Asia Glam

Can you briefly explain what AsiaGlam Academy does
AsiaGlam Academy in an international, industry leading training institute providing professional makeup and hair styling courses. We provide courses which are successful, teach the art of professional excellence, and most importantly are so much fun – once you pick up a brush you can’t stop! How do we do this – well with world class tutors, the perfect training environment and an endless array of the best makeup products in the industry for our students to learn from, our students are practically guaranteed success. The AsiaGlam courses are aimed at students aspiring to become the most renowned Hair & Makeup stylists in the industry with our training. Once graduated, all of our students have taken up successful careers as freelancers, media and film related Makeup & Styling artists or work for elite makeup companies.

Our graduates also receive ongoing support from AsiaGlam as we take them to glamorous shows and events, product masterclasses as well as enrolling our graduates with makeup companies to receive substantial professional makeup discounts! No-one else in the market goes to the extent we do!

How did you come up with the idea?
I have always lived in the world of fashion and makeup, having envied the looks of the red carpet queens – and it’s this that drove to pursue my styling passion at the London College of Fashion. It was unconventional for an asian girl at that time, but I followed my heart. Fashion, Styling and makeup is in my DNA, its my blood and something I have always been involved with!
About 3 years ago I decided to enhance my existing styling skills and train with some of London’s leading makeup & styling institutions. I was disappointed with the quality of many of the training course providers, the tutors’ credentials and the prices being charged across the industry.
I saw an opportunity in the market for AsiaGlam – a quality training establishment at a value for money price. My team’s endless passion and drive for makeup and keen eye for detail and colour is self evident and it became clear there was a huge demand for our skillset in the marketplace. The birth of AsiaGlam Academy followed soon after, and the rest is history!

How long has AsiaGlam Academy been going?
AsiaGlam has been running for 2 years

What challenges did you face starting up?
I started the business in a terrible economic climate. People were reluctant to spend, jobs were being lost and people were reining in their expenditure. That said, when students approached me they quickly understood the quality of training they were getting. We not only believed our products are the best training courses within the market, but for value for money it’s definitely market leading. Many of my competitors charge twice as much as we do, don’t provide any makeup kit within the fees (let alone one worth in excess of £750) and substandard training. AsiaGlam was naturally going to take the market by storm because it wins on all counts!

What is AsiaGlam’s unique selling point?
Our tutors, our course kits, our course content, our student aftercare - are all industry leading and qualities which others aspire to – hence I believe every part of AsiaGlam is our USP. Our tutors have true credentials, they have emerged from the excellence of London College of Fashion and London College of Beauty Therapy. They are highly motivating and unbelievably approachable and encourage all our students to believe in their skills and push them to achieve the highest of their abilities. Our course kits are incredible – nobody can even come close. The luxury branded products, brushes, boxes we provide gives every student the wow factor and provides them the perfect basis to perform from the very first second they open their kits. The excitement on their faces is unbelievable!

Our course content is delivered through a 106 page manual each and every student gets. This has been created by us, and includes everything about makeup, and aids the classroom practical exercises as a point of reference for students outside training hours. The detail covered and the fun our students have is unrivalled.

We take our aftercare seriously, every student is told we only are a phone call away and often find ourselves guiding students on starting their businesses, giving professional opinions and advise to further enhance their careers. We want all AsiaGlam artists to become darlings of the beauty industry.
And finally our work. I believe our work is unique, , different, of the highest quality and totally glamorous. Its something which nobody within the industry currently does. Look at our porfolio’s – the proof is in the pudding!
Is there any advice you would give to someone looking to start-up in the beauty industry?
Now is definitely the time to start and go into the industry, so many people are looking to go into beauty and rightly so - its a multi billion pound industry in the UK which is exponentially growing. The important thing is to differentiate yourself. A true professional has a portfolio with clear work which is expressive of the style and makeup preferences. Im happy to talk to anyone interested in persuing this industry to educate them on the benefits and pro’s – I do this with all my students prior to them starting the course to ensure they understand the hard work that is also required to succeed.

I think many people also have come to agree that beauty is recession proof. At times of despair many women turn to their comforts and beauty has emerged a clear anti-recession remedy as the industry has grown, even during this difficult economic cycle.

You offer a course on Creating Your Own Makeup Business, what are the key skills and elements you focus on?
Many students come from all walks of life and don’t understand the art of crafting and starting a business. This is essential, especially when pursuing this as a full time career. We had so many students having done the course seeking guidance, that this course is a natural progression which many of our students do. We make students understand all elements of business, from finances, business strategy, marketing, expense management all with a view to helping them build a sustainable business plan which leads to successful careers. The course revolves around a business tool kit we have put together which helps create a clear strategy and definition around the businesses they are creating and the critical factors to success.

What are the biggest challenges facing the beauty industry today?
Regulation. The industry is currently unregulated meaning that there is no universally defined measure of a qualified makeup artist or a beautician. Its not like a GCSE or an A’Level where everyone in the country has sat the same qualified exam. It means we have an industry with amazingly creative talents who are let down by a few people who have the legal right to work as artists but don’t really have the skills. Its a shame, and I think in the future this will need to be addressed to secure the integrity and credibility of people working in the industry.

What’s next for AsiaGlam?
Wow, thats such a difficult question to answer in a short space. We are currently starting the AsiaGlam Franchise for people interested in using the benefits our brand to start a makeup business and we are going to be starting our own training academy in South Asia as the International demand for our training has been phenomenal. Given the considerable talent pool we have, we are also looking into creating our own garments as many of our makeup artists are also fashion designers. The future is amazingly hectic, action packed and definitely glamorous – after all we are AsiaGlam!