You know that moment when you realize the people you admire just didn't wake up successful? They figured it out as they went? That's the part no one really talks about. So I am talking about it. I'm Jeannie Walden, and this is Liftoff Journeys. This is where I sit down with leaders, founders, and executives to talk about how they actually became the people they are today. We skip the titles. We skip the bios. we focus on the choices, the detours, and the instincts that shape their journey. Because when you understand how someone else navigated their career, it changes how you think about your own. Let's see where today's journey takes us. Our next expert is someone that we love. Frances Tesmer, you might remember her. She is the founder and CEO of LEAD Rolf's Global Institute, powered by L'Oreal. She partnered with L'Oreal to create the world's first college degree pathway for beauty professionals. With a workforce that's 92% women, Frances is elevating an industry long overdue for recognition. Welcome back to Lift Off, Frances. Thank you so much. It's wonderful to be back with you. And we're going to have some fun today because when you've been on the show before, You've been talking about the program at a high level, but now we're going to get into some specifics and statistics that I think are really going to drive some people to take the step they need to take and get their degree. Absolutely. So, you know, let me start out with the first question. I already mentioned it. The beauty industry is comprised 92% of women. And your lead program offers the first ever higher education pathway. They can get an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. Tell everybody how what you're doing and the results that you're seeing is reshaping career possibilities for anybody in the beauty industry. Absolutely. You know, as we've talked about it before together forever, for too long, this space, the workforce of the beauty have had such limited opportunities, and they have not for too long received the respect and the credibility that they deserve, not to mention that they have not experience financial freedom to the extent, again, that they deserve. So here we are for the very first time. The goal of our program has been to change all of that, right? And I've shared that with you before. What I love about beautician is the fact that they love what they do. They are very passionate about what they do. And the goal of our program is to turn this passion now into power for themselves, for their life, for their community, for their family. I think that's so fabulous. And it's so impactful because everything that you're doing is legitimizing beauty as a profession. And it's giving anybody in the industry that goes through this program credentials that open the doors for leadership and long-term stability. It's amazing. Totally. And, you know, for so many years, I've listened to the stories of the workforce of this industry. Single moms trying to balance their personal life with the school, with job, with career. You know, students who graduate from beauty school and now what? They don't know, am I going to earn, you know, good money? Do I have a career? Do I have a future? So many confusion and limitation and why? There is no reason for that. This is one of the most powerful industry in the world. And many people don't know that, right? And so it is time for this industry, right, to give to this population, 92% are women. You know, I've always said, women love beauty, okay? They cannot help it, okay? Because they are beauty the moment they are born, right? So this is something that women love. Men too, but 92% are women. They love it, right? They are passionate about it. So what we are doing is to now create this space so that this population can take their passion and take it to the next level, transform their life, transform their finances, transform their family, right? As they deserve, you know, when with LEED and now having access to the higher education, it opens a wide range of career opportunity to this workforce, which is incredible. For the first time, they could become executives, becomes leader, occupied jobs as managers, as directors, all of that becomes open to them. And why not? And this is the beauty of what we've been able to do. I think it's really incredible. But let's talk about one of the things that affects everybody, which is financial concerns. And going to any school or getting any degree can often be expensive, even if you take out loans. But from what you've told me, from what I've researched and from what I've heard, you know, you've awarded over a million dollars in scholarships over the past three years. And that's enabled people to change their lives. Tell everybody who's watching, you know, the changes that you're seeing among these participants and what opportunities there are for them to get support when they make a decision like this. Absolutely. And that's so important. Our goal from day first has been to take away any barriers for anyone in this space to be able to have access to higher education. So the scholarship that we have given and we have created for everyone who wants to take their career in this space to the next level is here, is available for them. You don't have to have a big loan or big anything or pay back to create a better life for yourself. That shouldn't be the case in general. But our focus has been the beauty industry. And therefore, we've created that. And the students go through this, they graduate, they come out, they take their business to the next level, they have beautiful jobs, they have beautiful income. And for example, I give you an example, one of the students says to me, you know, not only that this scholarship, this financial support, this mentoring has enabled me to get a degree and now have a better life, better finance, everything. But also my daughter looks at me and says, oh my God, I believe that women deserve to have jobs at the