Why enter a nail competition if you can’t win? “When you compete, the most important person you are competing with is yourself,” says Dianne D’Agnolo, founder and director of the Nailympics Competition. “Competition is a great way to push yourself to improve. Try to better your score every time — if you do, you’ve succeeded. If you don’t, you know what to work on. So you’re improving and you have still succeeded.”

When you compete, especially if it’s new to you, you have pushed yourself outside your comfort zone, says D’Agnolo. “Every competition brings new butterflies or challenges. Facing that down and conquering it is a growing and learning experience.”

Here are four reasons you should jump into the competition arena, according to D’Agnolo.

Marketability. When you push yourself and compete, that’s a feather in your cap, one that your salon, clients, and community should hear about. How many clients have a nail technician who actually competes in her field? Not many. You need to become one and increase your marketability to your clients. Clients will respect you and what you’ve done.

Credibility. So there was another exposé on nail salons by the local news and your clients are quick to bring it to your attention. Your client can be confident you only do what’s best for her. You travel the country, or the world, to compete; you are regularly surrounded by the best of the best in the industry; and you are right there with cutting-edge education and technical product information. Your experience gives you more credibility than the rest of the crowd. Make sure clients hear about your experience and know what you’re doing.

Exposure. Whether we are in New York City, London, Tokyo, or Billings, Mont., we tend to get caught up in our own way of doing things. To a certain extent, we actually set limits on ourselves that aren’t even based in fact. The perfect nail enhancement in Montana likely isn’t exactly the same in Florida or France or Australia. When you compete in a competition with global reach, like the Nailympics, you are exposed to technicians and techniques from around the world. You will see amazing work — work that is likely to inspire you.

Networking. A great way to not get stuck in a rut is to network with other top-notch technicians, like those that push themselves and compete. When you are at the competition, get to know your fellow competitors from Japan, Korea, England, Argentina, and even the U.S. When you develop a network of professionals you interact with, you won’t get into a rut, and if you do, you have a great source of people to inspire you back out of that rut.

The next Nailympics event takes place October 23-24, 2011, at the International Beauty Expo in Long Beach, Calif. For more information go to www.nailympics.com.

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