TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM REDKEN’S INAUGURAL ADVOCATE SUMMIT

redken-summit

“A painter should have two lives. One in which to learn, and one in which to practice art.” The quote from Pierre Bonnard embellishing the wall of the current Bonnard exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria held particular relevance for the group of Redken advocates that visited as part of the recent inaugural Redken Advocate Summit, who gathered together for a weekend of honing their education skills and bonding together as a collective.

The importance of educating and nuturing the talent within it’s community clear from the outset, Redken pulled out all the stops for their first rodeo. “It’s really exciting to be hosting our very first Redken Advocate Summit at the L’Oréal Academy in Melbourn,”said Redken National Education Manager Mark Thompson at the summit. “We’ve got eight of our Advocates here – including Kaine Vakai, Amy Zikic, Kasey Lee, Sheree Knobel, Gabrielle Roccuzzo, Sophia Butson, Ash Wuilleman and Grace Clayton – to really hone their facilitation skills and also improve their online presence to maximise their business.”

With Mark leading the charge from an education excellence standpoint and guest speakers from key social media platforms providing invaluable insights for the Advocates in taking their online presence to the next level – plus a cocktail or two, of course! – it was a weekend jam-packed with unforgettable moments and non-stop education.

In a weekend filled with lightbulb moments, here we gather our top five takeaways from the inaugural Redken Advocate Summit.

 

1. COMMUNICATION, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PERFECT INTRO AND UPPING YOUR EDUCATION GAME

For the first half of Day 1, Redken National Education Manager Mark Thompson took the team of talented Redken Advocates through how to hook your students from the very beginning with the perfect introduction.

Highlighting the importance of eye contact and immediately engaging attendees through the asking of two questions within the class introduction, it was the reframing of mistakes as learning opportunities that proved one of the most inspiring points in an afternoon filled with key takeaways for education elevation.

Later on in the weekend, Advocates worked together to hone their instructional skills through a fringe-cutting exercise designed to allow each Advocate to flex what they’d learnt and practice hands on education with each other.

2. CULTURE CULTIVATES CREATIVITY

Following their morning of facilitation training it was time for a dose of culture for the Advocates, who were then treated to an afternoon at the National Gallery of Victoria for the Bonnard exhibition currently on display. Bonnard’s quote “A painter should have two lives – one in which to learn, and one in which to practice art” held particular resonance for the grouping as both creatives and educators themselves, and the heady display of works from the French artist – renowned for his stylized decorative qualities within his paintings and his bold use of colour – proved to be the perfect source of creative inspiration to close out an incredibly enriching day.

3. MAXIMISING META

Day 2 saw a strong social focus ushered in, with a expert from Meta recruited by Redken to come in and educate of platform best practices as well as how to optimize reach and engagement for the Advocates so that they can elevate their own business platforms and optimize from a social perspective. Be it the basics of nailing your livestream through to hashtag best practice, the session proved to be an invaluable hour of social strategy.

4. TOP TIKTOK TIPS AND TRICKS

Who can believe that TikTok has only been in the market for three years in Australia? The social media disruptors were next in the education space, and gave the Advocates a whole slew of advice in how to best use TikTok as a tool to expand their social presence and online customer database. Top tips from TikTok? How to find and finesse your unique identity on the platform, and the importance of balancing building your community through jumping on existing trends as well as experimenting with introducing your own.

5. THE MAGIC OF REDKEN RELATIONSHIPS

Perhaps the biggest takeaway of all? The magic of seeing the relationships between the Advocates (as well as their relationships with the brand itself!) develop throughout the course of an incredible weekend. Collaborations were discussed, support was shared freely and laughs over cocktails lasted well into the night within the grouping – with this talented band of educators walking away from an incredible weekend of education and inspiration with  a mini-family (and support network!) of fellow Redken Advocates.