To Be the Best

     I found this article from Salon Questions Answered. What are the steps to become the best hairdresser possible? Vivienne Mackinder of Hair Designer TV.com had awesome answers so I thought I would share, with a nail spin of course. Number one was Find your natural aptitude as a hairdresser. Or in this case nail tech. You already get out of school knowing what you enjoy doing and what you don’t. Maybe you loved pedicures, maybe you loved sculpting acrylic. The reason you loved this is usually because you had a natural aptitude for it. Things you disliked may have been due to not liking that particular trainer, or maybe you didn’t get good training in that area. Define your skillset. Figure out what lights your beauty fire. What would you do even if you didn’t get paid to do it? This is where your natural talents and strengths reside. Everyone has a different strength, build off that strength to make you special, set yourself apart. 

 

   

     Invest 10% of your earnings in nail education. Determine where your specialty lies, Mackinder believes everyone should have a specialty, even if you are going to be a generalist. This will set you apart from everyone else and doing that is very, very important. Then make a commitment, however you can in whatever way you can set aside 10% of your income to create your own education fund. Maybe you attend live events, maybe webinar or Skype training or maybe you purchase DVDs. You must make the commitment to your own growth any way you can and stick to it. Her next piece of advice? Find the best salon in town that has some education program. This is a bit more challenging in our rodeo. Even top notch salons that have an amazing hair education program may fall short in the nail education department. Still seek it out. Look for salons that are education driven, come in early, stay late and offer to apprentice under a top nail stylist even if you have to not get paid to do it. What you will learn you truly cannot put a price tag on. One day sooner than you think you will be booked, with your own clientele you have to say to yourself in Vivienne’s words, Now that I’m a stylist and building our clientele I still need to keep myself fresh. I have got to be current, so I still have to apply that 10% of my income to learning.”

Jesse Bruner

      Learn something every day.  Education has a compounding effect. Don’t think something is bigger than you are. Take bite size chunks out of whatever it is every day and know people that learn more earn more. Take Jesse Bruner. He taught himself Russian, not overnight but he did. And if you don’t think he will be able to put that to good use in his nail future, you’re clearly not thinking outside the bottle. And last but not least Clients can smell insecurity and lack of confidence. When clients get a whiff of your lack of knowledge they will either be headed out the door or taking control of the situation.  You are no longer leading; you are in the back of the pack. You have to be on top of your game as the expert, knowing and educating yourself to what’s new and mastering it before your client has ever even heard of it. Constantly educate yourself and find mentors. It is so easy these days with You Tube. Look at their work, study how they do it and ask questions. I got several messages today about how I did some of the fashion show nails that I did. People just reached out, and I answered. Most times it’s just that simple. Once you master techniques you’ve studied you can make them your own, set yourself apart. I thought this article was timely since both Athena and I just spoke at beauty schools this month. Working hard to constantly improve and master your craft is smart for business and smart marketing.