Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
24 hours ago
Brodie Johnson is well on his way to get into the beauty therapy industry.
For the first time in history, EIT have welcomed two male beauty therapy students into a certificate programme. One of them is Brodie Johnson from Napier who is studying for his NZ Certificate in Beauty Therapy (Level 4).
Being male in a female dominated industry doesn’t worry him at all, he says. While some people might still be surprised to see a young man like Brodie spending a lot of time and money on his appearance, getting his eyelashes tinted, eyebrows plucked and hair dyed, for Brodie it’s a day-to-day routine.
Brodie had struggled for a while with his own skin problems and thus started to go to a beauty therapist. “I love going to the salon and trying out different treatments and services. That totally sparked my interest in taking up a career in this industry.”
The 17-year-old had initially toyed with the idea of becoming a primary school teacher but then changed his mind. “I didn’t really enjoy school. It simply wasn’t for me. I like hands-on, practical work and I now I’m pursuing something that I’m passionate about.” At EIT he is just one of many beauty therapy students, and gender doesn’t really play into it much.
While Brodie is interested in the majority of the things he learns at EIT, his interests lie mostly in spa-treatments, facials and massages. “In a nutshell, the relaxing kind of things. I just want to make people feel good and more confident in their skin.”
Brodie says he loves studying, in particular looking after real clients in EIT’s beauty salon Refresh. “The tutors have many years of experience in beauty therapy and teaching and the skills that we learn are just awesome. Their focus is on learning by doing.”
He says that his free time is pretty sparse being tied up with full-time study and his full-time job at Domino’s Pizza in Greenmeadows and at the moment there is no time left for hobbies.
Brodie’s plans are to move away from Hawke’s Bay to Australia as soon as he finishes his level 5 diploma. “I think that the Gold Coast will be the perfect place for me. I like the vibe of big cities and there is also a bigger beauty therapy market with a bulk of job opportunities available for aspiring beauty therapists.”
