Salon Chat: The power of the nail community
By Guest Writer | 17 August 2020 | Feature, Tech Talk
Salon Chat hosts, Kelly Colley of Lavish Nails and Isabel Porter of The Beauty Garage, share their thoughts on the nail sector…
“It was incredible to see how the nail tech community evolved and supported each other over the lockdown period. When we started Salon Chat, our live discussion, we were all individual techs (some salon based) with few tech friends. Now, there are nail besties (or “nesties”) all across social media and hundreds of ‘colleagues’ that we can approach for advice, or share our work with. We can even meet up and do each other’s treatments to practice new skills or gain feedback.
“Back in March 2020, we many of us were wondering what coronavirus was, whether we should shut down or business and whether we should be more worried. Then, Boris hit us with the news that lockdown was upon us and we would need to self isolate and close our businesses. Salon Chat had already started and a small community was building but social media really did come alive with true force and support. People suddenly had more time to mix and Salon Chat blossomed into a huge community of supportive men and women, picking each other up and keeping creative mojos alive.
“We built lifelong friendships, improved our skills, attended workshops, spent money on new products like we weren’t unemployed and became one… the nail tech community!”
“We learnt so much about how social media works, and rather than just ‘double tapping’, we now take our time to comment and even share the work of our new ‘colleagues’. We all joined in on #FollowFridays and suddenly, so many amazingly talented nail techs were being seen and their following deservedly sky rocketed.
“Lockdown had many downfalls; it’s affected the mental health of many. Covid-19 has taken way too many lives and affected way too many families but it has also created a family of supportive, talented, creative people. We will remember this time not just as a negative time but as a positive one, too.
“We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on what your own positive experiences were that came out of lockdown. Positivity is what gets us through!”
Kelly & Bella
Watch Salon Chat and join the community on Sunday at 7pm on Instagram via Kelly at @lavishnailsss or Isabel at @bella_beautygarage on Instagram.