We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jill Wright a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jill, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
This happened at the 2016 show when I’d scaled it to encompass 3 different ballrooms and unbeknownst to me, the microphone to make announcements did not transmit to all ballrooms at once. This left me needing to physically go into each ballroom to make the same 3 announcements at 3 different times during the day for the door prize numbers, the 9 different classes, their topics, start times, company teaching it and classroom numbers, etc.
While I was busy doing all that, there was a situation developing on the show floor where an attendee felt ill, then laid down on the floor up against a wall. Per the Gatlinburg TN Convention Center rules, an ambulance was called so paramedics could administer aid. She reported feeling woozy, but when it came time for the EMTs to do a finger stick for a blood sample, she refused it and sent them away by saying it was probably just her “monthly cycle”.
When the ambulance departed, she removed a blanket from her backpack and proceeded to lay down facing the wall, cover up from head to toe and go to sleep directly behind one of our show banners which we used to photograph door prize winners holding their prizes ( I still have the photo of her laying there). One of our Event Team members went over to her, squatted down, tapped her on the shoulder and she peeked out from under the blanket at him.
He asked “Sweetie, are you all right?” and she mumbled “Uh huh” confirming that she was fine. Then he said “Well then, you’re going to have to move it along because people don’t know if you’re alive or dead and we need to take photos here. There are some big comfy chairs in the lobby around the corner, so go rest over there.” She got up and did just that, but we never saw her again nor found out her name. We suspect she might’ve been a decoy for what happened next which was even more bizarre.
While I was off on the other side of the Convention Center photographing and videoing classes in progress, one of the educators in charge of the Orly booth addressed a suspected shoplifter asking to see her receipt for the 2 gel polishes she put into her other bag. At that point, the suspected thief bolted running off the show floor with the educator in hot pursuit yelling “Stop! Thief!”
They both ran past our security guard who was checking wristbands at the door and then he also took chase thru the lobby. All 3 of them ran out the front Gatlinburg Convention Center doors, down the steps, all the way down the sidewalk for about 1 block to a very busy intersection in front of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant. At that point the thief ran out into traffic, wending her way between vehicles, ran into a motel parking lot across the street, then jumped into her car and drove away via the motel’s back exit.
The guard had gotten her license plate number and called for police backup as protocol requires. Once a uniformed police officer arrived in the hotel managers office, they all went up to her room where she was staying so the manager could use his key to open her room door. Before they could do that, the thief came out of her room carrying a BIG bag of what turned out to be stolen nail products.
She was arrested and when they searched her vehicle, the entire trunk was filled with stolen merchandise from not only our show, but also from the Premiere Orlando show which was held 1 month prior down in Florida. Apparently she was traveling from show to show stealing nail products to sell for money. Our security guard took photos of the stolen products and one of our Event Team members identified which companies those items belonged to. Then they both walked booth to booth to get confirmation that those indeed were the company’s missing products and all of that info went into the police report.
A year later at our next show, we had the same security guard, so I asked him how did that case turn out. He said that the thief couldn’t make bail, so she spent several days in jail while her car was impounded and sold at auction because they found some weed in it. The proceeds from that auction went to benefit the Gatlinburg Police Departments anti-drug campaign and the thief was eventually released, but never returned for her court hearing, so there’s still an outstanding warrant for her.
From what I understand, if she ever sets foot back in TN and gets pulled over by the police or is involved in any situation where the police are present, she’ll be immediately arrested, then sent back to jail. So I feel pretty good about her not coming back to our show again in the future!
Jill, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’ve been a licensed cosmetologist strictly working as a nail tech since 1987. Since the big international beauty industry trade shows are “hair centric” with very little to offer professionally licensed nail techs, I was inspired to hold a little “nail tech networking event” for our Southern nail techs. This would help them gain the advanced education they need in a more easily drivable location instead of techs spending more money on costly airfare flying to the big shows in NYC, Las Vegas, Orlando & Chicago, which leaves them with less money to actually purchase products.
Gatlinburg, TN was the perfect location since it’s full of many exciting attractions, restaurants & shoppes, plus it’s my favorite place in the world to visit. Pigeon Forge is 7 miles away with even more fun stuff to experience, such as Dolly Parton’s “Dollywood” amusement park with water park, too. Gatlinburg is within a 12 hour drive for 50% of our population living East of the Mississippi since it’s the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited NP in America with over 14 million people traveling each year to this small mountain town of only 3 thousand residents.
Our humble beginnings started in 2008 as a small “nail tech networking event” held in a hotel ballroom. We met our goal of 50 attending nail techs & 6 educators demoing on tables (no product sales at that time). I had no intentions of ever holding another one because of all the stress & long hours online trying to get this one off the ground, but the nail techs begged me to do it again the next year, so reluctantly I did. Within 3 years it grew to become the largest nail tech networking event in the USA & more nail companies started participating each year by bringing products to sell.
In 2010 we developed the concept of holding Monday Workshops the day after the show, with Saturday Workshops added the following year due to high demand for hands-on or seminar education. Attendees pay directly to the nail companies holding Workshops for that education, which helps offset companies show participation costs. After outgrowing 2 hotel venues in 4 years, we moved into the Gatlinburg Convention Center as a licensed LLC trade show in 2012 & have been there ever since.
