Editor’s note: There is no more glamorous career path available to nail technicians than working behind the senses in entertainment and publishing. As president of the Crystal Agency, Crystal Wright knows all the ins and outs of the business-both how to break in and what to expect when you get there. We’ve asked her to share her secrets with you.

About two years ago, I got a call from a young woman by the name of Julia Palmer. A friend of mine who was staying at the Four Season Hotel in Beverly Hills had experienced a Julia Palmer manicure and suggested that she call me about representation. Until then, I admit that I hadn’t given a thought to representing a manicurist (I was representing hair, makeup, and fashion stylists at the time), but because a close friend recommended her I agreed to meet with her.

Well I was in for quite a surprise as Julia whipped out an impressive array of published work, known in the business as tearsheets. Included was Fergie, the Duchess of York, on a book cover, Sophia Loren on the pages of InStyle Magazine, and Jenny McCarthy on the cover of Newsweek. A light bulb went on in my head. If these celebrities wanted Julia on the set to do their nails, wouldn’t magazine editors and art directors want to ensure that the hands of all supermodels, celebrities, and recording artists are exquisitely coiffed for magazine covers and movie posters? We decided to find out and took Julia on as a client.

Since then she has worked on advertisements for The Gap, Pierce Brosnan, Sela Ward for Good Housekeeping, Helen Hunt of the cover of InStyle, and numerous Essence magazine covers (both through my agency and her current agency Celestine). In the two years since Julia opened my eyes to the importance of having a manicurist on the roster, I have seen the demand for manicurists on the set (versus makeup artists with a little fingernail polish in their kit) grow steadily. A plethora of magazines now want a manicurist on the job as do photographers and directors for those big print advertising jobs and TV commercials. At The Grystal Agency, we now represent two manicurists and keep them pretty busy.

So, how can you take advantage of this exciting market? Like every artist who wants to work behind the scenes, a portfolio is required. You many think, “That’s easy, I’ve got lots of pictures of my work from competitions, client who came into the salon, etc.” But those aren’t exactly the kinds of pictures that are needed for this business. Art directors, fashion editors, and agency owners are looking for a well laid-out collection of tearsheets and tests (non-paid collaborative photo shots that include a hair and makeup artist, fashion stylist, photographer, and nail tech) professionally presented in a portfolio book. The book is your calling card. It is used by you and your agent to get you work.

Building a Portfolio

The first step to building a portfolio is finding good and creative photographers who are producing interesting pictures that are portfolio-worthy. We’re not talking about the average head shot guy who is taking black-and-white photos of aspiring models. We’re talking about a person with vision and story-telling ability, the photographer who wants to create the kinds of layouts you see in the back third of a fashion magazine or ads for BMW, Coca-Cola, Paul Mitchell, and Donna Karan.

Finding these photographers isn’t as hard as you might think—knowing how to recognize them is the trick. In my portfolio workshops, “How can I tell good photography from bad photography?,” I offer this quick and easy way: Only look at good photography. Really! I’ll tell you a secret; there is no bad photography in Harper’s Bazaar. Too fashion and entertainment magazines like Vogue, Jane, Elle, InStyle, Essence, and Rolling Stone hire the best shooters in the world. Use these magazines to train your eye and you can’t go wrong. Remember that photography is art. If you’ve ever been inside an art gallery and saw a painting that moved you, you know that liking the painting was something you felt from the inside out. Photography is the same.

Educate yourself. Begin to look at photography for different reasons. A photographer’s lighting is part of his or her signature. It’s one of the reasons they get hired. Good lighting makes a model’s red lips look kissable—as if they are summoning you. At the same time, bad lighting and poorly placed shadows can make the knuckles on a hand model look like boulders and the nails like claws instead of the invitation to “Have a Coke and a smile.” That said and learned, you are ready to seek out photographers to work with.

Some of the best places to look for photographers are schools, community colleges, vocational/technical schools, and universities. Many Schools have message boards where you can post an index card with your contact information. Better yet, call the local schools in your area and ask for a class schedule. Once you know the schedule you can make it your business to get over to the school and introduce your-self to the photographers who are exiting the classroom when the hell rings. Make it a point to introduce yourself to the professor and let her know that you are looking for people photographers who can use an excellent manicurist on their shoots.

Another great place to look for photographers and jobs is through makeup artists and hairstylists you already know who may be working on their portfolios or accepting freelance gigs outside of the salon. Just put the word out that you, too, are building your book.

There is also something said for being in the right place at the right time. Julia Palmer never tested. She built her book with tearsheets from clients she met at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. “One of my ‘in-room’ celebrity clients at the Four Seasons was Natasha Richardson. She was preparing to go to the Golden Globe awards. Several weeks later a picture of her appeared in InStyle magazine and I pulled it out and put it in my portfolio,” explains Palmer.

