The true gift we give

So Wednesday night, this week I gave my sister her last manicure. It was bittersweet. I think we overlook the true value in our jobs. While many may consider it a superficial, ditzy, airheaded profession I know it has a deeper value. I started cosmetology when I was 15 years old. Being the youngest of a family of 4 girls and the queen diva (a former model), beauty and fashion were part of my vocabulary at a very young age. I spent hours pouring over fashion magazines in my mini walk in closet as a kid. The four of us "Morgan" girls spent many hours at the kitchen table at our own mini cosmetic counter brimming with the latest beauty must haves. I enjoyed every aspect of cosmetololgy and studied each area and its many techniques. The area I didn't recognize at first as the most important became evident several years into the business. This business is about people, not beauty. It is about the connections we make with our clients, how we make them look and feel and help them grow in their own lives. I know we are not supposed to get too personal with clients but how can you not? Especially nail clients that are in every week or every other week. Thats more than I see some family members, actually more than I see a LOT of family members. Many clients tell me it is the first they have stopped all day and done ONE thing for themselves. It is their "therapy" their time away from the harried world they try and navigate each day. To be able to help them stop, and relax if only for a brief time and send them back out to the jungle refreshed, renewed and fabulous looking is our gift. To be lifters, that help lighten anothers load. As I reflect on the events at hand I realize that the connection with people was really what I was looking for all along. Beauty was just the pathway.