Author and legendary marketer Seth Godin may have best summed up the definition of a brand. Godin noted, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships, that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” Developing and growing a strong brand is one of the most valuable investments any business can make. And it’s especially important in the aesthetics and skin care area, where salons and spas may use identical products and incorporate the same modalities and therapies.

So, it’s not surprising that in an environment with so many commoditized elements, the brand is what sets a spa apart. The same holds true for beauty education, where schools must equip students with a baseline of knowledge and skills to earn an aesthetics license, but that’s only the baseline. Whether a spa or a school, successful brands share an important ingredient that differentiates from all others in the category – the culture.

Lynelle Lynch is the owner of Bellus Academy, the nation’s first school to offer the CIDESCO Skincare Certificate. Lynch is also president of Beauty Changes Lives, a non-profit that equips and empowers next generation professionals.