Vince Lombardi is considered to be the most successful professional football coach of all time. A popular story of Coach Lombardi comes to mind from his infamous “This is a Football” speech. During the first team meeting of the pre-season, the legendary coach would gather all of the players on his NFL team together in the locker room. He would hold up a football and say, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” I do not doubt that the first time he ever said this to his team, he received many eyes rolling back at him.
The men had been playing the game almost their entire life – of course they knew what a football was! But Lombardi’s focus was on starting the team off with the basics and making sure everyone was executing the correct fundamentals. But the question most commonly asked is this: Why spend time on the basics of football when the players already know the rules? I think the answer is that fundamentals are a necessity, no matter what stage of our career we are.
As you may know from my previous notes, I own a martial arts school. My husband teaches the elementary-aged children while I tackle the teenagers. And as you can imagine, when teenagers walk in to their first day of karate lessons, all they want to learn is how to do the flashy stuff. Sighs are let out when they realize we need to stretch first. Annoyance covers their face when we start to review the proper way to make a fist before punching. And whines are no doubt expressed to their mothers when they leave about the lack of death-defying flips and jumping-flying-spinning moves. But when they come back to class on the second day – open to the idea that they really are in the beginner class – the basics are taught again. In fact, my students stay in the beginner class for six months! And when they are about to graduate into the intermediate class, I stress how they need to stay focused on the basics as they advance and continue to practice the fundamental moves as much as they do their new moves. I always know a black belt that practices their basics versus one who does not.
But in life, how often do we go back to the basics? It does not matter what we are preparing for or learning; we know it is essential to review. I view fundamentals as the foundation we build our skills upon, whether it is in our career, hobby or schooling. In skin care textbooks, the authors spend chapters devoted to the basics of things like chemistry, anatomy, equipment, nutrition and treatments. Hopefully this issue’s featured topic will inspire you to reevaluate the basics in your spa and maybe even find some time to brush up on them.
Depending on your scope of practice in the aesthetics industry, basics such as sanitation, consultations, skin analysis, product ingredients and techniques are important skills to keep fresh. How are you staying current on these types of things in your practice? Even if you are not a spa owner, continuing your education and becoming refreshed on things like communication, networking, and marketing are viable practices. Every aesthetician should recognize what basics they need to maintain and refresh annually.
Our magazine, website and tradeshows go hand in hand with continuing education. Thousands of aestheticians read DERMASCOPE and go online to utilize resources available. Countless skin care professionals gather at the International Congress of Esthetics and Spa to not only learn the newest products and advances in our field, but to also get a refresher course on the basics. It is during these times – walking a tradeshow, scrolling online, or reading the magazine – that we can take a moment to build on our foundations to stay strong in this trade.
Amanda Strunk Miller