2019 has been an incredible year for NALA. We’ve come a long way in just over three years and we are so excited to serve lash communities around the world. This year we offered services, resources, education and accreditation in 27 countries and 3 languages.

Thank you to all the lash professionals who support the association in: 

We have so many amazing things planned for 2020 and we look forward to continuing to do all we can to ensure the success of every lash artist and educator across the globe! Learn more about NALA and our mission to serve our community.

Implementing a well-defined course of action for each of your daily business activities will not only make your life easier but will help increase revenue for your business. Following consistent behaviour will also help your clients to trust you because they know what they can expect EVERY time they visit your studio.

When you systemize your business and make your daily procedures clear and easy-to-follow, you are more likely to adapt when your business grows. Without these processes in place, everything may become overwhelming when your client list grows and when your responsibilities grow with each new level of success.

Growth and success should be a time for celebration. To avoid overwhelm and potential chaos create a list of all your business tasks and break them down into these categories:

• Administration.
• Sales and Marketing.
• Client Management.
• Financial Duties.

Record your step-by-step processes for each categorized task.

Here are some examples of regular duties in a lash...

A sad story with a happy ending, by Levi Shephard.

The NALA Industry Awards have been so enthusiastically received by the lash community. We are thrilled and excited to be able to provide these awards every year as a way of celebrating the great leaders, mentors, and game-changers in the lash world.  

NALA must constantly review and update our recommended standards and terms of membership in order to keep up with the ever-changing industry.

One of our top subjects this year has been the use of pre-made fans.

NALA currently holds the position that using pre-made volume fans on clients is not acceptable practice. NALA Members are bound to NALA standards and therefore are not permitted to use them. There are a few reasons for this:

1. There are a multitude of different kinds available with too many unanswered questions and variables to be explored.
2. Pre-made fans are being purchased and used by lash artists who are NOT volume trained. The concern is, these artists may not have the comprehensive understanding of safe fan applications. Artists applying volume fans need to understand how different weights and fan widths will affect the natural lash. Proper selection, creation and placement of fans is vital for protecting the integrity of the...

In business, you can charge whatever you want. You can even be the MOST expensive lash artist in your community and be wildly successful. In fact, the higher-priced studios are typically busier than the bargain-priced ones. The key is to offer more value than you charge. So, if you want to charge top dollar you can! Just make sure you justify your prices with results, atmosphere, an excellent customer experience, product consistency, and as many perks and benefits as you can squeeze into a lash appointment. 

Begin preparing for the increase a few months before you plan to implement it.

Here is a simple bullet point list of the basic process for raising prices:

• Ask clients for testimonials and publish them so you have social proof of the value you offer and the results you provide.
• Will your price increase be substantial enough to affect your client list? Will you lose some people? If so, update your marketing strategy to attract a new, more ideal client.
• Do the math and make...

Your policies provide the solid foundation that your business will stand on. To have a clear set of policies is beneficial to you, your staff, and your clients. Everything runs smoothly and everyone knows what to expect. Clear policies leave no room for undesirable clients taking up your valuable time.

Create policies that make sense to you. No one understands your business better than you do. Be sure your policies support the flow and function of your studio and services.

Creating The Policies.

To determine which policies you would like to have for your business, ask yourself these questions:

1. What are some of my current frustrations with my existing clients?
2. What general behaviours are unacceptable to me?
3. What really matters to me during the flow of my work day?
4. What behaviours cost me money?
5. What behaviours affect my other clients?
6. What is working well that I would like to enforce on ALL of my appointments?

Based on your answers you can...

HOW IT ALL STARTED.

When NALA launched in 2016, one of our biggest priorities was to improve the standards of education being taught to new lash artists. It was apparent from our research and conversations with lash professionals that the levels of education being offered were sub-standard or severely lacking information. In 2017 NALA launched the NALA Educator's Certification Course. The course was a prep class designed to help aspiring educators to understand all that is involved in creating a manual and developing a fully comprehensive curriculum. This course has helped hundreds of lash artists around the world become successful lash trainers. The NALA Certified Educators are doing great things for our industry today. Not to mention the impact this has had on all the new lash artists joining our industry. Lash industry standards have definitely been improving at a rapid pace.

THE EVOLUTION.

As our industry continues to grow, change, and improve, NALA consistently...

WOW! NALA is three years old.

When NALA launched in July 2016 it was a fairly simple organization. Just a website really, where lash professionals could go to find vital information. We offered membership, which was available to anyone (no qualifications necessary)and we also offered accreditation for training courses, which involves an intense review process.

During the first year we (The NALA Board of Advisors and I) recognized that we wanted the membership to really mean something! So we created an application process. Today, membership is evidence of your integrity and professionalism. It shows that you are a credible lash artist. All qualifying members are listed on the NALA Global Directory and we promote them to the public.

With memberships running smoothly, our next focus was lash training courses. After listening to the lash community’s concerns about the poor education being offered to new lash artists, NALA created and launched the NALA...