BEAUTY SQUAD HOUSE

Recently in January, Mocha Group and Mocha Beauty Magazine were proud to host the 4th annual Beauty Squad House for the 2024 team. Sponsors, mentors, and icons within the industry were invited into the beautiful Kingscliff home, situated on the north coast of NSW, to mix, mingle and chat with the team who shared this wonderful experience over 4 days.

CEO and founder Linda Woodhead, General Manager Jarred Stedman and Mocha Beauty Editor Louise May were all there to guide, nurture and inspire the Squad, consisting of Jacinta Curnow – Jacinta Curnow Skin , located in Singleton W.A, Amy Williams –Aeon Aesthetics, located in Capalaba QLD, and Shikya Clark from Bobbie Charles , Brisbane QLD. Unfortunately, the lovely Grace Luce from Aesthetics by Grace Luce, located in QLD, was not able to join us for the weekend.

The squad were treated to one-on-one sessions with a number of visitors, not to mention time with the mocha team and some fun along the way, in a journey of professional and self-development, culminating in a bond with each other that will last a lifetime.

The experience started with everyone arriving at the House, settling in, and having a team dinner, to get to know each other over a beautiful meal, courtesy of Louise with some story telling over a couple of drinks, and a Gelato run!

The team spoke about their excitement towards the next 3 days highlighting all the things they were looking forward to with the house visitors.

Overall, the 4-day experience was one to remember which included a delicious dinner at Taverna in Kingscliff, a beautiful candlemaking evening in the house, and a visit to Higher Self Skin Laser + Cosmetic Clinic in Kingscliff, with Maria Enna-Cocciolone. All wrapped up in an idyllic setting, the team left with direction and purpose on what was truly a life-changing experience for all. Many thanks must go to our generous sponsors, all of whom not only spent time with the team but also provided incredible prizes in excess of $10,000, so a huge thank you Dermapenworld, inskincosmedics, elleebana, and Gay Wardle.

House Visitors

Will Fennell

It was absolutely amazing to have Will join us in the house! After a brief rundown on his career and the directions it had taken him, Will also spoke to the team about how to work with men in beauty using a different language and how to juggle life with a balance between the salons, educating and being a product distributor. He spoke candidly about his love for the industry and how when things changed for him, he looked at other opportunities to keep the passion alive. Will is the Australian distributor for Biodroga Skincare.

Kayla Zigic

Social Media expert Kayla Zigic from Social for Salons visited the house, with gifts for each of the team. Kayla spoke about social media and the latest changes and how to navigate them, marketing and the importance of connecting with your audience, not just posting with no purpose. So, building engagement, and really start connecting with your audience, so that you can fill up your books and getting people coming through your doors. It is always a pleasure to have Kayla in the Beauty Squad House.

Corri Matthews

Having practiced in over 29 countries with over 23 years of clinical aesthetics and cosmetic chemistry expertise, Corri is an authority on technical education and Dermapen™ procedures. She is the creator of Dp Dermaceuticals™, the world’s first skincare exclusively designed for micro-needling procedures and is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives. She is inspired by the many amazing skin transformation case studies around the globe and is keen to share her knowledge with others. As a very welcome guest, Corri delivered the team their incredible Dermapen kits valued in excess of $5000!

The Squad were delighted and seemed mostly excited at the hard-cover books she also presented them with, which included procedures and how-to’s as a go-to manual! As our major sponsor and often overseas, it was an absolute treat to have Corri in the house and the team agreed they could have spent a full day with her! What knowledge she has! It was a highlight of the house stay and met with absolute gratitude and excitement!

Otto Mitter

Always a pleasure, Otto Mitter arrived as usually bringing gifts to all members of the house and then spoke about his history and love of the industry.

Otto’s mother wrote and contributed to the first competency-based beauty therapy training in Australia (wrote the Diploma of Beauty Therapy, Diploma of Health Science and Aesthetics, and founded the Gold Coast Training Academy who graduated thousands of beauty therapists in Australia) having been brought up by such an influential person in the industry it was only a natural progression that Otto found himself studying make up artistry, beauty therapy and all things lash & brow at the Gold Coast Training Academy straight out of high school. Fast forward to now and after two decades of studying the art of lashes, brows, beauty and cosmetic formulation, Otto, and his team at

Ex Import currently produce and supply lash & brow enhancement ranges for professionals and develop educational programs to over 60 countries across the globe and have a combined team of over 300 trainers worldwide.

Otto spoke about his ongoing dedication to education, which has seen him as a guest speaker and educator at the world’s most prestigious beauty and lash events. Otto is a true inspiration.

Maria Enna-Cocciolone

Maria Enna-Cocciolone came into the house with gift vouchers valued at $1500 for the Beauty Squad team, following a trip down memory lane to show where things started for her, the learning lessons along the way, and wow what a story! Having graduated with her Diploma of Health Science in 1985, Maria worked for a range of leading skincare brands in diverse roles and positions until 2007, when she founded INSKIN COSMEDICS.

