What others say about you

There are times you read something and just weep. I am for ever humbled in this job of mine and thankful that I can touch people in the way I do. I really wanted to share this email with you from one of my members, who wrote her story about the online course for the website.

"After qualifying in college for my level 2 last year, I was so nervous, being on your own, after the year at college you always had a back up from my tutors, Natasha Carpenter and Danni Hibell, its a scary realisation that I had to do it alone.

I eventually took to social media, looking at all the amazing nail art available, and structures, its over whelming, the amount of talent, and skill of other nail techs, it soon dawned on me, how little I actually new, which for a new tech is not a nice feeling, all I wanted was to be able to create these amazing nails, and I knew I could never do something like that.

I was talking to an amazing friend, who is also a nail tech, Anthea Thomas, and she told me to give Sam Biddle's online lesson's a look. OMG seriously, I have never looked back since! Other than to see how far I have come. The confidence this amazing lady Sam Biddle gave me, just by talking to me like another person, in the comfort of your own home. She made it easy to learn, breaking down all her lessons into bite size pieces of information, then laying all those pieces onto a nail. It was like pure emotion for me, my 1st proper nail art piece and I was so proud of it. It made me cry, knowing I could achieve something so beautiful, and the best thing about it, was that I done it all myself. Sam's course not only teaches you about art, colours shading, and letting your imagination free, she helps you understand how to trust your instinct, I was very passionate about nail art and structures before but now there is no stopping me.

The amount of hours of training and love, that goes into every individual nail lesson she provides in the course, Sam has given me a stronger understanding, about being a nail tech teacher, and the journey they have been on to get this far and to be so talented It has given me so much respect, for Sam Biddle and other tutors and teachers in the industry.

Being a nail tech isn't just a job, it's a passion, and you do not get this kind of support, confidence, passion, from watching demos on social media. Online Sam has created a loving family environment, and encourages everybody to be themselves, and love their own individuality.

I have now finished my level 3 in college and just started Year 2 on Sam's online course, for me her support and knowledge, from the very start has been invaluable, and getting to meet Sam herself on her course held in Cornwall, was like meeting a famous star. She has been such an inspiration and idol for me, from leaving college up to now, it has given me the confidence to take constructive critique, and turn it into something beautiful and I have the up most respect for Sam Biddle and other teachers in this industry. Such a tough job to do, so thank you Sam for helping me become, truly inspired and allowing my imagination to be my friend and not my enemy."

Sarah Zinnotti

So much to choose from...

One thing I get asked a lot when someone is booking a workshop is;

How will I know you will cover something I want to learn?

You know when you go into a candy store and you end up walking away with nothing, because there is just too much choice you want it all! 

You end up looking for something you think you want, and ignoring all the other wonderful, mouth smacking, lip licking delights in front of you. 

I am like a candy store!

 I have so much information to share with you, some of it you don't even know you need it yet. 

The best thing on any workshop is to go and learn the TECHNIQUES and APPLICATIONS, not the specific designs. In my courses I will show you HOW to do something. Who cares if it is on a Swan, butterfly or flower....You will learn How to use what I teach you on any picture or design you want. 

That is the secret to Be Inspired.

there is an air lock in your brain.....

So you have your design idea and your all set up, you have collected the inspiration, paints and brushes ready! 

OH NO...... it is just not flowing as planned. Isn't It is the most frustrating feeling in the world. You have the idea in your head, you know just what you want your nail to look like but nothing is flowing, nothing is working right. 

What do you do, throw your brush down in a tantrum and leave it, never to return to this idea at all. Do you beat your self up and persevere until you have something that look vaguely like the plan in your head,  and then throwing it in the 'nail art disaster draw', so it can live in the back in disgrace. 

When you come to your nail design and find your fingers are just not doing what your brain can see, then you need to take a step back. Grab your self a nail tip and apply just one element of your design, practice it over and over again, this tip you can throw away I give you permission. 

Having a fall back tip will go along way to getting you warmed up. Imagine you wanted a glass of water, and put the glass under the tap. But didn't turn the tap on. Your glass is not filling up at all right. But you have started the journey towards ending your thirst by placing the glass under the tap. 

Imagine you have a nail idea but never sit down and do it, your idea will never be realised. So now you switch the tap on but there is an air lock and the water goes everywhere, but it still does not fill up your glass. Starting a new nail design is like an air lock, you have all the pressure or in your case the ideas in your head, but your hands don't understand it. 

In order to fill the glass with water you need a steady flow from the tap, the same applies with creativity. You want to have a steady flow of creativity flowing from your head to your fingers. Get the air lock out of the way with little practice on an old nail tip and eventually your brain will calm down and you will have the muscle control to do what you know you can.

Building confidence means understanding how and why...

I really wanted to touch base and explain something to you. The way I teach, the method, the process of application the content is very very very different to any other class you will attend. 

