Daniel Garcia was recently in South Africa, giving hands-on hair training to the newest London Wellness Academy trainees. He was kind enough to take a moment from his busy schedule to give us an in-depth discussion about the Academy’s programme, with his personal, very informative opinions on what can set you up for the most success for your cruise ship career!
Daniel’s Cruise Ship Experience Goes back over 20 Years
I studied hairdressing with Llongueras in Madrid and Barcelona, working a few years in Madrid, and then embarked on my first contract in January 2001 on Celebrity Century in the Caribbean.
After that, I did another contract with Celebrity Galaxy in the South Caribbean and South America and then moved into Spa management, completing my training. More world experiences included several contracts with Costa Cruises around Europe and South America. When I felt it was time to change, I moved to a few different cruise lines such as P&O and Royal Caribbean until 2016 where I took the opportunity to move to London and take on the Hair Trainer position with what became London Wellness Academy.
Since then, I have had the fulfilling opportunity to train people from all over the world.
What does the training process at London Wellness Academy look like from your perspective and what are your thoughts on what leads to the greatest success for candidates to the Academy?
Our training is comprehensive, and we require full commitment from each student in order to prepare them for a successful career at sea.
Currently we operate Hair Training in 4 permanent locations plus different “pop ups” around the world.
In South Africa for instance, our training is 2 weeks (10 days) and it's quite comprehensive where we look at company policies and procedures, empowering staff with our Solution Sales concept. Then we’re into the ins and outs of Kerastase, Kerastase treatments, Keratin Express Blowout, our barbering services with Elemis and Grown Alchemist, the fantastic teeth whitening service Gosmile, and Nouveau lashes and brows.
We also cover important topics such as consultation, recommendation, public speaking and of course, salon work, timings, etiquette, etc.
Everything staff needs to know and be prepared to be successful to work on a 5-star cruise ship is included.
During training, we constantly assess skills, personality, quality and speed of work, communication skills, etc and we evaluate the progress. At the end of the course, we assist with the positioning on a cruiseline that matches the staff personality to maximise their productivity.
What drew you yourself to the cruise ship spa life and then to a life of an international trainer?
I am originally from Madrid, Spain and I was always fascinated with travelling, so I met one of the recruiters in a hair show fair back in the year 2000 and with my very little English I was able to secure myself an interview. I had never thought about working on a ship before! But it seemed like an adventure, and I always welcome a challenge, so I attended my interview, I passed and a few months after I was travelling to London for my training!! Totally out of my comfort zone but probably the best decision I made in my life.
What does your own specific hair training programme include? Do you have an intensive focus you’d like to discuss?
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, we work with amazing brands so there is a lot of product and training knowledge; however, one of the most important things to understand is that everything we do on land is done slightly different on a ship. Communication and interaction have to be adapted to our business - things are very different and this has to be understood perfectly.
Once candidates get to us, they have passed a previous interview with the recruitment team and their qualifications have been checked so once they come to us, they already know how to do the job. We just elevate the quality of their service and provide them with all the tools to maximise their earnings through their contract.
And of course, one of the best things is the real possibility of building a career with the company. I started to do “one or two contracts” and here I am 22 years later! So the opportunities are there, you just have to work for it!
Teamwork as well is vital and is something that we encourage during training. The ability to work and cooperate with everybody to provide the best service possible in all aspects is extremely important in our environment.
What sets a candidate up for success in your estimation? Do you have your preferences on what you think are the most important personal skills you look for in a candidate, that you think a cruise ship stylist will most need?
Confidence and great communication make 50% of the job. Of course, good hair skills and knowledge make the other 50%. Our guests pay a premium price for our services, so they expect a premium service every time! And we are known worldwide for providing not just a good service but a fantastic overall experience.
What have you found to be the most interesting and exciting training aspects for the trainees?
Every group is different with different challenges and slightly different focus; however, a general thing that I always have found interesting is how once they start working and playing with the products and they see the results, candidates get very excited about it!
Everybody loves working with premium product, it makes our work so much easier! So, once they can see, do, and experience the treatments, that definitely creates great excitement on every group.
What are your personal thoughts on the training programme and its success with candidates?
The training is been developed through years with an amazing team of educators and operational directors to be intense but at the same time enjoyable. Of course, it’s demanding and requires a lot of studying (it’s not like a regular job training where you sit and get a diploma) – there’s a lot of interaction, practice, public speaking and demonstrating your learning all through the 10 days, so it is intense, but in all honestly, I cannot think of anything more fun and challenging than our training!
How To Apply!
Go to www.londonwellnessacademy.com and fill in the online form. A recruitment consultant will be in touch with you asap to set up a confidential interview. Your first step to a new life of excitement on board has begun!
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