ESTETICA steals 5 minutes away from Chris Campbell, FHI Brands Vice President of Education and Shows, to find out the impactful changes taking place within the company.
Looking to work for a major company like FHI Brands? Take the leap! These new education efforts are opening doors to passionate professionals and Campbell makes it clear that his mission is centered on teaching with a capital T.
1. What kinds of educational projects does FHI Brands have planned for the near future of the company? How about long-term goals?
“FHI Brands is launching an amazing series of modules called Skill Builders. Skill Builders modules will function as 2 hour demonstrations or 4 hour classes, depending on the situation and venue. Skill Builders will focus on techniques, not trends. A technique can be used and reused once you learn it, but a trend? A trend is over before you can get back to the salon. And how many of your clients are usually up for a trend? To me, trends and collections are empty if they don’t make us better at what we do.
Far too often, what is presented, as education in our industry feels empty to me. It doesn’t have much “nutritional value”, if you will. My commitment to FHI Brands and to the amazing professionals that attend our shows is that you will walk away with something when they see our demonstrations and classes. Maybe we teach you something new, or remind you of something you’ve forgotten or haven’t used in a while. Maybe we will teach you a new or better way to do something that you have been doing for years. But my goal is that we will Teach with a capital T.”
2. We are aware of the plans in FHI Brands to expand the team. What kinds of professionals are you looking for? Why?
“We are actively recruiting and expanding our Educator roster to meet the growing needs of our shows and the demand for education that we are being asked, from our distributors to the hairdressers themselves. We have kept our team tight and lean for the past few years and now that we have a strong message to share and a philosophy, it is time to grow.
What do I look for in a potential educator? Of course we want licensed professionals, but I look a little deeper than that. I want people that are engaging. Someone that when I meet them for the first time, or when I speak to them on the phone, I feel like I might enjoy spending time with this person. If you can’t hold my attention, then you aren’t going to be very successful holding the attention of others, and the message that you are sharing at that moment doesn’t get delivered.
I also look for someone that has passion in their life. Someone that wants to do more, share more, be more. This has made our team incredibly strong and at the same time incredibly close. They are always in contact across the country through social media and have become part of each other’s daily lives. They support each other in ways that make me very proud. You know they enjoy each other when, after being on their feet at a show for eight or nine hours with each other, they still want to hang out and spend time together.
At the same time, we don’t do high maintenance divas at FHI Brands. We have amazing personalities, but everyone works hard and is a team player. Everyone that wants stage time gets it, providing they know their stuff and they engage the crowd. We don’t have platform artists in the traditional sense, because they are every single one an artist and have a story and a perspective to share with the world.”
3. What do you think sets FHI Brands, as a global company, apart?
“What sets us apart as a global company is ability to adapt and customize our approach and our products to fit the needs of each country.”
4. Which platforms are you going to use to expand your education efforts?
“With our launching of our new education system, we have plans to try many different ways to share what we have to offer with the world. Today’s technology allows us all to share information in ways never before seen. But – nothing beats a face-to-face demo or a hands-on class. We confirmed this at our shows when we are able to work with hairdressers one on one. Technology is great, and we will take full advantage of it, but our industry works with its hands. We want to get our hands on it. Or hands in it. Try it. Test it. Feel it. So that is where we want to focus.”
5. What are your main goals in this new amazing stage of FHI Brands history?
“To continue to innovate and bring more to the hairdresser. We want to support those seeking to grow in their skills and abilities. To reinforce that we are artists and professionals and that our abilities reflect this… and to look good doing it too.”