HRTE Chicago

What a FANTASTIC weekend in Chicago!! All I can say is Holy Sparkle Toes Batman!! The High Road To Education class was one of the best classes I have ever attended. The energy in the room was just electric. Everyone was just buzzing with new information, sharing light bulb moments *(Carol and I over the nail art). It makes me really proud to be a member of this industry. I'm not quite sure that we as nail techs and beauty professionals understand the privilege we share to have such an incredible passion for what we do and get to play at it every day. When I wrote my Nail Friends article for NAILS magazine I waited, holding my breath, for feedback all the while thinking, "this was such a personal article, I wonder how it will read". Finally not being able to take the suspense any longer I finally e-mailed Judy Lessin and asked......."so? no rewrites?" What she shared with me really made my day. She just loved the article and said she wouldn't change a thing, what she loves about working with us nail techs is our passion for our work. I sure shared a lot of that passion this weekend. I was lucky enough to have a few minutes to speak to the attendees about PR marketing and am really hoping a few will make the effort to do it. Attending events like this one really add value to your clients experience by pushing your work to the next level. Why not toot your own horn about it!!

Inspiration

I am so fortunate to have such a wide circle of friends to gain so much inspiration from. So, I am sending out a query, about anyone that has developed their own private label brand for an article in Skin Deep. My friend/ex-boss from IBD forwards me the name of a gal in Kansas City that does make-up and has developed her own line of cosmetics. Cool, I will try and connect with her. Go to her site, WOW. This girl has got it going on. She has a thriving business as a professional make-up artist and photo stylist and is the make-up artist to the Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleaders. She also has developed her own make-up line called Be Cosmetics. The cool thing about her is that it really is not about the make-up. It's about a movement she is driving, the Be movement. Just speaking on the phone with this young lady for 45 minutes was so inspiring I have joined the Be movement and can';t wait to see this girl shine. She is really about inspiring people to "be" what they truly want to "be" and helping them achieve their dreams. Melissa Blayton is a name you are going to be hearing a lot of soon, I can just tell. The energy and goodness surrounding her is such a wonderful departure from the self indulgent, self serving world that is unfortunately what we sometimes see in the business community. I am featuring her in my private label article and going to work on a feature article for her soon and can't wait to get this girl more publicity. So stay tuned to this stand-out rising star. Click on her fabulous photo to visit her website!

More from ABS Chicago

The VIP "Experience" was so awesome Saturday evening at the Palmer House Hotel in Chigago. Hosted by Beauty Systems Group it was a wonderful way to thank their clients for their business and inspire them to stay strong in the current economic climate. Something Luis Alvarez said really stuck with me. We are the beauty industry, not the financial, not the insurance, not the auto industry.......The BEAUTY Industry. He encouraged owners not to watch CNN or follow the gloom and doom headlines. Read InStyle, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and the like. Beauty is alive and well and living in every town from New York to Los Angeles. It was such a positive experience and so wonderful to have such talented artists give up their Saturday night to give back. Hosted by my friend and mentor Geno Stampora the evening inspired me to stay strong and remember when the going gets tough, the tough get busy making everyone look fabulous and feel better. That's who we are and what we do and despite each economic downturn we continue to thrive. The Midwest is a time to see old friends and make new ones. Sadly a few did not make the trek this year, things being too tight money wise, they were missed. Call me an eternal optimist, but I am committed to keep working through the hours, days and months till this nation gets back on track. When you can't afford the education is sometimes when you need it most. I'm so glad I scraped the dollars together to go to Chicago. I reconnected with so many friends and made so many new too add to my network. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.