Nail competition winner Tiffany Manning poses with celebrity stylist Nick Arrojo (left) and Mike Bouman, Empire Education Group’s president and COO (right).

Empire Education Group’s top students were honored on May 17 at this year’s Future Professionals Expo & Competition. More than 1,900 students from Empire’s 96 schools across the nation attended the 6th annual event in Hershey, Pa., where students from each school competed for valuable prizes. The event also featured classrooms with advanced training, an Expo where attendees learned about top professional salon and spa products, tools, and advanced educational programs, and a Networking Café.

The judges of Empire’s nail competition were Trang Nguygen, Jan Arnold, Jan Zanettini, Catherine Wong, and Maggie Mulhern.

The students — who won their local schools’ contests to earn a spot in the national competition — were eager to showcase their talents and to proudly display their creativity and professional skills. Taking first place in the Nail Art Display category was Tiffany Manning of Empire Beauty School in Gwinnette, Ga. Her prizes include an Odyssey Nails educational event, a CND gift set, a backstage experience at New York Fashion Week with the CND team, and a trophy. Judges included Jan Arnold, cofounder of CND; Jan Zanettini, national school account manager of CND; Trang Nguygen, owner of Odyssey Nail Systems; Catherine Wong, trainer for Odyssey Nail Systems; and Maggie Mulhern, beauty and fashion director for Modern Salon.