While federal and state governments regulate our industry, who speaks for us? If not you, why let others exert their influence and deprive yourself the right to participate directly in the process?
We need more beauty professionals to assert themselves through advocacy.
Not surprisingly, beauty pros focus primarily on providing services to clients and investing in education to grow their businesses. We don’t have much time or resources left over to devote to governmental affairs. Instead, we waste our time complaining that laws vary by state (federal laws excepted) or don’t apply. They’re difficult to read or change too frequently to stay informed. Reminder: because we chose a licensed profession, our licensure obligates us to understand and follow the relevant laws.
Our collective ignorance and apathy about governance create more problems. The greatest challenges facing our industry are subject to regulation: misclassification, worker exploitation, unlicensed activity, chemical safety, consumer harm, etc. Every year, legislators introduce bills that will impact our businesses and yet few licensees, salon owners or beauty school students even notice. Once passed and enacted, those bills become law.
Those with something to gain (or lose) and know how to advocate confidently for themselves will likely prevail.
Do we want legislators and bureaucrats to regulate us without our guidance? How do they identify problems? What evidence do they gather? Whom do they consult as experts? What are the consequences, intentional or not, of proposed solutions? No matter how obvious or necessary something may seem, what we would consider a viable solution may not be reflected in legislation/regulation without our active participation. Your individual and authentic experiences matter. Who better than you to explain the impacts of government oversight, or lack thereof, on your business?
When regulatory changes happen in our industry without our influence or support, we’re not likely to welcome them.
Moreover, if we tolerate inequities, incompetence and obsolescence in our governance, we fail as professionals and constituents.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
I encourage all my industry colleagues to be proactive, rather than reactive, to government, particularly at the state level. You don’t need to hire a lobbyist, join an organization or spend lots of money to advocate for yourself. You need to research to understand the issues and develop your positions and arguments. Learn how your state board operates: visit the website; signup for email notifications; read laws and regulations, meeting minutes, reports and public notices; view past meetings and, most important, attend the public meetings in person. Likewise, learn about the legislative process by accessing free resources like Plural to find your representatives and track legislation.
Prepared to make a difference? You must be seen and heard, and not just once. You can respectfully express your opinions using appropriate actions: sending emails, making calls, submitting position letters, speaking during hearings and meetings, doing outreach to the press, etc. With consistent effort, your concerns can become the progress our industry needs.
An earlier version was published by Beauty Cast Network.