With over 25 years of global business under her belt, powerhouse entrepreneur Francis Tesmer attests that a successful career is not just measured by technical expertise, but also the strength of one’s soft skills. These attributes are defined as non-technical skills, such as communication or collaboration, that promotes harmonious and effective interaction. As the founder and CEO of LEAD Rolfs Global Institute, the first-ever college and university degree for beauty professionals, Tesmer is on a mission to provide the tools and resources for students to learn just that—and so much more.  

Eighty five percent of career success comes from having well-developed soft skills and people skills, according to research from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center. The report also found that hard skills, including technical skills and knowledge, only make up 15 percent of career success.

What’s more, 92  percent of talent professionals and hiring managers say that soft skills, like communication, creativity, collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, and empathy, are just as important—or more important—than hard skills, according to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report. 

These are just a few of the pivotal qualities that can propel your career and set you apart from other candidates, and nowhere are soft skills more pertinent than in today’s beauty industry, whether you’re interacting with clients or leading a team to success. 

“This is an era of collaboration,” says Tesmer on the latest episode of WorkParty, emphasizing the importance of communication with clients and within the community. She also highlights the role of innovation, creativity, and education to develop everything from new products to experiences, and interactions.

“Education is the gap,” says Tesmer, whose accelerated program is giving students and working beauty professionals the opportunity to expand their career options and seek high-level roles. “That has been the whole focus of LEAD, to create that education so that many individuals in this space can fill those executive positions and make a difference, not just for themself, but for their company, for their community, for their society, and for the world.” 

Tune into the latest episode of WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson to learn how to take your beauty career from trade to profession and stay at the forefront of technology, sustainability, product ingredients, and more in the ever-evolving $500 billion dollar beauty industry. 

RESOURCES

• To follow along with LEAD click here

•  To connect with Jaclyn Johnson click here

• To follow along with Create & Cultivate click here

• To submit your questions call the WorkParty Hotline: 1-(833)-57-PARTY (577-2789)

OTHER EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE

Hot Takes With Your Rich BFF's Vivian Tu: You Shouldn't Date People Who Aren't Financially Stable + Not Everyone Has To Go To College

Mara Beauty's Alison McNamara On Successfully Launching In Sephora While Bootstrapping Her Beauty Biz, And The Day She Learned Her Biggest Founder Lesson

Hot Takes with Tinx: Your 20’s are a Mis-Marketed Decade

How Founders Kayleigh Christina and Danielle Gronich Scaled CLEARSTEM Without Outside Investors—And Why Therapy Plays an Integral Role in Their Company

Tiffany Yu On Combating the Stigma of Disability and Finding Empowerment in Adversity