Description
In this inspiring episode of the DayMakers Podcast, hosts Daved Dolce and Larry Foster sit down with Deema Atshan, Campus Director of Tricoci University’s Bridgeview Campus, to talk about leadership, student growth, and what it truly means to be a Day Maker.
Deema shares her journey through the beauty education world, how she supports students in discovering their confidence and creativity, and why the Bridgeview campus thrives on positivity, mentorship, and collaboration.
From navigating challenges to celebrating student success stories, this episode shines a light on what makes Tricoci’s culture so special — a community built on empowerment, inclusion, and purpose.
Find Deema on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deemaatshan/
Show Notes
– Deema’s journey into beauty education and leadership
– How Tricoci University helps students grow personally and professionally
– The importance of mentorship and positivity in campus culture
– Building confidence and resilience in future beauty professionals
– Why being a Day Maker goes beyond great service—it’s a lifestyle
Links:
YouTube:https://youtu.be/E1b6z7eS_7o
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TQ4QJlqqIey0rf1Y2rbbF?si=DXIcKQ4xRtSHOfdHsje1fw
Transcript
We are here to make people feel good about themselves.
We really have to feel like we are a day maker for the guest.
“You’ve made my day.”
How great is that when you hear those words from your guest?
Hey.
Welcome, everybody.
I’m Daved Dolce.
This is the Day Makers podcast.
I’m here with my host, um, co-host, Larry Foster.
Hi.
And we are interviewing today Deema Atshan, one of our campus directors at our Bridgeview Campus.
Deema, welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Yes.
So Deema, you’ve had quite the journey with Tricoci University.
Why don’t you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what you actually do?
Yeah.
So I am the campus director of the largest campus, um, I’ve been working here for 13 years, so I get best of both worlds.
I’m a cosmetologist, also a campus director.
Um, and I
We’re in an amazing industry where I get to work with the students and watch them grow in this beautiful world that we work in.
I love it.
So tell us, like, how you started.
What was the beginning of your journey?
Um, so I
When I graduated high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, what was next- Mm-hmm.
and my mom was the one that encouraged me to go to beauty school.
Um, and I was like, I don’t
At that time, I didn’t even know it was a thing, to be honest.
I was like, “Okay.”
“Let’s, let’s give this a go.”
‘Cause I, I was into makeup and hair and things like that, but again, I didn’t know, like, beauty school was something I could actually enroll in.
So we toured a couple schools and Tricoci was, like, my top runner and I was like, “Let’s do this.”
And ever since then, I just loved the industry and everything about it.
Um, after I graduated, I went into guest service representative and then student success advisor and I just loved working with the students every single day and I was like, “Okay, I can do more.”
Like, I can
There’s more I can do and help students and educators just grow into this industry and then campus director was the next thing for me.
That’s awesome.
Yeah.
You were an assistant campus director.
Assistant campus director as well.
You’ve just done so much.
Yeah.
I mean, personally- Yeah.
I do think you’re one of the hardest working people we got on our team.
So thank you for that, as well.
She is absolutely one of the hardest people.
Yeah.
She does an incredible blowout.
If someone needs-
a blowout, she does amazing blowout.
Yes.
I love it.
But here’s the thing with you, you’ve done all those roles.
The most important one for me is the fact you were a student.
Yes.
You know, and what did you take away from being a student that you now keep in mind as you’re running our largest campus?
Um, I think it’s, you know, I was once them and I know what it’s like to just wake up any, every morning and come to school.
Um, at the time I didn’t drive, so my dad would drop me off at 5 o’clock in the morning at the McDonald’s down the street.
And I’d wait till the school opened at 9:00 and walk to the school.
Wow.
I didn’t know that story.
Yes.
Yeah.
No.
I didn’t drive.
That is hard.
I’m like, I know that story.
Yeah.
So literally, 5 o’clock in the morning, he’d drop me off at the McDonald’s, wait till the school opened at 9:00, walk to the school, and then my mom would pick me up at 5:00.
And I
You know, like, for students that struggle with transportation, I’m like, “You can do this.”
Like, I did it.
There’s all these options.
You can wait.
We open the doors early.
Like, don’t give up.
Whether it’s transportation or anything.
And even just not knowing what you wanna do in school, you’re gonna find what it is that you love to do.
Like, I, at the time, I didn’t know d- did I wanna, you know, specialize in color or haircut or blow dry or makeup and, you know, I get to do everything and I found my niche, which was air forming and color and
And I also had a educator that was like, she pushed me.
She knew what I, what I was good at and
Yeah.
And I see you pushing students all day long.
So when we’re talking about a large campus, you have over 400 students at times.
Yes.
And you’re really, it’s almost like 2 buildings, as well.
Yeah.
Yes.
And you have to manage all that, which is incredible.
Yeah.
But what, what actually took you from that role in cosmetology to pursue education?
Um, I think it was the teachers and, like, the mentors that I had and, like, just leaders that worked with me and saw what I was good at and pushed me to be the best and, I mean, obviously patience is key.
Like, you have to be patient with, 1, a large amount of students and, 2, you have to know how to read
Like, you can’t talk to everybody the same way.
Like, you have to know what type of person you’re working with.
Um, just, yeah, I wanna say patience is a huge- Patience.
huge thing.
And leading from your heart.
Yes.
I mean, you- Yeah.
You have-
you lead p-
love.
Right.
Yeah.
You know?
You’ve r-
You have it both ways.
When you lead from your heart- Yeah.
and when they need that love and support and courage- Yes.
to teach you there.
Yeah.
