Robbie Tomkins reveals how to find your nail industry USP

When I was first introduced to nails, it quickly became apparent that, as far as the session world is concerned, there seemed to be a distinct lack of men.

Robbie Tomkins

I had met manicurist, Mike Pocock, through working at the nail brand that I was a PR manager for and of course knew of nail legend Leighton Denny, who was awarded an MBE for his services to the beauty industry in 2015. I quickly stumbled upon US celebrity manicurist, Tom Bachik, and was lucky enough to meet Adam Slee in Paris once while working on a show. I also later met and assisted the very lovely Anatole Rainey who is signed to Premier Hair & Make-up, but apart from those select few there appeared to be a gap in the market.

Part of working in public relations is to work with a brand to figure out what its unique selling point is and that’s when it hit me – being a man in the session nail world could be mine.

Obviously it takes a lot more than spotting a gap in the industry to forge a career in any profession but thankfully, once I started dabbling in nails, I was instantly hooked. I would paint the nails of anyone that would sit still for long enough and, working in an office full of females at the time, word quickly got around that there was a Welsh bearded guy doing nails during lunch hours and after work. That’s not to say that if a girl had been doing the same thing there wouldn’t have been the same enthusiasm, but I did notice that there was a certain reaction when I told people that I was learning to do nails, which I can only attribute to being a man.

Whether you’re a freelance nail tech, a salon owner, a session tech, a distributor or product designer, finding your unique selling point is essential to becoming successful.

So, I suppose the big question is, do I think that being a man has accelerated my career in the session world? Quite simply, yes, I do.

I think anything that makes you stand out from the crowd in any line of work is a huge plus and should be nurtured. Whether you’re a freelance nail tech, a salon owner, a session tech, a distributor or product designer, finding your unique selling point is essential to becoming successful. I have battled in the past with believing that being a male nail tech is the only reason that I have experienced some success but I’m starting to realise that being different and that a USP is useless unless the product, brand or service actually does a great job.

Spend some time thinking about what makes you special. What is it that makes you stand out from the crowd? What do you do that makes people say, ‘Wait, who is that?‘. In a world that currently seems to be screaming that being different and unique is wrong or somehow undesirable, I want to encourage everyone to harness your quirky, release your eccentricity and learn to love what makes you different – it could just be the thing that propels you to the next level!

www.robbietomkins.com

Follow Robbie’s session nail journey on Twitter & Instagram.