highest level. And why not And now the family is impacted The next thing the community is impacted right So all of this I mean I always say come on we call our industry the beauty industry right So we can only have beautiful things happening in the beauty industry. Think about it, you know, on science, unsustainable. We are at the forefront of all of this, right? One of the biggest, number one beauty industry in beauty space, L'Oreal, they are at the forefront of sustainability. It blows your mind away to see how much invest they invest in that space, right? So that's really, right? What about humanity? What about financing women scientists? They do that too, right? So, and it's how it should be, right? We are in the beauty space, right? Everything should be beautiful. The people should be feeling beautiful. You know, their finances should do well. They should be able in modern world, in today's world, be able to balance their career with their life. All of this is beautiful. So we cannot have anything that is less than beautiful in this industry. So we are addressing this and say, okay, come on. We're the beautiful industry. Let's make the life of this workforce beautiful because it's important because they matter. So inspirational. My next question is, you've got me. Where do I apply? Where do people apply? Do they go to the website? Honestly, I'm glad you asked that because several things. A lot of time when people go and try to go to get a bachelor degree or associate degree, it's so new for them. They really need a lot of help, right? So we've created a whole concierge team. And I say we hold everybody's hand from day first through applying, through getting their classes signed up. The whole thing, again, is about taking barriers out and making it as simple as accessible to everyone who wants to take advantage of this. All they have to do is to go to the website leadinstitute.degree. That's it. The rest we will take care of. That's fantastic. So just from my knowledge and everybody watching, once somebody applies, they apply on a Monday, how long is it going to take for them to hear back and will the concierge get in touch with them? Is it going to take them a week, two weeks? Honestly, within 48 hours, they will be contacted and they will be spoken to and they will get all the support they need to go through the system. Now, also, I have to say something that's very important. Not only we are transforming the education and the life of everyone in the beauty space, but we are doing another thing at the same time. We are bringing innovation to education. OK, so we've we've made all of these processes so much more easier and friendlier for a student and achievable for a student. minimum amount of time, minimum amount of financial need, highest amount of support, mentoring, the whole nine yards. So we've made this as easy, as joyful as you possibly could have it in this space. well it sounds fantastic and so appealing especially now at a time when so many people are losing their jobs other people are considering career changes and then yet others are getting out of high school or getting out of some college and looking at the world and trying to figure out what they want to do. So this could be the answer to many, many people's future and careers while simultaneously still supporting the beauty industry. What you're right is in such great need of incredible talent and people that are passionate about what they do. So it's awesome. And the, you know, we talked a little bit in the past about you continuously looking to innovate and look into ways that people can get involved in the program that is breaking barriers that have never been done before. And I think a few weeks ago when we were talking, you had mentioned to me that anybody around the world can apply to this program, take the classes online, and come out with a degree that is approved globally. So none of the barriers of, well, you graduated in this country or you got your degree in this country, so you still have to take more classes, applies anymore. And that blew my mind. How in the world did you pull that off? Absolutely. And that's something that I'm very excited about, very happy about. It took years to arrive to that, but that is true. wherever you are in the world. A, if you are a beauty professional, we accept your beauty license from any country. And against that, we give you college credit so that it enables you to get your college degree in less than a year and your bachelor degree in two years and a half. less money, less time, and let's go, right? And that's just incredible. Not only that, if you're not a beautician and you live anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world, and now you want to come into the beauty space, maybe become a manager, maybe become a director, maybe become a CEO, maybe work in a laboratory, maybe become an entrepreneur, No, whatever you want to do in beauty space and wherever you are, you can also get our degree because we offer management career path. We offer a leadership career path. We offer many different career path, entrepreneurship, business, et cetera, et cetera. So whatever you need or you want to be engaged in the beauty space is available for you. You know, one of the things I have to say, you know, again, we women, we love beauty, right? A lot of women, deep in their heart, they wanted to go to this space. But until now, it wasn't respect as a respected career, right? Also, you didn't know, am I going to make good money? Am I going to have opportunities to grow? Am I what my life is going to look like, right? And so people went and did something else, maybe in technology, maybe in medical, et cetera, et cetera. But now for the first time, they can know that there is a professional career available in beauty industry. You can go to college. You can go to university. You can have an incredible job, incredible financial success. and being in an industry you actually love and