The Nail Hub Podcast - Intro (transcript)

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Hi everyone so today I wanted to start with an introduction of my latest project for those of you that don't know me my name is Elizabeth Morris I am an educator here in San Diego, I work for Akzentz I'm also a salon owner and I have been a nail tech for several years now and a little bit about me I'm obsess with nails. I love everything about it, I actually left my previous career to do this and so you know I being able to do what you love is probably one of the most important things that anyone can have the opportunity to do and you know I'm very passionate about this industry as well because I feel like it's such an artistic industry its filled with so many amazing people you really get to touch the lives of so many different people in your day to day with different clients and yet, you know we kind of get this stigma attached to us as you know it's a low level job or you know menial labour or it doesn't take a lot of education to do this and I'm one of those people where I want to show people that being a nail tech is something to be very proud of and that you do have a big impact on the people that come across you. So my background I am not originally from San Diego I'm actually originally from Idaho, Pokato Idaho which is a very small town I was born there and I have moved pretty much every two years since I was a small child, my dad was in the high tech industry for a long time was a sales guy for many different semiconductor companies, semiconductors are just a fancy word for computer chips and he would go around the world setting up different sales offices and working on different projects and so it would take him about you know twenty four months to get something set up in a location and then off we would move, and my parents are also big people when it comes to taking advantage of opportunities and seizing them as they come and you know I'm very grateful for the fact that they instilled that in me as well because that's really why we moved so much is because my parents truly believed in going after the best opportunities that come your way and never being afraid to take on new challenges and because of that they've become a very successful couple. They're happily married after you know thirty plus years and they've got a successful family and a successful life and so they've been a good example for me.

But yeah humble roots starting out in Pocatello and then moving overseas we lived in Austria for a little while. I've lived in Canada both my parents are both originally from Canada as well and so I'm a proud Canadian even though I was born in the United States and then ended up in San Diego because my husband is from here. So I've been all over the place and I think you know that experience has also taught me a lot about dealing with different types of people and really understanding how to think on your feet not be afraid to take on different challenges and nails was something that you know is, was kind of a challenge that for me because I originally went to school for finance and electrical engineering and I love that, I've always been a huge nerd and I just love everything that has to do with computers and geeky stuff and high tech and the internet and learning anything that's really complex and I'm really one of those people that I'm kind of a trouble-shooter so if you give me you know a broken vacuum cleaner I will literally take the whole thing apart and try and figure out how it works and I think that, that also relates back to nails because nails is you know, at the end of the day is a very technical thing it's got lots of moving parts. You’re talking about someone’s anatomy and your trying to adhere an artificial foreign object on top of someone’s natural anatomy and make sure it lasts and dealing with all the different tools that we use so I am just completely fascinated with the whole industry and I just think it's a, you know really amazing thing to be a part of. So I left everything I knew after you know working in the high tech industry for a long time as a financial analyst and being involved in that world and the cooperate world I decided you know what this isn't fulfilling me and I actually left in two thousand and twelve and I opened up my own salon here in San Diego called Va-Va Varnish. And you know the reason why I kind of came up with this whole idea of starting a podcast was really through the experience of learning on my feet about how to be a nail tech and how to be a salon owner and kind of all the different things that go into that. When I first you know left my job it was a really scary experience, exciting experience I had no idea what I was doing to be completely honest and it all really started from, believe it or not. I went to a valentine's day red party back in February of two thousand and twelve I believe, yes February two thousand and twelve and I got asked to go sit with a psychic that was there at the party and I really am one of those people, I do not believe in psychics at all, but this lady you know really spoke to me and it was funny because all she asked me for was my name and my birthday and that was all I said. I never even spoke to a single word to here and she told me on that day that I was going to leave my job, I was going to take on a completely new project and that this was going to change me forever.

And that same year not even you know a whole year later I actually quite my job in September and opened my salon in October so that many months later I did exactly what she said, no whether or not she said it was because the psychic told me you know who knows a lot of people will say that "oh it's because you know she put the thought in your head and then you followed through with it, therefore that's why you did it", but I mean I think there's something to be said for you know life handing you these opportunities when you maybe kind of glued to a specific path and you're kind of scared to jump out of that comfort zone. I really think it's important to see these things as they come and you know when I left my job I was terrified but now looking back on it I have to say it was probably one of the most educational thrilling experiences I've ever gone through and it really taught me a lot about myself and a lot about other people as well. How to relate to other human beings, how to be a you know a good, what's being a good manager, what's being a good you know business owner, customer service specialist, friends, colleague, you know all of those things have really been great experiences for me. And so that kind of leads me into my next project which is now that I've been a salon owner for you know almost three years now I am looking to help others find the information that they are looking for. And the reason why is because when I first started out in nails you know I went to nail school just like everybody else and I did the whole four hundred hours which is required in California and it was kind of unfulfilling because you know I was so excited about nails and nail art and all this crazy stuff that I'd seen and then to come to find out that you know what you'd, get taught in school is the bear minimum basically it's like S.A.T prep they teach you how to pass the exam, I was really disappointed with that and you know to even learn how to provide the types of services that your clients are looking for is one challenge but then also you know the day to day staff is another right Ii mean we all get into this industry because we love doing nails, but what someone doesn't tell you or what you know nobody tells you is that a lot of it is you know little challenges here and there like not realizing that you need a business licences if you’re going to be a booth renter somewhere, or not realizing that if you’re a salon owner that it's not just you know the pay role that have to pay people you actually have to match all of their withholding's you know as an employer. You have to match all of that money and give it to the federal government and all of these little secrets that nobody really tells you until you get into it and kind of start to crush your dream if you’re not careful.

