How many times have you gone to a class, attended a show, or just randomly met another nail tech you vowed to keep in touch with? More importantly, did you? Tuning in to others around you just may give you the opportunity to develop amazing friendships that reach beyond the nail table. This is my story about my amazing nail friends. Hopefully it will inspire you to develop your own group of nail “angels” to surround yourself with.

My friendships developed as I began to further my career in the nail industry. In 2004, I attended a class in Cleveland taught by Vicki Peters about goal-setting. After the class I waited to speak to this guru for some advice. I had been in the industry for 15 years, had worked in top salons, traveled around the world for education, and was at the time home with a young family. I asked Vicki what that next step might be for me. She looked me square in the face and said, “You need to be an educator.” And with that she marched me down to the show floor and introduced me to several regional managers from top companies. She took a chance on me and I did not want to disappoint her. I had no way of knowing the tremendous journey I was about to begin. I followed up every introduction with a resume and thank-you letter for the opportunity to discuss the possibility of becoming an educator. I got several calls back and by the next show, five months later, when I saw Vicki again, I was an educator.

Soon after joining the company, the regional manager position became available. I was set to attend a regional training and was encouraged to apply for the position. How could I do that? I haven’t even worked a major show, didn’t know any of the other educators — it was all just too fast for me. The national sales manager convinced me to fly into Chicago and interview for the position. The meeting went very well and she encouraged me again to consider taking the position. I was still very hesitant and before I went to the training I withdrew myself from consideration.

The training at the Midwest Chicago show would alter the direction of my career forever. This was also where I first met Chelly Eric of Salon Nirvana in Winthrop Harbor, Ill., Gina Malson of The Nail Buff in Fondulac, Wis., and Carol Ervin of Salon Innovations in Mishewaka, Ind. That first training was to this day one of the best experiences I’ve had. It’s not that the training itself was that great; it opened my eyes to a whole new level of technicians and new possibilities out there for me to challenge myself. All of us were in different salon situations, different years in our careers, yet we all now shared the common bond of being manufacturers’ educators. We also discovered that several of us had interviewed for the regional manager position. In another situation that may have brought out the competitive spirit, but we all enjoyed each others’ company so much it really didn’t matter who they chose. I was a bit disappointed that I had withdrawn myself for consideration when I met the great group of women I would be working with. The fear I had of taking on this new position was unwarranted.

I looked forward to the next event that would bring us together again to share, laugh, and of course eat! Every show was another opportunity to connect with each other and our lives. We would swap stories about our businesses, our kids, employee problems, and marketing ideas. Chelly and Gina were salon owners when we first met. Chelly has a beautiful salon in her home where she does both nails and hair. Gina has a charming booth-rental nail salon in a home that she owns in downtown Fondulac. I opened my full-service salon in 2001, offering nails, hair, skin care, waxing, and makeup. Carol opened her full-service booth-rental salon, Nolas, in Mishewaka in 2006. Carol also offers hair, nails, skin care, waxing, and makeup. I rarely find anyone who does both hair and nails in the salon and all four of us were full cosmetologists with different specialties.

I know a portion of the confidence I needed to open my own salon came from the wisdom and guidance I received and from sharing so much about our own salon experiences. Whenever we were scheduled for the same event we would always plan on either rooming together or at least meeting for dinner to catch up. The conversation would always end up about business or nails. These events soon became fewer and farther apart as our careers started to take us in different directions.[PAGEBREAK]

The foursome do some sightseeing at Notre Dame while in Indiana.

The foursome do some sightseeing at Notre Dame while in Indiana.

Together Again

Midwest was always the show that Gina, Chelly, Carol, and I never missed — well almost never. By 2006, Carol was the only one actually still working for the original manufacturer. Gina and I were no longer affiliated with any company and Chelly had taken a position with a new company. During the course of keeping in touch we discussed the possibility of getting together without the show interrupting our visit. We planned an actual “nail friends” weekend in October 2006 in Chicago. Since it was Chelly’s hometown area she set up all the arrangements. Gina and Carol were close enough to drive; I chose to fly.

