Student story: Rhianna's beauty studies set her on a path to opening own salon
Rhianna Main has spent the past three years progressing through the beauty courses at UHI Inverness, driven by her ambition to open her own salon.
The HNC Beauty Therapy student has already put her growing skills into practice by securing a part-time job as a beauty therapist that fits around her full time studies.
“I wanted to do my HNC Beauty as my dream for the future would be to have my own salon one day, with many clients and doing all the treatments I enjoy. With this qualification I can make this dream a reality. While working towards my SVQ3 I applied to work as a salon assistant on a Saturday at Sleeping Beauty salon, and now over a year later I am a beauty therapist working in the same salon three days a week.”
Rhianna discovered UHI Inverness was the right place for her when she opted to do a Friday course on campus as part of her school timetable.
“During my fifth year of school I attended the college to complete NPA Cosmetology, which I studied every Friday. This experience gave me a strong introduction to the beauty industry and to college life, and it confirmed that UHI Inverness was the right place for me. I found it to be a positive and supportive learning environment and being close to home was an added benefit. I decided to leave school at the end of fifth year as I knew that I wanted to continue studying beauty and work my way up to an HNC. I left school in May 2023 and joined UHI inverness full-time in September 2023. I studied Beauty Therapy SVQ2 and then I went on to do SVQ3, and now I’m in my third year at college.”
Rhianna particularly enjoys learning a wide variety of treatments, especially electrical facials and bamboo massage. But what she likes most is getting to receive facials on a Tuesday morning from her talented classmates!
"I love the teaching style of all my lecturers; they provide lots of support and a positive learning environment. They use Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, very well and keep it nice and organised so I’m able to view and hand in work easily. My highlight of the course is when clients come in for treatments. I love doing treatments for people, making them happy and relaxed. My favourite treatments are nails and waxing, and this is mainly because I love a good chat!”