For 2019 we created the Friday “Extended Workshops” to provide techs the opportunity to EXTEND their show weekend for an extra day of hands-on education designed to further their nail career. This enables companies to build onto the educational topics they are providing over the course of several days. Sunday is always the nail show day with no Workshops, but during the show we offer complimentary 1-hour Event Day Classes (demos & lectures, but no hands-on) which are included with show tickets, as well as we give away 20 big door prizes, plus the $1500 Grand Prize of assorted nail products.
Thanks to the great word of mouth referrals from nail techs, educators & company owners alike, we have grown to 500 – 700+ attending nail techs & 200+ educators working the nail booths demoing products, answering questions & selling wholesale hand, foot & boutique salon products to our professionally licensed attendees, current beauty school students & salon/spa owners.
The Event Team is comprised of friends & family using their own vacation time volunteering to help run this grassroots show on a shoestring budget while operating with no debt. Learning as we went, each year I cash-flowed expenses by rolling over profits saved from prior years to insure show stability. Cash reserves were what saved us when the 2020 covid lockdowns shut down our beauty world, leaving companies bailing out of the show & attendees wanting ticket refunds.
Since the Gatlinburg Convention Center opened 1 month prior to our contracted 2020 show date, we cautiously held it with half the nail companies canceling due to travel restrictions & half the attending nail techs, too. Surprisingly, the participating companies made great money as the techs loaded up their big rolling carts buying a year’s worth of supplies that they couldn’t get elsewhere due to the supply chain disruptions which drastically reduced the availability of nail products worldwide. We were THE ONLY professional beauty industry show held that entire year. & consider ourselves very fortunate. Most larger shows are still trying to financially recover, while others totally went out of business.
After 38yrs as a nail tech, I only work part time in my private nail studio focusing on advanced footcare (not fingernails) while I work full time online from home to keep the Nail Tech Event of the Smokies (aka the Smokies Nail Show) as the most sought after nail education in North America.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Ever try running a trade show during the 2020 covid lockdowns? I did nothing but pivot that entire year!
When everything hit the fan in March, it was during the big NYC show at the Jacob Javits Center. I got a call from an educator who was working the show to say they were in the middle of setting up their booths when an announcement came over the loudspeaker telling everyone the show was canceled and to immediately pack up, then leave quickly.
It was complete pandemonium with everyone scrambling trying to get out of the convention center, back to their hotels so they could pack their suitcases and try to book their flight home. Many were stranded in their hotels since all flights were either fully booked or canceled. The only food many had was from the vending machines since the city went into lockdown. Some nail techs I knew who were there to attend the show messaged me that they were stuck in NYC trying to find an open restaurant, but the streets were like a ghost town with fearful people locking themselves indoors as tv reporters issued dire news of a mysterious virus that had reached the USA.
I knew then that we were in trouble. The big international shows all canceled. They called it “postponing”, but the postponing went into 2021, rescheduling multiple times, so all 2020 shows did not happen. Ours was the only exception and that was thanks to the state of Tennessee and the Gatlinburg Convention Center opening for business 1 month prior to our contracted July show date.
There are no words that could adequately describe the stress I was under to do everything I could to safely hold our show where lots of people would be congregating together indoors. I knew the vaulted timber frame ceiling would allow more air flow and give a sense of space, plus everyone would be wearing face masks and/or face shields (some even wore surgical gloves). Lots of hours went into researching the laws on me possibly being sued should someone claim our show got them sick. Countless time was spent researching “alternative news sources” with scientific and medical facts from actual virologists, doctors and scientists who all provided new information which the mainstream news sources did not mention.
It’s no exaggeration when I say that the entire beauty industry was watching our little nail show as a case study and it put immense pressure on me to handle things correctly. The social media heat I took from colleagues (nail techs and educators) for proceeding with our show was brutal. How dare I earn a living, provide a means for nail companies to earn their living, get products into the hands of nail techs so they could earn their living and not to mention fulfill my legally binding contract so that I’m not sued into oblivion by the Gatlinburg Convention Center which was open for business after sinking untold millions of dollars into safety protocol, world class disinfection training and chemical supplies, plus renovating all restrooms to have touch-less faucets/soap dispensers/hand dryers, as well as installing touch-less hand sanitizers on every wall inside the entire building.
Social media became a war zone I had to delicately navigate to the best of my abilities each day while trying to get the word out that our show was not canceled. A large number of techs were scared and started lashing out in frustration over not being allowed by their particular state to go to work to earn money to support their families….but then they’d see me carrying on with my show business as usual and it set them off. So many friendships were lost during that time and the ones who behaved truly abhorrently are still blocked.
In the end, everyone involved considered our 2020 show a success. Nobody got sick or died. Everyone got what they needed and I wasn’t sued, so it was a success despite me having a 50% decline in yearly income due to half the nail companies canceling while our usual attendance was reduced by half, too. The participating companies were thrilled with their sales and the attending nail techs were thrilled with the amount of necessary products they were able to stock up on given all the supply chain disruptions we all faced then.
Looking back, I do feel a sense of great accomplishment with the role I played in our beauty industry history, especially considering I’m a nail tech with an associates degree in small business management and no formal events management training whatsoever.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Following thru on our mission statement. Treating everyone fairly & not showing favoritism amongst the nail company exhibitors. Not making back door deals like giving free booths to some, but not to others. Not flaking out. Not avoiding difficult conversations when they are crucial to growth. Not canceling the show in 2020. Staying consistent & steady with running the Nail Tech Event of the Smokies since 2008.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.NailTechEvent.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nailtechevent/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nailtechevent
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillwrightnailtechevent/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nailtechevent
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JillWrightNailTechEvent
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nailtechevent/
