10 Minutes with April Jones By Clare Lamberth

April Jones By Clare Lamberth 10 MINUTES WITH As soon as she left school, April completed a 2-year course to become a therapist and it all began from there. With an incredible history as a beauty therapist that saw her travel the world, finally settling in Australia, from her birthplace of the UK, running successful salons as well as a marketing and web management business, extensive product knowledge through various industry roles and not to mention the editor of Beauty Biz magazine prior to myself, she is currently the General Manager of Medical for Australian Skin Clinics.

Using all of her experience to date, April looks after the cosmetic injectable business across the network of clinics in Australia and NZ which includes all aspects relating to cosmetic injecting from educational aspects through to business strategy and marketing. We spoke to this power house of a woman to get an insight on what makes her tick!

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR ROLE?

I first began to diversify from the beauty industry into injectables. Also, the variance of the day to day role is great and there is no time to get bored or unmotivated.

WHO INSPIRES YOU MOST IN THE INDUSTRY AND WHY?

There are many greats who I respect and admire in our industry and I am lucky to have been practicing beauty for over 30 years. But I am also constantly in awe and inspired by the young girls who are jumping in, taking the risks and building great businesses with only passion and persistence to fall back on. Business education is great but you can’t beat passion for really making a successful beauty or injectable business.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE NEWER TO MARKET TREATMENT, WHAT IS IT USED FOR, WHAT’S THE RESULTS AND WHY DO YOU LOVE IT SO MUCH?

I am loving Glass Skin at the moment. The Glass Skin Treatment harnesses two powerful injectable techniques: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and botulinium toxin (muscle relaxant) Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a preparation of platelets in concentrated blood plasma with regenerative growth factors used to stimulate

skin healing, collagen production and other important proteins that support the skin. In the Glass Skin treatment the effects of PRP are further enhanced when combined with an intradermal botulinium toxin. The superficially injected toxin targets the muscles which control the pore size: (erector pili muscle).

HOW HAS IT BEEN MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM A LOCALLY BASED POSITION TO A NATIONAL ROLE?

The beauty of this role is that a lot of it is still strategic so I spend a lot of time in our head office which is on the Gold Coast and a 15 minute drive away from home. I travel to Sydney and Melbourne often but of course that has changed in the last year. I am lucky to work for an amazing company that supports the work life balance which allows me to be there for my family while still enjoying a busy career.

HOW HAS YOUR ROLE CHANGED DURING EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS?

Travel has of course been limited so that has its pros and cons but the biggest impact has been working through clinic closures and re openings and supporting our business owners both financially and emotionally through that. I think we have all realised the power of online meetings and in a short space of time its really made a difference how we communicate, educate and run our business as a brand.

HOW DO YOU JUGGLE FAMILY LIFE AND WORK LIFE BALANCE?

A very understanding employer certainly helps! I have the flexibility to start earlier to fit my work in, work from home when the occasion needs and create my own schedule. This role is very much 24/7 as I deal with aspects such as adverse events in the network and nurse triage calls, but I make sure I balance that out with plenty of time with my ever growing boys. They love to come to my office and print and laminate things lol! The aesthetics industry has gone through some pretty big changes over the last few years. It’s not just muscle relaxant and filler any more is it? The cosmetic industry is very much the tip of the iceberg where we are at at the moment and the industry is multiplying and diversifying at warp speed. The training and education is racing along and suppliers are increasing to meet this demand. In Australia we have 3 brands of muscle relaxant and a handful of dermal filler countries, yet the rest of the world has 20-30 times more. Our TGA is one of the strictest in the world but we will see much more regulation and introduction into our industry over the coming years.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE FOR US THE EDUCATION PATHWAY A THERAPIST OR NURSE WOULD NEED TO GO THROUGH TO WORK IN THE AESTHETICS INDUSTRY?

Firstly, to inject, an individual must have a nursing qualification as we are utilising a scheduled drug. It is important then that a nurse trains in and completes a cosmetic injectables course, but the learning does not stop there: within Australian skin clinics all of our nurses follow a medical educational pathway which demands constant training and updates to their skill set both in treatments and best practice areas. Cosmetic nursing is an area you never stop learning and training in.

WHAT ADDITIONAL CHANGES OR REGULATIONS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGE OR IMPROVE IN THE INDUSTRY?

As we are medically based and regulated by bodies such as AHPRA, Medications Australia and the TGA we have some very strict regulations and protocols in place which are on level with hospitals and medical practices. We are one of the most regulated cosmetic industries in the world which I am very proud of. I would like to see constant nurse education be part of all cosmetic injecting businesses and attention to adverse events and client care which is something that is of tantamount importance in this industry.

IS THERE A HABIT FOR NURSES GOING OUT ON THEIR OWN AND INJECTING OUTSIDE A DR’S OVERSHADOWING CONSENT?

