Mastering the art of constant improvement
Born in Windhoek, Yolandi Einbeck grew up in Swakopmund. She attended Westside High School before graduating from Pro-Ed Akademie in 2005.She studied somatology immediately after high school at the Paarl Institute of Applied Body Therapy and Skin Technology in South Africa, where she graduated in 2007.
She began working at Gocheganas Wellness Village a week after graduating. In 2008, she travelled to Colorado in the United States of America to work at a ski resort Spa. She then worked in Windhoek at several lodge spas and small salons.
Einbeck is now a senior lecturer at the Nomad Institute who controls all academic programmes.
“This comes with huge responsibilities of the successful pathway by providing high-quality teachings, assessing and monitoring progress over the range of courses provided by the institute,” she said.
She emphasised that it is a fantastic experience to witness students' confidence grow, especially when they begin to grasp and appreciate what she is teaching them and how it applies to practical knowledge.
Ups and downs
In 2017, she completed her spa management diploma while working full-time and was the operations manager at Soulstice Day Spa. Her struggles have been physical, mental and emotional, having to work 12-hour days at lodges and having to stop massaging due to a physical inability after many wrist operations over her 13 years as a therapist.
Another issue she confronts is keeping her students' attention, as the majority of them are visually handicapped, but she said this it has helped her become more creative in her craft.
Success
Einbeck emphasised that in this profession, no position can really be compared to another because the sector is constantly developing and evolving, but success in her current position will be seeing her students pass their examinations and become the finest practitioners or therapists they can possibly be.
For her, success is that profound sense of fulfillment that comes from seeing people grow and become better versions of themselves.