May marks a lot of beautiful things–fresh spring air, beautiful spring flowers (we love Mother Earth), spring cleaning in your shop, and, of course, the latest and greatest spring trends in the beauty industry. But you know what? That's not the end of the list! 

This marvelous month is also Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month–an opportunity to honor AAPI people, spread awareness, uplift the community, and pay homage to a group of incredible people. 

Without the AAPI community, the world of beauty would be a lot less vibrant and advanced, and let's face it: fun. This year, we're encouraging all of our EBS crew (and beyond!) to throw their hats in the ring to celebrate AAPI month full blast! We're sharing our go-to inspo and advice here. 

Inspo & Advice for Supporting Beauty Businesses During AAPI Month 

AAPI Month: How Your Beauty Biz Can Celebrate & Spread Awareness 

Do the Research First 

If you're unfamiliar with AAPI month, now is the perfect time to go full steam ahead on broadening your understanding. We can help you get started with a little focus. 

AAPI Heritage Month is all about the recognition of the cultural and historical contributions of individuals and groups of people of Asian and Pacific. This celebration is wide-reaching and multicultural, which means there's a lot to celebrate (and a lot to know, too!)

Want to fully throw your support behind the AAPI beauty businesses in your world? Start by building that knowledge! The best thing you can do is make an effort to familiarize yourself with the people of AAPI Month, their massive influence on culture in the United States, and how they've changed the beauty industry as we know it! 

Buy From & Highlight Products from AAPI Businesses 

Take a good long look at your back bar and retail products. How many of these are sourced from AAPI beauty businesses? It might be time to give your product list a little refresh. Consider it beauty biz research! 

Find the AAPI beauty businesses with products you adore and would love to stock your shop with. Want to take it even further? Give these products a little shout to your customers, too! Run specials on your AAPI-sourced beauty products during AAPI Month to incentivize a little extra support, too! 

Get Social–Share a Celebration Campaign 

Taking to social media is an absolute must for this month. Why? Because spreading awareness is key to ensuring the world knows about AAPI Month (you'd be shocked how many people don't!). You know that social media is a great way to further your marketing growth–but it's also a fabulous way to engage with your community and get the word out. 

When you put together a well-thought-out campaign on Insta, TikTok, or your platform of choice, you're ensuring your audience gets a comprehensive lesson on AAPI Month. Share history, highlight facts about AAPI's contributions to the beauty industry (trust us, there are too many to count!), and shout out the AAPI beauty businesses you know and love! 

This way, you're not just spreading awareness; you're directing your audience to the AAPI businesses that deserve recognition and support. 

Collab with an AAPI Beauty Business

Think hard–who are your all-time favorite AAPI beauty businesses? We're sure you've got a long list. Reach out to them this AAPI month and ask them if and how they'd like to collaborate with you to celebrate and bring awareness to the month.

The beautiful part about this option is that it could take so many different forms. You could run a multi-shop party. Put together a dual discount or promo if they visit both your shop and their shop. This could even look like sponsoring a new AAPI cosmetologist in your shop or spa while showing them the ropes and taking them under your wing. 

AAPI Month is all about shining a light on the amazing contributions the AAPI community has brought to the table–in the beauty world and beyond. We encourage you to learn, grow, and share everything you know about AAPI month this May!

And remember, if you want to keep up with important celebrations like these, subscribe to BIP. We're consistently dropping hot industry gossip, must-know info (like this, for example!), and even sharing BIP discounts and deals you won't want to miss.