enjoy and I have to add in today's time especially women we need more flexibility than ever before with our life and I believe the beauty space gives that to you right And that exciting to know that we have arrived We have arrived Now you can have that I think it is a game changer for so many people But you know as I talk to my friends who are in the beauty industry, salon owners and beauty professionals, one of the things that they all say when I talk about the program is, you know, that's great. But when you graduate, you have no experience actually doing whatever the beauty profession is, whether you're an appetitian or whether you're cutting hair. But I think in your barrier breaking approach to changing the beauty industry, you've even come up with a solution for that. Do you want to tell everybody about that? Because that one makes people go crazy when I tell my version and I'm I'm not sure I say it right. Absolutely. That is our first most innovative pay, pay apprenticeship system in the country, whereby if you are just a teenager that didn't even finish your high school or you're a grown up or wherever you are with your life, you can go and go into this apprenticeship program that we have created in one year. In one year, you can get, for example, just in hair alone. In one year, you can have a hair license and operate in your estate wherever you are as a beautician. But most importantly, when you finish this apprenticeship program, you are ready to make serious money. You are ready to be employed by salons who are looking for beautician who actually can perform right after their apprenticeship. Because traditionally, when you come out of the beauty school, you're not ready to hit the ground. You now need to go learn how to deal with people, communication, extra technical, you know, training, et cetera, et cetera. It could take somewhere between two to five years, depending on what you want to do for you to be human ready. Offer the services that today's customer need and want. Our program changes that completely. So on the technical front, you'll be ready. But what's important is that we combine the technical learning, the beauty technical learning with college. So by the time you graduate, you have a college degree, you have a beauty license, and you are ready to go in the market and make money and be successful. Or go open your own place or work for a manufacturer or work for the salon. We have addressed the needs of today's time. In fact, a lot of people, whether you are a teenager or you're a single mom, people don't have that much time to invest in learning something. People need to learn their technique faster than ever before. So we have introduced a global training system, which is part of our apprenticeship system, whereby I give you an example. Just one of our students, we run this program this year. We just inaugurated it. It's going to go national next year. One of our students, she's in the program for three months only. Okay. She is performing at a level of a student that has already graduated from two years of beauty school, plus at a level that you've already spent two years as a hairdresser in any given salon. She's already operating at that level with three months of technical training. And that's just that. it's crazy so if someone is in wants to get involved with the apprentice program are the apprenticeships going to be available in certain locations to start and then expand what is the plan so the apprenticeship will be available across the country in different different state in different salons right now we are doing it in arizona and then we're going to go beyond Arizona starting next year and the year after. Awesome. That's great. Okay. Now, I went to the school. I may or may not have done the apprenticeship. I've graduated. And now the world becomes very scary again, because I've got to look for a job. You mentioned the concierge service. Does it by any chance help you find a job afterwards? 100 percent. I love that question. One of the things that we're so excited about is two things. A, the greater need, our industry needs well-educated individuals who are ready to assume jobs of different kind, right? The market needs that, right? But we just didn't have individuals who had the opportunity or the access to this next level of education. Now they have, now you graduated. A, you will be wanted by the market big time. B, we, through our network in the beauty industry, nationally and globally, we will be actively involved and engaged with you to place you in the job of your dream. So this is a 360 approach. All we ask people to do is that, do you love beauty? Yes. Do you want to be successful in the beauty? Yes. Let's go. everything else we're going to give to you because you deserve it. Clients need that. The world needs that. The industry needs that. We're ready. We're done staying behind. We're done looking at this industry as a trade. It's done. We have now entered in the professional space, right? Now we are there. And now we have all kinds of career possibility available to us, right? As a beautician, right? And so we're engaged all the way from day first to after you graduate, you get a job and continuous training, masterclasses, next level training. also in our bachelor degree program you know we have also exchange student going to Europe staying in in Europe especially France we have that and more well it seems like I only have one more question to ask you before we end this interview and everyone applies and we all and you have to deal with all the applications. How in the world did you get started on this mission? Was it something that you dreamed of since you were younger? Did something happen that put you on this path? How did it all start? Not at all, honestly. For me, it's a little bit longer a story, but I try to make it short. You know well you know already that I have been engaged you know I an economic senator from the Senate of Economy of Europe