A cut aboveHelaine R. Freeman
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Lisa Stegall went to college because her parents wanted her to. She dutifully studied journalism at Southern University at Magnolia and, after graduation, went to work for a Cabot newspaper.
But after a year and a half, she'd had enough. She decided to follow her heart and enroll in cosmetology school.
"I've always liked hair and makeup," says Stegall, who worked for a cosmetics company for three years while in college. "I wasn't happy doing what I was doing."
The 25-year-old North Little Rock resident is now in her fourth month at Lee's School of Cosmetology in North Little Rock. She likes not only her studies, but "knowing that I'm going to be doing something that I want to do, that I enjoy." Cutting hair and working with hair color and makeup are among her favorite activities. How did her parents react to her decision to enroll?
"[They asked] 'Don't you want to look for something else in your field that you might want to do?' " Stegall recalls. Her answer was no. "I went to college ... because they wanted me to. I'm glad I did, but now I'm doing what I want to do."
Cosmetology schools, which teach hair, nail and skin care, are seeing more students like Stegall.
These students are attracted by the employment prospects -- excellent, according to the Web site careerplanning.about.com , because "of continuing demand for coloring services and other hair treatments, such as perms and waves, by teens and aging baby boomers." While those trained for other professions are currently having trouble finding jobs, the salon industry, according to the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences' 1999 Job Demand Survey (its latest), "is a job-seeker's market."
LOW UNEMPLOYMENT
Linda Lee, second-generation operator of Lee's School of Cosmetology, concurs. "There's no problem with job security in this business," she says. "You will not find a hairdresser in the unemployment line."
And the money is good. According to the commission's last financial survey in 1998, average income for salon professionals was $18.54 per hour, while salon owners earned an average of $22.03 per hour. Annual salaries averaged $45,822 for salon owners; $35,193 for hairdressers; and for salon workers in general, $38,583, including tips.
Lee says she's sure those figures have increased since the survey -- "because they've added this specialty with spas. People are going crazy over these pedicures." The 1999 statistics came out "before pedicures ruled the earth," she adds. The flexible hours and the chance to use their creativity are other factors that bring students to Arkansas' more than 40 cosmetology schools, which are private or state-owned vocational schools. Not only do these schools train enrollees toward a career in cosmetology, they also offer a way for the public to receive services for considerably less than what salons charge.
Under Arkansas law, students must obtain 1,500 hours, about a year's worth of study, before taking their exams to be licensed by the state Board of Cosmetology. After students complete 150 hours of book work and theory, including work with mannequins, they are allowed to work with real clients for discounted prices.
A GREAT TRADE-OFF
It's a good deal all the way round. It benefits customers and students including high school students who can study to be hairstylists while earning their diplomas, high school graduates and those who decide that they need a change of direction.
Toby Williams, 31, of Little Rock, is such a student. Williams, a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has already had several careers including interior designer, antique-business owner and, most recently, marketing director for a New Orleans company. He's been at Lee's for a month and a half. "I've enjoyed it so much. It's been great," he says.
Williams is one of eight men who are a part of the student body at Lee's, which usually has between 45 and 50 students. More than half have had at least two years of college.
At Velvatex College of Beauty Culture in Little Rock, 10 percent to 15 percent of the student body is made up of career-changers. "A lot of them were in the [medical] field and decided to come here, change to cosmetology," Rachel Willis, co-owner and head instructor at Velvatex, says. "Normally we have students who get their cosmetology license and then switch over to nursing" -- some going on to work at nursing homes. "But lately we have been getting a lot of ladies from the hospital changing over to this profession."
Cosmetology school seems to be especially popular with nurses. Lee recalls a former student who had spent 42 years as a registered nurse. "She works circles around those little 18-year-olds," Lee says.
Roger Barnes, school director and owner of Leon's Hair Training Academy in Springdale, has seen his enrollment increase from 15 to 63 in the eight years he's been in the business. "Last year we had tremendous growth," he says, attributing this to the population and economic growth in Northwest Arkansas.
NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS
His nontraditional students include several married couples, such as Rogers resident Lynn Bo Nguyen, 36, and her husband, Long Nguyen, 43. The couple's road to cosmetology school began with a severe injury that kept Long Nguyen from being able to find work.
