The beauty industry, often called the recession-proof industry, continues to see unprecedented growth. In the past few years, the beauty industry has shown phenomenal growth and contributed significantly to employment generation. While entrepreneurship is boiling over, there are several opportunities to work with famous international and national brands in the country or abroad.
In an exclusive interview with Stoodnt.com, Dr Bharti Taneja, Founder-Director Alps Beauty Group, enunciates about this ever growing sector.
Taneja is the Founder Director of The Alps Group, one of the biggest names in the business of beauty in India. She has also authored the bestselling ‘The Beauty Book’. Also known as “The Golden Lady of India”, Taneja is known to change the face of beauty industry in our country. Along with making people beautiful,, she also revolutionized the concept of beauty-education in the nation. With her expertise, she is known to amalgamate both science and art together and all ALPS academies are involved in teaching by applying both theoretical and practical approach. Indulged in this extraordinary task since almost 3 decades, she has been providing more experts like herself, through her academies.
An excerpt
What is the current scene of Indian beauty industry?
This is one industry that lets you spread your wings as much as you want. If you want to work for a prestigious brand, you can do that since so many international brands are launching their flagship stores in India. Also, at the home front, small yet promising brands, offering local artisanal beauty products, are supporting the surge in creativity. Plus, it is one field that lets you realize your entrepreneurial dreams, even on a ‘shoestring budget’ – you can start your own salon or launch your own cosmetic brand. Also, it is one sector where freelancers command high respect & earn good money. There is, perhaps, no other field that offers you such a wide variety of opportunities. The flexible working hours, high remuneration, and instant recognition are the factors that make the beauty sector so attractive and popular among youth.
You are known to have revolutionized the concept of beauty-education in the nation – how?
I coined the concept of “Beauty Clinic’ with the launch of Alps Beauty Clinic in 1988. At that time, only beauty parlors were available to Indian women. Blending skin science with the latest technology, I brought advance dermatological treatments within the reach of Indian women. The concept of Beauty Clinic revolutionized the face of the Indian beauty industry. Besides this, I am the first one to introduce Permanent Makeup, Nail Art, computerized hairstyling and the famed Gold Facial in the beauty industry back in 1988 when the beauty industry was still in its nascent stage. At the Alps Beauty Academy, I designed beauty courses that are an amalgamation of skin science and technology. Our courses focused on imparting knowledge that is “skin-deep”. I remember, how I decided to let my students practice on real clients instead of dummies – a move that my staff at the clinic strongly opposed. They believed that “Free beauty services” by students would ruin the clinic’s business. Though that never happened, it proved to be a great move in giving practical knowledge to our academy students. It is a practice that we still follow. By the time they complete the duration of their course, they know how to work like a professional.
What are the Entrepreneurial opportunities in the industry today?
Being recession-proof, this is the perfect industry to give wings to your entrepreneurial dreams. I would suggest opting for the Franchise model, as it is the safest. By associating with an established brand you get a definite edge over your competitors. Moreover, you get a team of experts to set-up the business for you, so you can focus only on running the business successfully. You can start with a small capital and expand your business step by step with time. If you have a space problem then you can become a freelancer and start earning – makeup artist, beauty therapist, hair stylist, nail art expert, etc.
What skills does one end to be successful in this industry?
You need to be passionate about what you do. You should be willing to work hard. A creative mind is always a plus. It is important to keep learning and updating yourself with new techniques and trends. For this, you can enroll in professional courses.
Reasons for which today’s youth should think of exploring a career in the beauty industry?
Where else would you get so many options for working styles/modes? Work as a professional for a brand/salon, start your own business or become a freelancer – the choices are many. Also under the umbrella of the beauty industry, there are so many sub-professional roles such as hairstylist, facialist, skin therapist, makeup artist, nail art expert, mani-pedi expert, salon manager, etc., — find out what interests you the most and excel in it. The profession is recession-proof, glamorous, rewarding and offers flexible timing & good salary.
How are you helping students build their career in the industry?
Bharti Taneja’s Alps Academy is the first institute to introduce skin science as a course. What sets us apart is our in-depth course content which forms a strong fundamental base of each student that successfully completes the course with us. The basics of beauty do not change but yes, you must keep upgrading your knowledge and skills, which is what most spas and salons do – they only provide ornamental training to their staff as per their policies and environment.
We, on the other hand, offer scientifically advanced courses that are a combination of theory and extensive practical classes. We encourage creativity by making our students work on various creative projects and in-house competitions. Above all, Alps Academy gives them many opportunities to work on real clients as well as with celebs during shoots and fashion shows. We work on their personality development with special classes on soft skills, communication, and client handling.
The faculty at Alps Academy incorporates reasoning with theory lectures to ensure that students understand theoretical facts to the core.
Diligent effort is made to explain in detail about the various phenomenon affecting the human body, skin, and hair in particular so that the budding beauty professionals get their fundamentals right. Using the latest tools of classroom teaching such as projectors and slides, along with hands-on training on most modern machines give an unparalleled advantage to Alps students. We also offer job assistance with all our courses.
If you wish for an international career in the beauty wellness industry, then we also offer CIBTAC certification. It is considered to set a high standard in beauty education. The certification is recognized all over the world and gives you the freedom to work in any part of the globe. The certification itself is a specimen of your knowledge, expertise, and talent as a committed beauty professional. All the students under CIBTAC certification program are taught in a friendly, professional environment to the highest industry standards in all aspects of beauty therapy. There are mock-tests to give students a deep understanding of the subject. Ample opportunities are given to students to practice on real clients so that when they step out of our institute, they step out as a well-trained beauty professional and not as freshers.
Where do you see the Indian beauty industry in the next 5 years?
The ever-expanding beauty industry will continue to thrive and grow in double digit. The areas within the industry, which will continue attracting the limelight, are – Bridal Makeup, Permanent Makeup, Nail Extension & Art, and non-invasive dermatologically advanced treatments.
Your future plans?
Now my aim is to mentor and shape the right talent that will take the Indian beauty industry to new heights. As they say, the future is in the hands of the next generation, we need to focus on attracting passionate & creative minds to the field of beauty. I am committed to this cause and would like to take the Alps Academy all over the world. Right learning will lead the industry in the right direction. I also have an NGO – Bharti Taneja Foundation where I teach beauty courses to underprivileged and financially backward women for free. I want to take this NGO to other states of the country so that more students can benefit from it.