Not a 'real' job!!

[Emo]

I was at a party last night enjoying myself and having areal good time when I got chatting to some friends of friends. We got round to talking about our jobs and when I told them that I was a nail tech they dismissed it as not being a proper profession! :irked: One of them actually said that "sitting ,painting nails all day isn't my idea of hard work , sure anyone could do that" Then just to top it all off the other one decides to voice her opinion and says that she got the impression that girls who go into beauty were 'kinda' slow and didn't have the inteligence to to do degree or high level courses!!!!:evil: Well needless to say I was really p***ed off and explained to them exactly what was involved and how hard it is to become qualified. They listened but sure I think they got bored at that stage.
Now I know that I shouldn't have let these a****les get to me but it really rubs me up the wrong way when people think nail techs and beauty professionals are dumb or 'airheads'. The media has a lot to answer for too!
Is that what the general public see us as?
Anyway I was wondering if anyone else had come across this stereotyping at all?

 

[hollie_mummy]

yes! and it is a horrible way of putting people into groupes. when i was in high school and i told everyone that i was going to college to study art and fashion illustration they all said that they had thought i would be a beautuician and i didint know why they thought that untill i went to college and they said im such an air hair head that i should have taken beauty! for a while after that i was determined never to be anything where i could get called an airhead, but when i quit my college course i realised that i really wanted to do nails! its a pretty hard job (especially when youve got artheritis in both your hands like me!) and i dont think that people quite understand the amount of work that goes into a set of nails!:lol:

 

[handmaiden]

Hel yeah!!! most weeks I come across some idiot who thinks because I work from home and am blonde and "do nails" that I must be a little dumb.


when I come across these people that ask me empty questons like, "whats involved in your nail work then"? .... just painting toes is it? :smack:

I like to talk about the chemicals and mix ratios and the like which they then have no answer for :green: xx

 

[Tiger Jay]

Check this out then!

I had a very short conversation with a clients son (15).

HIM "Ahh, you girls and your nails! You're obsessed!"

ME "Well, it's an obsession that keeps me in a job!" (Joking fashion)

HIM "Yeh but haven't you got anything better to do with your life? Like shopping?"




WHAT?!

So yes, it happens.

 

[hollie_mummy]

oh my god! thats terrible what did his mother say?

 

[Tiger Jay]

oh my god! thats terrible what did his mother say?

Funny really, mother was out the room making me a coffee.

Best thing to do is laugh it off. I wasn't prepared to sit him down, strap him to a chair and drum in to him about the ins and outs of product chemistry!:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[1999judy]

Check this out then!

I had a very short conversation with a clients son (15).

HIM "Ahh, you girls and your nails! You're obsessed!"

ME "Well, it's an obsession that keeps me in a job!" (Joking fashion)

HIM "Yeh but haven't you got anything better to do with your life? Like shopping?"




WHAT?!

So yes, it happens.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
You should have said yes I do that AFTER I've made my money sitting pretty painting nails all day.
They have no idea do they??

 

[becki x]

I find the best way to shut blokes(usually) up is by asking how much they earn an hour .......... (this usually knocks their ego's lol)

follow it by what i earn,the fact that i still get to go to things like sports day's,i don't answer to some muppet in a shirt and tie ....

oh and i love my job ... do you ?

Works a treat

 

[bubbabinks]

I have to be honest here and say that when I began my NVQ2 course I thought yeah this will be easy painting nails and filing, boy was I in for a shock!:lol:

Exams, assignments and the theory was very difficult to get in me old brain and keep their!

I have gone onto do my NVQ3 and I am fully aware that I am a long way off knowing a lot of the information that will keep us/client safe and comfortable.
What I'm trying to say is no way are we bimbos or airheads, although a few members in my family think I've taken the easy option! lol

 

[grafxgal]

Well I have to be honest.......before I started doing nails yes, it was seen as a job for those that didn't do well at school, and the initial course that I did, didn't really help with that stereotype, I wasn't taught all the stuff I know now..... like the chemistry...it was you do this and this and this is the result. My original trainer taught me how to do a good set of salon nails and about the things to look out for if something was to go wrong ie: greenies etc, and how to prevent them from happening in the first place etc, but there was no complex stuff.

Since joining here and also speaking with Allen I have learnt that there was and is more to learn and I have also managed to refine my nails, aswell as how to work smart not harder.

Of course I now know better, but I have never really had anyone say it's not a real job, most people are too busy asking how I did this or that depending on what I'm wearing on my nails at the time.

