A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life of an ESPA trainer

This could be written a thousand times, as no two days are the same for an ESPA Trainer! Every day we teach therapists across the world – the “E” in ESPA stands for education and I’m proud to be an integral part of this philosophy. A different country, time zone, nationality, therapists, and different hotel beds each week – the life of a trainer is non-stop.

One thing that remains the same is our passion and enthusiasm for the job we have – I still get excited when travelling to new countries and checking into the most beautiful hotel rooms having that ‘wow’ factor each time – just to be reminded it’s all part of my work! Monday morning is usually prep for an Essentials Course – the day when we walk into a treatment or conference room and it’s either beautifully set up exactly how you asked, or not at all! We need to be prepared for any scenario and make do with what we have and work with it.

9am: We meet our trainees for the week – some feeling anxious, excited, scared – or a mixture of all three. It’s our job to make them feel at ease and welcome them to the training course. They seem to dread their introductions – you can start to see the therapists’ faces hide in their uniform as nobody likes talking about themselves – luckily we ask them to introduce the person sitting next to them which seems to relax everyone and encourage group interaction.

10am: Onto the educating part. We start by introducing the brand, using PowerPoint, flipcharts, and interactive questions – not everyone learns in the same way so we try and adapt to the different learning styles so that everyone has a full understanding. We then start passing products around the room explaining key ingredients and benefits – you start to see the therapists roll up their sleeves as every part of their arm is layered with different products! You can smell the heavenly aromas and a chorus of “mmmms” as they start to fall in love with ESPA – they’re already creating their shopping list of what to purchase!

1pm: It’s time for us to get into practical sessions. Each therapist gets a chance to receive and carry out treatments and we begin with a demonstration so the group can observe first. Knowing your procedures inside out is vital – this is the part when a trainer needs to have ten pairs of eyes! We have to walk the room and observe each individual to ensure the treatment is being performed correctly.

5pm: Once everyone has had a chance to receive and deliver the treatment, we then talk through each procedure learnt that day using our manuals. This gives a chance for therapists to highlight, colour, make extra notes or draw pictures for the procedures learnt. Therapists then head home to do their revision for a quiz the following day. The next day is not going to be the same – we see how much the therapists have taken in through a written quiz, we will start to see their skills develop, their personalities begin to come out – and of course we will continue to train a new treatment each day.

10pm: As my head hits the hotel room pillow and I star fish across the big bed I have all to myself, it’s time to reflect on the day and think about whether to adapt anything for the following day. My brain is still whirring! And finally…sleep…