Why you should continue training as a nail tech
By Katie Barnes | 28 February 2017 | Feature, Training
Educator and award-winning nail stylist, Katie Barnes, explores why you should go back to basics in regard to your personal development.
Going ‘back to basics’ can mean different things to different nail techs, such as improving the way you apply polish, ensuring you take repeat bookings or quickening your application time.
Many techs think due to the fact that they are qualified or experienced, they only need to progress through advanced techniques. Going back to basics means fine tuning the skills that you already have, and it is something that every nail tech can benefit from – whatever their skillset. Any nail tech can create an average set of nails and make them pretty with nail art but true pros are rare when the challenge is to create perfect nails.
Continuing education is not only an important part of keeping up with the latest trends and techniques, but it’s also an investment in your career. Education not only helps you improve your skills, but it also keeps you focused on what’s important: focussing on quality and your fundamental skills. We must maintain a basic level of safety, quality, and exceptional care as a true nail professional.
Much of what drives us to want to improve is a continued feeling of being stuck or dissatisfied with what we are currently doing, which is why going back to the beginning to break down each working technique is the key.
As an educator, I regularly see students become frustrated when they are told to work on something they consider basic. They can think that they already know this and switch off. With every teacher offering a fresh view on the same problem, it often puts things in a different perspective and can offer a light bulb moment.
Returning to the basics, is the ability to step out of our usual routine and away from the pursuit of the next big thing. We are always trying to do more, create more, push the limits or find shortcuts – but sometimes, in the whirlwind of all that, we neglect the basics; the building blocks on which our success is built.
Reassessing your techniques could be through reading a book, re-reading your manuals, taking another class, re-sitting a class you have already taken or breaking down your working techniques or methods to improve.
Take this opportunity to assess what has troubled you, what you love and what you’re going to do to become an even better nail tech than you were before. With basics in mind, ask yourself if you possess the skills necessary to uphold the level of quality that will make you proud each day or whether you have room for improvement. Your long-term success relies on your ability to acknowledge areas of opportunity, learn, grow, and improve – and that need starts with you being the best tech you can be.
Love Katie B x