Wow Diana, that was a lot of food for thought. I was one of those techs who's "First Husband" said, "Get a Real Job"! Even my own father tried to talk me into doing the whole cosmetology coarse when I said I was going for nails. He actually (later) retired from the navy as a welder on Nuclear subs to go to cos school. He and I later became biz partners in a salon in Maine and about a year into it I over heard him telling a client "if I had better eyes and hands I'd stop doing hair and do nails". I was making more money and had better client relationships than he was because of the nature of the hair biz vs nail biz.
Fast forward 15 years...mom and dad love to tell their friends that their daughter is a "Nail Tech" and travels all over the world. It doesn't matter, what level you are at in this career, it shouldn't be thought of as "just doing nails". It's amazing where one can take the career (either at the table or away from it) if they are just ambitious enough. I'd like to use Athena as a good example. She was doing mostly feet in her foot spa...now in my facebook I see her going all over minxing musicians. You go girl. I responded because I wanted to paint the other side of the nail industry. I travel to so many countries where women don't have very many career opportunities. A career in the nail industry is their salvation. This year in Brazil I worked with an educator and a group of under privileged teens and 20's whom are being giving a chance to have an income now. It's totally a non-profit organization. I've seen changes for women in China (where their other choice is work the fields), Suriname (where they succeeded from the Dutch and became their own very poor country), In Honduras (where the rich are rich because of drugs), in Venezuela (where women can't even leave their oppressed country because their afraid they won't come back) and Ukraine (whom broke away from Russia and are trying to build their economy). It really is a shame that the people (like my Ex) still think differently of what we all do. And Diana is right, it is due to the fact that a large percentage aren't in the industry for long. My two cents. :) Elaine Elaine T. Watson Star Nail International Vice President of Marketing and Sales Global Education Director 800.782.7624 extension 321 fax 661.257.5847 [email protected] Blog: itsnotarealjob.blogspot.com On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 7:04 AM, Diana Bonn <[email protected]> wrote: > > I don't know, if you read the article, basically no wonder we are NOT > considered "valuable", "smart" "educated" , We only go to cosmo > school because we can't do anything else. How sad. You know the > statements we have gotten over the years,"oh, a nail tech?". Or the > look. Or a family member or hubby or friend wants you to get a "real" > career. Or the daughter or son that wants to go to cosmo school and > the disappointment on the parents face or in the tone of their voice. > > I don't know, even though I do have a college degree, plus went to > cosmo school, after all my accomplishments, still get the "attitude" > or "look". I shrug it off, because these people have ZERO clue, just > a career that is general knowledge is not respected. I think part > of the problem is how many that are in the business that don't > respect the career, which in turn gives us ALL a bad reputation. The > 98% that do not make it and how much damage did they cause in that > short period of time. > > WOW, how many careers are out there that 98 PERCENT do not follow > thru? No wonder we have a problem!!!!! Lordy Be. SHOCKING!!! > > But then again, according to the article only 1 to 2% actually are in > the industry 5 years from now, which means we are the cream of the > crop.And for those people that "look down" on our careers, they sure > do count on us!!! by spending billions of dollars. > > (would like to see a national average on graduates on the 5 year > rate, this 1-2 % is for this area only) > > Just a couple of quotes that I thought was interesting about our > careers, read the whole article > http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/article1044637.ece diana from > indiana > > "More than $2.3 million in federal economic stimulus grants have gone > to eight Tampa Bay area cosmetology and massage schools to pay > tuition for the hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians of tomorrow. " > > "said Monica Ponce, owner of Muse The Salon in Tampa. "Instead of > encouraging more people to go to beauty schools," Ponce said, "they > should probably help the stylists who are unemployed." > > "industry lobbyists say beauty school is rarely a ticket to a > thriving career. " > > Only 1 to 2 percent of beauty school graduates will be working in the > field five years from graduation, said Bonnie Poole, treasurer of the > Florida Cosmetology Association. > > "Yes, it's a good trade," Poole said. "But it's only for a select few > who want to wade through the mud to get to where they want to be." > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
