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Montana wins Rising Star at Asia Pacific Spa and Wellness Awards

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

11 November 2024

South Metropolitan TAFE (SM TAFE) beauty therapy graduate Montana has already moved mountains at the very beginning of her career, with her talent for the industry recognised on a national scale. 

Most recently, Montana travelled to Byron Bay, NSW for the Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Awards and won the Rising Star category for beauty! This award recognises remarkable contributions of those who have worked in the industry for under 12 months, shining a light on outstanding new talent.  

Earlier this year Montana was also selected as a finalist in the Junior Therapist of the Year category in the Australian Beauty Industry Awards (ABIAs), again flying to NSW to attend the glamorous awards night at The Star Sydney. 

She was selected as a finalist from hundreds of young therapists for this illustrious award, which is championed by Mocha Group and recognised as the benchmark of excellence for the industry in Australia.  

Congratulations to Montana on her achievements to date that have already seen her travel to prestigious awards to represent WA and the beauty industry. 

So how did the dream all begin for Montana? She first became inspired to enter the field when she had a part-time job as a hairdresser at a beauty salon whilst still at school.  Montana then went on to complete the SHB30121 Certificate III in Beauty Services at SM TAFE and shone as the highest achiever in the course.  

She went on to further advance her skills with the SHB50121 Diploma of Beauty Therapy and said that the real-world clinic at SM TAFE helped elevate her training. 

 Learning from my Diploma lecturer and training under her mentorship was incredibly inspiring. We have clinic days where clients come in and pay for their treatments which gives you that sense of a skin clinic, it was really fun. 

We learnt treatments such as skin needling with a Dermapen which was really cool to get to do that treatment and it prepares you to feel more confident treating clients. You can step out of TAFE and into the clinic.

Montana
SM TAFE beauty therapy graduate 

Only a couple of months into her Diploma course at SM TAFE, Montana gained employment as a beauty therapist at COMO Shambhala The Treasury in Perth, which was awarded the number one hotel spa in the Travel + Leisure’s Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2024. 

Montana said that she has been excited, honoured, and proud to be nominated for awards and travel nationally whilst building her network to connect with others in industry and inspire each other. 

On behalf of the team at SM TAFE, we congratulate Montana on her outstanding achievements and wish her all the very best for the future – what a rewarding career path and an amazing example of next-gen talent!  

Do you love all things beauty? 

Begin your studies with the Certificate III level course at SM TAFE, which is the perfect entry point to gaining employment in the industry. 

Then elevate your skills with our Diploma level course, which is a more advanced course to prepare you for becoming a fully qualified beauty therapist, providing high-quality treatment to clients. 

  Applications for Semester 1, 2025 are now open!