Lynn's favorite part of her studies? "Haircut and perm and color." And, she enjoys the clients. "They're very patient," she says. "They're very nice. They don't mind working with me."
Cosmetology school isn't as expensive as college, but the tuition is substantial. The national average is $8,000 to $9,000; Arkansas' prices are considered to be low, Lee says, adding that her school charges $6,700. Financial aid, including Pell grants and direct student loans, is available.
The schools are a popular alternative for members of the public who can't afford, or don't wish to pay, regular salon prices and who would rather not have to make an appointment. At Velvatex, the highest-priced service is a curly perm, which costs $35. Shampoo-blow-dry-and-style services are $15, basic chemical relaxers, $20. Appointments are taken only for facials. Perms are $18. Relaxers are $18 and $24 depending on hair length. Some specialized perms are $30. At Lee's, anyone over age 55 gets hairstyles and haircuts 50 percent off, at $3.50. At Leon's, haircuts can be had for $4; perms, $18.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
"They do stay busy," Barnes, whose wife is an instructor at Leon's, says of the students. "About halfway through the course, they're really good."
Each cosmetology student is trained to do all types of hair, for people of all races.
"What we're finding, and what our students are going to have to deal with in the next 15, 20 years, is interracial marriages, interracial relationships," Lee says. "They can't just look at a person's skin color and make a snap decision on what chemicals to put in the hair." She cites a recent client, a 4-year-old girl whose mother is Eskimo and whose father is black. "We try to teach [students] that hair is hair and that you have to look and see what it's going to need."
Also good news is the fact that Arkansas -- reputed to lag behind other states when it comes to trends -- manages to keep up with the pack on hairstyles.
Among the hottest things going is color. "The baby boomers are turning gray," Lee says. Straight hair is back, as are bangs and straw perms.
Willis, whose student body is predominantly black, says most of her students "come in already knowing how to do the latest [hair] trends." Among black customers, flips, waterfalls, French rolls, pony tails and roller sets are popular hairstyles, along with the convenient body wraps.
Hair weaving, or adding extensions to existing hair, is taught at Velvatex. But no braiding is taught. "Braiding actually takes the hair out, so we don't encourage anything that would take the hair out," Willis says. "We don't encourage anything that's not beneficial to the hair."
In addition to hair matters, students learn life skills. Lee, for instance, emphasizes to students the importance of good communication, especially between hairstylist and client.
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
She recalls the day she was called out into the floor because one student, an enthusiastic hair-cutter, and the client that student had serviced were in tears. The student had given the customer a beautiful cut, but had misunderstood the client's request for the cut to be "over the ears." The customer had in mind a cut that allowed her hair to fall over her ears. The student thought the client wanted a cut that was short enough that the hair stopped over the ears.
Cosmetology school, for all the fun and creativity it allows, is demanding.
"It's a long, long year," Barnes says. "They've really got to be motivated to stay with it." Chemistry and biology, neither of which are popular courses with the right-brained, are included in the curriculum.
Because it's a female-dominated field, the students who drop out usually do so because of family matters, including moves and pregnancies, Barnes says, adding that single moms also have a hard time juggling their studies and responsibilities.
Day care is a big challenge especially for single moms, Lee says.
"If they can just get through school, cosmetology is the answer for them, because they can work two or three hours a day, and make quite a bit of money, and then go on home and not have to worry about day care."
Like all post-secondary institutions, cosmetology schools have to be accredited by a national organization; the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences is one accrediting organization for cosmetology schools. Accreditation is just one thing a prospective student should look for in a cosmetology school. Cleanliness, professionalism and a high percentage of students who pass the licensing exam are signs of a good school, Willis says.
A school that demands good, hard work from students -- especially practical and hands-on work, as opposed to heavy reliance on books and videotapes -- is also the school to attend. Some of her students "whine and complain" about the work that is expected of them, Willis adds. But afterward, "they have a testimony to come back and give to the ones that are here."
"It's one thing to pass the exam, but it's another thing to be able to actually function out there in the field."
This article was published on Tuesday, June 4, 2002