Rebekah Hagberg was born and raised in Bloomington, Illinois. Her father was an administrator at Heartland Community College and her mother was a band teacher at a private school. Rebekah decided her goal was to make her career in cosmetology, so she began taking classes at the Bloomington Area Career Center in her Junior year. Besides the classes during the day at the career center, she also took night cosmetology classes at Hairmasters Institute of Cosmetology to accelerate her learning. 

Rebekah had not heard of SkillsUSA Illinois until she started at BACC. There, she was encouraged to check it out and she began going to meetings where she heard about the competitions as well as leadership training and a leadership conference. Knowing that the competition would cover material from classes she had yet to take, Rebekah spent extra time working on her own and with her instructors to learn the material. 

Another important aspect in her career path was adding an internship to her schooling. She began the internship after arriving at the BACC when her instructors and BACC staff put her in touch with several salon owners in town including Fox and Hounds, Fringe Salon, and Station 710 Salon. 

After beginning her internship at Station 710 Salon, Rebekah fell in love with the place. The owner, Megan Jenkins-Anderson, had never taken on an internship/mentorship position. Once Rebekah shared her SkillsUSA Illinois opportunities, Megan jumped into the role and became an incredible advisor and mentor figure. With Rebekah’s internship, the transition into employment was seamless. She did take a bit of a break while she participated in her competitions but began working immediately after they were complete. She obtained her license right after high school and has progressed from an entry level student stylist to a full stylist.

On top of her certification right out of high school, Rebekah’s teacher at Hairmasters made her a deal in the middle of her SkillsUSA Illinois experience. She was told that, if she made it to the WorldSkills Competition, her teacher would give her a scholarship to go back and get her barbering certificate. Although the original offer may have been made as just an offhand motivational comment, her teacher did follow through and Rebekah did earn her barbering license soon after her WorldSkills experience. 

As Rebekah continued to look ahead in her career path, she also pursued a small business management certificate from Heartland Community College. As the capstone for the certificate, Rebekah developed a business plan to formalize her side business of doing wedding and special event hair styling. 

In addition to what Rebekah gained in her experience at Station 710 Salon, the salon also benefited from Rebekah being in SkillsUSA Illinois. While she may not have been able to focus on building her clientele her first year employed at the salon due to her competition schedule, Rebekah’s boss was reinvigorated in her passion and drive for the profession. Watching and coaching Rebekah gave her new life in her profession. Word about Rebekah’s activities and showings also circulated, giving the salon good work-of-mouth exposure. Rebekah is appreciative of everything her boss has done to help her and it appears the experience was mutually beneficial. 

Rebekah says her experiences in the State/ National Leadership & Skills Conference as well as the WorldSkills Competition jump- started her career in many ways. Though competitions were a bit nerve-wracking, Rebekah’s teachers, advisors, and boss put in a lot of time with her, and she knew she was well-prepared. She developed a mindset of “do your best and have fun” which helped her curb her nerves and deliver a great demonstration of skills during her competitions. Rebekah placed first at state (twice), third at nationals, and was eleventh along with earning a medallion of excellence at worlds. 

Being able to represent Illinois at the WorldSkills Competition was very special to Rebekah. She had a year of preparation leading up to worlds. During that time, she was able to train with people she believed were her superiors and learned a lot from them. She traveled across the country for training opportunities (her coach was in Michigan) and even did some international training in Finland before the WorldSkills Competition. Getting to utilize all she had learned through SkillsUSA Illinois at a national and international level is an experience she says was unlike anything she could have imagined before becoming a member.

Rebekah believes her participation in the competitions developed not only her hard skills, but also the soft skills of presentation, professionalism, public speaking, and leadership through her preparation, training, and time spent at the conferences. She says this contributed to her growth as a businessperson and allowed her to gain more confidence than she could have obtained any other way. 

Since her participation in SkillsUSA Illinois, Rebekah has competed in several other competitions and felt far more prepared than most participants. She had a higher level of confidence in her own skills and was also able to progress further in a shorter amount of time, which she feels gave her a potential leg up over other competitors not involved in the program. 

Rebekah is quick to encourage anyone and everyone who is interested in going into the trades to join SkillsUSA. She says she is still in contact with people, both nationally and internationally, with whom she connected throughout her experience. The experiences shared with like-minded people who have similar passions and goals cannot be matched. She wants people to know that it doesn’t matter whether they medal in the competitions; opportunities will come simply from participation if people have the drive and the will to succeed.