Susan MacCoy: press release: Get a coach for your makeover

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susan MacCoy, hair artist
312-635-5116
goddess@susanmaccoy.com

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Press release

What makes a good makeover coach — and why you need one

Coaching makes the difference between short-term and permanent results

CHICAGO — At first glance, makeovers and coaches wouldn't seem to go together. Yet for a makeover to be successful, someone has to formulate the strategy and direct the activity. And while all this is going on, there's some basic hand-holding and encouragement needed for the client, who is an important participant but may be only one of several players working on the makeover.

Hair artist and image consultant Susan MacCoy recently acted as a coach and coordinator for April McCarron, a college freshman and basketball player from suburban Chicago. Because April is an athlete, she understood the value of having a good coach. April's successful makeover was due in large part to the cooperation between the two women (see related story on April's makeover) and MacCoy's leadership of a four-member beauty team.

Coaches are more than just team leaders, says Nino Siciliano, former coach, ex-Marine, and a Chicago-based personal trainer. Rather, they are the key overall analysts and strategists, the ones who pull everything together.

"Coaches are mentors. They lead by example, and they're experts," Siciliano explains. "Coaches help build discipline, a good work ethic, and motivation. They improve attitude, teach you about being in the right frame of mind to play."

In addition, the coach is in the business of skill building. "One of a coach's big jobs is to constantly reinforce skills." Moreover, when you're down or in a slump, a good coach prescribes whatever's needed to maneuver you out of it. And he or she is probably in the best position to do so — after all, a coach probably sees a trainee more often than anyone else does, which is why the coach is the most important motivator a player can have, Siciliano remarks.

Another task for the head coach is to distribute the workload among the coaching staff, based on the other coaches' strengths. For April's makeover, MacCoy gave the responsibility for beauty services to Elizabeth Adam, salon owner and skin specialist. MacCoy retained responsibility for hair, overall image strategy, handling the photographer, and coordinating appointments.

It was also up to MacCoy to evaluate April's progress, make adjustments in the makeover strategy and its timing, and keep April enthused until results began to show. In fact, it was MacCoy who persuaded the teen to consider a make over in the first place — April balked at first — by assuring her that she would have a voice in every part of the strategy. That was very important to the teen, as April later observed. It also reassured April along the way that MacCoy had a good idea about what look would best suit April's 6'2" height, her build, and her various activities. It was clear from the start that April's makeover would not take a cookie-cutter approach but would instead be tailored to her specifically, including her personality — as any effective makeover would.

The best coaches, Siciliano reminds us, "read people very well — we get into their heads. You're trying to detect internal obstacles, push people to the next level, read their feedback, and keep making adjustments. You have to get excited about what they're doing yourself."

Which brings us back, he adds, to a critical activity: a smart coach is constantly evaluating the rate and direction of progress. When a player's performance begins to plateau, it's the coach's responsibility to make adjustments — fine-tune the training, so to speak — so that progress can continue. The coach, in other words, is the one person on the team who keeps an eye on the big picture while the other players focus on the details and progress of the change process. And that, finally, is what makes the coach indispensable for long-term success.

Hair artist Susan MacCoy is based at Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa, located in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. She has taught in venues as diverse as the Goodman Theater of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Clairol Summer Sessions at Northwestern University; classes offered by Helene Curtis in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and Africa; Clairol, Inc.’s Famous Haircolorists’ Educator Program; and sessions for Glemby International, as well as in training videos for beauty professionals and students. Formerly manager of the Glemby International Salon at the Drake Hotel and long established on Michigan Avenue, MacCoy has served many famous clients, including Barbara Walters, Princess Diane Von Furstenburg, Lucille Ball, and Lady Bird Johnson.

Susan MacCoy is a talented hair artist, image consultant, beauty educator, consultant to the hair care industry, and expert for the legal profession. Winner of the Today's Chicago Woman Reader's Choice Award, Gold Coast Magazine's Chicago Stylist of the Year, the Clairol Hair Fashion Award, and Glemby International's Outstanding Achievement Award, Ms. MacCoy is the creator of the ProWorks Professional Haircare System and a master haircoloring expert. She divides her time and consulting services between Chicago and Cincinnati. Her Chicago practice is based at Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa in Water Tower Place.

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Main story: Want Makeover success? Get a great coach

Sidebar: About face: skin care leads in any makeover

Photo spread: Teen Makeover: looking your own age, only better