As I settle into working on my own, I’m realizing how many little things affect my everyday life as a nail tech. Because I was working in a spa before, I didn’t have to schedule my clients, buy my own products or design my services; all of those details were taken care of for me. But now I have to do it all on my own. At first I thought it would be a piece of cake. I figured, “This is great! Now I can work when I want to, the way I want to.” And that is true in a lot of ways, but I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to manage my time.

      The first problem I ran into was maintaining my own book and keeping all the information in one place. I’m an organized person, but when you have as many duties on your plate as I do (and I’m sure many of you do), it becomes easy to overbook. In those first few months I forgot about the appointments I scheduled with clients as they were dashing out the door, I double-booked appointment times and I ran over so often that I was scared my clients would become frustrated and stop seeing me. Often times, clients would call me on my cell phone while I was out and about and I would write down these appointments wherever I could. I made the mistake of jotting down appointments on notebook paper and Post-It notes, and I had a planner that I carried with me separate from the one I had at the office. These were all big mistakes. I knew if I could eliminate all of the different places I was writing my schedule and condense it into one place, I could keep much better track of things. I finally bought a proper planner that is easy for me to use and I keep it by my side at all times .

      The other mistake I made was not writing things down right away. I kept trying to remind myself to get up immediately, no matter what I was doing, and write the appointment in my planner as soon as my client and I discussed it, which, oftentimes, was during their service.

The next step I took in keeping a tight schedule was writing down all of the other obligations and appointments that I had in my client planner, even if they had nothing to do with work. This way, if a client asks for an appointment time that is unavailable because I have an appointment or am out of the office, I know instantly.

      I found that as the new habits began to settle in, things were running more and more smoothly. Maintaining an organized and efficient schedule is something that doesn’t always come easily to people. After I managed to work through my scheduling issues, I know that even the most scatter-brained nail tech can be capable of staying on top of her obligations. Here are a few important things that helped me:

• Write your appointments down in one place only (with the exception of a backup planner if you feel you need one). The best things to use are a day-by-day planner, an official appointment book, a computer program with a calendar, or your cell phone if you have a calendar feature.
• Maintain your entire schedule in your planner. If you work on clients at different times throughout the day, include personal appointments and breaks. But if you work set hours at a salon, this is only necessary if your personal appointments fall during your workday.
• Allow yourself some time between clients, if possible. Maintaining a 10- to 15-minute buffer is a great way to prevent problems in case you—or your clients—are running behind.
• Create a cancellation/late policy. As the old saying goes, “Time is money.” Those of us in the service industry understand this better than most. Make sure that you have a clear policy for clients who need to cancel or who will be late. Also, you must notify your clients within a respectable amount of time in the event that you need to cancel their appointment. Once these standards are set, always stick to your guns. If you waiver on your policy, your clients will expect you to make exceptions all of the time.

I hope these pointers help. Until next time, keep creating beautiful, healthy nails.

I have so much to say and I’m not sure where to begin. I suppose the best place to start is by introducing myself and giving you some background as to what I’ve been up to:

      My name is Charlie Land and I’m a California-licensed nail tech. I’ve been doing nails for a year and a half. In March 2006, I was working as a supervisor at a natural grocery store, and was doing well but felt like there was something more meaningful for me out there. I never thought about working in the beauty industry. I only considered becoming a manicurist after my hair stylist had mentioned that doing nails was a unique niche and could also be lucrative. Originally, I was only looking at private beauty schools and I quickly became discouraged by the tuition fees. A coworker of mine was attending a cosmetology course at a local vocational school and recommended that I look into it. To my surprise the fees were thousands of dollars less than the private schools in my area. Without question, I signed up and began my journey.

      I was so nervous on my first day that I almost didn’t go. What were the students going to be like? Would I be the youngest one there? Would everyone else have experience? I had no idea what to expect. I was relieved to find that everyone else in the class had the same apprehension and anxiety as I did. Within a matter of days, I was fully comfortable in my surroundings. My teacher was a Vietnamese man with a cosmetology license and many years of nail experience. He started out as a nail tech, became a salon owner, went back to school to earn his cosmetology license, owned a hair salon and then became a teacher. His well-rounded experience was something that we all benefited from in the class. Little did I know that one of the gentlemen in my class would one day become my boss.

A few weeks into the course, my classmate, Jim, brought in a nail magazine from Japan.

      I later learned that Jim’s wife Lysa was a very well established nail tech and educator in the industry, and they owned a manufacturing company. The nail magazines I borrowed from Jim had come from her travels around the world. At first sight, I fell in love with the nails in the magazines. I had never seen such elaborate nail art! It blew my mind that there were people out there creating these gorgeous nails. In a matter of days, an entire world unfolded in front of my eyes. I had never realized that there was so much going on in the nail industry!

      As my talent and my passion grew, I was falling harder and faster for nails. Soon I was spending hours each day dreaming about all of the things I could accomplish. Towards the end of our class, Lysa came in to do a demonstration on simple nail art. She showed us how to create flowers using acrylic and how to use some easy topical nail art to spruce up a service. As she worked, I was mesmerized. I had never witnessed firsthand someone with that much experience. I was drawn in like a moth to a flame. I decided at that very moment that I had no interest in doing acrylic nails unless I could create them with the skill that Lysa did. I spoke with Jim several times during the remaining weeks of class and expressed my strong desire to work with Lysa in some way. He made it clear that they were inundated with work because they had just launched the company that year. But he instructed me to keep in touch, promising that as soon as they had some free time on their hands we could all get together.

      I received my license in August 2006. I had an interview with a very well-known, high-end day spa in my area just days after getting licensed. I interviewed and got the job that same evening. I began working at Burke Williams Spa in Santa Monica shortly after completing training. Because it was a day spa, they did not offer artificial enhancements, which is why I was interested in the position. As I mentioned, I had no desire to fiddle around with acrylic until I received proper in-depth training. I continued to work at Burke Williams for the next year. I averaged about five to seven one-hour services each day. As the months passed, I became more and more comfortable with natural nails, and my stamina grew. Each month I would email or text Lysa and Jim to say hello and check on how things were going. Later, I found out that my diligence and determination was what helped secure my position with them. As time pressed on, I felt the itch to grow as a nail tech. Although I was in a pleasant environment, I felt that I’d learned everything I could at the spa, and I decided to leave.

      In June 2007 I opted to take a booth at a hair salon in a high foot-traffic area. I was earning commission with bonuses at the spa, and this was my first crack at renting a space. Right around the same time, Lysa called and told me that she was going to be in town for the summer, so if I wanted to come in and train during the evenings I was welcome to. Business at the salon was slow. I shared an area with two stylists in an upstairs loft. There was very little room for me to occupy, and as the weeks passed I felt more and more brushed aside. It was a challenge working as a nail tech in a salon full of hair stylists. I began training a couple of hours a night with Lysa, and within a few weeks she decided that I was ready to do her clients’ nails while she was out of town.

      I was making so little money in the salon—due to high rent and lack of clients—that Lysa and Jim decided to bring me in as an assistant at their company. At first they weren’t sure what position I would fill or how in-depth my apprenticeship with Lysa would be. But now, seven months later, I have experienced so much it would take me days to recount it all. So, I’d like to invite you to follow along with my adventures as a new tech in this blog. Every other week I will post something new, discussing all of the challenges I experience. I believe it takes years of hard work and dedication to become a seasoned nail technician, but with the guidance of a veteran tech and the motivation of a young girl eager to create beautiful work, I know that I’ll learn something new and interesting every day. Come along for the ride!