Due to a number of outreach efforts, the Professional Beauty Association (PBA) increased its student membership 73% from 2011 to 2012. “We have always worked with a number of beauty schools to promote our exclusive Beacon program and student categories in the NAHA awards program, but before we merged with NCA we did not have a membership opportunity available to that sector of the industry. Now we do!” says Elizabeth Fantetti, the PBA director of membership and association programs.

Resources directly benefiting student members have been added to the PBA website to give this growing membership section a comprehensive directory of tools and resources designed for their unique needs, according to the PBA’s 2011/2012 Annual Report. Fantetti says, “Over the past two years, the PBA Membership Committee has been focused on how we can modify the membership to make it more appealing to our ever changing industry and one of the key elements of this involves aligning students with the association. We recently partnered with Marianna Industries [a student kit supplier] to promote the PBA membership opportunity via its new student welcome packages. In addition, we are in talks with a number of other well-known school operators and strategizing on how we can partner together to enhance the student’s education experience and general introduction to the beauty industry. The primary reason PBA is in existence is to help all beauty professionals succeed in the industry they know and love and we want students to be aware of all we have to offer.”

Membership benefits include free admission to beauty show ISSE (Long Beach and Midwest), access to the PBA Member Lounge at PBA-produced events, access to industry research, a 5% discount at Sally Beauty Supply, scholarship opportunities, and much more.

If five or more students send in applications together, they can join the PBA for $45 each. For more information, visit www.probeauty.org/students.

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