Nail School Update: Managers Phase & Graduation

Left to right: Kelli, Tiffany, Jessica, Dawn, Andrea (me), Natashia

I officially graduated from nail school last week!  Woo hoo! The picture above is the class photo that we took a week before graduation.  I love these ladies and really enjoyed the camaraderie with like-minded people.  We all brought something different to the table and shared our knowledge and expertise with one another.  I think we’ll be bonded for life through this experience.  <3

The management phase was 100 hours and mostly covered Ohio cosmetology laws and public health and safety requirements.  We were in the classroom two nights a week and only on the floor on Saturdays.  There was a bit of repetition with information that we learned previously such as infection control.  I suppose there’s only so much you can cover in 100 hours, but I felt that we didn’t cover much about the day-to-day operations of managing a salon such as managing employees, scheduling, budgeting, purchasing, inventory, etc.  We barely scratched the surface on that type of information.  Perhaps there are CE classes that more into depth in these areas?  I know all about the state laws and rules though!  :)

Our project in this phase was a little more involved and time consuming.  We had to:

• Write a book report on 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.  The overall lessons from the book were relevant and worthwhile.  As an adult in my late 30’s I would have preferred to read 7 Habits of Highly Effective PEOPLE.
• Go on a job interview & write about it.  I actually went on two interviews – one went really well and I was offered a position, and the other was a total flop (there was a miscommunication about the position I was applying for).  I hadn’t gone on an interview in over 15 years, so it was a good to brush up on those skills.  I will likely do more job hunting toward the end of summer after my travels.
• Shadow a nail tech & write about it.  I shadowed a tech for a few hours at one of the salons that I interviewed for.  She had 20 years of experience, so it was interesting to watch her work and she was very helpful in answering questions.
• Volunteer & write about it.  Four of us from class volunteered to do manicures and pedicures for a group of girls that were going to their senior prom.  Kelli organized the event and her boss donated a big store-front space for us to setup shop in for the day.  It went very well, everyone had a great time, and the girls with thrilled with their nails!
• Write 6 month, 1 year and 5 year goals.

We went on a field trip one day and toured some local salons.  It’s interesting to see how differently each one is setup and operates.  I think I took away some good pointers from each place, and now have a better idea of the type of environment I’d like to work in.  There was one salon in particular that seemed like it would be a really great fit for me, but it’s a bit of a long drive especially during the winter months (snow/traffic).  They offered a lot of hands-on training, which is something that’s important when just starting out.  I am very confident in my natural nail services, but need a lot more practice/training with acrylic and gel enhancements.

We took another mock state board exam and that went well.  I was less nervous on the practical this time and actually finished the manicure in 20 minutes.  I missed a couple of points for small things, but nothing major.  I passed both of the written tests, but they were harder than anticipated so I’ll be sure to keep studying before the real exams.  In class we mostly covered the Salon Fundamentals book and all of our weekly tests were from that set of data. Both of the mock state board exams had a ton of questions from the Milady book which covers some info that isn’t in Salon Fundamentals, and things are worded differently.  I plan to break out the Milady book and complete all of the chapter reviews and study guide questions.

Now I have to wait to hear when my state board exams will be scheduled.  I’ll probably post one last update once those exams are completed.  :)