We were all giddy with excitement about the prospect of running away for the weekend. When the troops picked me up at the airport we couldn’t actually believe we had pulled it off. Four women, all running businesses, some running families, managed to get away the same weekend. Amazing! That weekend set the tone for many more to come. We stayed up until the wee hours catching up. The next day we shopped, went to a play, and enjoyed a fantastic dinner.

Chelly and Gina had to get back, so just Carol and I shared a leisurely breakfast Monday. Carol’s business was really taking off and she needed some help with her books. Since I use the same program I showed her how my company was set up on my laptop. And she was also considering bringing in skin care so we talked about that too. The “training” portion of the trip was born.

We also batted around the idea of hometown visits, much like “The Bachelor” on TV. We would travel to each others’ hometown, visit each others’ salons, and get a better feel for their business to be able to attach visual identification with challenges and successes. We had to set some ground rules. The person who hosts has to stay at the hotel with us and be “out of town” too. She plans the weekend to showcase the best of her town, makes hotel arrangements, and chooses a class to teach. We knew we would see each other again at the Midwest show in March so Gina volunteered to host the first hometown visit in Fondulac in June. Unfortunately, in 2007 I had to miss the show due to other travel obligations. It was the first time in more than 10 years that I would miss it. Gina’s hometown visit was the soonest we would all be together again. The plans were set and each month we dropped an e-mail or quick phone call to make sure everyone was on board. Miraculously once again we were able to sneak away for the weekend. I flew into Chicago and Carol picked me on the way up to Wisconsin. We picked up Chelly and were able to see her beautiful home-based salon. From Chelly’s we were only about a two-hour drive to Gina’s. She was waiting anxiously for us when we got there thrilled that we had managed to pull this off again. Usually we plan one fancy meal, shopping or an event, a movie or play, the salon visit/class, and whatever else we can fit in. Once at Gina’s salon she went through her entire color gel overlay and fill process. We were all amazed at her proficiency; she books every 45 minutes and is booked solid four days a week. I had her recommend some good basic colors to get started. We all went home and immediately started doing more color gels — at higher prices I might add. Sadly, Monday always comes too soon, but before we left I offered to host the next hometown visit in October 2007.[PAGEBREAK]

The group gathers at Carol’s Mishewaka salon to review Chelly’s French technique.

The group gathers at Carol’s Mishewaka salon to review Chelly’s French technique.

Playing Host

We always try to be aware of price when planning the trips so they don’t end up costing us a fortune and we can plan them closer together. The e-mails and the calls always get closer as a visit nears. Gina picked Chelly up and the two of them chose to fly to Cleveland. Carol was close enough to drive and we all converged the last weekend in October in Cleveland. Carol had expressed an interest in microdermabasion as her skin care business was growing so we decided to do a microdermabrasion demo on Gina and walked Carol through the process. We continued the day shopping and finished up at The Melting Pot for dinner. Once again our weekend was too short but we made sure to put our next trip on our calendars. We committed to the new America’s Beauty Show in Chicago in March 2008.

I decided to drive to Carol’s in Indiana the Friday evening before the show. We met up with Chelly and Gina at the show on Saturday and sure enough immediately split up into different directions. While the trip was fun, it confirmed our decision to continue our hometown nail friend visits to get real quality time together. Carol’s hometown was the last but not least.

Mishewaka is centrally located so we all drove. Carol had just expanded, doubling her space. After our many group discussions she realized the tremendous opportunity when the bar in front of her space was not able to resign its lease. Knowing she already had a waiting list of booth renters, we supported her decision to take on more space. Many of Carol’s renters have worked so long together they operate more like a team. So with leases signed she built a beautiful, seamless addition that looks as if it was always there.

Chelly has a special French technique that we all admire so this trip’s class was Chelly’s fabulous French on Carol. The next day we headed up to New Buffalo, Mich., a charming resort town. We stopped in to tour a darling little spa that just opened and chatted with the owner for a while. That evening we discussed the next nail friends’ weekend. Since we have completed all the hometown visits we have tossed around the idea of a cruise in January. Whatever we choose we’ll eventually turn to talking about our nail businesses and continue to learn from and inspire each other. We all feel truly blessed and enriched by this amazing friendship. So what are you waiting for? Grab yourself some nail friends and start building your own memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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