Combining business savvy with charisma in droves, Jan Arnold, the co-founder of internationally successful CND has been leading the nail fashion industry with innovation for thirty years and spoke at an intimate lunch in Auckland this week…
Combining business savvy with charisma in droves, Jan Arnold, the co-founder of internationally successful nail beauty company CND, has been leading the nail fashion industry with innovation for thirty years and spoke at an intimate lunch in Auckland this week sharing the successes of the nail business with an inspiring talk.
Jan is a co founder and Style Director of CND and has become one of the beauty industry’s most respected authorities in the fields of nail technology, runway trends and education. She is regarded as a recognized spokesperson for the nail industry world wide.
Left: Jan Arnold (centre) with Emma Dalton of Handz Up salon in Botany Auckland and Leah Light of Devine Total Beauty in Westgate Auckland (www.devinetotalbeauty.co.nz) at the Heritage Hotel for the lunch on Wednesday 30th April.
The gathering of media and nail salon industry professionals served to motivate the mostly small business owners with a new vision of education with a strong fashion-focus. She wants to make sweeping changes and to revolutionise nailcare. "CND is successful as we are always dreamers" said Jan. "Never lose sight of the moon."
"Just as haircolour moved its positioning from covering grey to being a fashion statement, so we moved nails to being a fashion statement. We have vowed forever to never, ever sell CND products at retail; it’s salon-only, unlike other brands of nailcolour."
Jan gave an engaging talk with an A-Z (that’s zee not zed as she’s American) of what made CND successful. Here are some of the top tips.
C is for creativity; custom blend and make nails a fashion accessory. D is for delight, of both the customer and the nail professional. E is for education, and they are starting their Global Education Program in the 92 countries they’re available in. It is also for the economic downturn. Jan encouraged salons to raise their prices along with inflation, issuing a new service menu along with the launch of the new Shellac hybrid nail services.
"This is my third recession!" Jan exclaims. "I almost get excited- the fakes go away – and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. In a recession, we invest in development; we launched Effects last year and Shellac this year. Turn it to your advantage, and make opportunities."
Below: Rosa Kerr of Desire Salon in Wellington (www.deziresalon.co.nz) and Erica Cumming of HITO (Hair Industry Training Organisation www.hito.org.nz)
F is a huge one- F is for FASHION. Fifteen years ago CND started a fashion programme as she noticed fashion magazines had fabulous clothing and hair but not nails. They did two fashion shows and Jan called Oscar de la Renta and did his show’s nails. They’ve never looked back, doing 75 shows in NY, 25 in London, and 12 in Paris, including Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. CND is second only to MAC in its influence in fashion.
"We believe nails are a fashion accessory, and that this elevates the nail professional to the status of the hair stylist" says Jan.
Below: Shona Clarke of Renoir Boutique Salon and Sheryl Binnie of Images (www.imagesmagazine.co.nz.)
Whatever your industry, whether it’s nails or not, there’s so much in the message that Jan Arnold brings to inspire you to reach your potential. Keep getting excited about your craft and keep the pioneering spirit alive, and you won’t rest on your laurels. Jan Arnold has truly seemed to nail it.
By Megan Robinson, 30 April 2010.
Leave a Reply