Right I mean if all these, these kind of hurdles and obstacles that kind of hit us as we work on day to day can sometimes really get you down and I hear a lot of nail techs questioning you know do they want to stay a nail tech, do they want to stay in this industry maybe they want to give up, maybe they want to go do something else, maybe they want to stay at home with their children and it's really upsetting for me to hear those things because I know how passionate everyone who is in this industry is and I understand how much faith we all have in it, and how much we love doing nails for our clients and making people feel beautiful. So when I hear that you know little things like that are really eating away at people's passion it really upset me, and so you know as someone who's experienced like myself I decided you know what I need to help others by sharing my experience and I need to give people the insight that I have learned even in just the few years that I have been doing this. I don't want other people to have to suffer through the same thing that I went through. So this new project of mine sharing all this information is called the Nail Hub and (unclear) is one of those words that can mean many things but basically it's kind of a centre right it's a you know a home base if you will and I wanted the Nail Hub to be a place that people could refer to if they have these types of questions. You know I don't expect to be become the leading nail art guru on YouTube because that's already been done and I think nail art is one of the things that's super artistic it's super personal and I love learning from other people and you know nail art is something that I love doing as well but I think that since I do have the finance background and the business background and I've been a salon owner as well as a nail tech and even you know very young in my career in the nail industry I think that you know the best way I can help people really is to give people kind of the business insight and the advice as far you know as far as how to get clients, how to keep clients, how to entice clients, how to be able to charge for add-ons, how to hop around from salons if that's what you want to do, how to open your own salon you know.

All the different avenues that are available to us in this industry I want to be able to share that experience and be able to give you guys at least an idea of where to start, just so that you're not you know wondering around in the dark like I was when I went through this and there's a lot of simple mistakes that you can make as you go no different than you know when you're a kid right your parents have to tell you what's dangerous and what's not just because they don't want you to get hurt either. And that's kind of how I feel with you know some of the other ladies that I've come across is I really want to foster their passion instead of you know find them being crushed by all of this stuff and really help them through those things and if I can be you know, if through sharing my experiences I can be of any help or any inspiration to someone else then I've done my job. And that's really what I want to do with the rest of my time in this industry as well as continuing to do nails and do my own thing as well. So you know I think that the Nail Hub is going to be something that will, hopefully not only you know give you some ideas as to how to accomplish different tasks but also to help you know motivate you and give you something to lean on as far as understanding that. You're not alone that the challenges that you're experiencing in your day to day job you know are normal and that you also shouldn't give up and you should remember everyday why you chose to be a nail tech and why it makes you happy and if that's what you hold you know near and dear to your heart I can guarantee you that all the other stuff can be figured out and can be worked through, and it's just a matter of keeping you know a positive attitude and it will work out. So the Nail Hub is going to be not only a podcast but I also have a Facebook page, Instagram, and I'm also going to have YouTube and so I'm going to try and offer a little bit of different things on each one of those social channels. I am going to be offering some tutorials as well on YouTube as to how to do some of the things that I know. There aren't a lot of videos for because you know we all know there's a ton of nail art videos but there's also not a lot of videos for certain things like you know I got asked the other day like I understand how to put on you know crystals in 3D pieces but how do you take them off and that was a great question so I'm going to be adding some videos along those lines as to how to do some of the things that a lot of people don't talk about and also I want the Nail Hub to be a place where it's no holes bared you know.

I do not gain anything by keeping secrets from other nail techs right. If we can educate everyone in this industry and elevate the industry we will all benefit from being able to charge more money, being able to have a better reputation as far as people looking at nail techs as a job to be desired and a job to be cherish and also you know just so that people respect us more for our craft. We really are artists and I want people to respect that and I think that if we can all you know like Holly, Holly Shepherds is someone I really look up to as well as Gina Sylvester and a lot of other nail techs in the industry. I really am impressed by the level of professionalism in this industry and one of the things you'll always hear you know Holly and Gina and a lot of other people say it Naja and they'll say you know educate and elevate right and that's really what is important in this industry and for the people that are passionate about it is to help educate and elevate everyone else and so that's really my goal with the Nail Hub, is to be able to provide that type of environment. So I hope you guys enjoy you know the things to come it's been something that's been a little bit (unclear) for me getting this going but I am one hundred and ten percent you know dedicated to it and I'm going to be offering as much content as possible. All of it will be free so I want to make sure that you get as much information as you can and then along the way you know I'm going to be doing also some interviews. I just did an interview with Holly Shepherds I don't know if you guys all know who she is, but she's an amazing nail tech, she's a C and D ambassador and she goes by the nick name "The fingernail fixer " and I just had an interview with her and I'm going to be posting that here on the Nail Hub podcast and I'm also going to be doing at least monthly interviews if not more. I'm going to try and get more than that going but I want to also have interviews with other professionals in the industry so you guys can get their take as well and I'm just going to be trying to give you guys as much helpful content as possible. So stay tuned I'm going to be posting my other podcast soon and if you guys have any special request for podcast or things that you want to hear about or get some information on hopefully I can help with that you can send me an e-mail at The Nail Hub@mail.com, m-a-i-l just like you know U.S PS mail that's The Nail Hub. or at mail.com and I will try to get as much information out there as possible for you guys and get you guys the answers and the you know tutorials and the information that you need. So anyway best of luck to everyone you know I'm here for you, we're all in this together and I hope that this new project of mine will really help you. Stay motivated, stay on top of your game and really help elevate this industry as much as possible because we all deserve to be here, we all deserve to be happy in what we do and you as an artist and as a nail tech you deserve to be happy with your job and you deserve to be successful and that's something that we can all accomplish it's just a matter of understanding the right steps to take. So I will be in touch with you guys soon.