Illustration by Chris Murphy

Illustration by Chris Murphy

Recently I had a crisis in my life and my partner and clients rallied around me to bring me through it. My partner was the rock I needed to get through the death of my mother. The clientele we have are not just customers, they are friends and are very supportive.

Nora Cross, Heads or Nails Salon, Clovis, N.M.

My most recent crisis involved a former co-worker who made a pared she thought was mine disappear because she apparently doesn’t like me. However, the package actually belonged to a mutual client. Once I discovered that my mail had been tampered with and that our client was out $80, I chose to replace the client’s products and make her happy.

Holly Cliffe, The Junction, Vancouver, British Columbia

A regular client’s daughter had mental problems and during one of her mother’s services she had a breakdown. I asked the client if she wanted to continue the service at another time, but she wanted to continue. I finished my client’s nails and she took her daughter to the hospital. Thankfully, shortly after this incident she stopped calling me.

Kathy Lynn, Off Broadway Salon, Orangeville, Ontario

I was working in a salon when my mum died. She had cancer so I had to reschedule my appointments to take her to chemotherapy and such. A lot of my regular clients went through the ups and downs with me. When she died it became difficult to deal with my clients, so I ended up taking a week off to be by myself.

Ruth Tanner, Nail Bits Salon, Westbury, Australia

Whenever there is a crisis of some sort in my salon, whether it is professional or personal, we deal with it by talking about it. If it is not appropriate at the time, we schedule a time to talk about it calmly. This usually nips many potential problems in the bud because everyone knows we can discuss an issue and usually solve it At the end of the day I turn off the light, take deep breaths, lock the door — then it’s time for me and my family.

Jai Harvey-Yin, Jai’s Beauty Therapy, Melbourne, Australia

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