How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Become a Lash Trainer?

It’s important to know that becoming a trainer isn’t for everyone and that’s totally ok! There are multiple options for progression as a lash artist, and while becoming a trainer is an amazing one it isn’t something you should do simply because you need something new. So that begs the question, how do you actually know when you’re ready to become a lash trainer?

Firstly, wanting to become one absolutely isn’t the same as being ready to become one. I say this to protect the industry, because teaching is not the next step just because you feel bored, burnt out, or see other artists making “easy” money from courses. Being ready to become an educator goes far deeper than a desire for money and here’s why:

1. You need to be entirely confident in your skillset. 

When you step into the role of an educator, you become a role model and a person of trust for your students. This is why it’s entirely important to be confident in your skills. Not just “my clients love me and I’ve lashed a long time.”, but “I nail my isolation on every set, I know how to style lashes confidently to all eye shapes, I understand diameters and weights, and I’m confident in situations when things go wrong.”

When you face troubles with clients, can you deal with them confidently and without having a complete meltdown? If the answer is no, you might not be ready to teach yet and that’s ok. Remember as an educator, you’re the person that gives the answers, and building the knowledge it takes to do that takes time.

2. Do you understand WHY you do what you do?

This is a big one. Can you break down your process step by step? Not just “I just do it like this” but can you explain WHY you chose that lash curl, WHY that diameter is safe, WHY that mapping suits that clients eye shape, WHY someone’s retention might be failing. Do you know what ingredients are in your glue and the science of WHY temperature and humidity can affect its performance?

Being great at the practical side of your job is great, but if you lack on the theory knowledge you may struggle to teach. If someone shadowed you tomorrow and asked “why?” every five minutes, could you explain it clearly? If not, that’s your area to focus on before completing your qualification.

3. This isn’t just an excuse to escape clients.

Running a training academy (& doing it well…) is much more than a commitment than just turning up to teach on odd days. If you’re tired of long back to back days, clients no showing you and only considering training because you want an “easy” high income stream then this is your reality check. Training is more responsibility, and more accountability, and if a student starts damaging peoples lashes, your name is attached to that. To be a successful educator, you must care about student results like they’re your own, so don’t mistake teaching for a new pathway with no hard work.

4. You’re willing to invest in yourself.

If you’re in the UK, becoming a qualified educator means completing the Level 3 Award in Education and Training. (which I offer here: https://kierakim.myshopify.com )

This is an essential qualification in order to offer accredited training courses, and completing the course is an investment you must make amongst considering other costs. These include:

- Course Accreditation (usually approx. £70-£90 for the first course and £15-£30 per course after, depending on accreditation bodies)

- Insurance (This is variable depending on your needs, but training insurance is more expensive than your standard Public Liability and Treatment cover you currently hold and it’ll cover both yourself and your students on their training day.)

- Training Manuals (You can write and design these yourself, or buy white labelled manuals such as these from LashBase: https://lashbase.co.uk/collections/training-manuals, get them designed professionally if you wish, and consider the cost of getting them printed too!)

Don’t let this put you off and remember it’s an investment. Price your academy right and you’ll make the money back in no time, plus an amazing profit!

5. You care about standards

This is the biggest one for me. Do you care about your clients lash health? Hygiene rules? Honest marketing? Or just making money and how quickly you can launch a £400 course?

Your standards need to raise even further when you’re running a responsible academy, because every student goes out and represents what you taught them. By raising the standards of your academy and teaching, you’re contributing to raising the standards of the industry as a whole, and that matters. If standards and quality aren’t highly important to you when you think of teaching, then it’s probably not the right path for you.