My son had to listen to a TED Talk as part of his homework the other day and I had him play it out loud so that I could hear it in case he needed any help. One of the points the speaker, Joseph Gordon-Levitt made, really resonated with me and might just hit home for you as well.

“Don’t look at other creative people as competitors, look at them as collaborators.”

What does that statement mean to you? How do you feel about it? I’m actually dying to discuss this with you live, so you might find me on an impromptu live sometime asking for your thoughts! Can you imagine where our industry would be as a whole if we took this concept to heart?

The mere idea of collaborating on things as simple as pricing so that there was no such thing as a price so low it cost the salon money to perform the service. If there was a collective standard of global education that prevented sub-par services from even existing so that people didn’t associate any nail service with infections, disease, or pain. What if there was a global collaboration to educate the consumer and it was science- and fact-based and everyone agreed on the materials because there was no competition getting in the way. The realization that marketing needed to be set aside to salvage the reputation of the industry as a whole, what each company choses to deem as truth becoming less important than some global truths such as your nail professional should not be using a wooden stick on you that was used on someone else!

It is hard not to let the idea of this really take hold in your mind and nearly explode into a universe of ideas. For now, let’s start small. Be kind. It sounds innocuous, yet it is one of the most often overlooked and underperformed services amongst people these days. When you see poor workmanship from another salon, personally make sure they get information about an upcoming class. If you see nails on social media that are less than perfect, find something nice to say about the photography, the prop, or the color. Unless someone has asked for criticism, there is no need to pick apart their work. Unless someone has posted in the caption, “I haven’t had enough cruelty in my day,” there is no need to say mean, hurtful things for any reason.

Be kind, rule the nail world. Collaborate with me on this. NailOn, my friends!