Industry Unites to Celebrate, While Planning Future

A weekend of unmissable professional beauty events is on tap April 15-17 at Chicago’s Americas Beauty Show (ABS). Events this year have coalesced around never-before-seen challenges that call for an unprecedented level of industry-wide cooperation.

The roster kicks off Saturday evening, April 15, at Americas Beauty Show (ABS) with a President’s Party, followed by the ABS Global Image Awards. This year’s ABS marks the show’s 100^th anniversary, and show organizers plan to welcome thousands to a renewed education and trade fair.

Sunday afternoon, April 16, a workshop of top beauty and wellness executives will address the jobs crisis and discuss the evolving industry landscape at the invitation-only Industry Leaders Roundtable at the Loews Hotel in Rosemont. During this powerful summit, facilitated by award-winning author, change-management futurist and former beauty executive Minter Dial, workshop participants will share their visions to inspire solutions for professional beauty.

Sunday evening features the Changemakers Gala, an elegant evening benefiting Beauty Changes Lives, the industry non-profit dedicated to making the beauty profession a first-choice career. The Gala will honor the legends of beauty and bring together industry members as a beauty family. In addition, the Gala will be the official premiere of the all-industry KNOW Beauty SECRETS workforce recruitment campaign.

Monday morning, April 17, the KNOW Beauty SECRETS program will debut to exhibitors and attendees at an Americas Beauty Show Townhall. This presentation will address the scope of the jobs crisis in the professional salon industry, demonstrate why all sectors of the industry need to work together to solve the issues and explore the role each member of the industry can play in moving forward to secure the future.

To cap the weekend’s events, on Monday afternoon, the Unite As One consortium of leading industry associations responsible for the KNOW Beauty SECRETS recruitment, retention and industry advocacy campaign will hold an in-person leadership meeting to plan the campaign’s launch on social media.

For information on the weekend’s events, go to www.beautychangeslives.org. For information and tickets to the ABS, log onto www.americasbeautyshow.com.

ABOUT BEAUTY CHANGES LIVES: Beauty Changes Lives is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and equipping the next generation of beauty professionals by providing valuable resources, scholarships, education, and mentorship opportunities. In a time when it’s never been more important to support the industry, all proceeds raised from the Beauty Changes Lives Experience goes to changing the lives of beauty professionals. Since its founding, the organization has raised over $7.5M in scholarships, awarded over 700 scholarships, and changed over 800 lives. Beauty Changes Lives is shaping the future of the industry. To make a donation, please visit https://beautychangeslives.org/donate/

ABOUT UNITED AS ONE: United As One (UAO) is a coalition of leading beauty and wellness associations that has come together to address the job crisis in the professional beauty and wellness industries. UAO associations are the American Association of Cosmetology Schools; the Association of Skin Care Professionals; Beauty Changes Lives; Cosmetologists Chicago; Intercoiffure America Canada; International Nail Technicians Association; International Salon/Spa Business Network; International Spa Association; the Professional Beauty Association; the Professional Beauty Association of California; and the Pro Nails Association.

March 29, 2023 | Salon Today