Do you remember the last time you were genuinely excited to wake up on a weekday? Have you ever woke up, looked at your career, and found that you slipped from the path and landed in a place where daily life feels like a preexisting condition to be dealt with? Think about your normal work week. How quickly do you feel the need to decompress? Well, the good news is this: You aren’t alone. A reported that a mere 15% of the world’s one billion full-time workers are truly engaged at work. That same study revealed that while employees might not ³ó²¹³Ù±ðÌýtheir job, they certainly feel the effects of burnout semi-constantly.

Overview

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

At 51³Ô¹Ï, one of our core values is fun.
Now, if you’ve ever gone to school, you might wonder why we insist upon building fun into the framework of our educational experience.  And you are probably wondering why we’ve tied enthusiasm to this core value. The simple answer is this: living in your passion is a wonderful opportunity that requires a lot of hard work! Fun is fuel for your passion and it is expressed through enthusiasm.

Keep reading to see how you can approach education and life with enthusiasm!

Education

“I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.”

Steve Irwin may have experienced a different education than beauty and barbering, but he understood something about getting the most out of an education. Having passion instills purpose. This is, of course, the heart behind the phrase “Do what you love, love what you do.” When you come in to receive your education, it does you no favors to dread early class mornings or new level requirements. Approaching each new task with a positive attitude ensures that you will see success in the end. To the best educators, learning does not operate on a black and white canvas, but rather a variety of pictures for the different experiences through which students approach the classroom.

It’s important to think about what drives you into training for your future profession. We’re all familiar with the phrase, “Money can’t buy happiness.” In the same vein, if your drive comes from the sole desire to make that money, it will be hard to find satisfaction. One, two-part practical approach to being more enthusiastic is getting more sleep at night and waking up earlier. That way you’re not having to wake up in the classroom and losing steam while you’re firing up. The more mental component is ·É¾±±ô±ô¾±²Ô²µ²Ô±ð²õ²õ.ÌýDecide each day that you will take the most from your experience and you’ll be impressed with the results.

Entering the Workforce

The U.S. Department of Labor released a guide for young people on mastering soft skills for success and entering the workforce smoothly. Soft skills, also known as interpersonal skills, are harder to define and even harder for employers to teach. Hard skills are generally things that can be taught on the job or through continuing education and measured in a more definable way. However abstract though, soft skills are indispensable to being a good employee. This guide listed enthusiasm as a valuable soft skill.

When searching for a job, an interviewer analyzes those soft skills. A genuinely optimistic approach to questions and presented problems shows that you are passionate and willing. Moreover, it shows that you are dedicated to making an effort for excellence. When you prove you have control over your attitude, it proves to a potential employer that you are dependable.

Excelling in the Workplace

“The secret of happiness is not always doing what one wants, but to love what one does.�

Leo Tolstoy

So, you’ve aced the interview, dazzled everyone with your soft skills, and now it is your first day on the job… Where do you go from here? You’re probably wondering what it will take to sustain that beautiful front you put up from the other side of the desk. First, know that Forbes wrote an discussing some of the content of the popular book by Laura Vanderkam called The 7 Ways Successful People Approach Their Work. The seventh way won’t come as a surprise to you: pursuing pleasure. She doesn’t mean to secretly sneak in a pocket-sized game to play underneath your desk.

Successful people across the world make a point to find joy in their day to day. Laura found that the most joy in the workplace doesn’t come with encouragement from the boss, but instead from identifying and finding progress. Fortunately, working in a client-based business gives opportunity to set and focus clearly on goals. The other half of the struggle is simply taking a deep breath and choosing to embrace each workday as a chance to learn, grow, and have a positive impact on those around you.

Enjoying Daily Life & Relationships

In the last twenty years, the power of positive psychology has been increasingly respected. Christopher Peterson, one of the founders of positive psychology has stated he believes what brings us the most happiness is other people. People affect every area of life whether it be our family, friends, co-workers, or community. If you want to bring happiness into your life, bring people in that support you and your goals. Additionally, in a service industry such as that of beauty and barbering interaction with others makes up an enormous amount of the job itself. Care about your clientele, treat them well, and the rewards will pour in.

breakthrough novel How To Win Friends and Influence People is a great text to add to your library, but a look into the second section of the text will help in daily relationship engagement. He provides six ways to make people like you. 1. Become genuinely interested in people. 2. Smile. 3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. 4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. 5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. 6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely. Applying these simple strategies is bound to edge improvement into your life. If happiness does come largely from other people, then a person has a great deal of control over how good their lives can be.

Conclusion

Life can be a lot. Each day presents new tasks and challenges, often before you even hit your lunch break. But when you make the decision to value the heart of fun in your daily life, you can see the benefits roll in. When you bring the right attitude to each area of your journey to your career, when you approach each task big or small with enthusiasm, when you decide to make the most out of a work day and choose to find the fun in life – that is FELT.

