Kate Reid, Kevin.Murphy's Color.Me Global Design Directo on stage doing what she loves.  
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Kate Reid, Kevin.Murphy's Color.Me Global Design Directo on stage doing what she loves. 

Ever wonder why encouraging one of your team members to pursue an educational track could help both them and your salon flourish. Kate Reid, Kevin.Murphy’s Color.Me Global Design Director Kate Rate recently gave some thought to how becoming an educator has changed her life her life personally and professionally, and she recently shared this blog with SALON TODAY:

I never set out to become an educator. As I grew as a hairdresser, I found greater satisfaction in educating others. I was driven by a few different reasons, but it ultimately came down to using my creativity in a new way.

Creating content, inspiring others, plus developing new ideas can be implemented in everyday tasks for any educator or hairdresser who is driven by fast fashion. I want to help improve the way people execute, engage, and function in their daily work. These aspects were all key to how I ended up as an educator.

The top 5 things about education that changed my life personally and professionally:

  1. Education has really helped me to better engage, embrace learning styles, and enhance lives, instead of spewing information clouds!
  2. Everything I do starts with my main objective in mind. I weigh the tasks at hand by considering the impact vs the time needed to complete it. Based on this, I decide whether it is a beneficial use of my time and serves towards the greater good. 
  3. Teaching helped me keep an open mind and break down my thought process in simplified way. It gave me a clearer understanding of my creative purpose through everything I do and why I do it.
  4. Creating a better relationship and strong rapport with students establishes trusting and mentally open relationships. The youth inspire me constantly with uncontrived ideas.
  5. Showing a technique, concept, or idea that opens eyes to new possibilities allows me to think on my feet and find a deeper connection with everyone I teach.
  6. The call for high achievement is only useful when it is beneficial. In certain situations, I am a perfectionist and frequently want to tweak and make progress as I gain more knowledge. However, my need to continuously change kept me from finishing a project and frustrated the people around me. Being an educator has taught me when being a perfectionist can be essential and when it can’t.  Ultimately, finishing an assignment and moving on to the next, achieves more results.

What are the things YOU learn from your students? How do they inspire you?

For me, being creative is all about keeping your mind open to see the magic in things that you haven’t seen before. Being in the hair industry for 21 years means you have witnessed a great deal. As a consequence, you can be fast to make decisions and sometimes miss something that is dynamic or innovative. Educating younger students is a dream because they don’t have set ideas and are open to endless possibilities. Not to mention, they have fresh eyes and are very adaptive to change.

  1. Listen: Students may have loads of fresh ideas. Since listening is a huge part of what I do, collaborating together can create real changes and lead to a masterpiece.
  2. Technology: I’m inspired by the technological push to get on board on current trends and stay relevant. I see so many young stylists build their profiles and clientele through their social network. Freelancers, for example, have an impressive targeted audience they can speak to due to the power of modern business building.
  3. Fashion: Fast fashion over the past 3 years has been a key driver for me. While I watch the runway, I love to stay inspired by colorists needs and what is motivating their clients. This helps me in my job immeasurably as it gives an idea of what’s incoming in fashion and what we should look out for in terms of product development.

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