Education -BrandAwareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a brand isn’t always about creating a product, it’s about providing a service too and building the brand that goes with it - a brand that will make it stand out. With this in mind, this month Irish Beauty takes a look at the past and present of The Waverley Academy, Dublin...
Training is an essential part of beauty therapy, without it we wouldn’t have the highly trained therapists that we have today. The Waverley Academy, based in Dublin, has progressed to one of Ireland’s leading colleges in its subject areas, providing life-changing opportunities for many of its graduates. Just like a product, a training academy has to start at the very beginning and build the brand they envisage.
Today, The Waverley Academy offers both full-time and part-time courses in hair, beauty and make-up, as well as sports, fitness and massage, in a
TheWaverley
Academy Fact File • Around 40 courses are taught throughout each year across six different disciplines - hairdressing, barbering, beauty, make-up, complementary therapies and fitness.
• The academy was the first ITEC College in the world to deliver their teacher training programme and are now the largest in the world.
• The Waverley Academy are publishers and authors of Ireland’s first make-up book for charity.
• There are 13 different nationalities currently enrolled on the academy’s programme.
• There are currently 13 family members associated with the business.
purpose-built training facility. However, in the beginning, The Waverley Academy started small and only actually entered into the beauty industry in 2005 - 10 years after the academy was founded.
In the beginning...
In 1995, Derek O Kelly, founder of The Waverley Academy, recognised that there was a need for quality part-time programmes for mature adults. The story began with a one-man operation and the company was known as the Irish Academy of Massage. “The first courses on offer were Holistic Massage, Sports Massage and Indian Head Massage and they were available on a part-time basis to (mainly) adults looking for a new career or returning to education,” comments Derek.
“I was involved in sports at a local level and there was a lack of knowledge amongst clubs and coaches about sports injuries and their treatments,” says Derek. “It was an area I was passionate about and so I started to teach other coaches on a voluntary basis.
“That eventually developed into formal training programmes in massage under the ITEC qualifications systems. Following 10 years of massage courses, I identified a gap in the market for quality beautician training for the adult market and moved to dedicated training facilities in 2005.”
Before the move into the beauty sector and training facilities, the ‘office’ was in a back bedroom and training rooms were in a community centre in Walkinstown.
1995 - The first massage course is delivered. At this time, the office is in a spare bedroom and training rooms in a community centre.
1998 - The business was moved from the back bedroom to dedicated offices.
1999 - The website is launched.
2000 - Two new family members join the academy team.
“Our first massage class was delivered using canteen tables and duvet covers for cushioning as a delivery of new massage couches never arrived,” remembers Derek. “A phone box outside my house was also used for making phone calls as we waited for phones to be installed and we also ferried massage couches to a training venue on a tractor and trailer when our van broke down.”
Today, the academy offers a variety of courses that can be studied both full- time and part time, ranging from one-day workshops through to certificate and diploma programmes and many of the awards carry national and international accreditations from ITEC and FETAC. Courses in beauty include make-up, waxing, manicure and pedicure, skin care, waxing, eyelash extensions, spray tanning, nail technology, make-up, and threading, to name just a few.
All about the care
In the world of training, remaining a sought after institution is top of the list for most training facilities, but how they do this is key. Customer care has been one of Derek’s main concentrations throughout the running of the academy.
2002 - The team move into new offices and IT infrastructure.
2004 - In-house teacher training departments are established.
2005 - New training rooms are unveiled and beauty therapy programmes are launched.
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Derek O Kelly
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