It's amazing to me, that so many think so little of our professional; people actually think a 1 day nail course in 3 different systems will actually turn them into a professional. Ridiculous...
Surely if you are serious about a career in nail technology and enhancements, you would do your utmost to find out everything you could so you could learn with the best educators and use the best products? To be good at anything you must learn your trade fully and thoroughly. To continue to be on top of your game - education should be lifelong! I know numerous nail teks who learnt in the early 90's and have never done another ounce of training. Boy have things moved on since the 1990's! These girls are using old techniques and their clients don't even know it!
The nail industry is still thought of as a fledgling cottage industry. The world at large seems to think you don't need brains to enter the nail industry? I think many enter the industry because they think of it as a soft option - a career that doesn't involve 'smarts'. Don't forget, we are programmed at school to assume we are thick if we're not good at maths or sciences. I can tell you this, everyone is talented in someway - it's just figuring out where that talent lies. It drives me insane this feeling of apathy towards a career that requires a great deal of knowledge and talent. It's not just about gossiping over the nail desk for an hour - there are very much important business aspects to be learnt.
We get some students come to the Creative Academy after they have done initial 'beginner training' elsewhere and I often hear "oh I just watched the owner and she did good nails and mine look like her's so I'm OK"
How the hell does she know if her nails are OK? How does she know whether or not the owner was doing good nails and employing safe techniques if she never had never experienced 'proper' training? What if the owner produced horrendous nails? Congratulations... due to ignorance another poor nail technician was just created. We could of course blame the salon-owner, but sadly she knows from experience that these girls come and go (often stealing clients in the process). So why should they pay out good money for training only have to have the said nail tek leave within 5 minutes? It's the worst kind of catch 22.
Fortunately there is a company out there that tries to maintain the highest of standards. How do you become GREAT at anything? You learn how to do it properly, that's how. You strive to learn your art and trade to the very best of your ability. Why? So you can offer the very best service and make a wonderful reputation for yourself / you salon.
There are still plenty of companies out there selling direct without education - so anyone can buy professional products and call themselves a nail tek. I hate mediocre. I simply don't understand people who do things half-assed. Why do it at all if you're not going to give it your best shot? This is what I expect from students who leave the Creative Nail Academy. Students that are serious about their future and serious about making a decent living for themselves. The Creative Nail Academy creates careers - not jobs.
To create a beautiful set of nails takes dedicated talent, skill and experience plus, a want to do a perfect job. Anyone can slap on a set of nails but it takes true skill and dedication to create a set of beautiful crafted nail enhancements whilst maintaining the integrity of the natural nail. If you are going to join our industry don't be mediocre, be great and do it right - from the start!!
You've heard people say 'Practice makes Perfect'... well I think Martina Navratilova (one of the greatest tennis players of all time) said it best when she said - 'Practice doesn't make perfect, Perfect practice make perfect'.
