What is a personal brand and why is it necessary for beauty industry professionals?

Maria Terekhova, co-founder of the X-tend Group of companies, moderator of the Ukrainian Beauty Conference (UBC) and World Beauty Conference (WBC)

– Nowadays there is a lot of talk about a personal brand in business and the media... Why is it so important to build it?

– I started building a personal brand a year ago, after fifteen years in business. I am involved in so many areas that it is difficult for people to understand my activities. Therefore, I focused on beauty and began to develop a personal brand in this area.

– Do you think it’s better to first gain experience and then build a personal brand?

– No, the foundation of a personal brand must be laid as early as possible. I'm not saying that my path in this aspect is correct. After just a year of working on my personal brand, I can see results. Can you imagine what they would be like in fifteen years? On the other hand, it's never too late to start.

– What results did you see?

– Recognition, increasing the level of expertise in the beauty field. For example, they began to interview me more often.

– Are personal brand and business profit closely interconnected?

– Especially in the beauty industry. It doesn’t matter whether you are an owner or a master – people follow the name. Let's take Vyacheslav Dudenko. He always looks so that it is immediately clear: Vyacheslav is a representative of high fashion in hairdressing. He has established himself as a professional, teacher, and expert. Dudenko performs at various championships, conferences, and teaches at his own school. He is constantly working on his personal brand.

Another thing is a master who does not correspond to what he does. Agree, few people will go to a cosmetologist if he has obvious skin problems, few people will sign up for a salon if the owner is in plain sight and at the same time looks sloppy. A personal brand in the beauty industry directly affects the density of recordings.

– What else is important in a personal brand, besides external compliance?

– It is important to identify your strengths and focus on them. For example, you are a great colorist, so move forward in this matter. You don't have to have the most creative haircuts if that's not your forte. Understand who your potential customers are. If you work with the middle class, but want to work with VIP clients, start doing something in this direction now. At a minimum, you can offer your services for a nominal fee to famous personalities who are ready to do PR for you. This is called working with opinion leaders. But you don’t have to strive for VIP if such an audience is uncomfortable for you. You can become an expert in any segment and earn good money.

– What specific steps need to be taken to create a personal brand?

– You need to do your job well, but this is not enough. Ask your clients which social networks they use most often. Where you have more clients, create a personal page.

Decide what information you want to convey to the masses. Build on your strengths and the interests of your audience. For example, if your clients are respectable men, then they are unlikely to be attracted to posts about pink bows. But for young mothers – very much so.

And, most importantly, publish posts regularly. If you used to do this once a year, you probably won't be able to produce well-thought-out posts every day. Start posting once a week, but constantly. This could be the result of your work, care tips, opinions on trends, etc. Choose your content and style. Go beyond the network, speak at conferences and competitions.

– How long does it take to build a personal brand?

– A personal brand is a lifelong investment. It cannot be converted into leads, but, like word of mouth, it will bring clients to you.

– How can you scale your personal brand?

– A good example is Arsen Dekusar. He created a successful personal brand, thanks to which he opened his own school. Or Kirill Kunitsky, who has a group of companies “Business Constructor”, built on a personal brand.

The material was first published in Makeup&You Professional magazine.