Issue 5 ( Have the confidence to be confident.)
Welcome back to issue 5 of the Nail on Sunday. From today the Nail on Sunday will come to you every fortnight but will be bigger and better with more features. As a team and organisation we are going through many positive changes to develop our offering to you, our skills and hopefully the industry as we know it. This issue is all about confidence which is such as important attribute to have if you want to plunge into developing yourself, your business or for getting through everyday life for some. We need confidence for everything.
Confidence is a belief in oneself, the conviction that one has the ability to meet life's challenges and to succeed. Confidence is not an innate, fixed characteristic. It’s an ability that can be acquired and improved over time. Being confident means knowing that you can handle the emotional outcome of whatever you’ll face.
Over the last few weeks as a team we have had to have the confidence individually to plan the changes that we will be sharing with you in the near future. We have had to collaborate together with the confidence that we work together to not let each other down. We have also witnessed a broad spectrum of individuals that have come forward with confidence to apply to be the 5th member of our team. Having been greeted with such a wonderful bunch of diverse and talented applicants it was so very challenging for us to make a confident decision but we did.
Therefore we are very proud and excited to announce that Beverley McLoughlin is the new 5th member of the Cre8tive Collective team. Beverley has over 16 years experience within the beauty industry. She embarked on her beauty journey after her mother paid for her to train. Sadly her mother was very ill at the time but wanted Bev to remain in this world to be financially stable in her own right so sent her to train so that she could make it on her own.
Bev's specialist beauty areas are Nails, lashes and brows. However Bev is also a very personable character who loves to work with customers and peers closely to motivate and support them to feel confident. Bev understands the importance of creating good relationships and therefor will be taking on a customer facing role within the team as well as taking part in providing creative support along with Carly and myself. From Monday 12th April, Bev will become an active member of the team and will be contributing to our Facebook group, The Nail on Sunday blog and to our exciting future projects. I am sure you will all join us in giving her a very warm welcome. Beverley had to confidence to go for it and we are very glad she did.
(Leo Ko-Nkengmo).
Myths about confidence you want to stop believing
Dave Heffernan
I feel you know me enough by now, to know that I don’t particularly fit in to 1 box or another. I try and keep things simple, so everyone can understand the message I am trying to convey.
This brings me to some of the things we hear on a regular basis about confidence. It is time for The Heff to debunk some of these myths.
ENJOY 😊
If you want to increase your confidence and self-esteem, then it’s important to eliminate these misconceptions and focus on reality.
MYTHS V REALITY
1. Myth 1: Success is a fundamental part of having confidence. Although I agree that success can give your confidence a boost, it’s not a requirement to have it.
· You can have confidence without great success.
· When was the last time you celebrated or took note of the small accomplishment? What may be looked up as simple to others, like making your bed every day or listening to friend’s offload have value.
· In fact, experts do say, that in order for you reach the peaks of success, you need to have confidence first. You can start small and watch it grow over time with new goals being reached.
2. Myth 2: You CANNOT be confident if you are NOT an extrovert. Ssssh!! I want to let you in to a little secret…. You can be an introvert and still have high confidence levels.
There are quite a few extroverts out there who aren’t confident.
Being an extrovert or an introvert isn’t the reason why you have or lack confidence. There are so many other factors involved.
Confidence is internal and is dependent on your thoughts.
You don’t have to be at the heart of all conversations and activities to have confidence.
It’s normal for confident people to want to avoid the spotlight sometimes.
In addition, many confident people still hate public speaking and large parties.
Confidence isn’t directly linked to being the centre of attention.
3. Myth 3: Confidence is a full time job. The truth is that confidence levels can go up and down.
· There is NOT a need or an expectation to be confident every minute of every day.
· Your self-esteem and confidence will change and go up or down over time. Experts do say apparently that, this is normal and should not cause any concern.
· Fear will take hold at times and will cripple you. The key is to work through them and keep going. Feelings of uncertainty and insecurity will happen.
4 Myth 4: Confidence is something that people are born with. Although some people seem to naturally have more confidence, you don’t have to be born with it.
· Confidence isn’t in your DNA like eye or hair colour.
· Instead, it can be learnt and acquired over time. For example, someone like The Heff can teach you to be more confident 😊
· It’s possible to develop more confidence. It’s also possible to conquer the fears that are holding you back. Again, there is an amazing guy that I know personally called The Heff who can help with this 😊
5 Myth 5: Comparing yourself to others will increase confidence. Other people are not on the same path or journey as you. They have different backgrounds, different experiences so therefore this is the biggest load of BS since EastEnders’s (Apologies to any EastEnders’s fans 😊 )
· It has been proven that comparing yourself to others damages your confidence levels.
