Moving to Virginia became a major challenge for me—not only professionally, but also in the way I began to see myself.
I came to America with almost no English, and here I truly experienced how an accent can affect the way people perceive you. Because I also look younger than my age and have an open, cheerful personality, some people mistook my kindness for immaturity and doubted my knowledge before seeing my work.
But distrust of nail professionals does not come from nowhere.
Because of our studio renovation, my regular client visited another technician. She paid $100, and this video shows her nails only one week later.
The old product appears to have been lightly filed, then covered with base, color, and top coat without proper preparation.
The technician did not touch her cuticles—and thank goodness! My client has extremely sensitive skin and challenging cuticles. Even I needed six months to understand her hands and develop the correct technique. I genuinely give the technician a huge plus for not taking that risk.
However, the new product did not last even one week. During removal, it was lifting and flying around the studio. Underneath it, my gel from more than two months ago was still holding.
This is not about expensive products. Materials cannot replace knowledge, preparation, and proper technique.
I am not sharing this to call another technician bad. I am sharing it because rushed work devalues our entire profession. When clients repeatedly pay for disappointing results, they begin to distrust all of us.
Never judge someone by their age, appearance, accent, or personality—you never know how much knowledge is behind their imperfect speech.
And to my fellow nail professionals: only we can change how people see our profession by improving our skills, respecting our clients’ health, and taking responsibility for our results.
