Hair and Beauty

The facilities here are really outstanding, they're fantastic. You've got everything you need. There's all the equipment that you'd get in a salon and there are never any shortages.The teaching style's also really good, because of the teaching I've been getting 100% in all of my exams. The tutors take time with each student to make sure they know what they're doing.

It was towards the end of the Level 3 course that I realised I wanted to open my own business. Everything just fell into place, and I had that confidence and clarity and knew what I wanted to do.

I've just started my own business, I'm now a mobile beauty therapist which means I go to people's houses and give them treatments. I do everything from facials to spray tanning. In the future I want to open my own salon and do laser hair removal.

Coming to Lewisham College has given me the tools and confidence I need to know exactly what I need to do without fear. If people are thinking about studying Beauty I'd tell them to definitely pick Lewisham College: I wouldn't choose any other.

I knew that I wanted to be a beauty therapist from an early age. So I found out what subjects I needed to take to get into that industry and got myself into college.

After college, I became a beauty therapist on cruise ships with a company called Steiner. I was able to work internationally, which was fantastic. Since then, I've been a head therapist, spa manager, group director of a company, and a training provider.

Being a spa manager, I kept myself up to date with trends, and the biggest complaint in the beauty industry is that there aren't enough good therapists.

That's why I became a lecturer, because I know what the beauty industry needs.When I was recruiting, I actually said I wanted therapists straight out of College - so I could help mould them into what we were looking for.

Having worked in the industry, I know exactly how tough it is out there. A lot of people think a beauty therapist is just a beauty therapist and they sit behind a counter - but they actually learn a lot about dermatology and physiology. A lot of people don't realise how far you can go in life with a beauty therapy qualification.

I wouldn't say my job's easy or difficult: I just enjoy it. I like to motivate and inspire people.

Hair Tutor

I've always had an interest in hairdressing - I was putting rollers in my hair from as young as four. I've worked in hair ever since I left school, in supervisory positions, first at Graham Webb and later at TLT beauty academy. Working in hairdressing gives you a lot of variety: you meet new people every day and it can also be very rewarding.

Students who come here to study hair will be the first people to use the brand new facilities, and I'm setting the standards high - all of our products are L'Oréal so our students will be working with industry standard materials. Our students will train with the best so they can work with the best.

Once you've got your qualifications, you can end up working in high end salons, on cruise ships, or even working on celebrity photoshoots for magazines. The sky's the limit if you put the work in. And hard work certainly does pay off: it has done for me.