My name is Käti, but I don’t mind if you call me Keiti, I have never really liked my name and during school I even had some pretty uninteresting nicknames. I started as a nail technician 8 years ago, and I am good at it. I don’t call myself the best in my area, but I do my best to ensure my clients are satisfied and that I am the best for them. Nowadays, I am not just a nail technician; gradually, I have learned different things and acquired new knowledge. I have added various services to my salon, such as: pedicure, eyelash extensions and lifting, facial treatments, tattoo removal, spots removal, hair removal with laser and wax, eyebrow and eyelash tinting, semi-permanent makeup for eyebrows, paraffin wax and pressure therapy. Sometimes collaborate with a wonderful lady who comes to do permanent makeup for the lips, eyes, and eyebrows.
I also occasionally train new people, which I really enjoy and would like to do even more. So, I have plenty of work, and working 60 hours a week is completely normal for me. Sometimes it feels unfortunate to work so much and leave the housework to my husband, but I do it for a better future, and I work exactly as much as is necessary at the moment. Logically, I can’t continue like this forever, but everything comes in its own time. I believe that many people think that being a nail technician isn’t a serious job and see it more as an easier way to start working and earning money. Surprise, surprise, honestly, it’s quite a tough profession, and many who start don’t finish what they’ve begun. It takes a lot of time to reach a good level, one could even say years, and when you have finally built up your client base and start to truly feel satisfied with your work (I am never 100% satisfied) and have reached the point you have long strived for, your body starts to give you signals—and not in a very pleasant way. (I will write more about this later in a new blog…)

As I understand it, in Estonia, good manicure work is highly valued, whereas in Spain, people tend to look at the price, which is understandable—everyone pays what they can afford. I have never been upset with my former clients who switch technicians because my service is more expensive or because I am too far away. But I do get offended when some other excuse is made up, which turns out not to be true. Trust is the most important thing, especially when we have been working together for years. In this job, the price reflects experience, years of work, trainings, products, and cleanliness is also very important. Training to become a good nail technician is not cheap, and comprehensive long courses focusing solely on manicure are not available around here—or I am poorly informed. Rather, there are short courses, and then you have to practice on your own.
But, to practice, you would have to work at a much lower price than professionals, and during the first few months, you won’t be earning a normal salary. It may also happen that you can only cover your expenses from your income, if it’s formal work, of course. But you have to think positively; if you don’t get money, you will definitely gain experience, and gradually income will grow. My first nail works cost 5 euros, but my situation was, of course, much more complicated than many others. Practicing was very difficult when there was no one to practice on, and finding clients was harder, because I didn’t know anyone here. I must also mention that my first client is still my client.
Linguistically, it was very difficult; I didn’t know Spanish yet, and my English was full of mistakes, and there are so many different accents. Yes, my husband is Spanish, but before moving to Spain, we lived for 5 years in Finland, and our home language was Finnish for a long time, and Finnish is not very useful around here. I had studied very little Spanish before, as the plan to move to Spain came unexpectedly. But now, 8 years later, I speak Spanish and English quite well, Finnish is starting to fade a bit, but I manage if needed. At home, I try to speak as much as possible in my native language, Estonian, so that the children pick up more of it, which is very important to me.
But why did I even embark on this difficult journey? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just stay in Finland, finish my studies there, and continue life as it was? I had never even thought that I could live in Spain. I was interested in the Spanish language when I was younger, but clearly, there are countless people for whom Spanish is so exotic and beautiful. Of course, I like the warm climate, but taking such a big step requires a greater reason for me than just warm weather. Honestly, I hadn’t even checked on a map where it is before I met my husband, but it seemed terribly far away. Hats off to all the brave Estonians who take this step. Finland was not the homeland for either of us, and it was important to me that we live in a country that is the birthplace of at least one of us. I wasn’t very happy visiting Estonia, and I knew it wasn’t easy for my Spanish husband there, and I did not feel secure in Finland, and my husband told me that he would follow me wherever I go. And we made the final decision when our son was born, who had a skin and breathing problem; creams and an asthma inhaler were already part of our daily routine. Our child needed the humid Mediterranean air. From the very first day in Spain, there have been no more problems with either his skin or breathing. He was born to be here where we are now.
But why did I start with manicures? I started it thanks to the person who has always believed in me, my husband. And of course, I didn’t have many opportunities to work anywhere else where I could choose my working hours, because we didn’t have help with the children, and how can you go to work when the kids need to be taken to and from school and kindergarten, and if you pay a babysitter, you spend almost your entire salary. That way, I might as well raise my own children, and we are all happier and calmer. At first, I thought it wasn’t a good idea, because even back then there were already many nail technicians, and why would anyone choose me? And the only person who believed in me and showed it was my husband, but a good husband will of course tell you that you are good—how could he say otherwise. I have been doing my own manicure for years, and he always really liked how I did it, especially when I did some nail art too. Now I see that actually, 8 years ago, it wasn’t such a high trend as it is now, even though it seemed that way at the time.
Starting as a technician now is a bit harder because there are so many at the moment, but I’ll say there is also a lot of demand. When I started, many clients came to me who were visiting a nail salon for the first time, but that doesn’t happen much now; instead, people are looking for a better nail technician. Keep in mind, when I say that there are many nail technicians, but GOOD ones are few, and many of them work from home because they already have their regular clients and the opportunity to earn more money by working from home. Working in a salon also requires charging higher prices and working longer hours, and new clients only see the price, not your quality of work. I prefer that clients come to my salon for the quality of my work, not because the price is cheaper. The opportunities to stand out as a nail technician currently greatly depend on the quality of work, as clients are becoming increasingly aware of what a good manicure is. Occasionally, I get clients who have tried several salons and are disappointed again and again. And there are also clients who don’t really know what a well-done manicure looks like or how well it could actually be done. But I will write about those things next time.
Every new beginning is difficult, and if you decide to make a fresh start, you have to believe in it and believe in yourself.
I am a living example!