It was 21 years ago today I started my journey as an educator with Wella. I have loved Wella with all my heart for far longer than those 21 years and I will always love Wella and the opportunities it gave me.
Today is a sad day for me as I say thank you and farewell to the company and to the people I have grown to love. My journey has been made so much smoother because of you.
My love for the hair industry has seen me sharing my knowledge and empowering stylists, young and old, throughout all of South Africa. I have spent many, many hours with stylists and every one of those hours (give or take a few!) has brought me closer to the heart of hairdressing. That said, whatever I have put in, I have had the privilege of receiving in various ways.
We meet new people every day of our lives. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to meet people who impact our lives so positively that they earn a place in our hearts. I single out Chad Hanna, Jean Witte, Terry Scott, Julia Petzer, Ezra Isaacs and Reto Camichel. You have each brought something special to my journey by adding your values and influence and it has contributed immensely to my success as an educator. You have at times been my rock and my salvation and I honour your collective wisdom and your ability to share your knowledge with others. To loan from Modern Hair & Beauty’s mission statement, your success is my success!
Being a Wella Educator means that I have had the deep privilege of benefitting from training offered by the world’s best. It has also made me appreciative and loyal to those who created the Wella vision: Helge Pletz, Martina Brand, Andrea Haber and Tobias Lenz have had a huge influence in getting me to this stage of my life. It is because of these fine people and the opportunities that they created for me that Wella has been my love and my life for 21 years.
Closer to home, I will be eternally grateful to Chris Stofberg for his business leadership and his friendship. When he set high standards, he didn’t sit back and watch us try to achieve them. He got up and walked alongside us to reach our goals and ultimately, make us allsuccessful. Life with Chris may not always be smooth, but it is always worth the journey!
And now, to my amazing team of educators – you will alwaysbe my amazing team of educators! Thank you for always trusting and allowing me to lead you to victory. I ask you to do the same for your next leader. I am comfortable that you are in good hands. I will still be one of you in my part-time educator role, but I will be in the background now.
And finally, my beloved husband Dewald has always supported me, never hindering me in any way to achieve my dreams. He never complained about my travelling, often for unbroken weeks at a time and he never grumbled about training taking me far away from home. Dewald stood by me and supported me, just as I will now have the opportunity to do for him. Only this time around, we will be together all the time with a future in Paradise.
Farewell Wella and all you beautiful people. You have been my life and my love and I wish only good things for all of you.
Farewell to Theresa from Chris Stofberg, MD of Modern Hair and Beauty SA
Today, September 1st, the same day as our annual Trend Vision Award event, we at Modern Hair & Beauty say an official goodbye to someone who has become such an integral part of our company and has played such a huge role as educator and mentor to so many educators and hairdressers in our industry. I'm of course referring to Theresa Gouws, our National Education Manager.
Today is exactly 21 years since she joined our company.
During this time she fulfilled the role of Educator, Studio Manager, Education Manager Selective Brands, Marketing and Education Manager Kadus Professional and National Education Manager for the company.
There are two traits that stand out for me when I think of Theresa. The one is her unbelievable knowledge of our products and of the science of hair. There really is not much that she doesn't know. This vast knowledge has benefited so many stylists over the years.
The other trait that I really admire her for is for her ability to get things done. Whatever is required, whatever the occasion or the event, put Theresa in charge and you know it will be done.
I know that the Wella Master Colour courses have been something very close to Theresa's heart. I'm sure those of you who have done this course can attest to the dedication and inspiration with which she has delivered these courses, with the able assistance of a number of team members who are also qualified to teach it. I would guess this will be one of the things she will miss most about her time with us.
Theresa has also been the recipient of a number of international awards from both Proctor & Gamble and Coty Professional Beauty for stand out work results on behalf of her team. These were crowned off with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to education from Coty Professional Beauty.
Fortunately this is only an official goodbye from a work retirement point of view. Theresa will be doing work for us on a freelance basis where she will be living, so her skills, knowledge and experience will not yet be lost to the industry completely. We may very well sneak her into a few courses here and there! Thank you Theresa for your years of dedication and loyalty to this company and to the Wella brands. We love you forever. This is farewell but not goodbye. See you soon! X #wellalove #wellatheheartofhairdressing #mothertheresa #themother Chris Stofberg MD: Modern Hair and Beauty South Africa
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