Six speakers, over 60 attendees, and dozens of sponsors convened on The Goods Shed in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat last month for the Regional Beauty Long Lunch.
Professional Beauty’s Editor-in-Chief, Hannah Gay attended the event, which served as the fifth installment in a series produced by national skin and laser educator, Karen Geiszler.
The Regional Long Lunch series provides beauty, aesthetic and wellness professionals operating out of remote areas the opportunity to connect with one another, and gain advice from industry leaders. Educational events of this nature, Karen shared, are often limited to those operating out of major cities. The Regional Long Lunch provides a solve to those seeking insights and industry camaraderie where they are otherwise often left to feel isolated from likeminded business operators.
Inside Industry’s Tamara Reid played MC for the day’s agenda, recognising Karen’s efforts in hosting such unique events across the country. She also introduced each of the event’s six speakers.
The Regional Beauty Long Lunch Ballarat speaker line-up
Award-winning owner of Isabella Loneragan Skin, Isabella Loneragan served as the event’s keynote speaker. She discussed the benefits of offering advanced facial massage to beauty clients, and shared advice on how to financially benefit from the service and set one’s business apart.
According to Isabella, standardised facial massage techniques are often taught in beauty schools, but few therapists develop their massage skills further to offer them as stand-alone or hero treatments. “Our tissues carry our issues,” she told guests. Isabella’s techniques combine tension relief and ‘a facelift effect’.
Socials for Salons’ Kayla Zigic discussed the importance of community-building on social media. She advised business owners on the need to understand who their social media audience really is; that they need an objective behind every single post. Kayla recommended businesses tell clients a story, and create detailed and informative social media captions. For example, do clients want to de-stress? Do they want to fix painful skin? Kayla’s advice was to “show up consistently” online. She revealed that brands that consistently engage with their audience see three times higher conversion rates than those who do not.
Regional Beauty Long Lunch’s Karen Geiszler discussed the value in delivering a personalised and transparent client consultation. She ran guests through the benefits of offering memberships in-clinic, and recommended therapists create a treatment plan proposal for every one of their clients as a way to retain loyalty.
Clinic owner James Vivian spoke on the importance of personal branding and building a community of like-minded people. He advised business owners that one’s signature style shouldn’t be copied, but be unique to that business. Such branding should also be constantly reviewed and enhanced, James advised.
Circadia Australia CEO, Rachael Stevens defined what are circadian rhythms, explaining to guests how the power of the sun works in configuring our bodies’ natural 24-hour clock. One goal, Rachael explained, should be to complete our skincare routine by 9pm, and be in bed by 10pm.
The Cosmetic Industry Coach, Emelly Simons discussed the importance of electing the right brands and wholesalers to work with. She advised that businesses ought to ideally spend $12,000 on wholesale annually in order to see a profit. Businesses also need to place greater value in in-clinic training sessions in order to make stronger long-term sales, she said. Emelley advised of four questions business owners need to ask themselves before taking on a brand: What is my business model? How much support do I need? What don’t I want from a supplier? What do I want?
Guests were treated to a series of live demonstrations from sponsoring brands, ranging from topical facials to lash lifts. Breakfast, morning tea and lunch were served throughout the day, and concluded with glasses of bubbly to celebrate. Goodie bags and giveaways supplied by the event’s partnering brands were also distributed to guests.
To close out the day, Karen shared an exciting announcement with all attendees: that the Regional Beauty Long lunch had been awarded the LuxLife Magazine Health, Beauty & Wellness Award for Best Beauty Networking Event in Australia for 2025.
The sixth Regional Beauty Long Lunch event is set to be held in McLaren Vale, SA on Sunday October 26 2026. Limited tickets will be made available. Head to this link to join the waitlist.
Photography: The Salon Photographer
Read the current issue of our digital magazine here:
- For more news and updates, subscribe to our weekly newsletter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Like us on Facebook
- Join Australia’s largest network of beauty industry professionals on LinkedIn
- Subscribe to our print magazine
Have an idea for a story or want to see a topic covered on our site and in our pages? Get in touch at info@professionalbeauty.com.au.