All that glitters is gold...and Carolina blue and white (UNC), maroon and white (NC State), royal blue and white (Duke), and all of the other glitters that make up the institutional colors of the colleges in our area. My college girls left in glitter toe style, and some of those who returned are sporting glitter toes and glitter fade nails to match. Whew! Heather has suggested taking some collegiate pictures to post on our website, so I'll be turning to my hubby to help in the photo department.

For now, my book has returned to steady, and I am booking ahead four to six weeks out. To keep up this momentum, I will be focusing ahead on the slower weeks and give discounts on specific unfilled days to the new ladies I am meeting in some local networking situations. By the end of September, my goal is that all of my standing appointments will be made through the holiday season. To do that, I am already starting to spread the sense of urgency to clients on booking before they leave; if they want to coordinate hair or skin or waxing, pre-booking is a must! Our owner is currently booked eight weeks out on hair, and her clients are starting to hear about scheduling holiday appointments now. I would also love to have a referral contest before Halloween. They are lots of fun, and the rewards of gaining new clients linger for quite a while.

So what is the challenge for the week? We have new receptionists to train on all of our quirks, likes and dislikes. Plus we need them to learn how to sell for us so that we all have successful holiday seasons. The challenge is that we all have different approaches on training newbies, and I am hoping to not have front desk turnover again before the end of the year. It costs so much in time, effort, and energy. Unfortunately, I never have enough of any of those things since a lot of my energy and patience is drained by a 16 month old at home. ;-)

—Adrienne, nail tech