· If you’re focused on others and their success, then you will not GROW
· By doing all the above, you’re feeding your insecurities which I am sure you will not want to be doing?
SO, from this point forward if you hear people quoting these types of sayings then please do give them a wide berth for your own protection. You don’t have to believe these myths anymore. Leave them behind and start building greater confidence today!
Said with love
Mask up in Confidence
Sam Windsor
So it is upon us. The date for re-opening is the 12th April. Most of us are excited to get back to what we call normality but we have to remember that some are also very anxious about returning. Especially when it comes to understanding how operations within our business's will play out now with all the government and industry guidelines and changes. Over the past weeks I have shared an insight into such topics as Sanitisation, PPE and this week I will be talking about masks, something none of us really like wearing, but a vital piece of
kit none the less.
The Simple Fabric Face Covering / Face Mask
These are classed as a face covering and are intended to be worn by
members of the public to help reduce the spread of droplets which may contain the virus. They are NOT PPE, and they should not be worn by Nail Techs or therapist during treatment.
They should be worn once and then washed.
The Surgical Mask (Type II or Type IIR)
Again these are NOT classed as PPE because they protect others more than they protect you. They are made from a 3-ply construction, which again is designed to prevent the spread of droplets from landing on your client or surfaces. The difference between Type II and Type IIR is that the Type IIR includes a water repellent layer.
These masks are single use, disposable masks. They should be disposed of upon removal, or when they start to feel damp (whichever happens first!). This mask is the MINIMUM level of face mask to be worn by Close Contact Services. In reality anyone producing
dust (which is most of us nail techs!) should actually be wearing a higher grade mask such as an FFP2 or above.
Dust Masks / Respirator Masks / RPE
Most nail technicians produce dust, and whilst extraction is always the first line of defence a good quality mask is always a sensible precaution, especially during a
pandemic! These masks offer protection for the wearer, not just those around them.
There is a huge array of options available but as a upgrade you should be looking for FFP2 or FFP3 grade masks (European grading) or N95 /N99 (American grading). These offer a high level of filtration and protection.
Finding confidence in your creativity
Carly Dorman
This has been a hard one for me this week and I will be honest as confidence is still a struggle I have. For many that see my work compliment it, give loads of positivity and support sometimes don’t see how much I really struggle with confidence.
My belief in my own confidence still isn’t there but I know I am not alone and many nail techs also feel this way. My confidence is slowly growing with each new thing I try and keep practicing, the support you give to one another definitely helps so much. There are a few times where I have done an old technique or new one and this has slowly built up my confidence. Being creative in different ways can really help your confidence grow, whether that is big or small steps.
If I take time to look back over all my creations I also get see how much my confidence has grown as if my confidence had not grown the creations that I have achieved would not have been possible.
Some of us don’t see this and I feel that it is important to really look back from where you started as it will be a helpful reminder of how much you have grown even if you don’t see it at first .
I have a long way to go with inner self confidence but knowing I have the support of everyone who believes in my creative side will always be valued and will always help me grow. My challenge this week is be to super supportive and help all of us grow our confidence, that one little comment on someone's work actually really does go a long way. xx Carly
Our Support group
For those of you that do not know. We have a support group that goes hand in hand with this blog called at present Nails, makeup and beauty tips and tricks with Leona as it was started by myself initially. However as we have grown into a team this will now be renamed to coincide with the changes to the development of our organisation. The group will now be Called The Leoko Cre8tive Tribe and all that are involved will be part of the tribe to continue to support each other in a positive way. To mark the changes we though it a really good idea to let some of our amazing members take over the group for a whole week. They came up with their own creative schedule and ran the group as we would. We have really enjoyed watching from the side lines and loved the engagement they generated, showing that our community really are an amazing group of people. We are also so grateful that they had the confidence to come forward and give this challenge a go
Hear in their own words is how they got on
The Big Takeover
Amanda Eldred, Nikki Hunter and Cheryl Ann
This week a post went out, asking for volunteers to run the group for the week as Leona and Carly were having a week off to work behind the scenes. Cheryl Ann, Amanda Eldred and Nikki Hunter, were three of the people who put their names down for the task. Cheryl and Amanda both put their names down for the fun of it, thinking there was no chance of getting chosen, whereas Nikki volunteered as she thought it would motivate her into getting prepared for going back to work.
