Introducing Empire's Style Council

Continuing our quest to take beauty to the next level, Empire Education Group has created a new panel of experts designed to answer your burning questions about beauty. Empire's Style Council is a go-to resource for the latest beauty trends and techniques. Click here to meet the council members and see what "STYLE" means to them!

About the Council

When you're looking for a fresh approach to beauty, turn to the Empire Style Council, courtesy of Empire Education Group, the largest provider of cosmetology education in North America. Experts who are ready to help include beauty guru's Nick Arrojo, Marc Galgay, Lindsey Watts, Yvette Caballero and makeup artist La Sonya Gunter.

Nick Arrojo began his distinguished career with Vidal Sassoon in Manchester, England. After 10 successful years, he joined the Wella Team in London. In 1994, he moved to New York City as director of education for Bumble + Bumble Salon. Three years later, he established Arrojo Cutler Salon and became global master for Aveda. In 2001 Nick opened ARROJO studio in New York City, a custombuilt salon featuring ARROJO education, ARROJO product, and the ARROJO color studio. Today, Nick is a Brand Ambassador for Goldwell, and appears frequently on television and in web and print media.

As an Artistic Advisor for Empire Beauty Schools, Marc Galgay truly believes your sense of beauty never changes, but how you achieve it does. Marc says it is a continuous lesson, that never gets boring! His passion shows through in the work he now does training educators across Empire's vast network of schools. During his career, Marc has enjoyed helping clients and students discover ways to make themselves and their clients feel and look their most beautiful. He believes how you wear your style is not an outward reflection of a trend, but an expression of your inner sense of confidence! Marc is a member of Cosmetology Educators of America, National Association of Barbers and Cosmetologists, and his past experience includes a stint as Academic Director & Creative Director for Regis Salons.

Lindsey Watts' passion for the beauty industry is fueled by the desire to make others feel beautiful-inside and out. Since the beginning of her career, Lindsey has believed that every beauty routine should be easy, quick, manageable and bring out the best in you! In her role as an Artistic Advisor for Empire Beauty Schools, Lindsey loves sharing her expertise with educators, students and consumers. She takes pride in watching her students and clients take their style to the next level by using the tips and tricks she shares with them. She calls herself an "information junkie," who loves pulling out her arsenal of knowledge.

Las Sonya Gunter, formerly a singer and child star on the ABC TV series "City Kids," started in the beauty industry at a very young age. While working on a musical, she enjoyed being around the makeup artists as she watched them transform actors into characters. Today, she works as a makeup artist on many Broadway productions and shows. La Sonya is a makeup educator at Empire's flagship Manhattan school. She is affiliated with several major makeup lines, including M.A.C Cosmetics, Maybelline and NARS.

Yvette Caballero joined the Empire team as an Artistic Advisor in 2010. Since then she has enjoyed sharing with others her belief that beauty doesn't have to be expensive-when you have the knowledge to keep it up at home! In her role teaching Empire's educators and students the most recent trends and techniques, she loves using beauty as a way to uplift people's spirits and make them feel special and confident. Yvette enjoys playing with hair color and getting the lowdown on the latest formulations from color giants Goldwell, Redken and Matrix. She never stops learning and is passionate about sharing her knowledge in whatever way she can-both in English and her native Spanish!