The idea of me enrolling in nail school came up after I had returned from Iraq when Nadine (salon M.O.M.) and I were talking about timelines and what was going on with the project. She was my motivation to actually enroll in the school.

Nail school was the last thing I ever thought I’d be doing, but after more thought and some encouragement from Robbie, Nadine, and the crew at OPI, it became clear that I need to obtain my nail technician’s license. I ended up looking at the situation like this: as a commander of troops in combat, I knew each and every one of the soldiers’ jobs backwards and forward, and I could comment on their job performance because I already had inside knowledge myself. I just thought about this for nail school: How much better of a leader or manager would I be if I knew what my employees were doing when it came to doing nails?

Armed with the determination to excel as a manicurist, I began school on October 31. In the beginning, it was a bit odd to be sitting in a manicuring class. I just ended up on focusing on my skills as a manicurist; as it winds up, I actually like to do artificial nails and I had a lot of fun in the class!

I graduated from school at the end of February and took my state board exam on March 26. I passed! So come visit me at my chair when the salon opens; I’m transitioned from combat in Iraq to battling cracked and chipped nails in the salon!

Regards,
Daniel Schilleci

co-owner