FingerNailFixer

My Year in Review: 2018

by Holly Schippers | December 31, 2018 | Bookmark +

January brought ISSE Long Beach and a visit to the NAILS Magazine and Kupa headquarters in California. I was able to do some nails for a few of the staff and shoot some videos to share with nail professionals. It was also a pleasure to be a nail model for Amy Becker in the nail competitions while at ISSE, in addition to teaching and attending the Nail Spot Social.

The set I did for Beth Livesay is still one of my favorite looks to do: some Robot Dandruff as a base, then stamping on top.

The set I did for Beth Livesay is still one of my favorite looks to do: some Robot Dandruff as a base, then stamping on top.

Running into Jen Planck at ISSE was a treat. Hearing her speak always leaves me ready to pay it forward!

Running into Jen Planck at ISSE was a treat. Hearing her speak always leaves me ready to pay it forward!

February brought a visit to Base Coat Salon in L.A. for an On The Road piece followed by the Nail Those Profits Cruise with Nail Talk Radio. The cruise hit Mexico this year and was a much needed work/vacation break from the daily grind. I’m not sure how you would make work anymore awesome than having classes at sea bracketed by days spent snorkeling and chilling on a beach. The highlight of the cruise for me personally was visiting the turtle sanctuary.

Turtles actually need three days of rest after hatching before they make their valiant dash toward the ocean. This nest was rescued when the turtles were just eggs and they are now in the resting period after hatching.

Turtles actually need three days of rest after hatching before they make their valiant dash toward the ocean. This nest was rescued when the turtles were just eggs and they are now in the resting period after hatching.

March saw the launch of NailOn with Holly and Mel. Who knew that #BFFmel and I would become co-hosts of a monthly Facebook Live broadcast? It has definitely been a fun journey to share with all of you and we hope you are loving it as much as we are! Who remembers what the first broadcast covered?

The Best Lil Nail Show Texas kicked off in March, as did the U.S. stop for Nailympia. The competition for nails done to complement your cowboy boots was a lot of fun and had some really cool entries. Be sure to look up the show on Facebook and check out those photos!

Missing from March is the America’s Beauty Show (ABS) in Chicago; it found its way into April this year. The show had scaled back, which was surprising with such a central U.S. location. It will be interesting to see what it looks like next year. April also hosted a CND update training for educators, which meant I found myself in California again. It was a wonderful honor to find myself named Reach Coach of the Year alongside Educator of the Year Lynn Cote. What was a memorable education moment for you in 2018?

Reach Coach of the Year is an honor that means a great deal to me because it comes from the peers I strive to help throughout the year.

Reach Coach of the Year is an honor that means a great deal to me because it comes from the peers I strive to help throughout the year.

April also saw the introduction of “Acheron,” a fun little sparkly dragon I picked up in California to become the star of some of my Instagram stories.

May is the birthday month of #BFFmel, just FYI, and she cracked the big 5-0 this year. The party was epic and her clients, friends, and family all joined together to celebrate one of the most amazing people I know. Also in my personal world, my son graduated from sixth grade and officially transferred to Junior High. What were all of you doing in May?

With a huge party that was triple themed in  Game of Thrones ,  Supernatural , and Grumpy Cat, Melissa turned 50 in style!

With a huge party that was triple themed in Game of Thrones, Supernatural, and Grumpy Cat, Melissa turned 50 in style!

June, as always, welcomed the Premiere Orlando show with all kinds of things going down. From the NTNA party and announcement to the CND experience booth, and the stolen moment with the Valentino booth bear, it was exciting as always. If you made it to the show, what was your favorite moment? Which booth did you love?

When you leave your giant teddy bear unattended, expect him to get stolen hugs!

When you leave your giant teddy bear unattended, expect him to get stolen hugs!

After the Premiere show, I hopped over to Europe for a whirlwind trip teaching in Spain, England, Scotland, and Denmark. It is always wonderful to enjoy nail time with professionals in other countries and see what things are similar and where things differ. I love the presentation of the nail professional as a career alongside the medical profession that occurs in some countries. How true is the title Nail Therapist!?

July brought some down time at home in addition to volunteer work in the community. If you will indulge me, I would like to take this spot to thank my family for putting up with the roller coaster that is me as I chase my dream of helping as many nail professionals as possible in my lifetime, while striving to raise the industry standards and expectations.

August hosted the very first NailOn on-the-road broadcast and adventure. Mel and I attended NAILS’ Foot Forward Summit in addition to enjoying some tourist time in Atlanta. This was the first annual Foot Forward Summit and we really enjoyed being part of the feet-focused event. The education and networking were different than a typical tradeshow and strictly focused on foot care. We also took the opportunity of being on the road to debut the NailOn with Holly and Mel logo!

At the end of August, I worked in a trip to the North American Swarovski headquarters to update my Crystal Culture training, which has evolved into a Swarovski Authorized Nail Art Educator. I’m looking forward to hosting some Swarovski classes in 2019 and spreading the sparkle.

September and October continued the busy working trend that included fun places like Michigan. In addition to traveling for nail classes and events, I was also lucky enough to be near Chicago for social media work. Being your own boss sounds great in theory, however you find your boss can be an uncompromising slave driver some days! What were some of your favorite Halloween nails you got to do?

November was the month of the Great Debate on NailOn and I hope you got to go back and watch if you missed it. Which side did you agree with most often? It was so much fun to have viewers chime in live. That’s what makes it awesome — all of you joining and chatting! A huge thank you to Mel for being the organizer of so much of the broadcast in addition to researching and rocking this completely.

The November NailOn was the great debate. Did you know that in spite of being best friends we actually don’t agree on everything?

The November NailOn was the great debate. Did you know that in spite of being best friends we actually don’t agree on everything?

December begins to wind down the year with lots of nail designs and a busy salon schedule for hopefully all of you. It has been another year of ups and downs with a little sideways thrown in for variety. I hope this blog finds you happy and in good health, or at least on the path towards both. Thank you for reading, thank you for your support, and thank you for making this industry a wonderful place to be. XO

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