Member Spotlight Carol Geal Owner of 360 Skin Studio

I love helping people! My passion for helping people began during my part-time after school job at a local pharmacy in Christchurch, which later became my full-time job once I left school. I discovered that I could genuinely assist customers with their skincare, makeup, and health concerns. This realisation led me to pursue a career as a beauty therapist.

My first job was in Dunedin at a model agency and beauty therapy salon. I was thrilled to offer a range of beauty therapy services and also taught in the deportment and grooming classes, skincare, makeup, and aerobics (think Jane Fonda, leotards, and leg warmers!).It was the dawn of exercise classes as we know them today!

Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting many amazing therapists, educators, and clients. One thing I believe is vital to staying fresh and positive in our industry is to constantly upskill and keep abreast of new ideas, activities, and technologies.  This is why I am so passionate about continuing to be a member of our association.

When I moved to Auckland in the early '90s, I learned about our association and knew I wanted to join to receive ongoing support, training, and education with like-minded colleagues. I joined and soon became an active member on the executive committee. My role as Editor, though it sounds grand, initially involved producing a modest 2-3 page newsletter. To grow our membership, we decided it was time to upgrade our newsletter, which required me to connect with beauty therapy suppliers for advertising. This enabled us to deliver a more professional magazine within-depth articles. I fondly remember preparing the magazine for printing, working from home. I used to put myself inside my young son’s play pen to layout and organise the pages for the magazine getting it ready for publishing ensuring he couldn't muddle up my work while nearby he was chattering away tome and playing!

I have been a member for over 30years and believe it is more important than ever to belong to our professional association. Our association is our voice, ensuring the public knows we are highly qualified professionals and that they are in safe hands. I am very proud to display my membership in my salon.

Eighteen months ago, I started 360 Skin Studio with the goal of offering bespoke skin solutions to clients seeking help with their skin concerns. As an advanced dermal skin therapist I exclusively only use beauty therapy and medical products and treatments to achieve the best results. It is incredibly rewarding to see clients' smiles and their confidence boosted and to receive messages about their healthy, glowing skin.

I have upskilled in many ways over the years, and a highlight was being trained by Dr Des Fernandes in Medical Needling, which I proudly offer in my studio along with other modalities such as LED, Sonophoresis and Iontophoresis vitamin infusions, and Cool Peels.

I most enjoy the freedom and responsibility of developing and growing my own business. After managing large beauty therapy businesses, it is refreshing to be my own boss again, allowing me to create flexible work hours so that I can have more frequent long weekends to spend more time with family and friends.

When I'm not working—which doesn't feel like work at all—I love cooking (my partner says we never eat the same meal twice!) and exercising at Les Mills, especially Body Combat and all aerobic classes. Nothing energises me more than dancing, jumping, and punching to great music!

Something most people don’t know about me is that I also hold a British Institute of Innkeeping Diploma, so I can run a pub in the UK!