I am good at being an educator and that is not because I am good at nails. I do know my limitations and I am out shined by some amazingly talented artists out there, but the reason why I am a success is because I can see the abilities in my students and I can recognise what they need to grow and achieve. I named my business on the basis of inspiring others to be the best they can be.
But life takes you on a path, and down this path are many different turnings and obstacles, opportunities and temptations. I have diversified into products and lately concentrated on marketing those products. I have invested money, time and more, into different aspects of business and that means the focus has changed because the pressures and responsibilities have increased.
I started educating because of the joy I felt when I watched someone 'get it', that light bulb moment. The exchange of money for work was a by product, and something that just happened. The ultimate goal when I created the video’s and workshops was to watch fellow nail techs benefit and grow. It seems I have forgotten about this reward for the effort I put into prepping for a class or designing a lesson and this 'payment' was just not my focus any more. Because of other commitments I fell into the trap of looking at the perceived value; effort = payment. How do you measure that payment, is it monetary or something else much deeper?
Doing nails on a client is not about getting paid, it is about doing nails. Teaching a class is not about how many attend it is about how many will learn from you. Of course life is not free, you have to make a living, to give everything away without an exchange means I would be teaching from a card board box in the street. But what should I focus on, that which pays my bills or the exchange that makes me happy. I have realised today that money is a by-product of the exchange between client and tech, or student and educator, it is not the focus. It will happen anyway, if you’re good at what you do, and give and share with passion and truth.
We all have skeletons in our closet and a past that shapes us. I have my own demons and battle with them daily. My relationship with money and acknowledgment was shaped from past emotional pain in my childhood (no blame attached) I have only just learnt that I need to delete this thinking, this outdated programming, because today I am confusing my role as an educator and business woman, and working from a place of fear and need, based on the thinking that I am not good enough.
This year I decided to try something new in order to change how I work. This was so I could concentrate on what I do best and selfishly what I enjoy most. Travelling the world is an amazing experience and I love doing it but leaving my family every other week is not so much fun anymore and gets lonely. With an idea of reducing my time away from home down to every other month but still educating, inspired me to develop an opportunity for nail techs to have access online to inspiration and creative learning. Through the magic of technology I can be there for my students all the time without the pressures of travel and putting a value on being away from home. Starting my online learning program was purely selfish, and for no other reason than to stay at home.
As a business woman I was very aware that setting up the online learning, had to be viable as I was giving up a large part of my future and investing time, money and a lot of effort. I got lost in the bottom line. Hello! far cry from WHY I went into to education, I was no longer working from a place of truth, of giving and sharing inspiration. I had fallen into the trap of worrying that I would not having enough and losing something I had already built.
I had to change my thinking because to make money or become rich from other people is not going to give me the satisfaction I am looking for, earning an income from what I do is just a by-product that may or may not happen. Focusing on my financial well-being on the back of other people's investment is not healthy for me. It is not about the money! It is an exchange of energy between two people which will give me a far richer reward than a few pounds.
So I have now opened my soul to you and you have had a look at a small part of mind. How does this affect you? Your clients, no matter how rude, how inconsiderate, how un-organised they are, are part of a business you have invested in based on passion and creativity, and you did not grow this business based on a need for money or to build a retirement plan. I would hazard a guess for more than 75% of the nail techs out there you do what you do because you love your job. You have an opportunity to help each one of those clients express themselves through their nails, even if they have natural nudes or bright pinks. They are able to feel good and look good because of you and the time they spend with you.
You have affected them in a positive way.
How many of you started this job because it was easy money? Of course not, because you and I know the truth. When the focus on our passion becomes about money, either the lack of it or the fear of losing it, our passion and creativity is affected. We begin to resent our career and those important people who helped us shape it to begin with.
So remember who you are and why you do what you do, and change your thinking. Remember what you do for a living is more than just nails, you touch people every day in ways you can only begin to imagine. No matter what the financial situation you’re in, never make your focus about money or the lack of it. Your truth is always from an exchange of energy and not pennies.
I seem to expose myself periodically with this blog it has become my therapy as well as an opportunity to inform. I hope my honesty has helped today, being honest with mysterious elf has given me freedom.
