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Join the “I Am Licensed” Movement

In honor of National Hairstylist Appreciation Day on April 30, the Professional Beauty Association (PBA) is honoring all beauty professionals throughout the month of April as part of their “I Am Licensed” movement and dedicating April as #IAmLicensed Month. To celebrate the hard work and dedication of all those in the beauty industry, PBA is asking all licensed professionals and licensing supporters to post 15-second videos to their respective social media accounts about the importance of licensing and how it has impacted them, using the hashtag #IAMLICENSED. PBA will then repost these videos through their own social media platforms. Licensed professionals also have the opportunity to choose from two social graphics to repost and help celebrate #IAMLicensed Month. “Our goal is to create a social media revolution in support of licensing. While we’ve made great strides as an industry, this issue remains an obstacle in various states. Social media is a great tool to continue the efforts of the “I Am Licensed” movement and to reach licensing supporters across the country. Bringing clients and consumers into the conversation is an important component of the movement, and #IAMLicensed Month will help to reach more clients and consumers via their licensed professional whom they trust. Together we can not only honor hard-working, dedicated beauty professionals, but continue and grow our fight against deregulation,” said Bridget Sharpe, PBA’s Manager of Government Affairs and Industry Relations. PBA’s “I Am Licensed” movement is already gaining momentum in 2015. In February, PBA received the Public Affairs Council’s (PAC) 2015 Grassroots Innovation Award for Social Media Innovation for the this campaign. PBA was honored for its unique approach to engaging, empowering and activating their grassroots advocates. In response to threats of deregulation within the professional beauty industry, PBA created a visual grassroots plan to appeal to its unique audience. At the cornerstone of the campaign was the “probeautyiam” Instagram account and the #IAMLICENSED hashtag. PBA encouraged its members and social media followers to post photos of themselves or other “I Am Licensed” collateral using the hashtag. Launched in 2013, the “I Am Licensed” movement aims to build a stronger, more united front of licensed professionals, and arm them with information to share with their clients on why licensing is important to protect the public from potential harm and the spread of communicable diseases. Many states across the U.S. have or are considering measures to deregulate occupational licensing, often focusing on the cosmetology industry. However, if the beauty industry were deregulated and licensing requirements removed at the state level, manufacturers, distributors, salon owners, licensed professionals, and most importantly, consumers would be negatively affected. To combat deregulation and its repercussions, the “I Am Licensed” movement also seeks to arm all licensed professionals with information to educate law makers in their states on the importance of maintaining state cosmetology boards and regulations. For additional information, including tips on how to get involved in the “I Am Licensed” movement, please visit probeauty.org/iam.

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