LARISSA LANE, second from left, with Mid-Atlantic Association of Career Schools executive director Aaron Shenck, Empire Beauty Schools divisional vice president Janette Zellers and Empire vice president of education Beth Krause.
2006 Perry graduate has her hands in many ventures
Larissa Lane is no stranger to the New Pittsburgh Courier. She was featured in a 2018 article that discussed her authoring of a book, “The Blueprint to Building Clientele.”
The entrepreneur, stylist and educator then was chosen as a correspondent for the Courier’s 2021 “Men of Excellence” awards celebration, where she interviewed many of the honorees on camera, challenging them to have thoughtful answers on the fly.
Now the Courier has learned that Lane, 35, has been named “Educator of the Year” by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Career Schools. The announcement was made public, Aug. 7.
The Mid-Atlantic Association of Career Schools has more than 100 member schools that focus on everything from cosmetology schools, barber schools, health-based factions, to HVAC, automotive training and culinary schools.
Bidwell Training Center, Triangle Tech and Empire Beauty School are some of the centers in Pittsburgh that are members of MAACS.
Lane won the award for her teachings done at Empire Beauty’s North Hills campus.
“I came to teaching because I’ve been in the beauty industry for a very long time, working in salons and film sets,” Lane said in an article from Empire announcing her award. “Whenever you learn information and how to do things, you should take the time to give back that information. It’s a gift to be able to get that information, so it is important to give it back. That’s what I wanted to do. The type of person I am, I feel like I can give back to the industry and students. I have the experience and the knowledge behind it, the real-life experience of what it’s like in the field. To teach, for me, is to see others succeed further than what I had. That’s why I teach.”
There was some stiff competition for the Educator of the Year award. Aaron Shenck, MAACS executive director, told the Courier on Aug. 8 that the organization has an Awards Committee that reviews the nominations sent in by the post-secondary career and technical education member schools that span from Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, to Delaware and New Jersey. From those nominations, the Awards Committee chose Lane during its annual conference in Lancaster, Pa.
Lane completed both the Cosmetology and Educator Training programs at Empire’s West Mifflin and North Hills locations, respectively. She’s been teaching the next generation of cosmetologists at Empire’s North Hills campus since November 2020.
Lane also has “Emmy Award-winning makeup artist” on her resume, and works as a makeup artist on movie sets and TV commercials. She’s the CEO of a skincare line, Skincare by LLA. Over the years, she’s worked at locations such as Jou-Al’s Hair Studio in Homestead, Fahrenheit 212 Salon in the Hill District, and Le’Vire Atelier, in Shadyside.
“Our goal as an educator is to teach the next generation to be better than us,” said Empire North Hills executive director Matthew Deem, in an article announcing the award. “I followed Larissa’s illustrious career over the years. I’ve seen her launch her own skincare line, Skincare by LLA. I’ve watched her publish a book. I’ve seen her win an Emmy and now I get to call her my educator. I am so proud of how far she has come. Larissa is a shining example to her students and co-workers that there is no limit to what you can achieve with dedication, drive, and passion. Larissa amazes me every day with her positivity and selflessness.”