Training and development key to beauty clinic success

Paparoa’s Skin Image Clinic recently shared the red carpet with the best beauty names in the country, placing third in the ‘Best New Clinic’ category of the recent inaugural New Zealand Association of Registered Beauty Professionals biennial awards at Te Papa on September 23.

This puts the clinic, open less than a year, among the best salons in the country and the only Northland clinic to boast such an award this year.

The award is important for Northland where beauty salons and clinics do not have to be registered, and owner Nina Quan hopes her win will encourage more salons to become members of the New Zealand Association of Registered Beauty Professionals (NZRBP). She says the Association was working hard to improve the professionalism of the industry at large and to foster adherence to national codes of conduct and ethics in order to ensure safe and hygienic practices.

Nina said that going through the award process forced her to step back and reflect on her past achievements and use that to decide how she could practice what she was passionate about and what she wanted for her skin clinic.

“Writing it down consolidated my vision of wanting to create a small reputable clinic that delivers efficacious treatments using proven technology and products to help women achieve healthy, beautiful skin. Once this was clear in my mind, the rest was simple,” she says.

The competition process involved an application detailing areas such as the clinic’s vision, goals, facilities, treatment protocols, business and marketing plans. This was then followed up with an interview before a panel of judges where she had to elaborate on her role in lifting the professionalism of the industry. This was demonstrated through commitment to continuous training and self development.

“To be on top of your game you have to train and refresh your training continuously as the industry is forever changing and improving,” she said.

In May Nina went to Melbourne to learn cosmetic tattooing, in August she had refresher training in collagen induction therapy (or dermal needling). She will attend a course on skin lesions in November.

Nina is justifiably proud of her achievement. Within the past nine months she has completely renovated the old premises she took over in the main street of Paparoa and introduced a very different business model, one that focuses on skin health. Soon she plans to add this winning model to her clinic in Waipu.

Nina flew to Wellington to accept the award.

“This was a get-together of the top talent of the New Zealand beauty industry so it couldn’t be anything other than beauty and glamour,” said Nina. “I got to meet some exceptional therapists and business women from our industry. Their experience, passion and achievements have put them at the top of their game and I feel extremely honoured to be part of this group.”

Every two years the NZRBP invites therapists and clinics to enter the beauty awards as a way of recognising ‘professionalism and exceptional talent’ in the beauty industry, and to raise the professional standards of the beauty industry. Awards criteria cover many aspects of the industry including safety and hygiene, professionalism in client care, training and development in areas of expertise and protocols of treatment.

VISION: Nina Quan is thrilled her clinic has been recognised with a national industry award.