Professional Beauty chats to Claudia Martius, national educator at Dermaviduals about her career-to-date and what it looks like behind the scenes.
Tell us about your beauty career to-date and why you chose that path?
When I started in the beauty industry in 1984, I initially wanted to be a make-up artist. A dermatologist and his nurse/beauty therapist wife ran the beauty college where I studied, so there was a heavy focus on biochemistry and physiology. They even took us to a forensic lab for research! Back then, I found the extensive anatomy, physics and chemistry training a nuisance. Today, I am grateful for it as my career is now based on this knowledge.
I worked as a make-up artist for a while, but soon realised that for a really perfect make-up, you need a clean canvas. When I questioned my clients about their skincare regimen, I was shocked to discover they had little or no knowledge of the basics of good skincare.
So I started to hold evening classes at my local community college about skin and skincare while still working in various positions within the beauty industry. I worked in sales, marketing and PR, before returning to university to study business administration and social sciences.
After a couple of years as an employee, I decided it was time to start my own business. I also went back to beauty school to update my knowledge before opening my own clinic, which I ran for 7 years in Hamburg, Germany. I was shocked that despite all the advances in our industry the college syllabus was way behind what was actually happening within the industry. This inspired me to make education about skin, treatments and modalities pivotal in my own clinic and career.
I am very honoured to recently have been appointed to the education commission of the International Association for Applied Corneotherapy (www.corneotherapy.org).
How long have you worked for Dermaviduals?
I have worked with and for Dermaviduals for about 10 years.
Soon after opening my own clinic, I realised the limitations of the brands I was working with. Like many therapists, I wanted to offer a more individualised, tailored approach, which sparked the idea of developing my own line of products. Delving deeper into the science of cosmetic chemistry, I realised the difficulties and challenges, but also met an inspiring man, Dr. Hans Lautenschläger, the amazing brain behind Dermaviduals.
As he explained his product philosophy, I was hooked. So rather than develop my own product range, I adopted the Dermaviduals range. After introducing Dermaviduals in 2004, my business went through the roof and helped my salon to become award winning.
In 2011 my family and I relocated to Australia and I consider myself very lucky for the opportunity given to me by Simone Vescio and Reika Roberts (Joint Managing Directors of derma aesthetics), of becoming an integral part of the Australian/NZ Dermaviduals team.
What does your job look like on a day-to-day basis?
I coordinate and conduct all the training and education programmes for Dermaviduals and also present at medical conferences, TAFE and colleges in Australia and NZ. It involves quite a bit of travel; about two to three times a month, with each trip being three to four days.
I also conduct advanced education modules on subjects such collagen induction therapy or advanced skin analysis. At the moment I am working on implementing further modules to be launched within the next few months. It’s a very exciting time to be involved in the skincare industry!
I am also involved in preparing articles for magazines, technical and marketing support and love discussing patient concerns, product application and ingredients with our partners.
Why is education fundamental to the brand?
Education is at the core of all we do. We’re not interested in simply offering training and education in the hope of selling more products. Rather, our aim is to advance the level of skin health knowledge throughout Australia and NZ. We partner with the best skincare professionals from around the world and regularly engage renowned experts such as Florence Barrett-Hill or Dr. Lance Setterfield to deliver the most advanced training and research information to our Dermaviduals family.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The best moment is when attendees tell me that I have re-inspired their passion for the industry and they are keen to get back into the salon to implement what they’ve just learned. Recently a young therapist said, “Honestly, I always felt that training was a waste of my time, but your training has opened my eyes to the possibilities that exist for me to be so much better in all that I do.”
What’s next for the brand?
As a bespoke skincare range, our core education focuses on our ingredients range and we have developed a unique modular ‘learning’ concept which encourages creative thinking. We are proud to say that because of the extensive knowledge of our team and the high quality of our seminars there is a high demand for further education with Dermaviduals.
For more information visit www.dermaviduals.com.au