BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
EAST ALABAMA — The East Alabama School of Esthetics provides a space for local students to study skincare and beauty services and pursue their dream job without having to move or travel daily.
“We’re going into now our second year,” said the school’s owner and director, Sonya Hildreth. “This is a master esthetician program for licensure, for estheticians. It’s a 12-month program. And right now, we do recruit students twice a year. We recruit in September and February. So this is an evening program.”
After serving the Lee County community as an esthetician and former owner of Create A Spa Natural, Hildreth said she wanted to create a school to prepare the future generations of estheticians.
“As long as I’ve been in business downtown, it just really had come over me that it’s time to pass it on and to start to teach the next generation of estheticians and to actually give them an opportunity to become estheticians,” she said. “And I really didn’t realize that for so many of them, really, this has been their dream career, and there has not been [an esthetics school] here in this area and many were looking for [one]. So, with that being said, it has been well-received… [I’m] moving towards teaching rather than being so much of a hands-on practitioner. Right now, we have begun our second year. We started this program. Our first class came in in September of last year, and they just graduated this September.”
Hildreth said the students who are attending the East Alabama School of Esthetics have traveled from as far as Florida to attend her courses.
“Everybody doesn’t want a four-year degree,” she said. “So, this is a great career occupation, education certification, type of program that you can be out in 12 months and start a career. They actually will get their temporary license upon 700 hours in the program. After that, they have up to six months to pass the state board exam so they can even begin working while they’re in the last semester of school. And so that motivates a lot of them to go ahead and take their state board right away.”
Throughout East Alabama School of Esthetics classes, Hildreth said students learn many skills that will help them serve clients, including anatomy, physiology, disease and disorders of the skin and more. This knowledge will help them prepare for the variety of jobs they might want to pursue.
“Estheticians are considered to be skin care experts, knowing how to treat skin as well as how to make recommendations for skin,” she said. “Many of them are doing procedures such as facials, HydraFacial, microdermabrasions, high frequencies, ultrasonics and even now there’s a big demand for facial massage. So, they’re allowed to do that. They do body treatments as well.
“They can definitely work with local dermatologists or dermatologists in general,” she said. “They can work with physicians who offer medi-spa-type treatments. They can work with plastic surgeons. We do have definitely a lot of medi-esthetic businesses with positions that are opening up.”
As she has watched the East Alabama School of Esthetics grow since opening two years ago, Hildreth said she has enjoyed how it has provided an opportunity for education for the attending students.
“It’s just been a blessing,” she said. “How it has come together, I think it’s favor, is God’s favor on us there, and to bless so many young ladies with this opportunity that when one thing doesn’t work, it just rolls right over. I’m a person who really, really adapts to change very easily, and it’s been an undertaking.”
As she continues to cultivate the school, Hildreth said she values her students’ input and wants to ensure the experience is educational and properly prepares future estheticians.
“I’m really, really enjoying just teaching and watching them grow and just listening to them, because I kind of run the school, kind of family-oriented,” she said. “I like to listen to them. I like to listen to their input, and we like to know what’s on their mind. Where do they see themselves going with this? What would they like to see us do differently? Because we learn from them, and we learn by doing. So, I do listen to the students, and I do take into consideration things that they’re always bringing [to me] — something new all the time.”
To enroll in the program at the East Alabama School of Esthetics for the upcoming spring term, Hildreth said prospective students should apply by mid-January. She recommends visiting the site for a school tour. For more information, visit www.easeauburn.com.