Salon Viable or making trends work shop is one of the most popular workshops I do, and this is why. 

You will walk away with at least 6-8 nails under  your belt, my aim to is leave you with 10 new ideas and designs in just one day. How can I get so many in the class? 

IT IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY! 

I know your thinking, if there is so many they must be easy, so why bother spending out £95 to attend a workshop learning stuff I already know. 

What I will show you is how to work SMART, how to create jaw dropping designs, intricate twists and turns in your art work and pull together a look which sings like a choir at London opera house. (not sure the equivalent in the USA). 

You will also learn HOW & WHY. 

My philosophy is that if you understand something, you have confidence in it, when you have confidence you build competence. 

How  many times have you tried to learn a design, by looking at the picture or watching a video, but not understand how that petal or nose or wing manages to sit perfectly in proportion, but on your nail it looks like a child's painting.  I am going to explain in detail why every thing you do in my class produces what it produces. From the Aquarelle to the fantasy and yes the salon viable is where we begin. 

Now I am an English girl from the south, that means we Brits hate to tell you we are good at something, or brag about stuff, (a major handicap in my opinion) but hold onto your hats because I am going to do something really brave. 

`I am pretty awesome at my job, that job is not nails, nail art or even marketing, it is education. I can see you and what your doing wrong, I can help you realise your creative potential and I can show you just what you need to take that next step in becoming a 'name' for nail art and design."

Can you believe a Bottle of perfume can give you a life lesson?

I have had so many adventures looking for this illusive perfume, mainly when I visit the states. I have given up looking any where else.  It is this bottle of perfume which has taught me one of my most valuable lessons, not just in life but in my art work too. 

I believe determination is key to getting what you want, but when your too busy looking for it, you waste so much effort and energy trying to achieve something which ends up being right under your nose all the time. 

Let me explain myself. I walked for miles looking for this bottle of sweet heaven on one of my trips.  Up the Las Vegas Strip, I dragged my friend into every mall and store, sure I could find it.   I was exhausted and after 3 hours searching every where,  I came back to the Paris hotel, and thought "one last look in the hotel perfume shop and then I am going to bed to sulk" 

There is was! Can you believe it. Not only that but they also had an after shave my husband loves too, which is also not available in Europe. 

BONUS!

What was the lesson?  Don't over complicate stuff, the obvious solutions and answers to what you need are generally there right in front of you. You see I walked past that perfume shop on the way out, and my friend said, "shall we look in here first" NO I said, it will definitely not be in there. 

Yeah I am ashamed to say it, I really did say that.

The answer you need to change your business, propel your nail art career or ignite that passion for design, IS ALWAYS JUST THERE IN YOUR REACH.  Don't think that because it is easy, it is not right, don't think that you should walk for miles until your feet bleed to get what you want. Life is not like that, business is not like that. 

Don't make the same mistake I did and miss something right under my nose because it seemed to easy. Look around you right now, ask for what you need, and hay presto, the answer, solution or item will be there! 

Self worth does not depend on competition.

There is something I learnt this morning which I want to share with you. A quick blog post which I think might just change everything. Changing the way you view the world and others, could change your life....I know, it's deep! 

When we compare ourselves with others to feel special and good  and to raise our self esteem we fall into the trap and become competitive. 

If your self worth is dependant on your most recent successes you fall into a deadly trap and will never give your self the credit you deserve. 

If you start to compare your worst moments with other peoples best ones, you will never find peace and be able to offer self love and self worth.  

Take social media for example, we only see the positive parts of peoples lives, their successes, achievements and accolades. What we don’t see is their struggles, issues and stresses.  

 We are not the sum of our success or failures, we should not look at others and compete or compare with theirs. 

Take the skinny model on the cover of the magazine, we see a beautiful body and compare, lowering our self esteem. But we don’t see the struggles with food, the stress to maintain that shape, the loneliness she might feel or what she might have suffered. 

We might look at the larger woman on the train or plane and judge her, think to ourselves she is out of control and doesn’t have a healthy outlook on life. But we don’t see that with every pound of fat she carries is a pound of pain. We don’t see her suffering, and for the most part that suffering enables empathy. We don’t allow ourselves to get to know her. 

With a competitive mind we see success and failure around us all the time and judge it, compare it to ourselves. What we don’t realise is the see saw action this has on our own self esteem. 

The more success we see lowers our own self esteem, and we dismiss and devalue our own self worth. 

Don’t compete, compare or judge. Just accept what you see and look within to find your self worth. It is all there. I promise you. 

Are you a bully?

How many times do you take a base ball bat and beat yourself up each day. 

