A sad story with a happy ending.
Our Quality Control Manager, recently received an email from a young lady who was looking for more information about her “educator”. She had been having some problems and reached out to us for help. After a couple of detailed messages we all realized that the student had been the victim of fraud. Her story was shocking to us! - After paying a hefty tuition for a lash extensions course, which she believed was being offered through NALA, her instructor directed her to some youtube videos as her basic training. Not videos created by the educator, but just some general instructional videos posted by other people. The student continued to have a negative experience with her educator and never actually received what she paid for. Without going into the details about her issues with her educator, we were very disturbed here at head office to hear that this aspiring lash artist had endured such a terrible introduction to the lash industry. She was out a lot of money, had wasted several weeks, and STILL didn't receive a quality education. Needless to say, we felt terrible for her! Our QCM, Lori, dealt with the fraud concerns as per our protocol but she also fought for a full refund for the student. While Lori was going to bat to make things right for the student, I reached out to the owner of one of our Accredited Academies in the same area as the student and shared the story. Jenn Helgren of Lash Boss Academy offered the student a full scholarship to take her accredited lash training course. I am sharing this story for two reasons: 1) To inform everyone that if an academy has been accredited by NALA you will find them on the NALA Global Directory (www.nalamembers.com). Anyone with permission to use the NALA name is listed on the directory. NALA does not have affiliates that do our reviews or accreditation for us. We do not have personnel that do site visits. Everything is processed through one of our head office locations. We have our English head office in Edmonton, Canada, our Spanish head office in Cancun, Mexico, and our French head office in Laval, Quebec. 2) To express my love for this industry and to highlight the goodwill that is abundant in our community! Jenn Helgren of Lash Boss Academy didn't even hesitate to help. She received nothing in exchange for providing a quality, accredited education to one of our industry's newest lash artists. She did this because, like all NALA Accredited Academies, Jenn is passionate about improving the standards of the lash industry. Her priority is to contribute all she can to the betterment of our beloved trade. It was such an honour and a pleasure to witness members of our lash community come together to help. As upsetting as this story was in the beginning, it has a happy ending. The student received a full refund from her original educator and a quality lash training from one of the country's top academies!
Disclaimer: This blog is intended for informational purposes and is not intended to replace formal business advice, financial advice, government regulations, or any other form of legal advice.