Graduation night at Cayman Career Academy

By Christopher Tobutt

It was a very proud moment for nine graduates of Cayman Career Academy when each of the beauty school students were each presented with their CIDESCO – accredited certificates. Eight students were present at the event, and the ninth, Rosanne Myles, who had completed a full Body Therapist diploma, joined by Zoom because she was undergoing quarantine.

The Academy, located at Smith Road Plaza, opened its doors just over two years ago. It was part of the dream of founder and CEO Ms Jacqueline Tomlinson-Smith to enable more Caymanians to gain high-level, professional qualifications in the beauty therapy and spar industry, without having to leave Cayman’s shores. However, since opening it has attracted students from all over the world, and many of them work during the day and attend the courses at the Academy during the evenings.

Tatiane Tibbetts is a compliance officer by profession, but she decided that she really had another side to her personality which she wanted to develop and explore, and has just completed the two-year diploma by attending classes part-time on Mondays and Thursdays. “I have really enjoyed Learning all about human anatomy, physiology as well as electrical treatments. It’s a totally new world for me it is really fascinating, and we are so blessed at Cayman Career Academy to be able to study for CIDESCO qualifications because you don’t find this high-caliber training or depth of teaching very easily. It’s really been a great journey,” she said.

After all the stress of study, Blaise Lambert was about receive her Post Graduate Diploma in Beauty Therapy. “I learned a range of things, and because I already work in the industry, I already know about them, but it has been an opportunity to study them in greater depth, and has made me feel more professional and more confident,” she said.

“It’s been a really fun experience,” said Alexis Peria who received her certificate in Beauty and Spa Management, after completing the course in one year. “I have learned a lot, and grown a lot as a professional. I have learned all about marketing, and how to manage human resources, and all about the spa trend of today.”

Lucy Tesarkova who received her Manual Facial and Body Therapy certificates, said, “I more than enjoyed it. Caymanian Adam Shelley spent ten years as a microbiologist before deciding he would answer the inner calling to go into beauty therapy, and received a Diploma in Esthetics and Body Therapy. “I have always had a passion for esthetics,” he said “because I believe the human form is a living body of art. The cornerstone of my personality is being a ‘people-pleaser,’ and so I realized that Hospitality and care industry would facilitate that passion,” he explained.