So you’re thinking to yourself….

“Why should I compete if I won’t win?”

That’s a valid concern, and there are many reasons you should compete even if you don’t think you will win.

 “Why to Compete to Lose”……

When you compete, the most important person you are competing with is yourself! Competition is a great way to push yourself to improve. Try to better your score every time – if you do, you’ve succeeded. If you don’t, you know what to work on – so you’re improving, you have still succeeded!

It truly isn’t all about winning, it’s about pushing yourself to just do it!

Even more, when you compete, especially if it’s new to you, you have pushed yourself outside your normal world, your normal comfort zone – and that is a great thing to do! Every competition brings new butterflies or challenges, facing that down and conquering it, is a growing & learning experience.

Marketability - When you push yourself and compete, that’s a feather in your cap, one that your salon, clients & community should hear about! (I think I see a “human interest” story in your future!) How many clients have a nail technician that actually competes in her field? Not many – you need to become one and increase your marketability to your clients. Set yourself above the rest of the crowd and clients will respect you and what you’ve done!

Credibility - So there was another expose’ on nail salons by the local news and your clients are quick to bring it to your attention.  You travel the country, or the world, to compete, you are regularly surrounded by the best of the best in the industry, you are right there with them, with cutting edge education & technical product information – your client can be confident you only do what’s best for them. Your experience gives you more credibility than the rest of the crowd – make sure clients hear about your experience and know what you’re doing!

Exposure - Whether we are in NYC, London, Tokyo or Billings, MT, we tend to get caught up in our own way of doing things. To a certain extent, we actually set limits on ourselves that aren’t even based in fact. The perfect nail enhancement in Montana likely isn’t exactly the same in Florida or France or Australia. When you compete in a competition with global reach, like the Nailympics, you are exposed to technicians and techniques from around the world! You will see amazing work, work that is likely to inspire you!

Networking - A great way to not get stuck in a rut, is to network with other top notch technicians, like those that push themselves & compete. When you are at the competition, get to know your fellow competitors from Japan, Korea, England, Argentina and even the US! When you develop a network of professionals you interact with, you can’t help but not get into a rut, and if you do, you have a great source of people to inspire you back out of that rut!

Get in there & Compete! Whatever you do – make sure you have a camera & a notebook with you!