MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The beauty industry is big business and a new school in Memphis is offering those who want to be licensed nail technicians a way to finish school faster and get to work sooner.
“We are Tennessee’s first school of manicuring. We are Tennessee’s first school of apprenticeship,” Kamecha Wilson told WREG’s Markova Reed.
It’s a point of pride for The Nail Institute of Memphis, which opened last fall and already has 26 people enrolled. For these students, the school is a fast track to getting into a salon and finding work.
“You no longer have to attend a full service cosmetology school. You can attend a nail-only school and get your 600 hours of nails only.”
It’s also more cost effective for students.
“School is running maybe $15,000. Nail school is $3,050.”
Plus, you can’t beat the hands on experience.
“It’s about 30 weeks so it’s about seven and half months of theory in the classroom. They take the exit exam provided by the school. Once they pass the exam, then we place them into salons all over the city,” explained Wilson.
One of those salons is September Nails Salon in Germantown. Owner Jennifer Purnell said the partnership with the Nail Institute is a perfect match.
“We train them and then we have the opportunity to release them out so it helps build our team as well.”
Purnell, who has a corporate background, opened September Nails five years ago. She described herself as a stickler for finding the most talented and most professional nail technicians for her salon.
“If someone is diabetic their pedicure should look different than someone else’s. If they are on particular medication, if they are pregnant their pedicure should look different from someone else, so if they don’t have the necessary training, they don’t know how to care for those folks in those situations.”
If you’re looking to paint a brighter future for yourself in the nail industry, The Nail Institute of Memphis might be the place to see you dreams take shape.
