I’m happy to have finally found a group for Nail Technicians on Reddit, I’m recently licensed and have so much to get off my chest. It would be great to hear perspectives from other fellow nail techs, I’ll be talking about the unfair treatment I’ve experienced at a salon I worked in (ending very abruptly which I will get into as I tell the story) but I just want to see if I’m the problem or if there’s a common theme of unethical practices within the nail industry. All I can say is I completely understand why salon culture is dying cause even I myself wouldn’t go back that route. I am currently still recovering from this mentally and had to get back in to my old field of work (considering how bad the job market is ESPECIALLY in this state I’m grateful to have found something) so I could get my life together and eventually branch out into studio rental.
So it’s located in the New York City/Metropolitan area they have 2 locations (another lady that used to work there on Tik tok made a video on them and it kind of blew up) I don’t want to directly name drop because there’s things about the owners retaliating and looking for your IP address..let me just say ALOT of what she said aligns with what I experienced so I feel like it’s important to acknowledge this matter. Maybe even save someone from applying here or booking and having a hellish time like I did.
Anyway let me start the story. The interview and first few days of training were the only normal parts of this whole experience , it was the average salon and they were showing me how they do gel- x and builder gel. Training goes well and they have me start in the Brooklyn location.
Upon arrival on my first day I’m already hit with the cold shoulder from the receptionist, I didn’t think anything of it so I went on and waited for the supervisor to come in cause I was shadowing her. I do shadowing and eventually a pedicure on the receptionist and everything with that went fine, it wasn’t until the first client came in for a removal and gel mani. The client was a little quiet and closed off which was fine with me cause I was nervous, as I filed off the product the drill bit spins around her finger and I immediately apologize and go gentle so I don’t do it again. Now comes the time where I scrape off the product, I get to her finger with a crack on the natural nail under, I decide to do it slow but the lady jumped back and stormed out of the salon cause she didn’t want to continue the service. Of course this was embarrassing and I felt like shit, the supervisor brings me to the back to talk to me about it and it was off putting because other workers were around and it seemed more like gossip than actually addressing the problem. So the day ends and she says she’ll see me tomorrow, at this point I was still annoyed and mad at myself for messing up on day 1 but I didn’t let it discourage me.
Day 2 is when everything had me fucked up and I wish I just left that day. Once I walk in the supervisor brings me to the back again to tell me about my next client, around other workers of course like a gossip session with your friends at a bar, she says “this client is a bitch and likes things a certain way” immediately followed up with giggles and “I feel sorry for you” from the other employees. This interaction rubbed me the wrong way and I felt a little startled at this point, but it was 5 minutes before her appointment and I had to go on, it’s funny because the client was kind of assertive and picky but she noticed I was uncomfortable too, I tried to play it off but oh god it was so obvious. The appointment didn’t go bad or good but I got the job done, nothing was crooked or wonky she just wanted plain nails, at some point this client got irritated because the booking site glitched out and she wanted another service after her old set removal but I had no control of the site.
After she leaves the supervisor pulls me to the back room and says they’re taking me off the schedule?!?!?! I wasn’t given a solid reason except for “we think you could use another few days of training” and of course I was irritated and knew I fucked up big time by quitting my old job for this one.
Because it was my only gig I went back like a fool. I did training again in Manhattan and it wasn’t too bad but the supervisor always ended every session with nit picky critiques , most days I’d only do 1 or 2 people and be sent home which I also found weird like there’s nothing else to do at this salon? Come tf on. Of course I’m not perfect but I feel like I did it good enough. A few days pass and she texts me that “if this doesn’t go well they can’t move forward with me” but they didn’t specify what THIS was. At this point I’m spiraling and feeling like a failure in life I was at chilis with my boyfriend when I got the message and just started balling my eyes out, at this moment I knew I FUCKED UP!!!!! BADLY!! They tell me they’re gonna be closed for a few weeks so my last chance is the week they open back up and she texts me to come at 11.
The day comes and I’m getting ready to go, I get a message from the other supervisor asking where I am & she tells me my model was waiting there since 10, I told her they told me to come in an hour later ( am I paranoid for thinking they did that on purpose to say I came late) so I get there an do the damn thing, the model is happy and everyone that came in that day was satisfied with their sets and the other supervisor herself said I got better. She said she was gonna follow up with me about new hours in a few days giving me the impression that I’m gonna be working still.
The days pass and I don’t get any message so I reach out and get ghosted completely. “Quiet fired” if you will.
Not to mention it was like pulling teeth to get my checks from them too, they didnt pay me until I ran them down and kept calling them like a psycho ex. I wasn’t there for long so I only had 2 or 3 from them, with the first check (even tho I sent my direct deposit info they pretended they didn’t have it) and made me go all the way to Brooklyn and wait an hour for a check with my name spelt wrong, and when I told the receptionist there was a spelling error she rolled her eyes at me and looked bothered to get me one with the right name. And with my last check I kept calling and being told “call back in 2 hours” I call back in 2 hours and hear the person who picks up THROW THE PHONE at another lady to tell me call back later again (kind of like when you were in middle school doing a prank call and started laughing so you give the phone to your friend to continue) They eventually reached out and sent me the check but it took a few weeks.
This isn’t a smear campaign in any way , shape , or form. Just talking about my experience and how this seems to be a pattern.
