There is something particularly powerful about learning from someone who remembers exactly what it feels like to be the beginner in the room.
Erin Cannard spent more than 23 years in corporate America before deciding it was time for something completely different. She left a career where she had decades of experience, became a student at Spectrum Advanced Aesthetics, entered the treatment room, worked in three medical spas, and eventually found herself right back where her aesthetics career began. This time, she was standing at the front of the classroom.
Today, Cannard teaches Spectrum’s Clinical Master Program, bringing together real-world treatment experience, decades of professional skills, and a very personal understanding of what students need from aesthetics education when they are preparing to build an entirely new career.
Thanks to Spectrum Advanced Aesthetics for sponsoring this article so that we can share Erin Cannard’s story with the L+A Community.
From 23 Years in Corporate America to Aesthetics Education
Starting over sounds exciting when you say it quickly. Actually doing it after more than two decades in another industry? Slightly more terrifying.
“I reached a point where I knew I wanted my next chapter to feel more purposeful and personally fulfilling,” Cannard explains. Her corporate career had given her experience in leadership, discipline, time management, communication, and relationship building. In her final corporate role, she served as Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Sales for the U.S. and Canada.
But she wanted something that connected her more directly to helping people.
“Making the decision to finally leave the corporate world was thrilling, but also terrifying,” she says. “I went from having years of professional experience in one industry to being a student again and starting from the ground up.”
That experience now influences the way Cannard teaches. She knows what it is like to sit in a classroom learning an entirely new language and quietly wonder, “Can I really do this?”
Her answer today is important for anyone contemplating a career change: starting over is not the same as starting from scratch.
“You bring all your life experience, discipline, communication skills, and perspective with you. There is value.”
Spectrum Advanced Aesthetics: First as a Student, Then an Educator
Cannard’s relationship with Spectrum began as a student, which gives her a unique perspective on the school’s approach to aesthetics education.
“Spectrum gave me a strong foundation,” she says. “They taught me how to really think like an esthetician.”
That distinction matters.
Cannard says her education was not simply about memorizing protocols or learning a list of treatments. Students learned skin types, science, sanitation, safety, consultation, and how to make informed decisions based on the individual client.
We have seen this philosophy across Spectrum’s programs and educators. L+A recently spoke with Alyna Velez about Spectrum’s device-based education, where the emphasis similarly extends beyond operating technology to understanding preparation, aftercare, and clinical decision-making.
For Cannard, that foundation became even more valuable once she entered the real world.
What the Treatment Room Taught Erin Cannard
After graduating, Cannard worked in three medical spa environments before returning to Spectrum.
“Every person who walks through your treatment room door is different,” she says. “Their skin is different, their lifestyle is different, their expectations are different, and sometimes what they tell you they want isn’t necessarily what their skin needs.”
That is the experience she now brings back into the classroom.
Consultation, Cannard says, requires professionals to slow down, listen, ask better questions, and understand the person sitting in front of them. It is an approach to aesthetics education that prepares students to think rather than simply execute.
It also reflects something we have repeatedly heard from Spectrum graduates and instructors. Madison Barnes shared a similar full-circle journey, describing how Spectrum’s hands-on environment prepares students for careers beyond passing a licensing examination.
Why Erin Said Yes to Teaching at Spectrum
When Spectrum founder Mary Nielsen asked Cannard to return as an instructor, there was not much deliberation required.
“My immediate reaction was yes,” she says. “Honestly, I couldn’t wait to share my experience with others.”
Cannard had experienced the entire progression herself: corporate professional, career changer, Spectrum student, new esthetician and medical spa professional. Teaching offered an opportunity to turn all of those experiences into something useful for the next person sitting nervously in a classroom.
“There is something incredibly rewarding about watching a student go from being nervous and unsure to having that moment where everything clicks. The ‘aha’ moment.”
Cannard now teaches the Clinical Master Program, including skin treatments, hair removal, and theory. But ask her what she wants students to leave with, and her answer goes far beyond performing services.
“I want them to leave with confidence, critical-thinking skills, and a genuine understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing.”
Building Professionals, Not Just Teaching Protocols
This may be where Cannard’s corporate experience and treatment-room experience intersect most effectively.
“Anyone can learn a series of steps,” she says. “But a great esthetician needs to be able to look at a client, assess their needs, ask questions, recognize when something isn’t appropriate, and make appropriate decisions.”
Technical ability matters, but Cannard also emphasizes professionalism, communication, compassion, curiosity, and confidence. Her own biography describes education as an opportunity to create a safe, supportive environment where students can build both skills and belief in their professional abilities.
That philosophy helps explain why Spectrum has become such a valuable resource for professionals looking for both in-person and virtual aesthetics education. Its educational ecosystem continues beyond its core programs, with advanced training opportunities designed for professionals at different points in their careers. L+A’s Medical + Spa Education Directory currently includes Spectrum virtual education alongside other continuing-education opportunities for working professionals. (Lipgloss and Aftershave)
There Is No Expiration Date on a New Career
Cannard’s story also represents something we see frequently in aesthetics: the second act.
Not every successful esthetician knew at 18 exactly what they wanted to do. Some arrive after careers in corporate America, healthcare, hospitality, retail, or completely unrelated industries. Those experiences do not disappear when someone enters aesthetics. Often, they become part of what makes that professional particularly effective.
Spectrum’s hands-on approach allows students to practice, ask questions, make mistakes, receive feedback, and try again, Cannard says. It also recognizes that students enter the industry with very different histories.
“You don’t have to fit one particular mold to belong in this industry.”
For someone currently sitting at a desk in another career wondering whether aesthetics could be next, Cannard has some pretty relevant advice.
“It’s never too late to pursue something that genuinely excites you,” she says. “There is something incredibly empowering about allowing yourself to be a beginner.”
And perhaps that is the real value of great aesthetics education. It does not simply teach someone how to perform a facial, use a modality, or follow a protocol. It gives them the knowledge, judgment, and confidence to walk into a treatment room and begin building a career.
Cannard experienced that transformation herself at Spectrum. Now she gets to stand at the front of the classroom and help someone else do exactly the same thing.