A nurse cannot inject a client in Australia without the direct consent of a doctor and this has to be done either in person or via skype. This constitutes consent and allows a medical script to be produced. If this is not completed it is an illegal injection and a nurse can and will lose their registration because of this. The industry has tightened this dramatically over the last couple of years. A nurse cannot purchase injectable products from a supplier also without a doctors consent.

ANY EXCITING PROJECTS, TRIPS OR MOMENTS COMING UP FOR YOU FOR WORK THIS YEAR?

A trip would be nice, but I don’t think that’s going to be happening anytime soon! We have a number of new clinics opening and an ever-expanding injectable team which is always exciting. This role also allows for trials and experimentation, so its always great to work on projects that are industry firsts and we have a few of those to intro this year..stay tuned!

ABIAWe’re Back! We’re Back!AUSTRALIAN BEAUTY INDUSTRY AWARDS 2021

After an interesting 2020, which culminated in the first ever online version of the well-established Australian Beauty Industry Awards, we are proud to announce that the 2021 Awards are Back and we are certain they will be bigger and better than ever!

The ABIA (Australian Beauty Industry Awards) which also incorporates the AMIA (Australian Make Up Industry Awards) were launched in 2011 to provide the Australian Beauty and Make Up Industry a much needed and often requested benchmark of excellence in business and creative ability on a state by state basis. With 32 categories including the ABIA Australian Salon Business of the Year large and small and the AMIA Make Up Artist of the Year, these awards culminate in an annual gala event in August following the Sydney Beauty Expo. The awards were launched due to industry demand and are judged by an independent panel of judges, media, PR and business specialists.

ONLINE SUBMISSIONS

Each entry will require specific information to be written and uploaded directly into the awards site. Please keep a separate copy of the information uploaded for your records, however you will be able to download all or part of your entry at any time. You are welcome to Start an Entry which gives you access to the actual information required and should you decide not to continue with this entry, you can delete it. You may edit your entry after submitting, up until the entry deadline.

AWARDS PERIOD

The Awards period for all entries is October 2019 – April 2021 – 18 months. This is longer than usual to incorporate pre, during and post Covid times to give all entrants an opportunity of demonstrating their business success in the financial quarter pre-Covid, how they dealt with Covid during restrictions/closures and post Covid coming in to the new year. Reporting on periods where salons may have been closed should be seen as a way of showing judges how you pivoted during this challenging time and have incorporated new activity, dealt with staff, tried new retail options, continued education and more.

IMPORTANT DATES

- Entry deadline: 10th May, 2021 at 11PM EST - Finalists announced: 28th June 2021 - Awards gala dinner: 29th August 2021

GENERAL INFORMATION

• An Entry fee of $175 per entry will apply to ABIA • Entry fees are not required until you have completed your entry. • A full list of judges will be published in BEAUTY BIZ magazine and on the

ABIA and BEAUTY BIZ Facebook

Pages. • The independent panel of 35+ judges is made up of business coaches, trade and consumer media, key independent figures within the industry, educators, architect, Make

Up Artists, and non-industry business experts. • The judges will look at all entries in full and give an overall rating score taking into consideration criteria content and attachments. • Rating scores will be added by an independent auditor and from that the highest rated entrants will be named as finalists in each category. • The winner of each category is determined based on the highest score and in the event of a draw a secondary round of judging of finalists will be carried out.

SUPPORT

If you have any questions on the entry process, please contact the organisers by email to mail@mochapublishing.com.au or call 07 5580 5155

THE ABIA CATEGORIES

EDUCATOR CATEGORIES

Best Industry Educator Individual Best Industry Educator Organisation

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES

Beauty Therapist of the Year Salon/Spa Director/Owner of the Year Best Cosmetic Tattooist NEW! Sole Operator of the Year (ABN Registered)

SPECIALIST CATEGORIES

Best Marketing Award Best Customer Care Award Salon Team of the Year Best Salon Training Award Best Business Performance of the Year (non-salon)

SALON CATEGORIES

Tanning Salon of the Year Best Eco Salon/Spa of the Year Best Salon Design NEW! Best Newcomer Salon of the Year

STATE CATEGORIES

NSW/ACT Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (4 Treatment rooms or Less) NSW/ACT Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (5 Treatments rooms or more) VIC /TAS/SA Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (4 Treatment rooms or Less) VIC /TAS/SA Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (5 Treatments rooms or more) WA/NT Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (4 Treatment rooms or Less) WA/NT Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (5 Treatments rooms or more) QLD Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (4 Treatment rooms or Less) QLD Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year (5 Treatments rooms or more)

NOMINATED CATEGORIES

Hall of Fame Mocha Angels Humanitarian Award

VOTED CATEGORY

State and National Wholesaler of the Year

THE AMIA CATEGORIES