Over thirty years of quality spa education
When Frederique Deleage arrived in Hong Kong in 1977 she brought all her years of education, and innate French beauty and health philosophy, and set up the British colony’s first ever beauty school. From a single classroom back then to three floors and 4,000sqft of space today, the academy has graduated over 20,000 students.
“I started from scratch/’ says
Frederique, sitting at one of the high-tech pedicure chairs at her newly opened Hong Kong spa, Paua Spa at CentreStage. “When I arrived in 1977 the standard of beauty therapy was so low, what I was teaching was a lot of basic beauty techniques: hygiene, delivering good service, technical skills of massage, basic electrical treatments and make-up techniques. I was basically educating women about beauty and health.”
So early were the days of the industry back then that she goes on to say, “The word spa didn’t even exist then. People didn’t know about creating a ’spa environment’.”
Fast forward to the present day and the courses on offer at Frederique academy have not only increased in number but have also faithfully followed the trends of the industry. “Now, what we have to deliver and what students want is a career,” she says. “We want to produce the super therapists of the next decade. They need to be equipped to work in a five star spa environment with increasingly demanding clientele. They may need to manage the spa and will certainly need to understand the business.”
Nail and make-up courses are still available and rub shoulders with ITEC and CIBTAC
courses, high tech electrical treatments, massage courses that include holistic, hot stone and moxibustion and much more. But what is most striking is the presence of spa management courses run by experts brought in from overseas. Lise Starr and Susie Santiago, for example, have been upgrading Asia’s therapists and managers, thereby helping reduce the chronic shortage of highly qualified manpower in the industry and continuing Frederique’s pioneering legacy of raising the standards across the region. “The consumer will dictate and decide where this industry ends up down the line,” observes Debra Armstrong, Director of the Frederique Academy, “and so for me standards need to be set now. Everyone who has entered this industry, whether 30 years ago or last month, needs to have standards and also ‘walk the talk’.”
Within the academy classrooms, trainers are all highly qualified in their areas of speciality, while the international brands of products used for treatments are taught by their respective product trainers. Jan Kusmirek, expert in aromatherapy from Fragrant Earth, has lead many courses, as has Dr Howard Murad, the renowned dermatologist from the US. So students can be sure they’re getting the best teaching possible. For Debra it is essential that the academy maintains its standard of leading-edge education while raising awareness within the region’s governments for consistency and integrity within Asia’s spa industry, and the highest standards of service. “Personnel make the industry,” she says. “You can have the most luxurious and state-of-the-art spa in the world but it all comes
down to the experience the customer has - and that’s in the hands of the receptionist and the therapist.”
Looking forward into the future, and taking into account the increase in competition within the region, Debra is looking to elevate the offeri ngs of the academy to i nclude classes such as a massage master class and a Frederique Spa Supervisors Program based on the ISPA program. Additionally the academy has set up an Industrial Training programme - the Frederique Academy Fast Track - to ensure graduates are guaranteed practical internships and, eventually, jobs in Asia’s spas. And, crucially considering the lack of qualified personnel, they will be offering an ITEC Lecturing Diploma in order to allow future educators reach their potential.
One of the most exciting moves that the academy will uncover over the next two years is the opening of their satellite academies in cities around the region, where students will be able to access the same quality education in several destinations.
“There is a need throughout Asia to teach and develop people for spa, beauty, wellness and lifestyle,” she says. “The purpose of the Frederique Academy is to do just this and so we have embarked on a strategic expansion program to open facilities and satellites in Beijing, Macau, Malaysia and Vietnam.”
For more information on courses and news, www.frederiqueacademy.com.hk