Hand & Stone Massage & Facial Spa has partnered with Beauty Changes Lives to launch scholarship opportunities, with the goal to reduce financial barriers and expand access to massage therapy and esthetics education. Two “In Good Hands” scholarships will go to massage therapy and esthetics students in the amount of $2,500 a piece.
Hand & Stone offers massage and skin care services with a membership-based model. Hand & Stone has 7,000 massage therapists and 3,000 estheticians. Beauty Changes Lives was established as a non-profit foundation in July 2012 as an initiative of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS). Since its inception, it has raised more than $9 million for scholarships and grants, which have impacted more than 1,500 students and their families and communities.
Lisa Rossmann, Chief Corporate Spas and Innovation Officer at Hand & Stone, said it has been deeply meaningful for the company to pull people into the wellness trades. She said there is not a lot of federal education funding for those who want to go into wellness trade professions. Rossman is a licensed esthetician and said esthetics holds a very special place in her heart. She has been licensed for 17 years and said the profession has been very rewarding. She said that Hand & Stone wants to be an access point for more people getting into the profession.
Rossmann said the biggest barrier for people getting into massage therapy or esthetics is tuition and the time commitment required to attend classes. Hand & Stone has been working with the 95 school partners across the country to adjust the schedules of their school programs to accommodate the availability for those who are interested in massage therapy and esthetics. That means working with the school partners to offer part-time classes, nights and weekends and hybrid learning opportunities. With the tuition barrier, Hand & Stone has been working on getting people access to funds to pay for education. Some franchisees are funding the education in exchange for employment on the other side of licensure. Hand & Stone is working with state workforce development on grants to help schools earn Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL) certification in states like Pennsylvania, and workforce development programs in other states.
Hand & Stone started a dialogue with Beauty Changes Lives about offering scholarships to students. One is being done in partnership with Dermalogica for esthetics, the other is in partnership with Universal Companies for massage therapy. While the two scholarships have been launched with $2,500 per scholarships, Rossmann said they are looking to increase the amount of the scholarships over time. The scholarship is available to anyone 18 years old or older who are enrolled or newly accepted into an accredited esthetics or massage program.
“It’s our way of beginning to pull people into this profession and helping them pay for education,” she said. She added that the hope is the scholarship recipients will be able to tell their stories to others as a way to encourage more people to enter the profession.
Rossmann said that there is an awareness gap when it comes to the wellness trades and how people can make a career out of the roles that exist in it. She said that when people think about skilled trades, they don’t consider the wellness trades. She said Hand & Stone is on a mission to have people think beyond the toolbelt to educate people about the wellness trades. Their goal is to become a resource for the wellness trades and help provide access points to funding.
The deadline for the scholarships is July 31. Those interested in the scholarships can visit www.handandstone.com or beautychangeslives.org.
