Cosmetology Instructor Series Part 1

The Cosmetology Instructor Series: Part 1

How to Become an Instructor & Why It’s A Stellar Career Move  

Wondering how to become a cosmetology instructor? Teaching in cosmetology lets you share your expertise, shape the next generation of beauty professionals, and expand your career in a rewarding direction. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to becoming a cosmetology instructor, including qualifications, skills, and tips for excelling in the classroom.

Becoming a cosmetology instructor is actually a pretty sweet gig and one that not all that many cosmetologists consider right out of their career gate.

Some view it as the end of their creative career or even a detour from their original career goals. But teaching cosmetology—in whatever capacity you choose—can be a great way to hone your skills even further, boost your career immensely, and even make an unchangeable, important impact in the lives of other soon-to-be cosmetologists.

Don’t get us wrong—being a cosmetology instructor might not be the perfect fit for everyone, but if you love passing along your skills, look forward to a job filled with creative freedom, and relish the idea of mentoring and adding to the lives of students while continuing your own fulfilling beauty career, this could be the perfect career move for you.

Considering it? Good.

Keep that mind open, people—keep reading to learn even more about the prospect of becoming a cosmetology instructor, why it’s a solid career choice, and even how to take the next steps to become an instructor.

Why You Should Become an Instructor

Everyone has their own, unique reasons for loving their careers, and we can guarantee that if you chose to be a cosmetology instructor, you’d probably have a long list of one-of-a-kind reasons you love it, too. But if you’re searching for a little insight into why becoming a cosmetology instructor is a must-consider, we’re proud to get the ball rolling and offer some solid reasoning. 

Know this, though—this is just the beginning of the list. There are tons of exceptional reasons to become an instructor, these are just a few we think you should know about right away.

Personal Fulfillment

As an instructor, you’re in a position to offer hands-on knowledge that can directly impact and change a person’s life. Sure, being a cosmetology pro working in a salon or a spa is rewarding—we’d never deny that—but as an educator, you’re helping the next wave of beauty pros become the best they can be. 

You can amplify your talent by teaching others, you can offer wisdom and vision, squash bad habits, and help train students to become the best versions of themselves possible. If that’s not personal fulfillment, what is?

Professional Growth

Lots of stylists, cosmetologists, and beauty pros think that the next step in any career is starting their own salon, spa, or studio. And for some, that is the right next step—but it’s not everything. Becoming a cosmetology instructor is an excellent way to grow as a professional in more ways than one.

Cosmetology teachers are often equipped with broader knowledge, different experience, and the drive to move on to other unique career paths afterward that they might not have known about unless they became an instructor in the first place.

For example, teachers have the opportunity to become beauty school administrators and managers, state board examiners, even product reps, and educational consultants.

Being an instructor isn’t the ending point for a career in education—in fact, it’s just the start.

The Perks of Being an Instructor

Salary Increase

This isn’t always the case, but because being an instructor can open a lot of different doors (like, a ton of doors), you always have the potential of working better hours and making more money doing it. It all depends on what route you take.

Creative Freedom

Think you have to follow a specific syllabus as an instructor? That’s not always the case. In a lot of circumstances, you have total creative freedom. You’re the expert, right? So teach your students your way.

Run your classes the way you want, only teach classes about things you care about, and foster a creative environment within your own classes.

Mentor Status

Why wouldn’t you want to be considered the end-all-be-all mentor who knows the profession in and out? When you’re a teacher, you gain a room full of admirers who respect you and are looking to learn from you.

Having mentor status is a pretty fulfilling thing.

Travel Opps

Remember how we mentioned that as an educator you can find advancement opportunities? You can—and lots of those lead to travel. When you’re an expert in your field, people want you—they want you to guest lecture, provide classes, and speak at events.

It’s only a matter of time before those events span further than your region. When you’re good, people will want you to come teach where they are—and they’ll likely be willing to pay you to make it happen.

You Can Keep Your Clients

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to give up being a cosmetology pro who services clients. If it’s important to you, you can keep your clients and work part-time.

All it takes is dedication and a little creativity, but you can have the best of both worlds.

How to Become an Instructor

Becoming a cosmetology instructor isn’t as complicated as you might think. Like most career choices within our niche, it’s going to require some classes, some certification tests, a license, and some serious dedication.

First things first, you’ll need your cosmetology license. Which, we’re willing to bet you probably already have. This comes as the result of taking the appropriate courses and tests—but you’ve probably got that part on lock.

Next, you’ll likely need to enroll in instructor training.  This isn’t always necessary, but we highly recommend doing so—especially if you’re new to the education niche.

Then, you’ll want to gain experience. Shadow some of your teaching mentors, learn from educators you love, become an apprentice to an instructor you highly respect.

The rest is up to you!

Sound like you might be interested in becoming a cosmetology instructor? We’re glad we could shine some light on this lucrative and rewarding career opportunity!

Remember, even if you’re switching your career focus, it’s crucial that you’re always covered by quality liability insurance! That’s right, even cosmetology instructors need insurance—everyone does. Luckily, we can help! 

Check out our liability insurance policies right here and reach out to us for more info!

Any of you out there already beauty or cosmetology instructors? Share your insight and advice with your beauty community here. Drop a comment in the reply section below—we’re sure your fellow beauty pros will appreciate it!

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