I been engaged with the United Nations for many many years And I a philanthropist at my heart right That's what I do. So throughout my life, I've taken different projects in order to make a space better for humans in that space. You know, sometimes it's children, sometimes it's hunger, just different things. This one, you know, I've always been passionate about women, their education, their well-being, their happiness. I always have said and continue to believe if our women in the world are doing well, then the world is doing well. So I have this lifelong friend, Rolf, who has been in this space for the longest time. And he introduced me to this space. And I learned over time that the workforce of this space is left behind on so many levels. And so I decided that I would like to really invest my time, my energy, my connection, my experience and change and transform this space for, to be honest, for the women, the workforce of the beauty space. And so I got engaged and then I learned about all the challenges that exist in this space and decided that it was too important and that we needed to do something about it. And the rest is history. We are speaking about beauty, right? So everything should be beautiful, right? So now that we've decided, okay, it's time for beautician also to have access to higher education and to a degree program that serves them and their future, right, and their customer and whatever else they want to do in the beauty space, since that is established. And the next thing is, how can we create this education that is highly innovative and customized by utilizing the latest education available in today's world and make this journey joyful, easy to process, easy to access, and easy to implant, easy to learn? The truth is every person learns differently, especially in this space. So we have incorporated a ton of technology to make learning easier and customable to every individual, adaptable to every individual. And that's huge. That's innovation in education itself. And we're leading that. You know, we're leading that in the academic world on a national level. And that's a big deal. That's a huge deal and so important, especially as the world continues to evolve technologically. So it makes so much sense. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Before we go any farther, you know, I do want to say that this whole movement is about positioning beauty, right, to be at the forefront of innovation, sustainability, humanity, and financial success for everyone that is in this space. That is what we have done. And we have done it in the most innovative way and the most accessible way for every individual. And we are here to support everyone who wants to pursue this direction. I call on anybody who is maybe tired of the career that they've been occupied in for a long time. I call on everyone and say, look into this space. This is an incredible space. And by the way, robot cannot take this space. Okay. We need it. It's essential. It matters. So it's a beautiful space to get engaged. And so if anyone out there is not sure what would be the next thing I want to do, especially moms, especially single moms, right? Especially women, right? This is an industry you want to look into. And now we've given it a whole new, powerful, and beautiful career and journey, right? So I'm excited for people to have this available to them now. It sounds really easy to apply. I love the fact that it's concierge and white glove. Can anybody apply? Is it only for people just getting into the industry, people that have been in the industry? What if you're 15 years in and you're just looking to finally take that next step? You know, I'm so glad you asked that. One of the beauty of this program is age has nothing to do with it. Your situation has nothing. You can be at any age, at any situation, and you can come right in. You are welcome to come right in and build a whole new, beautiful life for yourself and your family. We graduated a student over 60 years old. We have graduated a student at 20. We have a student in the program at 17 and 16. We have single mothers. We have people who just want to change their career, do something completely different. It doesn't matter. And my message to everyone is everybody can have access to this and you can run with it. There is no specific anything. Anybody can come in and be successful with this and run with it. Frances, this was an amazing conversation and I can't thank you enough for always being there to inspire us about making choices that can make our worlds better and the world better by itself. Thank you so much for being on Looked Off. Wonderful to be with you again. Thank you so much for having me on. And I'm very excited about the future of beauty. It was awesome, right? I thought so. And I totally wasn't expecting half that conversation. And like always, I learned something new. One of the things I hope you can take away from today's conversation is this. There is no single path to growth, but there are great ideas that you can integrate into your own style. You know me. I'm a big fan of the air method, authenticity, inspiration, and relatability. And those are the patterns that will lead you to success. When you start noticing how people make decisions, how they pivot, lead, and handle those very real bumps along the way, the ones we all call life, you get much clearer about your own next move. And that's what we explore here on Liftoff Journeys and across everything we do at Liftoff Enterprises. we look at conversations we do it through media and experiences designed to help leaders grow with more trust and confidence every day if this episode resonated with you there is more waiting for you whether it's another journey a liftoff with genie weldon tv interview or one of our liftoff spotlight episodes find what speaks to you and use it to cross that trust threshold and go from stuck to unstoppable thanks so much for listening until next time Thank you.