Amanda was really anxious when she found out she was chosen "this was something so out of my comfort zone and despite the nervous anxiety twisting my stomach, I knew the group was full of supportive nail techs and it was only for a week" Nikki was also nervous, but excited about working with the other people chosen. "I was excited about being part of the group and interacting as part of a team with Amanda and Cheryl, and I was also nervous, hoping we would all gel (no pun intended) and be able to carry this week off. At this point Cheryl was still in denial that she had even put her name down and was chosen "when I first put my name down, I thought it would be a good idea at the time.
Then when it came to do motivation Monday, that's when it finally sunk in". Monday motivation live was nerve wrecking for Amanda and Cheryl, although Nikki took it in her stride and helped out as she had done lives previously. Nervous laughs and silences aside, Cheryl and Amanda managed to get through it. Technology was also new to Amanda and Cheryl, but thankfully Nikki was on hand to help and was really supportive. We all did our own step by steps and found them fun to do. As you can only have two people on a live, Nikki and Amanda did a live nail art tie dye demo on Friday.
Amanda was really nervous again as this was another first for her "I have never done anything like this, ever, and all the insecurities of your abilities rush through your head like a wild river". Nikki was used to doing this and put Amanda at ease, helping her along the way. Cheryl did a recorded demo on stamping "I never realised how hard it would be to talk to someone that's not there...." It was then cover comp time. The guest judge was finally announced on Friday, to Cheryl's relief "who knew the hardest part of this week would be not telling anyone who the guest judge is!!!.
Amanda also came to some realisations "there is a lot more to running a group than just the posts we all see and It does take a lot of times, from content, to post approvals, to maintaining an engaging platform for its members. Nikki does already run her own group so has experience of this. Her round up of the week was "I have to admit, now this week has come to an end, I'm looking back on it with a sense of pride and relishing what we have done" Cheryl learned a lot from this week too "I didn't realise how much I would love seeing others recreating my work. All in all I've absolutely loved this week. I've learned more than I could ever have imagined and had some giggles along the way". After all the initial anxiety from putting their names forward, the girls have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, doing a lot of firsts, supporting each other and learning along the way. We are all grateful to have been given the opportunity and hope Leona and Carly are pleased with our takeover.
Back to Business
Leo Ko-Nkengmo
With so much disruption from the pandemic, people’s expectations around work, how they fulfil their role, and how they reconcile work and domestic responsibilities may have changed dramatically. This is an ideal time for you to think more creatively about effective ways of working, and harness more agile and flexible working practices to meet individuals’ changing expectations. A flexible approach could help you develop more effective people management practices, resulting in improved productivity. you may be required to review existing or produce new policies on flexible working though so bare that in mind. The bottom line is, we are here to help. The cre8tive Collective team have a series of amazing workshops, courses, live broadcasts and downloads coming your way in order to help you get on your way to working normally but differently and in a more positive fashion.
We will be available within our newly named group throughout each week and also online on a new website platform that will be completed fully in around a fortnight. In the meantime here is a little information about a new challenging Mind vs Business workshop myself and Dave Heffernan will be running from the 15th May 2021.
Ask yourself 2 questions:
1. Are you stressed? Anxious? Irritated and frustrated about where your life is currently?
2. Are you happy with where your business is at? Or do you have all the skills needed to create a sustainable and profitable business where you are in full control of where it is heading?
If you answered Yes to Question 1 and NO to Question 2 then you need to read on.
With over 45+ years’ experience in Mental health/personal development and Business lecturing and management between them – Leona Ko-Nkengmo and David Heffernan invite you to take part in a unique and ground breaking event. For 4 weeks from May 15th you will join a select group of Nail Techs in a private group where you will be mentored by 2 experts in their fields. You be taken through daily tasks to strengthen your resilience, your mindset and your business skills and by the end of the 4 weeks nothing will be left to chance. You will have all the tools in your armoury to be a success in Life and in business. Please note that this is no BS 5-day type of challenge where only little bits of information are offered in the hope you sign up to a higher priced service. – you will get everything that Dave and Leona know. You will have full access to us both to ask all the questions and seek out the answers you need. We make this promise to you – If you dive in – both feet, be open, engage and do the tasks you will be unstoppable. The Heff & Leo xx
We will be posting details regarding this in the coming days so keep a look out.
until then, take care, good luck and be confident.