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SEARCHNAILS and The Industry Source (a Nailco company) are pleased to honor this year’s 14 finalists. We recognize these salon owners, nail technicians, and educators for raising the bar of professionalism and offering the utmost in services to their clients.
(left to right) Educator of the Year finalists Barb Wetzel, Tanis Darling, and Joanne Linck with The Nailco Group's Larry Gaynor.
(left to right) Educator of the Year finalists Barb Wetzel, Tanis Darling, and Joanne Linck with The Nailco Group's Larry Gaynor.
After seven years of calling them the Salon of the Year Awards, we thought we’d do things a little differently – hence the new name, Artists and Visionaries Awards (the AVAs). We feel our annual award’s new name truly represents all of our finalists. After all, they’re true artists in the sense that they carefully hone and perfect what they do, and they also envision a better future for our industry and care enough about it to make a difference.
Something else we did different this year was bring back the Educator of the Year category and add a new one: Salon Makeover, which honors salon owners who have taken the time, effort, and dedication to expand and refurbish their business or relocate to a new locale.
NAILS and The Industry Source (a Nailco company) are pleased to honor this year’s 14 finalists. We recognize these salon owners, nail technicians, and educators for raising the bar of professionalism and offering the utmost in services to their clients. Our finalists were feted at an award ceremony held during the Great Lakes Beauty Show 2001 in Dearborn, Mich. Nail technicians, salon owners, and other industry figures made up the crowd of well-wishers at the ceremony, which was hosted by NAILS editor/publisher Cyndy Drummey and Larry Gaynor, president/CEO of The Nailco Group.
On the following pages, you’ll get a chance to read about our Educator of the Year, Nail Technician of the Year, Salon Makeover of the Year, Salon of the Year (1-4 Nail Technicians), and Salon of the Year (5+ Nail Technicians) winners and runners-up. Each of our winners received a plaque and $500 for their efforts, and runners-up received a framed certificate and $250. The Nail Technician of the Year will also be flown to California later this year to do the nails for an upcoming NAILS cover shoot.
We hope that the salons, educators, and nail technicians you read about on the following pages inspire you to make improvements in your industry, your salon environment, and yourself. Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming AVA awards in future issues.
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