 

[nailzoo]

You should have pulled a bottle of nail polish out and said "show me how easy it is", not many can paint nails, let alone construct them.

 

[liteangel]

I'm not a nail tech, but I admire you ALL for the patience, and the professional approach you always show and share with each other.
What I love is you don't seem bitchy(sorry:green to each other. THis is a quality to admire and is what I LOVE of this SalonGeek. Not so commonn among working places.....
Some friends of mines (male and female) stare at me with that glaze from left to right... I always tell them this business is growing more and more. In my area (Italy, Milan, quite central but not so much) ) there are at least 5 salons offering nails only. I am sure threre will be more of them soon.

Furthermore nails for non professional is such a frivolous, trifling and shiny side of life that gets you going when feeling blue and speeds you up when feeling great, and lasts more than a visit to the hairdresser!.
So chin up!
I AM ONE OF YOUR GREATEST FAN!!!!!:hug:

 

[Emo]

Well thanks everyone, I'm glad I,m not the only one suffering from ignorant people syndrome!! When I was doing my nail course there was a lady in the class who told us that she had decided to take up nails as a hobby so she could do her own and her friends. Fair enough, but then she proceeded to tell us that she would never dream of becoming a beauty therapist because she didn't want to people to think that that was all she could amount too!! She didn't realise that I was a fully qualified therapist and sure we ended up havin a huge row in the middle of the class!! I went through a huge list of stuff that are studied in the course and everyone was v surprised to hear what was actually involved. I can laugh at it now but at the time I was ready to do some serious damage!:smack:
Well at least I can honestly say that I love what I do for a living and enjoy getting up in the morning to go to work.Thats good enough for me

 

[Anna Lee]

You should have pulled a bottle of nail polish out and said "show me how easy it is", not many can paint nails, let alone construct them.

carl.. im interested to know...

As a man.. what are peoples reaction when you tell them youre a nail tech...??

do they take you more seriously cos youre a bloke..? or is it the same like the rest of us.. who they think are all dumb heads..?

do they give you men more respect than they do for us..?

 

[VHunter]

When faced with such ignorance, I like to pull out all the big words that they've no clue what they are.
Like: Onycholysis, eponychium, etc....

They sit there going "huh?"

Then of course, I ask them if they would like to try.:lol:

 

[Chameleon]

I find the best way to shut blokes(usually) up is by asking how much they earn an hour .......... (this usually knocks their ego's lol)

follow it by what i earn,the fact that i still get to go to things like sports day's,i don't answer to some muppet in a shirt and tie ....

oh and i love my job ... do you ?

Works a treat

You took the words right out of my mouth Becki

On my course i felt like i was back at nursing college again!
The anatomy and physiology of the handa and nails let alone the body is serious work in itself.

And as for massage and even sports massage,at one point i wanted to give up :!:

Again it comes back to educating.Making people aware that YOU ARE important as just a doctor or a dentist especially when it comes to after care.
I mean when someone sees a doctor and is handed out a prescription you would automatically take it,and the same goes for us aswell.

Good thread this...lets unite together and change the world:green: :!:

 

[fificharlie]

I must admit, when I first saw the people I used to work with in Banking and told them I was going to be a nail tech they did look at me kind of funny :irked:
But, like alot of us, when challenged I pull out the long words and explain about nail disorders etc....tends to shut them up!

I hate being thought of as a 'dumb blonde' - really gets me angry. It is slightly easier for me as I own a salon, so that kind of makes people think differently - but I do still get looked down upon alot.

Oh well, we are happy - we know just how much goes into our training - and we know we earn alot more per hour than alot of professions - so...... BOTHERED! :green:

 

[Tiger Jay]

What I do find rewarding is when you have educated your clients as much as possible, they become just as much fanatically interested in nails as we do.

The more they know, the more they want to know. I love this. As they finally begin to share my passion for nails.

With their help they spread the word of what being a nail technician is all about.

So lets look at the positives too!

 

[*sarah*]

well even before I started doing nails people thought I was stupid, I am extremely silly but far from stupid! at the end of the day it works to my advantage as I let them think what they want but I'm always a step ahead of them ha ha in regards to being a nail tech I do it because I want to! I have an HNC in accounts and have worked in banking BORING!!!
My guess is those girls were jealous of you and just trying to put you down to make themselves feel better, next time you get Aholes like that say come on them you try it oh how stupid they will look:lol:
:hug: hugs for you chick, just remember they are the idiots not us! x

 

[nailartist]

The best revenge is success.