And if they need that little bit of tough love, you’re there, too- For sure.
to get to ’em and help kinda get them back on the right path.
I mean- Well, and being on their side, ’cause I think a lot of times students don’t realize we’re there to support them and on their side and they may not receive that love outside of here, so d-
I want them to know that I’m here for you.
Whatever- Oh, yeah.
I know.
I appreciate you so much for being that person.
And you really do speak from your heart.
Like- Yeah.
you are so truthful about this.
Um, so you’ve had so many roles from student on up, and I know from moving on up and from being a student as well, that there’s lots of conflicts that come into your life, whether it’s, um, friends, family, work conflicts, um
What do you tell yourself?
How do you
Do you know what I mean?
To manage and to keep going, to keep going throughout, ’cause I feel like with every role, it’s a different type of conflict.
Yeah.
I think when you experience trauma and loss, um, you kind of are stuck, like, “Is this over for me?
Where do I go?
What do I do from here?”
But I think you just have to trust the process and know that everything’s gonna be okay, um, and not to give up because there’s gonna be people there pushing you and waiting for you to get through the obstacle that you go through.
It’s true.
And I tell people, and I’m sure you agree, like, everything that you’ve been through in your life- Yes.
that makes you so much better at what you do.
For sure.
Because, too, like, you can relate to a student or even an educator, but d-
once you experience what you go through, it’s
Again, everything’s gonna be okay.
You gotta trust the process and not give up on whatever it is that you go through.
And that’s exactly what you did.
Like, when I listen to you in particular speak to your students- Yeah.
when they are going through stuff, it’s just magic.
And they just- For sure.
listen to you, and they are just so into everything that you say.
Yeah.
It’s great.
Yeah.Uh, this industry is really all about, you know, the whole beauty industry is about acceptance.
It’s about, you know, kind of that whole self-awareness, you know, that whole appreciation of being authentic to yourself.
How do you think that that kind of meshes with what you do at the campus level?
Um, I think as a, like, b- being covered up and as a Muslim or Palestinian woman, you, uh, you think that, you know, you can’t do this industry or this isn’t for us.
But it definitely is.
There’s so much that we can provide and give out into this industry.
And, you know, for anybody that is covered up or diversity or culture or religion or whatever the case may be, like, this industry is for us and it continues to be for us and we grow.
And the good thing is, like, we’re giving, we’re putting beauty out there and we’re also changing lives and we’re making people feel good about themselves.
And I think that’s the best part is, you know, there’s, for me, there’s people like me out there that you can do this and we can do this and be in this industry.
Right, I love that.
I love the fact that
Mm-hmm.
when you look at our company as a whole
Yes.
I think you see
For-
every version
Oh, my god.
somebody within that c- Yes.
And that’s what makes me proud.
I love it.
We celebrate that.
Yes.
And we want to be a part of that.
Oh my God, it’s amazing, like
It makes, it makes our day.
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
‘Cause any- I mean, we’re, anybody can do this and be this
You know, again, we’re changing lives, we’re making people feel good, so
So Deema, do you feel like your personal journey has made you a better stylist, a better campus director?
How do you feel about your personal journey and how it’s affected you in the path you’re on now?
I, 100% it did.
I think it made me stronger, um, it made me know what it is I can do and give in this industry and to the students.
Yeah.
That’s awesome.
Like, I’m just such a big Deema fan.
I love that we’re interviewing you.
So what advice do you have for students that are struggling with self-doubt, financial responsibilities, I mean, transportation, they go through it all.
Yes.
We see everything.
Like, what advice would you give to somebody that’s listening to this right now that’s a current student that thinks, like, “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to make it through?”
I would say, “You can do this.
Don’t give up.”
Um, there are so many options and so many things that our, we can do and we can help you with.
Um, you, you wanna do this and you don’t wanna miss out on, you know, just changing one, your, your life, your career, your path, and to put good into the universe, into this world.”
And it’s, again, don’t give up.
Trust the process.
Trust the process
Yeah.
and talk to us.
Yes.
Right?
You don’t know what we could possibly help
you with unless you open up and let us know what you’re going through.
Just getting a different perspective
It’s so funny.
from people who have gone through it.
I was telling students that, “I can’t read your, your, you know, as much as I’d love to read what’s going on in your mind, I can’t.”
“So come talk to me so that I can help you.”
Yeah.
Right.
That’s what it’s all about.
We can’t fix it if we don’t know it’s broken.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And, you know, that’s one of the things you do really well.
You do so many things incredibly well.
But, you know, being able to sit and troubleshoot with your students
Yeah.
and take all the time that they need, which absorbs a lot of your day with the amount of students you have.
Yeah.
But I agree with what you said earlier.
You knew, you really, even though there are 400 plus students in your building, there are 400 individuals for you.
Yes.
And you tackle each one differently and are there as a biggest cheerleader, and I thank you for that.
Yeah, I love relationship building.
I love to know who they all are.
So, and, uh, 1, it helps me to, for them to trust me and me to trust them, and I think it’s, I just love every single one of those, the students I’ve worked with.
Definitely shows, and I appreciate you so much for all that.
Because it makes a huge difference.
Thanks.
But tell us, you know, we like to end the show with a main question that is, what does being a Day Maker mean to you?
Um, I think a Day Maker to me is someone that is giving back into this community, but also changing someone’s life and making, just putting beauty into this world.
Love that.
Yeah.
And you change thousands of lives every year.
Yeah.
I mean, that is a huge
It’s amazing.
So thank you for all you do.
Thank you, guys.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.