Leo Passage Receives international legends award

Leo Passage, Founder and Chairman of Pivot Point International, was the recipient of the International Legends Award at the 3rd Annual International Legends Ball at HairWorld 2008, hosted by NCA and Americas Beauty Show. He was honored for his many achievements and educational contributions to the profession spanning Pivot Point’s 45 years.

Keynote Address

Besides receiving the distinguished award, he was also a keynote speaker. He delivered the keynote address in an interview format with his daughter, Corrine Passage, Sr. VP, Production and Systems Development of Pivot Point. He spoke of his passion for the profession, his love for the expression of creativity that it fosters, and lifelong learning.

OMC Award

That weekend he also received the OMC Award of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the educational contributions that he and Pivot Point have fostered worldwide since 1962.

Best of Show

As a HairWorld participant, Pivot Point International was recognized for Best of Show for its innovative Snap Cap product, produced and made available to the profession in 2007.

Intercoiffure

In April, Leo Passage and son Robert, industry consultant and global ambassador, will receive the Innovator of the Year Award from Intercoiffure in Las Vegas.

Oprah's Hairstylist Presented L.E.O. Award by Pivot Point international

Andre Walker, personal hairstylist to Oprah Winfrey for 24 years, was among six Pivot Point International-educated beauty industry leaders recognized for career achievements during America's Beauty Show in Chicago.

The L.E.O. Award stands for Leadership in the salon industry, Excellence in designer education and Outstanding Pivot Point Alumnus, while also honoring Pivot Point International's Founder and Chairman Leo Passage.

The six 2008 L.E.O. Awards recipients include:

* Joseph Cartagena, owner, Genacelli Salon & Spa, Chicago, IL, and vice president, Cosmetologists Chicago, the association of salon professionals who own and operate America's Beauty Show;

* Mary Beth Janssen, owner, The Janssen Source, Palatine, IL, an authority on the beauty and wellness connection and author of four books;

* David Raccuglia, founder, American Crew, a men's grooming product company, Denver, CO;

* Manuel Rodriguez, international educator and competitive hairdressing trainer, Evanston, IL;

* Christine Schuster, senior vice president of education, Redken Fifth Avenue NYC/PureOlogy, New York, NY;

* Andre Walker, exclusive hairstylist to Oprah Winfrey for 24 years, Chicago, IL.

"With the L.E.O. Award we honor the achievements of all the beauty professionals our founder Leo Passage and Pivot Point have trained, influenced and inspired over 45 years," announced CEO Karen Wilkin-Donachie.

"Our alumni," Wilkin-Donachie added, "could easily number in the millions as Pivot Point beauty education is currently available in 73 countries and 11 languages worldwide. More than 50,000 cosmetologists graduate with a Pivot Point-based education every year."

Pivot Point Gears up for its 11th fundraising event for the ncmec with a $125,000 goal for 2008

With more than $700,000 raised over the years to benefit the Natinal Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), Pivot Point is getting ready for another successful cut-a-thon on Wednesday, May 21. Last year's event was a resounding success with more than 90 schools participating, which generated the $100,000 goal for 2007. This year's goal is to raise $125,000 and have at least 125 schools participating. The invitation is also being extended for salons to take part in order to make it an even greater, far-reaching industry event.

Since 1997, Pivot Point has supported the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children through a variety of fundraising events and awareness activities. Each year these activities have taken place on or around May 25th, National Missing Children's Day. The first year that Pivot Point collaborated with the Center, the International Academies put together a "Fun Fair," inviting the general public to come to their Chicagoland locations and participate in various child-safety activities and beauty-related services. These included face painting, nail art, braiding, a raffle and bake sale, fingerprinting and child photo ID cards.

Building on the success of the first year, Pivot Point has branched out to try a variety of other activities, including canning drives, rummage sales, car washes and walk-a-thons. Pivot Point has also invited its Member Schools to participate, which provided the opportunity to share the news about the good works of the NCMEC on a broader level.

Several years ago, the AACS board granted Pivot Point permission to invite AACS schools across the country to join its fundraising efforts. In 2007 Pivot Point launched its first nationwide cut-a-thon, which became the most successful of all. This made it possible for schools and their clients nationwide to learn about the National Center, while raising considerable amounts of money for this worthwhile organization.

Executive Director of Pivot Point Cares for Kids Corrine Passage said, "We are extremely committed to community service and NCMEC. We created the cut-a-thon benefit as a vehicle for mobilizing our industry in support of NCMEC's mission. In fact, we are so committed to community service that we teach it as part of our cosmetology curriculum. We want to graduate young men and women who understand the value of making a difference."

Pivot PoInt invites you to join their efforts for the 2008 Cut-a-Thon. As details are finalized for the May 21 event, they will be posted on our website.

elisa Graybill Captures Medallion of Excellence at WorldSkills in Japan

Elisa Graybill of Freeburg, PA, participated in the recent 39th WorldSkills Competition in Shizuoka, Japan, where she earned a Medallion of Excellence for her skills performance at the four-day contest.

Elisa won the WorldSkills Trials competition in February 2007 and for the next eight months trained with Manuel Rodriguez, Ladies' competition coach; Crystal Ferry, Men's competition coach; and her adviser, Crystal Gutshall of Sun Area Career and Tech in New Berlin, PA.

Graybill competed in categories for Ladies' Hair by Night; Ladies' Consumer Day; Long Hair; Cut and Color; Men's Perm, Classic Cut, Fashion and Progressive. She demonstrated her skills on Pivot Point mannequins, created for professional competitors and coaches.

Salon Success, A Learning Guide for

Career Advancement, in New York Times Article

Pivot Point’s Salon Success, A Learning Guide for Career Advancement, was written about recently in an article in The New York Times by Kayleen Schaefer, Times writer. Schaefer wrote in “A Guide to Clients,” part of the larger article, “Your Hairdressers Know, But They’re Not Talking,” that “Salon Success, a new class for hairdressers, doesn’t leave it to intuition. Pivot Point International, which developed curriculums for more than 250 cosmetology schools this year, teaches stylists to read their clients like so many tea leaves.” She added, “…these body-language cues, torn from the Salon Success handbook, help stylists to size up their clientele quickly.”

“In salons as a whole,” she wrote, “hairdressers who don’t want their clients to tell them their troubles are as rare as those who believe in natural blondes.” She quoted Gordon Miller, executive director of the Chicago-based National Cosmetology Association, who said, “If you don’t want to talk all day long with a lot of people, the belief is that you’re not going to fit in very well.”

Salon Success, A Learning Guide for Career Advancement, was created with today’s student and tomorrow’s salon professional in mind. It includes a student coursebook and Personal Success Planner journal. The Personal Success Planner journal allows students to monitor and measure their own performance and progress with clients on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis, just as they will in the real world.

The educational module also includes an interactive DVD with salon-related scenarios that capture real-world happenings. The Teacher’s Support Material is created in electronic format on CD-ROM. Included are lesson plans, curriculum, planning charts and answer keys. For more information, contact Pivot Point International at 1-800-886-4247.

(Quotes from The New York Times used with permission).