Judges From Around the World that Support Nailympia Competitions
16 Nailympia Judge
Jacqueline O’Sullivan
United Kingdom
Academy| Competition Organiser| Consultant| Developer of Industry Standards| Online training| Salon
Area of judging expertise: All areas of nail services and floor judge specialist
Years as a judge: 30
Number of Nailympia events judged: 16
Nailympia events judged: London, Estonia, China, Online
Are you an educator?: Yes
Industry accolades: ScratchStars Services To The Nail Industry 2015. Scratch Magazine Stomp Award Winner Most Popular Industry Expert 2008 voted by Scratch Magazine readers.
Favourite nail brands: Artistic Nail Design, Footlogix & products from Famous Names.
Industry figures you admire: Marian Newman, Alex Fox, Helena Biggs, Kirsty Meakin, Hazel Dixon, Eve Oxberry & many many more. I have been blessed to work with so many wonderful people in our industry it would be so difficult to name them all.
Career biography: Jacqueline O’Sullivan is an award winning teacher, including Scratch Stars award winner for ‘Services to the nail industry’. She has proven teaching & motivational expertise & vast experience delivering first class training & assessments in nail technology, make-up, beauty therapy, customer care, nail art & procedures within pressurised settings. She holds a BA(Hons) Degree in Education & is involved in judging numerous national & international nail competitions including Nailympia & is the competition director for Professional Beauty Magazine Nail Competitions. She has over 30 years experience in the nail industry & has worked with a number of awarding bodies within the Further Education sector. Jacqueline has also worked with a number of industry brands during her career & helped develop private training courses & product development. During her career she has mentored nail artists & beauty specialists to numerous industry competition titles.
Personal biography: NAILS! I love nails. They have been my passion ever since a tech came to my house & did my mum’s nails when I was 19 years old. I started with a Star Nails course in a wholesalers in Manchester & carried on working & training with people like Tom Holcomb, until I gained my first vocational nail qualification. I then went down the educator route & am still teaching now. Away from nails, I love to travel & enjoy eating out & spending quality time with my husband, Sean. We both work in the industry, so lots of our conversations involve nails.
Why you believe in nail competitions?: Skills competitions are a great way of helping you as a technician stretch yourself & gain some invaluable benefits. These benefits can include learning life skills like collaboration, support, coaching & mentoring. I believe competitiveness is an important part of our lives & by taking part in competitions you can help to understand that it's good to be competitive.
For technicians & learners alike, taking part in a competition offers you a day out of the classroom or workplace & the possibility of winning a prize, but that’s not all you gain. You can also educate yourself in different areas & practice in preparation for competition, trying out new ideas & developing your knowledge & skills. . By taking part, you will begin with a number of ideas & then decide on the best idea for your final design. This may help you to explore other areas of the nail industry & help develop your existing knowledge.
Advice to competitors: Ensure you read all the rules carefully as floor judges are able to deduct marks from your total score if you are found breaking the rules. They will work as a team to constantly monitor every competitor on the competition floor.
It is vital that you arrive to your competition fully prepared & in good time for your briefing with the head floor judge prior to your competition, ensure you listen & understand the information given to you & if unsure of any points ask questions. Points will NEVER be deducted for asking questions.
Do not underestimate the importance of floor judging. It does not matter to the floor judge what level you are competing at or how amazing your skill is, they do not award points, however they can deduct points from your final score & this may impact heavily on where you are placed in the final results.