By Danielle Kutchel
It’s been an exciting end to the year for one Dandenong educator who’s taken out one of the biggest awards in her industry.
Jane Truong, a makeup artist and teacher at Chisholm Institute’s Dandenong and Frankston campuses, was recognised by the beauty industry as the best in Australia, after being named AMIA Bridal Make-up Artist of the Year 2020.
It follows her nomination as a top-five finalist in the same awards in 2019.
Launched in 2011, the AMIAs, combined with the Australian Beauty Industry Awards (ABIAs), are a trusted national award platform which provides a benchmark of excellence across both specialist and individual categories in beauty and make-up.
Ms Truong said the win was a “nice surprise”, after a “challenging” year.
This year’s award came hot on the heels of her being named a runner up in the Australian Bridal Industry Awards, which are awarded based on reviews from real brides.
Ms Truong’s brides have been featured across publications such as Cosmopolitan Bride, Wedding and Bride, Brides, Polkadot Bride and Aisle Society.
Due to Covid, the AMIA/ABIA gala event was held online.
The virtual celebration was also a welcome chance to dress up after months of lockdown, with finalists encouraged to dress up for the online medium.
Despite the uncertainty of Covid, Ms Truong has remained busy, saying she’s “more comfortable and happy” when she’s working.
She has spent much of lockdown undertaking professional development to upskill so that she can get back to work stronger than before.
She also used the time to reflect on her personal business as a makeup artist, and her teaching at Chisholm.
“I wanted to be in a stronger place coming back, and try and be positive and see the silver linings,” she said.
Ms Truong is driven by a desire to help others look and feel their most beautiful self.
Having originally started out in psychology, Ms Truong still enjoys the psychological aspect of makeup artistry: helping others feel confident in themselves.
She also loves the creativity of her art form, and coaching her students to be the best artists they can be.
For the rest of the year, she’ll be working with brides looking for a 2020 wedding, and preparing for the end of the school term.
The awards put her at the peak of her industry, but Ms Truong believes there is always room to improve.
“My mindset is that I can always improve, until I can’t hold a makeup brush anymore!” she said.
She can then pass these cutting-edge skills on to her students.
Ms Truong is proud of her graduates, many of whom have gone on to have highly successful careers themselves.
“It makes me so proud of them because I see them at the very beginning when they’re not very confident and still getting to know the basics.
“For me to see them growing in confidence, stepping out of their comfort zone and achieving their milestones, it’s everything. That’s part of the reason why I’m teaching, because I love to be a positive part of their growth and development and see them achieving their goals as well,” she said.
“Part of the reason why I entered the awards is the students – I really want to inspire and motivate the students.
“I feel very lucky to be working at Chisholm. Part of my mission … is to try and grow the makeup area and continue producing students who are really passionate and do succeed in the industry.”