The Internet is a must when it comes to looking for photographers and the rest of your team. Some of the popular photography sites where you can search and become familiar with the work of photographers are www.pdn-pix.com, www.altpick.com, and www.workbook.com. These sites make it possible to search by city, specialty, and title. By the same token, if you are searching for hair and makeup artists to connect with, I suggest checking out some of the professional makeup artist boards online. Website message boards at www.makeupartist.com, www.makeupmag.com, and outs, of course, at www.firsthold.com, all offer a steady stream of artists who are testing to build their portfolios.

Appealing to the Creative Decision-Maker

While wildly painted artistic nails may appeal to some of your salon clients, most consumer-driven entertainment (People, InStyle, Premiere), fashion (Vogue, Jane, Bazaar), and lifestyle (McCall’s, Woman’s Day, Essence) publications are looking for neat, clean, short nails painted with a single color or no color at all.

“Mikki Garth-Taylor is my boss when I work for Essence. She’s the beauty and cover editor. She doesn’t want anything flashy on the cover of Essence,” says nail technician Von Christmas, “It’s not their image. I bring lots of colors with me to the shoot, just so I’m prepared, but I know what they want.” To date Von has done more than five covers for Essence magazine. Her first was Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta. Her most recent was Vanessa Williams and her new husband, Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox.

“I try to help my client by doing my homework,” says Von. “I get on the Internet and search for articles on the celebrities I’m working with, knowing something about them or their interests can give you some common ground throughout the shoot. When I’m working for a new magazine, I go to their website and look at the covers and try to figure out what they’ll want from me.

“Most of the time I’m working with celebrities and photo shoots aren’t easy for anyone,” Von continues. “Glamorous, yes, especially to those of us who are working on them. But to the celebrities, they’re just work. The creative people are doing the best job they can at hiring hair, makeup, and manicurist talent. They look for people they believe will work seamlessly with the celebrities or models. We’re in their faces all day. If we work well with the stars and the stars get comfortable, then the art directors know they’re going to get a good shot. Then you know you’ll get called back the next time when they need someone.”

On the flip side, I once hired my manicurist (who was a friend) to do the cover of Essence. Her behavior that day almost cost my agency a ten-year client. She called me the day before the shoot and asked if she could take her daughter along. I said, “Absolutely not, this is work.” The shoot was for the cover of Essence with Halle Berry. The manicurist took her 15-year-old daughter anyway.[PAGEBREAK]

The next day the client called and vented to me for half-hour about how unprofessional the manicurist was to bring her daughter on the shoot. The client will never confront the artist at the shoot—that’s what bookers and agency owners are for. I assured them that this would never happen again and dropped the artist from my roster.

Finding an Agent

Finding an agent is the goal of my freelance artists. Why? An agent takes much of the headache out of negotiating fees, collecting monies due, and marketing. Furthermore, agents usually have access to the best jobs and are in touch with the creative decision-makers on an hourly basis. Clients like calling agencies for several reasons. They believe that agents do the weeding out for them. Since an agent won’t represent someone who isn’t going to produce revenues, clients feel pretty secure that the artists they hire from agencies have experience on the set and nice books that they can present to their clients.

Remember, everyone has a client and a boss. The art director at the advertising agency may want to hire you, but first, his client, the brand manager at 7-Up, for instance, has got to say yes. The agency will ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together into a perfect presentation. Your portfolio is sent to the client looking pristine, resume attached and a promo intact. It’s the recipe for a $500 per day booking to manicure a set of nails for a commercial or print job.

Hair, makeup, and styling agencies work just like modeling agencies. The cost of all that negotiation, marketing, and access to clients that you might not get on your own is about 15%-20% of each dollar that you make plus expenses. Expenses in this case amount to messenger bills, FedEx, promo cards, and these days, a web page. You’ll need at least two custom portfolios as well, at about $160 each.

Approaching agencies for representation is like learning to dance. At first it can feel like you have two left feet, but once you’ve got the steps down, look out! Today’s market is full of agencies. There are over 25 in California, 65 or more in New York, 7 in Miami and a sprinkling of 3-5 in most major cities throughout the U.S. and abroad. Agencies want to see pictures. However, if you don’t have any photos, but you do have the gift of gab and/or a resume, then pick up the phone and go for it! Something like this usually works; “Hi, I’m a manicurist with (your salon name). I have a very flexible schedule and a kit that’s ready to go. I’d like to do some freelance work outside of the salon and was wondering when I could schedule an appointment to come in and meet with you.” Close the deal. Don’t pick up the phone to call an agency unless you know what you want and what you plan to say.

