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SEARCHLess formal than a class or networking event, “practice parties” provide an opportunity for nail techs to experiment with new products and techniques, build friendships and professional bonds, and remember how much they love doing nails.
![It’s a [Play] Date](https://assets.bobitstudios.com/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,dpr_auto,c_limit,w_920/1-L-web-playdate-teresa-and-michelle_1780460243753_uro21y.jpg)
Teresa Shackleton (left) and Michelle MacLaren-Kelcher were just Facebook friends until they got together for a nails “play date.”
“On occasion I get together with other techs just to play!” says Teresa Shackleton of Tee’s Nail NV in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Less formal than a class or networking event, “practice parties” provide an opportunity for nail techs to experiment with new products and techniques, build friendships and professional bonds, and remember how much they love doing nails. “I have gotten together several times with one of my fellow techs, Laura Merzetti, who lives two hours away. We meet in my salon and pull out all the goodies we have to try out and to share,” says Shackleton. “Having nails in common is a great way to start a new friendship, and Laura and I are now not only fellow techs but good friends.
This past summer, while on vacation, Shackleton met up with Michelle MacLaren-Kelcher, a tech she had met through Facebook and BeautyTech. “She drove three hours to meet with me at my friend’s condo in Calgary where we played nails for the day,” says Shackleton. “My friend was thrilled to be a guinea pig, and Michelle and I had the opportunity to do nails on each other as well. It was a great way to connect with a friend I made online and to learn from one another.”
Kristen Dutcher of Polished Nail Salon in Salem, Ore., has also enjoyed the benefits of these informal get-togethers. When she met with fellow techs Nicole Hollenbeck and Denise Anderson at her salon, the agenda included gel nail art, Minx, glitter fades, and Ed Hardy tattoos. “We all seemed to learn something from each other so it was a fun day,” says Dutcher. “We talked about the need to help others who are new or just don’t have a chance for education, so next time we may invite a few techs who are struggling.”
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