passionate, innovative and incredibly generous with their knowledge. To have Lash Sublime recognised alongside them for four consecutive years is something I will never take for granted.
But this year felt a little different.
Over the past year and a half, my role as an educator has taken me somewhere I didn’t necessarily expect.
Quite literally.
Taking Lash & Brow Education Beyond the City
I’ve had the opportunity to take my education into regional and remote Western Australian communities, including Leonora, Laverton and Menzies.
And what started as teaching lash and brow skills became something much bigger.
I found myself sitting in classrooms with women who weren’t simply learning how to perform a beauty treatment.
They were beginning to see what those skills could potentially create.
A career.
An income.
A business.
A future.
For some students, completing a lash and brow course is the beginning of a completely new chapter.
I’ve watched students arrive nervous and unsure of themselves, and I’ve watched their confidence grow as they’ve learnt, practised and realised:
“Actually… I can do this.”
Those moments have changed me as an educator too.
What Makes a Great Lash Educator?
When I first started teaching almost 17 years ago, of course my focus was on technique.
How to isolate correctly. How to apply an extension safely. Lash mapping. Adhesives. Retention. Styling. Client consultations. Hygiene and all the fundamentals that every professional lash artist needs to understand.
And those things are still incredibly important.
But experience has taught me that being a lash educator is about much more than transferring technical knowledge.
It’s about recognising when a student is struggling.
It’s about finding another way to explain something when they don’t understand it the first time.
It’s about building confidence without lowering standards.
It’s about encouraging someone who thinks they’re “not good enough”.
And sometimes it’s about helping a student see possibilities for herself that she hadn’t considered before walking into your classroom.
That’s the part of education I love.
The Certificate Isn’t the End
I’ve spoken about this a lot lately because I think it’s something our industry needs to talk about more.
Completing your lash training or lash and brow course shouldn’t simply be about walking away with a certificate.
Education should give you the foundations to continue learning.
The real journey starts afterwards.
You practise.
You make mistakes.
You get faster.
Your lash sets improve.
You learn how to communicate with clients.
You get your first paying client.
Then your first repeat client.
Maybe you create an Instagram page.
Maybe you register a business name.
Maybe the spare room becomes your first little home salon.
And suddenly, something that began as “I think I’d like to learn lashes” has become a business.
I’ve been fortunate enough to watch that journey happen many times.
My Regional Students Have Reminded Me Why I Teach
My work in regional Western Australia has probably been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career.
Taking professional lash and brow education into communities where access to beauty training isn’t always readily available has made me look differently at what education can achieve.
When you’re teaching in a metropolitan area, it’s easy to forget that not everyone can simply drive 20 minutes to an academy.
For regional students, accessing professional beauty education can mean travelling hundreds of kilometres, taking time away from family or simply deciding that training isn’t accessible to them at all.
Taking the education to them changes that.
And seeing students begin to use those skills within their own communities has been incredibly special.
So, Did I Need to Win?
I’m competitive. Of course I wanted to win!
And maybe one year I will.
But four consecutive years as a finalist have given me something else to be incredibly proud of.
They’ve made me stop and look at what I’ve built.
Almost 17 years of education.
Hundreds of students.
Thousands of hours in classrooms.
Countless lash sets, brow treatments, assessments, questions, mistakes, breakthroughs and laughs.
And now, education reaching communities throughout regional Western Australia.
That’s something I’m incredibly proud of.
To Every Student I’ve Taught – Thank You
The line I had written in my acceptance speech that means the most to me is still true, whether I came home with a trophy or not:
Your success will always be my greatest achievement.
Every student who has trusted me with their education has played a part in making me the educator I am today.
You’ve challenged me, made me laugh, kept me learning and reminded me that great education isn’t about standing at the front of a classroom knowing everything.
It’s about helping the person sitting in front of you discover what they’re capable of.
So while the Educator of the Year trophy didn’t come home with me this year, I came home feeling incredibly proud.
Four years as a finalist.
Almost 17 years as an educator.
And still absolutely loving what I do.
That’s a pretty wonderful achievement in itself.
And to anyone reading this who has been thinking about becoming a lash technician, learning lash and brow services, starting a beauty business or simply doing something completely different with your career…
Maybe this is your sign to find out where it could take you.
Explore Lash Sublime lash and brow education and take the first step towards creating something of your own.
