JN Small Business Loans to stage third Barber and Beauty Battle

The third Barber and Beauty Battle and Expo will be staged by JN Small Business Loans (JNSBL) on May 7, 2017, following the success of the two previous competitions, which inspired a host of barbers, hairdressers, nail technicians and cosmetologists across the country.

"JNSBL has decided to make the competition an annual event, based on the feedback from participants and the positive experiences which they and the winners have enjoyed. They appreciated the training they received from the HEART Trust-NTA and the benefit to their businesses," said Gillian Hyde, general manager of JNSBL.

She pointed out that the competition will include the same categories as last year - barbers, hairdressers, nail technicians and make-up artists. There will be an increase in the prize money for the winners of the make-up and nail technician segments, with the winners receiving $300,000.

In addition, participants will also benefit from financial planning seminars and the HEART Trust-NTA assessment towards their certification.

"Our objective is to influence more persons in the barber and beauty sectors to refine their skills, improve service quality and delivery, and upgrade their operations through the management skills gleaned from seminars," Hyde said.

She noted that these enhancements will increase the participants' ability to secure loans for expansion of their businesses. "We also want them to be able to ply their trade anywhere in the world, hence the partnership with the HEART Trust-NTA," she said.

A PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATION

The JNSBL general manager pointed out that the idea for the first competition in 2015 emerged from a conversation between Earl Jarrett, general manager of the then Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), and his barber.

"We developed the idea coming from Mr Jarrett and his barber and, last year, we added new categories in response to recommendations from industry members," Hyde explained.

Last year, Marlon Phillips won the barber category; Shaphawa Hylton, the make-up section; Kadie-Ann Brown, the hairdresser category; and Marsha-Gay Edwards clinched the nail technician segment.

"Based on the response to last year's show, it is our hope that more persons in the industry will participate this year," Hyde said.

Jason McNeish, chairman of the barber and beauty organising committee, said, "We decided to maintain the same categories, because we wanted to invite the entire beauty sector to participate in our competition, business training sessions and expo. We also want to give industry members a context in which to demonstrate their talents. And, hopefully, they will bring their 'A' game, as they did in the past two competitions."

Applications for the competition opened on February 25 and will close on March 25, 2017.

To enter the JNSBL Barber and Beauty Battle and Expo 2017, industry professionals are invited to submit the best 'before and after' photographs of their work. The top entrants will move on to the second round of the competition, in which members of the public will be requested to 'like' their work on Facebook.

The six persons in each category will compete at the expo, with the emerging barbers, hairdressers, make-up artists and nail technicians going up against last year's winners for the chance to be the 2017 champions.