At the same time, if you get a booker on the phone who sounds like she’s tearing her hair out, give her an out. Acknowledge that she sounds really busy and ask when would be a better time to call back. The key here is to call back exactly at that time. When you get the booker on the phone, say, “Hi, this is (you), the manicurist, you told me to call you back today.” Now the bill’s in her court.

Since agencies want pictures, what do you do now? When Julia Palmer wanted to get her foot in the door at the Four Seasons, she offered the management staff free manicures. She’s been there for eight years. “The key to success is dependability” says Julia “When the concierge pages me, I must respond in 10 minutes or I could lose the job. Mine is not the only phone number she has in her Rolodex. They need people who they can count on. The biggest complaint I hear from the staff at the Four Seasons about new people that they try out is attitude. I’m here to tell you, a bad attitude is the best way to find yourself removed from the computer at the Four Seasons.”

Can you work without an agent? Yes and no. Manicurists work without agents all the time. Julia Palmer started her freelance business by forging a relationship with the concierge at some of the upscale hotels in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. She set her rate and negotiated her fees. But when she got a call from Janet Jackson’s people to work on her latest video, “It Doesn’t Really Matter,” and the management tried to low-ball her day rate, she was glad that she could tell them to “Call my agent.”

“It’s she best job I’ve had to date,” says Julia, “but when I told management that my rate was $650 a day they said, ‘Oh, we’ll never pay that.’ I even went down to $450 a day to meet the rate of someone else that they said they’ve worked with. The situation just got worse. They called and said they wanted me to work for less. I just said no.

“There are times when you have to stand your ground,” she continues. “After the video started, I got a call. Janet wasn’t happy with who she was working with and wanted me. This time I turned the booking over to my agency. They got me the rate I wanted, plus overtime. I worked for three days and made over $3,000.”

How Much Can I Earn?

Rates vary from one job to another. But, in general, here’s what you can expect. Editorial rates (amounts paid to artists for work on magazines) are typically $150 per day for one million plus circulation publications like Vogue, Elle, and Essence, to $350 per day for lower circulation publications. The greater the exposure, the less you get paid. Why? Simple. Magazines sit face out on newsstands and editors of high-profile publications know that their magazine pages in you book can boost an artist’s day rate just by their mere presence. At the agency, we waited with bated breath for the release of the July 2000 issue of InStyle magazine with Halle Berry on the cover. Our hair stylist Neeko is her personal favorite. Not everyone has an Instyle cover in his or her portfolio. That cover empowers us to raise the artist’s rate by another $500 per day for commercial jobs. When the client asks how we can ask fro that kind of money (Neeko makes in excess of $3,000 per day as a hairstylist.), we say, “Just look an his book. Look who he works with. Don’t you want someone on your team that works with this caliber of talent?” Then you just wait. Sometimes the client will say yes. Other times they’ll want to negotiate.

A manicurist can expect to make $350-$600 per day on TV commercials and print ads for the first 10 hours. There after they are paid time-and-a-half for the first two hours and double overtime for the remaining hours. Music videos are usually based on a 12-hour day.

What’s commercial? Just about anything that isn’t editorial, including TV commercials, advertising print jobs, music videos, and catalogues.

Getting Started

Just about everyone in the business tests or assists to get started. Tests are free. As I mentioned earlier, a test is a collaboration between a hair, makeup, fashion stylist, photographer and manicurist who all come together for a photo shoot that will produce pictures that each person can put in their portfolio with the intent of generation paid work for themselves. Test! It’s the way to get pictures. The goal at the test shoot should be to get 12-15 great photos in your book that you can send or take around on appointments to get work. The process usually takes anywhere from six months of biweekly testing to two years of sporadic testing.

Assisting is an effective way to get experience on photo shoots. Often a key manicurist will have several people to prepare in a short period of time and needs help to ensure that everyone can be ready for the camera on time. Agencies maintain assistant lists. The key is to ask to be a part of it and call weekly to find out what’s going on. The creative websites I mentioned earlier also list the names and phone numbers of my hairstylists, makeup artists, and manicurists who don’t have agencies. They too can be called about assistant work. The key to assisting is persistence and follow-up. If someone tells you to call him or her back on Wednesday, don’t wait until Friday. Call on Wednesday and show your reliability.

After a few successes, you may wonder if it’s time to quit your day job. Julia Palmer says no. “Listen, freelance work in nails is growing and it’s a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t quit my day job in the salon just yet. You don’t get booked every day and when it’s editorial you’re getting paid $150. When the magazines and production companies start hiring us as often as they do makeup artist and hairstylist, then I’ll be on the set every day. Until then, I have the best of both worlds, I get to work on the set and I get to work at some of the finest hotels with some of the most amazing people in the world,” she says. Good Luck!

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