Good Morning! I have some exciting news! I have the opportunity to speak to a nail school educator, and help you all see what nail school is like and how it goes. Have you ever had burning questions you wanted to know? Well I am here to get them answered for you! Today we get to speak to nail school educator, Cheryl Pentecost Smith, from Texas!
Good morning Cheryl! I wanna thank you for being here and taking time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview. To get us started, what inspired you to be a nail technician?
What inspired me to be a nail technician was when I was a teenager and acrylic nails first came out, I thought it was really cool thing and was always very interested in it. Unfortunately, my family was not receptive to the idea of beauty school so I had to wait a really long time before I was able to go to beauty School, it wasn’t until after I was married but I have always loved creating something from nothing.
I love that your passion started early, you knew exactly what you wanted and kept that momentum going, what made you want to become an educator for a school?
I kind of fell into being an educator. I was raised in a medical household, my father is a doctor, other family members are doctors and nurses, so growing up around that environment I learned the standard operating procedures for clinics and hospitals because it was discussed in my daily life growing up. When I became a nail technician I would have family members lean over my shoulder while I was studying at family events and they would be curious of what I was learning about infection control. They basically would go through my book and correct it or not so much correct but expand on what was already there.
Here’s an example, how it talks about staph in the Milady textbook, but my family was quick to point out there’s just not just one type of staph infection. So I got drilled on disinfection on the laws and I was made aware that I need to study the laws of my profession so that I would always be compliant. So when I became a nail technician I was always the person people would ask about the law or anything legal in our scope of practice. I was also the person that would dig about product information and what could be done and why certain things shouldn’t be done for the safety of a salon. And my former boss also kept pushing me to become an instructor. I’ve had other friends too, Paula Davies for example told me that I should become an instructor . When the salon I was working at got partners in the business they got rid of my position since it was a barber shop and I happened to find an ad and applied for a teaching position in the next town over. I have been working there as an interim teacher for a little over a month.
Oh wow! It was like the world was secretly and subtly telling you where to go, it was until that very moment that you received that big push! I imagine being a nail school educator let alone any educator is a challenge, what are some challenges you face?
The biggest challenge about being an educator so far that I’ve seen at least in my position is I’m not getting enough information from the school I work for, so I’m having to lean heavily on my own knowledge and of course using a student textbook to help students. I’ve also started printing up resource material for students because most of them had never even heard of professional products such as Light Elegance or NSI or CND. Most of them believe that it’s whatever you can get off Amazon and of course Kiara Sky which is usually what sold in the largest beauty distributor around here called Armstrong McCall.
So I’m trying to make sure they’re well informed about their options. Also I have a real problem with the quality of education that’s being handed out and I want to tear my hair out because even first phase students should know the difference between the word clean and disinfection and that it’s not the same thing. Needless to say it makes me crazy.
Oh those are some challenges! It’s very good to hear you rise above your school and make sure they are still getting the knowledge and tools they need before they graduate, it shows you care. And I believe we need more educators who care, and how they impact others. Are there any rewards that come with educating?
I think the most rewarding thing so far about being educator is when I handed out these resource materials and started bringing up people in the industry like Doug Schoon and so many of the educators that I’ve met that have a presence on social media and introducing them to my students and watching the light come on that verifies what I’m talking about, that there are other people that they can reach out to in this industry and that they’re not alone and that they’re getting excited about. I had one student that was watching me use some of my products from Magic Gel and got really excited about it and she was asking questions, so I introduced her I told her to reach out to Darcy Olin and Nail Innovations and she bought a student kit and she’s very excited about it.
Ok not gonna lie, I was that student who saw something and was instantly wow’ed every time! Everything is so new and shiny, you can’t help but be enthralled by it all! Why do you believe all aspiring nail techs should attend nail school?
As for everybody attending school, yes I do believe we should have training, I do believe we should have a legal standing in the world, I personally am not letting go of my license at all. We in this industry need accountability as well as representation, we need to have been taught standards of care, standards of disinfection, standards of infection control, and professionalism. We also in my opinion need to have businesses talk to us not just state boards, I think we need a better education system for those of us in the trade.
I absolutely agree. Businesses are the one who are making the products, they should offer some sort of class to ensure we know how to use their product specifically. It could be different from the other gel or acrylic we have. We don’t know what we don’t know. Well, what should we look for in choosing a nail school, that we possibly want to attend?
When looking for a school I think you don’t need to just go in and talk to the administration, I think they need to go in and talk to students I think they need to read reviews. They also need to observe what’s going on even if they have to watch students outside. So many schools at least around me are a paper mill factory of just pushing people through and teaching them state board and little else. I was actually told by one of my past instructors that most schools, it’s what you put into it is what you’re going to get out of it, and I think that’s true, but what I witnessed going back a second time five years ago to get my full cosmetology license was little to no preparation for the real world and that sorely disappointed me as I was in my early fifties, that was a far cry from when I started back in 1999.
I can believe that 100%. Social media has shaped so much of how we operate and research into things, but getting that hands on experience will never fail. So what is your advice to those students?
Talk to teachers, read reviews, ask hard questions, but most of all know that you have to meet state requirements and if you’re fortunate enough to go to a school that pushes past that into preparing you for daily work, that’s a gold mine.
Beautiful advice, very well said! Lastly, why do you believe licensing is so important?
I think licensing is important because we need sets of standards and we need enforcement. Unfortunately, a lot of state boards don’t do a ton of enforcements. I remember back when I first started, Texas had its own cosmetology board, we had our own building we were not lumped together with plumbers and electricians and construction workers like we are now. I remember seeing inspectors just show up and I remember salons getting fined. I remember salons being shut down. I remember some places facing not only fines from the cosmetology board but the health department and I know that we need an oversight. I remember when the flesh eating bacteria closed down salons and I think it was Southern California early 90s or it might have been late 90s but also there have been salons in recent history in Dallas that got shut down because they tracked hepatitis to that salon.
And I’m disgusted that our oversight isn’t doing inspections like what they’re supposed to be doing . But I believe in the industry that deals with as much chemicals and blood-borne possibilities as we do, we need to have rules and regulations and licensure, we need to be taught those things, and we also need more than just 4 hours of continuing education to keep our license. When I first started in this business we had to have a minimum of 16 hours yearly to keep our license but that changed when cosmetology board changed.
But I do think we do need licensure from a legal standpoint, because there are things that happen in this industry that are not acceptable, like cheese graters and credo blades and digging out people’s ingrown toenails when they are not a doctor or a physician’s assistant acting under a doctor. At least in Texas because in Texas it clearly states in our laws that that is a medical procedure and is not in our scope of practice. Because we can severely injure somebody especially if we don’t know their diabetic or on blood thinners or tons of other medicines.
You are right on it! Licensing is very important and should be taken seriously, we handle the care of people, and we need to handle our license with care as well. Cheryl, I want to thank you so much for this interview and taking the time out to talk to us here. And viewers thank you for reading as well, I hope you all enjoyed this blog post, and continue to read others I have written open education as well. Until then, I’ll see ya later sweets!
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