Customer Spotlight: Atarashii

Atarashii is a national sponsor for Registered Apprenticeship programs in Cosmetology, Hairdesign, Barbering, Esthetics, and Manicuring. With a presence in thirty states, the company strives to partner sponsor salons and apprentice candidates to provide oversight, reporting, and fundamental training to enhance the on-the-job training experience.

We recently sat down with Atarashii’s Founder, Jessee E Skittrall, to discuss his vision for the company, their program offerings, and what participants can expect from them.

Image of hairstylists working

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For Atarashii, their goal is to develop high-quality Registered Apprenticeship programs that adhere to both government and industry standards. Starting out of one of Jessee’s personal salons, the organization has since expanded into neighboring counties and now operates on a national scale.

The model Atarashii uses is very similar to an online college experience where the majority of work is being done through different software including ApprentiScope where participants are submitting on-the-job training hours, tracking related technical instruction courses, and much more.

Being a national sponsor for Registered Apprenticeship, Atarashii works closely with the U.S. Department of Labor so that they can best train their participants for the industry. Upon completion of a Registered Apprenticeship program, apprentices receive a Department of Labor completion certificate which allows them to work in states outside the one they completed their apprenticeship. Atarashii also collaborates with Milady Standard Cosmetology as well as Pivot Point for their learning curriculum.

Atarashii focuses on three main categories when training an apprentice:

Safety
Sanitation
Salon Readiness

For safety and sanitation, all apprentices are required to take a first aid and CPR course as well as an industry-standard barbercide certification that certifies their participants in safe service. Atarashii then prepares every participant for the industry through “salon readiness” where they are taught to build a clientele, market themselves, and demonstrate skills that will help them be successful in the industry. After going through this process their apprentices are coming out of the program working at 75% productivity which is much higher and farther along than if they completed their training at a private school.

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One of the main aspects Atarashii’s program strongly emphasizes in its training is the three areas of completion:

Demonstrate
Practice
Perform

For these three main areas of completing the process is very simple. For demonstration, the apprentice demonstrated knowledge and skill in the task required of them. In practice, the participant is asked to send a video of them completing practice hours of their required coursework. Finally in performing each apprentice is asked to complete performance evaluations in ApprentiScope and has to receive a 76% or better to pass each evaluation.

These evaluations are then used by Atarashii’s seasoned professionals that come in and help coach the apprentice in certain areas that they may need improvement on based on their performance evaluations.

Participants can then test out of their program by completing an in-house exam where one of Atarashii’s journeymen will stand next to the participant and watch in real-time as they demonstrate the many skills they’ve learned throughout their program.

Upon completion of their program, each apprentice will receive a certificate of completion from the federal government which will then qualify them for Atarashii’s secondary program where they help each apprentice prepare for the state exam. Ultimately after they pass their state exam their apprentices will leave with licensure allowing them to work in a full capacity at a salon.

As we closed out our interview with Jesse we asked him if he had any last words for any incoming apprentice interested in their program.

He replied,

“Everybody thinks that hairdressers stand around and put on lipstick and gossip, and so when they apply to our program they have this perception that it's easy. And then once we get into the program that's usually when we have a problem because we have to study anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and a whole series of biology there's a whole level of sciences that's expected and people don't realize that all of that's in there”.

Jessee E Skittrall, Founder & CEO at Atarashii

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