Poser? Has-been? Or Venerable Sage?

We all know people who have gone through beauty school, taken and passed their State Boards, obtained their license, gone to work in a salon, not been successful in the salon, gone to work at the local beauty supply store, not stayed there for some reason, and ended up working at a grocery store, as a receptionist, or gone back to school to learn another trade.

And those people invariably still feel qualified to give advice on how to do nails. How to run a nail business. How to build a clientele. How to deal with difficult clients, competition, and bad word-of-mouth.

Ever wonder, “If you’re such an expert in the business, how come you’re not working in it?”

But let’s face it, this business is hard on the body. Joints start to ache, eyes go bad, we’re subject to carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, arthritis, back and neck issues, and a variety of possible chemical sensitivities that can make pressing on into the future unwise.

Real life can present challenges that require a more secure paycheck or better medical insurance options.

Sometimes you just hit a wall that you can’t scale: You can’t find a salon position that’s a good fit, you have to relocate to an area that you just never quite manage to rebuild in, kids, husbands, boyfriends, marriages, divorces, or major lifestyle changes just no longer jibe with running a nail business.

It happens.

So sometimes you find a safe, secure office job. Sometimes you find a job in a supply house — at least it’s kind of still in the beauty industry, right? Maybe you get a position as an instructor in a beauty college.

Maybe you really do know how to run a nail business. Maybe you have valuable insight and experience into how to build a successful business that could help out others.

Or maybe you used to be something awesome in the biz and you failed to stay relevant in the industry. Or maybe you were never relevant in the industry and you’re just trying to pass yourself off as some something you never were.

I love advice from people who have set examples that I don’t want to follow. Don’t you?