Today, with 35+ years industry experience, Maria is one of Australia’s most reputable skin gurus and the only Australian industry icon to have created two professional skincare brands from scratch.

In 2009 Maria created and launched O COSMEDICS, which was created to fight the five major causes of aging, using medicalgrade active ingredients and proven delivery systems to prevent and correct skin aging and degradation.

In 2017 she a co-created her second brand, GINGER&ME and introduced a Mindfulness category to the beauty world, and 2024 saw the launch of her third brand inskin.co

Maria has a philosophy that all brands under her portfolio must make good business and good skin sense, supporting healthy businesses and skin too.

She spoke to the squad about her journey, the ups and downs, which demonstrated her resilience and determination making everyone feel inspired and equally on a mission to be their authentic self and go for gold! A true powerhouse of a woman!

An afternoon Shadowing with Gay Wardle

The Beauty Squad were treated to a once in a lifetime experience with Gay Wardle visiting for a full afternoon, sitting around the table with the squad and having Gays undivided attention. Just imagine learning one-on-one with the industry’s best, and being walked through her extensive signature skin consultation from start, this incredible experience showcased first-hand how to become an industry leader. The Beauty Squad engaged with Gay every step of the way to develop a solid understanding of the roles required to, boost client retention and achieve incredible clinical outcomes not to mention how to get more information from your client with her in-depth consultation techniques.

This nurturing, one-on-one learning environment showing effective client communication and treatments was a priceless addition to the Beauty Squad mentorship program and one that was an absolute favourite. With a career dedicated to sharing her passion for lifelong learning, Gay Wardle has established herself as one of the beauty industry’s most respected icons with roles as an educator, business owner, mentor, coach, and skin expert. As part of her shadowing session, she gave the squad team a huge dossier of tools and booklets including client consultation and more.

Our time with Gay proves beyond a doubt how committed she is to the personal and professional development of the industry at large.

Tamara Reid

It was wonderful to have Tamara in the house. Tamara’s career journey is nothing short of impressive, encompassing a broad spectrum of expertise that includes education, sales, brand marketing, and strategic partnerships across various sectors, including franchise groups and beauty distribution.

Tamara is all about networking and through her career thus far as proved herself to be forward thinking and an absolute asset to the industry. Voted the Emerging Leader by Telstra Businesswomen’s Awards, as well as a community and leadership expert, Tamara is the start-up Founder of Beaute Industrie and the Aesthetic and Beauty Industry Council. With a background in education and business development, her career expands over several segments of the professional beauty industry including salon, spa, clinic and aesthetic.

Tamara worked her way up from beauty therapist, to earn her seat at the senior leadership table and shared her career history and knowledge with the squad.

April Jones

Amazing to have April visit the house, and armed with gifts of sweet treats!. With a career spanning three decades, she has navigated the transformation of beauty therapy into the high-tech, highly regulated field of medical aesthetics. Her expertise extends beyond treatments and technology—she helps aesthetic businesses thrive by balancing regulatory demands with cutting-edge advancements, ensuring they remain both compliant and competitive in an increasingly saturated market. April shared her journey in the industry with the team, gave invaluable insights on the business of beauty, the trends shaping the future, and the key factors that separate thriving clinics from those that merely survive.

Abby Stuart and Jessica Noyes

We were very excited to have Abby and her manager and right-hand woman Jess, visit the house and talk about the Oi Cosmetics brand and all the reasons behind why Oi Cosmetics were awarded the 2024 ABIA Best In-Salon training Business of the Year. They talked about team culture and how they have created a place of connection and passion, and they talked about their systems and processes and how it is imperative to get them right, and they talked education and how they have built an amazing Oi Cosmetics empire. Abby and Jess had a gift bag of goodies for the team!

Mocha House Mentors - Linda Woodhead, Jarred Stedman, Louise May.

Staying in the house with the Beauty Squad was the mocha team made up of Linda, Jarred and Louise. Shout out to Louise May who looked after everyone, keeping them all fed and watered, not to mention a great opening session working through an Assets & Ambitions Analysis that was referred to many times throughout the stay.

With her knowledge in Product development and formulations, Salon ownership and business mentorship, not to mention her role as Mocha Beauty editor, Louise always plays a key role in the house being professionally and personally available at any time.

Jarred Stedman used his experience during the stay with his photographic and videography expertise, also leading the team as a mentor and confidant. He also spoke to the team about the importance of branding and culture giving them all something to think about for the future and re-emphasised the importance of being truly YOU!

CEO and founder, Linda Woodhead was on hand also, to guide interviews with the house visitors as well as impart knowledge from a 40+ year career on how to deal with the media.

A powerful end to a life changing time in the Beauty Squad House. Jarred, GM of Mocha Group, expertly guided the team throughout their stay with conversations relating to branding, culture and visual tips and tricks. As a bonus, being on hand for all photography and videography allowed the stay to be documented expertly for all of the housemates.

If you would like to be in the Beauty Squad in 2025, you can enter now as part of the ABIA by visiting www.mochagroup.com.au/beauty-squad