On September 16-17, 2018, along with many other brands, Phorest Salon Software had the immense pleasure of sponsoring and attending the two-day industry workshop in Colorado: the Thrive Sessions Denver. Hosted downtown Denver at the Curtis Hotel, the weekend was designed for artists and creatives to explore their creative potential, find their edge to grow their business, increase their client base, and thrive in today’s competitive salon environment.
An Insider’s Look At The Two-Day Intensive & Educational Workshop That Was The Thrive Sessions Denver
Something I personally enjoy about attending hair and beauty industry events is going behind the scenes. There’s something special about assisting classes, meeting educators, stylists and artists and hear what the industry struggles with. For one, it helps me craft more targeted content for people to enjoy on the Phorest Blog, but it also means witnessing a very unique display of passion, motivation and desire to learn. And when I go around classes to take photos, that’s what I strive to capture. The passion, the dedication.
Click here for a short and sweet video recap.
Day One —
Modern Hair Cutting (with Sally Rogerson of S•R Education)
The first class I attended was “Modern Hair Cutting” led by Sally Rogerson, Creative Director of S•R Education. Described as a hands-on, practical and efficient approach for salons, stylists, and cosmetology schools, S•R Education’s essence is about high-quality hair education for all. This particular class was focused on the L•1 Signature Cut, also known as “The Money Maker.”
Sally Rogerson Education, Thrive Denver Sessions
Accompanied by educators from her team (Todd Baylor, Michael Layne, Ryan Lewis, Cale Horibe and Ruthie Grayson), Sally started by explaining how the L•1 Signature Cut isn’t all that difficult. In fact, she said, it’s a great cut for any style or age of client and any length of hair, but it’s all ‘out there’ and that every detail/movement has to be on point – every single time.
The session took place in a very supportive atmosphere and was broken down between hands-on practice and application, demos with teachers and short presentations led by Sally. Attendees got tips regarding sectioning, body positioning, graduation, layering and finishing techniques (pointing, slicing and twisting). Three hours later, the attendees were headed to their second class (4 classes in rotation throughout the 2 days).
Instagram accounts you can follow:
Creative Placement (with Lindsay Ryffel & The Business of Balayage Team)
With two classes per day and an evening of networking ahead, the second session I attended was “Creative Placement” led by Lindsay Ryffel, Director of Education of The Business of Balayage. Similar to Sally Rogerson’s class, the allocated three-hour was split between hands-on application, demos with teachers and short presentations led by Lindsay. The goal was to provide attendees with fun, creative and fast ways to transform clients’ looks with wearable hair.
The Business Of Balayage, Thrive Denver Sessions
Lindsay and her team (Lindsey McPherson, Kara, Van Hoogenstyn, Alicia Hayes, Beth Wilkinson, Sherri Swann) covered quite a bit of ground with techniques for converting brunettes to blondes, creating a roadmap for achieving diffused and dimensional blondes, understanding the art of a root smudge and finally, teaching a reverse balayage technique used for simplifying the process of adding depth back into the hair. A dense, but oh-so insightful session!
Instagram accounts you can follow:
- @thebusinessofbalayage
- @asunkissedlife
- @linsloveshair
- @karaloveshair
- @alicialovesbalayage
- @bethwilkinsonhair
- @sherriswannhair
Related | Behind The Scenes Of Modern Salon’s Artist Session ‘Influencer Series’
Day Two —
Mastery Of Extensions (with Lindsay Guzman of Elle.B Academy)
Perhaps the most challenging workshop for some of the attendees, “Mastery Of Extensions” was led by Lindsay Guzman of Elle.B Academy (also a Lush Extensions Educator). Accompanied by her team (Carolyn Piras, Kayla Themer, Jessica Mckenzie, Heather Shea), Lindsay’s session covered the most popular methods of hair extension applications.
Elle.B Academy, Thrive Denver Sessions
Elle. B Academy is a balayage, hair color and hair extension training company purely focused on the success of hair stylists and salon owners. And although the class touched upon custom coloring, pricing, consultation, and finishing, both the attendees and the educators’ full attention was steered towards beaded weave and micro-link extensions techniques. There would first be a demonstration (some with a live model), and then the educators would go around the room in support. The primary objective was to prepare and inspire attendees to provide custom hair extension services to their clientele.
Instagram accounts you can follow:
- @ellebsalon
- @ellebacademy
- @ellebhairextensions
- @cpirashair
- @kayla.themer
- @hairbyjessssss
- @heathershea.paints
Leveraging Instagram Stories For Your Business (Led by Natalie Boos of The Business of Balayage)
The only keynote or seminar-like session of the weekend was led by Director of Marketing and Operations, Natalie Boos of The Business Of Balayage: “Leveraging Instagram Stories For Your Business.” As per described on the Thrive Sessions Denver website, this class brought the attendees into the world of social media and Instagram. Natalie tackled questions such as “How you can make the most out of the platform?” and “How can Stories play a key role in a salon/spa’s marketing strategy?”
Business Session, Thrive Denver Sessions
Specifically, Natalie’s class discussed Instagram Stories, highlights, the swipe up feature and the followers vs engagement debate, to which she says, “Stop focusing on followers and start focusing on engagement. Followers do not equal money in your pockets.”
Aside from that, she also touched upon her favorite hacks:
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- Archive for Stories
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- Repost for Stories you’ve been tagged in
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- Share your post to Stories
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- GIFs
- Focus filter for faux portrait mode
… best graphic design practices and essential tips for developing a successful long-term Instagram strategy. Her most striking piece of advice? “Be who you are. Choose your words wisely; make sure that the person you are on Instagram is the same behind the chair to build that trust with your client.”
Instagram accounts you can follow:
Networking Event & Keynote
Although announced as a keynote speaker for the Thrive Sessions Denver’s Sunday evening networking event, Eden Sassoon, unfortunately, couldn’t make it. Managing a quick turnaround, the organisational team invited Jenny Strebe (The Confessions Of A Hairstylist), who wholeheartedly took the stage to share her roller-coaster-but-inspiring journey with everyone, sparking questions and much laughter.
About Jenny Strebe, The Confessions Of A Hairstylist
“Fusing her talent for hairdressing and devotion to education, Jenny founded leading blog and YouTube channel, The Confessions of a Hairstylist, and carved herself a niche as the go-to for hair how-to’s. Now 4 years on, the site has over 6 million views on youtube and a combined following of 600,000 on all social media outlets. She’s been featured in leading magazine titles including online, and named one of the top hair bloggers in America.”
You can follow Jenny on Instagram here!
Particularly liked one or more #BTS shots and would like to use it/them on social media? Please feel free to email me at <zoe.belislesp@phorest.com> with the following subject line: Thrive Sessions BTS Photos! Got feedback? Let us know either in the comments below or tweet us @ThePhorestWord! (Pssst! We’re on Instagram too!)
Thanks for reading! #LetsGrow
