Careers: Celebrating your success

Here at ABT one of the pleasures of working with thousands of nail techs and beauty therapists is hearing all about your successes. We know that behind every successful individual and business are hours of dedication, hard work and determination.

This is why it's so thrilling to not only be able to highlight your success stories via this website, but to also play our part in pushing forward the standards within our industry and encouraging you to be the best version of yourself that you can be.

As part of our commitment to excellence, ABT was recently invited to be part of the judging panel of this year's Scratch Stars Awards. Our Comms Manager and beauty journalist Melissa Dennis joined the likes of all-round nail expert Marian Newman, London Lash Queen Sue Marsh, CACI International's Dean Nathanson, and Vogue's Deputy Beauty & Health Editor, Lauren Murdoch-Smith, with two days of judging held at the London School of Beauty Therapy.

“The calibre of this year's judges is phenomenal, and this year's entries are just off the scale! Trying to separate the best in their fields was such a difficult task and it was thrilling to see the quality of entries that this year's Scratch Stars has attracted,” says Melissa.

The winners of this year's Scratch Stars Awards will be announced at the annual Scratch Summer Party on Sunday 15th July and we can't wait to celebrate with you!

You'll often see us alongside other key brands supporting industry events as we know how important it is for nail techs such as yourself to have the opportunity to test your skills and have your talents recognised, so take every opportunity to show off! 

In May we were delighted to sponsor this year's UK Nail Tech competition, which took place as part of the Beauty UK exhibition in Birmingham. Not only was it great to see so many nail techs competing over two days, but that so many of them are ABT members. We're incredibly proud of all of you, especially those who were placed first, second or third this year. Competitions such as this, along with the annual Nailympia events, are a great way to gain recognition for your work, learn some valuable skills, meet fellow professionals, and of course, have some fun!

Giving it your all

I know that putting yourself out there to be critiqued by industry experts can be very daunting, especially for the first time. Are your skills good enough and how do they match up to industry standards? Are you offering a service that excels, and do you really stand out from the crowd? 

Regardless of whether you are considering entering an industry competition or awards event, these are questions that you should be asking yourself on an ongoing basis. You should aspire to exceed your clients' expectations every time; your clients will be just as critical of your service as an awards' judge. In a service industry such as ours, having an ‘off day' where you deliver treatments and customer service with less than 100% commitment and skill is not an option. Business and job competition is stiff, and you need to be sure that you're giving it your all so that your clients don't go elsewhere.

As I mentioned earlier, part of ABT's commitment is about pushing you forward as a nail tech or therapist to help you achieve your goals. If there are any areas of skill that you feel need extra work, or just a refresher, then undergoing an ABT-Accredited course is the way to go. Our new searchable database of ABT-Accredited Training Providers will help you to find a school or college close to your location so that undertaking Continuing Professional Development is easy and convenient for you.

Choosing an ABT-Accredited course means that your new skills can be easily added to your existing membership, often at no extra cost, and you can be sure that your course has been scrutinised to ensure it meets the required standards.

As well as helping you to succeed, we also love to share stories of ABT members' success, so if you've won an award recently or have received recognition for your skills or business in other ways, let us know and we can share your success with the industry.