From Spring of 1977 up to two years ago my steady source of income was the profession of manicuring and artificial fingernails. What most people consider tedious and menial work was a creative and financially well-rewarding vocation for me. Even when I started my own nail salon in 1990 I knew that I'd never become a millionaire- busy as I was- but the rewards were in the personal service of people (mostly women) achieving their individual beauty goals- a perk unmatched in any other personal service industry, in my estimation.
I never consciously gave up the profession. I'm still licensed and stock the materials to continue at any time ! The changes to this industry, however, have brought the standards of the practice to an all time low and the evidence of that is empty nail salons with one or two idle Asian "nail servers". Their unsanitary and dangerous practices have placed the integrity of the profession to the point of non-existence. Most of the "discounters" are not licensed and the public remains ignorant that this is a requirement in nearly every state of the union.
The blame for this lack of enforcement remains with the state boards who are supported by the licensed professionals. The boards don't even bother to inform the public of these standards and rarely hire enough people to inspect salons.
As a result I have watched my business diminish to nil even though I offer an impressive array of services, unmatched by most of the people in the nail service industry- professional or no. The discount salons simply offer basic and shoddy services at ridiculously low prices- but where are their clients?
Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say and I haven't failed to see today's legendary drastic pay-cuts and job displacement as a parallel to the undercutting of the true beauty professionals supported by those who are only out to save-a-buck. I'm more concerned about saving what once was a wonderful profession from vanishing altogether.
During all these years of working as a nail technician I have been an avid reader and writer. I wrote from the time I was an elementary school student and took creative writing courses in high school. Poetry has always been a great love of mine and publishing my own book has been a dream come true. This happened in 1988 with my book, "Seasons of the Heart", a few years before I took the plunge into becoming a business owner for the first time.
To be continued....
The Castle Lady with TLC for all !
4 comments:
Hi Evelyn,
this is Laura, Dougie's wife :o)he directed me here so I could see your nail artwork. I did hair for 20 years. I had my own salon for 15 years before I closed it to move to SD with Doug. I keep my MT license current but SD told me I would have to take boards to make up the 100 hr difference between MT & SD...Guess 2000 hrs and 20 years wasn't enough for them. i enjoyed the profession even though I was never rich in money but in friends and family. The only part of manicures and pedicures that I enjoyed doing was giving the client a hand and foot massage...my real pickiness came in my wrapping of a perm and doing color...loved the end results!...always tried to give the people what they wanted...always ask questions and listen....excuse my rambling...just had to drop you a note...sending huge hugs your way!
Hi Laura!
Thanks for stopping by to read and comment. It's difficult to just walk away from a profession as wonderful as the beauty industry. I appreciate your input as a colleague and friend!
The Castle Lady ; )
Well, well, well. Who would have thought it! This is so cool, learning something new about you, and so interesting.
Thanks for stopping by Leona! I thought this would get the attention of any of my female readers. I hope this gets the attention of other beauty professionals. We need to support each other now more than ever.
See up above for the rest !
Evelyn ; )
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