So far this morning I have told my self the following;

• your miserable
• your fat
• you don’t eat the right food for your body
• your abusing yourself by not exercising
• if you took care a little more of your house you would find that top your looking for
• your so untidy
• your lazy
• your too old
• your not good enough
• your fat….did I forget to mention that
• how much weight are your gonna pile on before you stop eating that shit

I know right, I would be arrested I told someone else all that in a matter of an hour, would you say that to your best friend, daughter or even some stranger in the street? NO! because it is called abuse. So why do we do it to ourselves? 

 We have a very large and complex brain that seem to just seek out drama, repeat negative self-talk and  create false illusions.

The worst thing, it seems to pile on the fear and hate daily,  every complaint, every dissatisfaction, every problem is drilled down into our brain so it can spin it’s own story, our brain bullies us to be exactly where it wants us to be. 

Because our brain’s job is to keep us safe, it is constantly acting from a place of fear. (like all bullies)  Its primary  job is to ensure our survival. and not to allow us to have the blissful experience of life.

Even when everything is going well, a little voice in our head will say, “Watch out! Something bad is going to happen.” Then panic sets in, and we experience that unnerving anxious feeling of possibly losing all the good we have going for us.

Our brain is a marvel, and expert at telling us engaging stories that are so real and convincing that it’ll influence us to  act out of fear and irrational anxiety. As well as being able to spin a good tale it can vividly replay emotional stories in our mental theatre over and over and over and over.

It’s torture, abuse and self sabotaging our happiness

Before you know it, you’ll start to believe in the stories and trusting them to be true. It becomes a belief, solidified in your mind, yes even the lies. What happens is that we continue our journey in life and start to make choices based on this belief, and then we end up suffering. 

We suffer a lot and sometimes we suffer for a long time because we don’t realise that we are the problem. But there is good news, we are also the solution.

I am a believer we have 2 voices in our head, the loud, vicious one - that school bully, that rages and causes fear and terror in order to gain control of the situation. We also have  the quite gentle one, the delicate flower, who waits patiently for the right time to blossom, with some watering and sunlight it will grow and become strong. 

So what do you do, water your flower, and wait for it to blossom, or is the noise and terror of your bullies voice so loud you can’t help but listen to it and believe the stories. 

Now here is the hard bit, we have to  learn to ignore the bully, and every time we hear that negative self talk to turn away and look at the real truth. 

You have a choice today to believe the ugly lies we all tell  ourselves. Or start to  believe in the truth. and here is how you can do this….

Every day think of 3 things to be grateful of…….think of 3 things which make your life wonderful…..focus on those things all day and keep saying - I am so blessed to have…..

• a beautiful family
• amazing cleavage
• blue eyes
• a garden which his alive and filled with flowers
• a sexy man/woman in my life
• love
• children
• a home
• warm clothes
• food in my fridge
• electricity
• a job
• great skin

and so on.....you know what your grateful for. 

Every time you hear the ugly lies, say right back, ahhhhh that is not true because I have ‘***fill in the blank****’ so I am in a better place today. 

Argue back, tell your brain you are not afraid and it is not in control of how you should be feeling today, tomorrow and forever. 

Take back the power and feel blessed…..play the glad game. 

Rejection - how do you take yours?

I just read a blog post on social media, about a nail tech who was upset that one of her long standing clients called up to say she is going to someone else because they are cheaper.  It happens to all of us and it is a sucker punch to the stomach when it does...but why? 

The client was made redundant and the justification for the move was plausible, she is doing what is best for her self and her life. We have all done it, found a different hair dresser which is closer, or cheaper, changed educator because someone else offers something different, we have even changed brands of coffee cause they have been on offer or shopped in a different super market.

The tech who posted about her customers betrayal on the social media post went onto to say that she was worried for her business, that it kept her up at night. 

I totally related to this, understanding the tortured and torment we put ourselves through when a client decides to go somewhere else. What we have to realise is essentially we are feeling rejected!

In Latin  rēicere, rejection means "to throw back," and is the ancestor of the word rejection. Nobody likes to feel  rejection, to have something thrown back at you, because it makes us feel as if we are not good enough. 

If you are confident that you do a great job, that your  up to date with education and offer the latest application methods. Then there is nothing more you can do and you should accept it and move on. 

But it is hard right? Not taking this as a personal rejection, we put our everything into our craft, so how come someone else can't appreciate it. Put yourself in your clients  position, think about the times you have gone for something  better, brighter or cheaper.  Did you worry about how the person who used to provide you with a service would think, did you personally reject her or where you thinking about your own self and how to better your own situation.

You client is never rejecting you when she leaves, she is thinking of her self and how she can manage her life the best way she can. It is nothing personal, and when you start thinking that way you can move on and sleep better. It has taken  me 45 years to understand that human nature is essential selfish and we are only ever considering how we personally feel about something. 

How can you make your self feel better in that moment of rejection? How do you change the negative thought process? 

Well I zoom into the other persons shoes and look at her position, I begin to realise she is not even thinking or considering me at all.  She is doing what I am doing thinking about what is best for myself and how I FEEL about it.