“Motivated people are passionate! They love what they do and they are full of themselves (in the nicest possible way). Their enthusiasm and excitement are catching and they attract other people’s interest and attention.”

Lynda Field

The post What’s Felt : Excelling with Enthusiasm appeared first on 51³Ô¹Ï.

Ask a beauty professional to talk about their childhood and you will hear stories of kids playing in mom’s makeup and raiding closets to dress in style. Now, as adults, we spend our few spare moments watching videos of intricate line designs and nail art for new inspiration. We chose this industry because we love this industry and we love this industry because it is fun. It allows us to blur the line between work and play. After all, who doesn’t want to have fun doing what they love?

Join contributing writer, Trevor Cobb, in this four-part series that peeks through the curtains and curriculum of AOHD to answer this simple question: what is left when we strip away the extras and examine the core elements that make us who we are?

Yearly Fashion Show

One of the most popular events of the school year is our 51³Ô¹Ï Fashion Show. It is the perfect opportunity for our students to express their creativity and take ownership of their work. On teams that combine students from all four of our programs, they create a series of looks around a voted-upon theme. Come the day of the show, they execute these looks on models, staff members, and fellow students.  The team with the highest quality, creativity, and technique is awarded the winning prize.

Breaking out of the box

The fashion show fills a lot of needs for AOHD students. For one, they get to create looks that are perhaps more avant-garde, high fashion, or creative than their daily services. They become their own client, deciding on a haircut, makeup, and style for themselves. Maintaining complete creative control over their models, their artistic vision, and their team’s styling is a rare opportunity. This is where our students are encouraged to try something new and push themselves out of their comfort zone.

Industry Connections

Additionally, the fashion show provides an opportunity to exhibit work to salon owners and beauty professionals in the Springfield area. We invite alumni and salon owners to judge the competition. This allows salon owners to take a close work at the incredible work AOHD students are doing. At events like these, students build their professional network and meet people who could be potential future employers. These employers have seen what our students can do, and they remember them when making hiring decisions months later. With over 20 guest judges invited, students are encouraged to mingle, shake hands, and bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be when they graduate.

Competition and Collaboration

Of course, the most important aspect is the collaboration and team spirit that binds together. Students enjoy the competitive nature of the show. They collaborate with their team to create a holistically designed fashion experience. During the weeks leading up to the show, the school is buzzing with friendly energy and competitive posturing. Students and staff boast about their team’s theme and our social media is overrun with playful posts and memes. Team colors fly as everyone claims the future first place prize as their own. This competition urges students to outdo one another, but also to outdo themselves. After weeks of preparation and practice, they create work they once believed to be an impossible task. We admit that it is impossible for us to hide our pride in these talented future professionals.

Sharing our Style

At its core, the fashion show is about sharing joy. Every day, we want our students find joy in their work. They serve with a smile and equip clients with confidence and happiness. Through annual events like the fashion show, we get to put this spirit of fun and joy that we live daily on display in a big way. The beauty industry is centered around personal happiness. We encourage our students to maintain a positive attitude and spread it to whatever salon they enter. We know when we are having a good time, our clients will as well.

Okay, so let’s get back to our original question: what is left when we strip away the extras and examine the core elements that make us who we are?

The AOHD Fashion Show combines creative experimentation, networking, and competition into a meaningful night for many of our students. Most of all, we put on this event because it is fun, for us, the students, the participants, and the public. Fun and happiness are the core of what we do and who we are as beauty professionals.  #FunIsLeft

Want to see more pictures of our 2018 fashion show?

Want to check out other blog posts that discuss our core values? Easy, click here!

Want to know how to pick a school that values Love, Excellence, Fun, and Transformation? Easy, click here! 

Ready to invest in yourself and turn your passions into a paycheck? You know the drill, click here!

Trevor Cobb is a 2018 graduate of Drury University who majored in Writing, Spanish, and Graphic Design. He was a social media intern for 51³Ô¹Ï in 2017 and is currently the Digital Marketing Specialist for 360 Communities in Burnsville, Minnesota. He enjoys creative writing, design and finding beauty wherever he goes.

The post Fashion Show Gives Local Students an Opportunity to Walk the Walk appeared first on 51³Ô¹Ï.

What? No, not for Christmas. It’s time for our annual Fashion Show!

We’re rolling out the red carpet.

If you’re hearing about this for the first time, let’s break down what has everyone so excited.

Our talented students are divided into five teams: Yellow, Purple, Red, Black, and Blue.

Over the last few weeks, each team pulled together and created a show highlighting their collective creativity. They’ve designed every element, from the on-screen presentation to the unique looks their models will embody as they move down the catwalk.

This year’s theme is as big and bright as the personality and performances that define it: HOLLYWOOD!

So get in on the glitz and the glam and come see us Monday, October 15th. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

We only look expensive, admission is free.

Lights… Camera… Academy!

(PSSST. Want to see a preview? )

The post Red Carpet Ready : Fashion Show 2018 appeared first on 51³Ô¹Ï.