Where it all started...

Afternoon all, its a wet and miserable day in Beer after a lengthy period of sunshine and humidity, (I might not be very popular for saying this, but I'm actually relieved for a bit of rain and cooler temperatures after all the PPE I've been wearing in the salon lately!) so as the shop is a bit quieter today whilst everyone is sheltering from the wet stuff, I thought it might be an idea to tell you a little bit about where BTS began and maybe you can get a feel for how I feel about what I do, so here's your first insight to the early days of BTS...

---

Ever since I was a little girl I would rummage through my mums makeup, nail polish and various other things that all little girls are told, "You mustn't touch mummy's things", but we all know how that goes... (this became all too real on one occasion involving a dash to A&E after I was suspiciously quiet and mum found I'd broken into a cupboard I definitely shouldn't have been in, but ya know, it's a kids job to prepare mums and dads for what a heart attack might feel like 🤷🏻‍♀️ despite putting my parents through their paces, I guess that was literally the birth of my adoration of all things nails.

Move over Sindy, Barbie is taking over!

Some years later at Christmas time when Sindy was given her marching orders by little girls asking for the latest Barbie from the Argos catalogue, Polly Pocket or My Little Pony (Ok admittedly I was probably equally as obsessed with MLP), I was marking any and every page relating to nail polish or tools. I would note down every page number, item number and code, after all that effort there was no way I was going to let my mum misunderstand exactly what I wanted was... Once I'd noted everything I wanted, my list would be reorganised in order of popularity, with what I wanted the most at the very top.... As I write this I'm having a stark realisation that not only was this time the birth of my love of all things nails, but clearly the start of my unhealthy need to be in control and obsessive tendencies... 🧐

Anyway, I remember around Christmas 1997/98, my mum spoiled me with a set of about 30 polishes on a tiered display stand... it kept me busy for hours and hours, painting my nails, toes and everyone else's in the household. My brother made a lucky escape due to the fact he was 3 years younger than me - I'm pretty sure my mum would have got some funny looks dropping my brother off at primary school being 6 or 7 years old with bright pink nail polish.... on the other hand, maybe they'd have just greeted my mum with "I see Jess has had the nail polish out again then Mrs Hemmett". Despite my love of nail polish, I was in fact a nail biter, my mum would try all sorts of tricks, even the fowl tasting stuff - it didn't stop me!

---

Fast forward to my teens up until the age of 15 I would chew on them through stress and habit. It wasn't until I was given a voucher for a birthday to have a set of acrylics done at a salon in Sidmouth that my natural nails were given the break from my teeth that they needed, after two infills I had beautiful long nails that were all my own, sadly they were short lived as the harsh filing to remove the acrylic had made my nails very thin where my natural nail plate had also been filed and I soon lost the length I was proud to have grown. (I must stress I didn't know then that it wasn't the acrylic that made my nails weak, after training in nail enhancements I later learned it was the poor removal of them all those years ago that caused my nails to be damaged.) But despite this, I had broken the habit, so I continued to go down the natural route and paint my nails.

---

It was less than 5 years ago, working as a designer I felt my working life, as interesting as it was, just wasn't enough, I am a social person by nature and I realised I had spent over 10 years at a desk often with little interaction and shutting myself off with my headphones to try and find a calm and clear mindset without distraction that is so desperately needed for creativity. But the job became very lonely, even more so after the business went into administration and I lost over half my work colleagues to redundancy, the job just wasn't the same anymore. I had friends with their own successful businesses and I loved the thought of being my own boss, working the hours I wanted to, working for myself and not someone else who was calling the shots, I wanted something that was all mine, I wanted more than a desk job but I didn't have any clue what would give me that until a friend said "Jess, why don't you become a qualified nail tech?"

And the penny dropped...

So I took it upon myself to study in my own time once the working day had finished. Then in 2017 I qualified as a nail tech and I can easily say I have never looked back. At the start I had to build my confidence and skills, often working 50+ hours a week, coming home from my full time job to work evenings and weekends at a salon. It was tiring, but never did the hours stop me from wanting to succeed... In my opinion there is always something to be learned, I thrive on discovering new things and I think the day I feel I can learn no more would be a sad day, but luckily I've stepped into an industry of constant learning of new styles, techniques and mediums, so I think I'm safe.

I'd better start wrapping this up... (those who have visited me in the salon will know this is something I can do very well, ramble...🤣). It is only now after three years that I can now say I have ditched the land of the employed and now walk the self employed line, that in itself is a huge learning curve and what happens behind the scenes of a business is time consuming and extensive, but so far it's all been worth the hard work and struggle...

Anyway, my coffee cup is empty and my stomach needs feeding so its about time I signed off for the day, but you won't miss me that long, I'll be back with a new blog in the next few days with more exciting updates on whats happening at By the Shaw!

Jess

xx