I recently got to attend Beacon in Las Vegas. It was an awesome experience that deserves to be shared with the world, or at least, with all of you. Before I go into more detail about my journey, I am going to post a link that explains more about what exactly Beacon is. Even my husband and family don't even really understand what it is when I try to explain it. They just know I got to go, and that I had to compete in order to go. They don't really understand just how super awesome it is, and what it exactly was all about.
http://probeauty.org/beacon/
Day 1 of Beacon: I arrived in Las Vegas for the first time as an adult and found my way by shuttle to Luxor. It was a nice hotel that looks like a pyramid. The first night of Beacon was the Kick off Bash. I wandered to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and found the beautiful conference rooms where all the events were taking place. There was so much going on with PBA Beauty week and the NAHA awards, so it was pretty easy to find. When I got there they had Beacon goody bags on all the chairs. We got our name tags and our briefings on where to be, etc.. Our host was Geno Stampora. He is a great speaker who took us on our journey throughout the experincee. He reminds us that he is not a motivational speaker and that it is our job to motivate ourselves. This is very true. Even though he was not there to "motivate" us he was very wise and had much food for thought to lend. I have had the honor of hearing him speak before and it was great to see him again. After we were welcomed and briefed we headed over to the "Get together party" and got to eat and mingle with the others who were there attending Beauty week. I had no idea who most of the people were, but they sure did look important. Most of the party consisted of NAHA finalists and important members participating in PBA Beauty week.
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| The Luxor Hotel and Casino |
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| Geno Stampora and I |
Day 2 of Beacon: It was an early morning! We met up at 7am and had an awesome breakfast. They fed us very well. We started the day hearing from Arianna Huffington from the Huffington Post. She was an awesome speaker and funny too. The next speaker we had was Larry Curtis. He said his inspiration to become a speaker came from Geno. He had great things to say but one thing that stuck out to me was, "Successful people are persistent." Sometimes I feel like that annoying mosquito when I am trying to accomplish something, but let's just suck it up and do what we have to do to make it happen. Larry is also a school owner and his wife is a successful make up artist. He gave us a DVD and I will get to check it out later. Another speaker was Charles Marcus. I have seen Charles Marcus speak as well and he is just a great inspiration to all. He overcame a severe stutter and he passes on great words of encouragement. He said, "it is easy to shine in the light, but how many can glow in the dark." He also said "Think 100 times and speak once." I love that. He was great. The next event for the day was an open mic session with a great panel. There were NAHA winners, finalists, incredible hairstylists and mentors who were able to pass on their advice to us. After the closing we had a break to get ready for the amazing NAHA awards.
Beacon day 2 NAHA: Okay, so we are all dolled up and ready for the show. It was hosted by Mario Lopez and he shared all about his perm from when he was on Saved by the bell. Pretty funny guy. The show was great and it was awesome to see a real professional hair show. The models inspired me. The hair was incredible! NAHA here I come. One day I will do this. :) By the way we got awesome goody bags at NAHA. I actually had to stop myself from going back to the hotel and trying out every product they gave us. I restrained myself though and went to bed after an awesome day!
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| Ready for the show! |
Day 3 of Beacon: So the last day of Beacon was my favorite. The morning started off with the Vice President of Education for Paul Mitchell, Stephanie Kocielski. Of course I am extra excited about this considering I am a Paul Mitchell student. She is an awesome lady who brought so much energy into the room. The one thing that she said that stuck with me the most was, "be unforgettable." I am going to keep that in mind when I deal with all my guests. She introduced her assistant, Paula Peralta, who went over mapping out your goals and helping to achieve them. She told us about her journey and her amazing experiences getting to work with Stephanie.
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| Stephanie Kocielski |
The next small portion of the morning was spent discussing the importance of protecting the industry from deregulation. Important topic and got some really good information.
The next speakers were from Modern Salon. This was very exciting. They had great information about taking yourself to the next level. They gave advice on how to get your name out there and be heard. Some advice including volunteering, looking for opportunities, and attending local shows and events. They also encouraged us to enter competitions and gave us some names of some upcoming talent to check out.
So last but not least we got to hear from Vivienne Mackinder. She was one of the most anticipated speakers and she really did deliver. She had a different approach and was interactive with the crowd. I actually got to go on stage and participate with a little experiment she put together to prove a point. She cracked me up when she talked about "salon drama" and how to deal with the "haters." She also told us a quote that I wrote down because I totally believe it as well. "What you permit, you promote" said by Frank Gambuzza. Something to think about... She also gave us advice on finding the right mentors and what to look for. She had so much great information but I liked when she said not to let someone pull you down and to always resist at all cost.
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| Vivienne Mackinder |
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| On stage. I am on the right standing behin Vivienne. |
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| Vivienne Mackinder and I |
written by Tia Tinsley
