“I have met a lot of people on the competition floor, and each of us has different values on what drives us to take part in a competition for the first time and even more, to keep on competing. Let’s be honest, it’s not always easy and definitely not always joyful to be a competitor,” shares Olena Oezman. “Most people only see the ‘end result’ and the performance on the competition floor. There’s in fact, so much more behind it. One needs to integrate the training process into everyday life, take time for practice and invest in learning. Also, if you aim better results, you automatically face self-doubt, and it’s a huge personal growth journey. Behind this decision, everyone has their own ‘why’ that drives them.
“I came to the competition arena due to curiosity, without any expectations, but to have fun. The atmosphere was overwhelming and showed me a world of nails I’d never imagined. But the reason I stayed? I driven by excellence! There is no perfection! However, there is excellence, and I set myself a goal to reach it.
“I want to motivate everyone to try competing and see how they feel, what it does for a person. And observe if there is any special ‘why’ for them behind it. One person’s ‘why’ will be very different to another’s and that’s great, as not everyone is destined to compete. It doesn’t make you a less valuable nail professional. However, competing can be so much fun. For me, I figured out that competing and the criteria helped me to do nails I’d never thought possible. Competing gave me self-doubt, but also self-belief. It made me weak but also very strong. It brought envy, but it also brought very deep friendship.
“Winning the Nailympia Global Cup the first time was very special for me, because I did it. But, due to covid, some competitors did not take part, and I had many points, so my win was relatively predictable. And, you know, the thing about excellence, is you achieve excellent results under pressure, in a challenge, unpredictable and not by coincidence!
“The second Nailympia Global Cup was for me! For my personal vision of my abilities and strength. This cup was hard. I did not not have the usual circumstances for practice, I had some health issues, and some new, huge and important projects. It was challenging and at the same time, a wonderful journey. The 2023 cup is definitely more meaningful to me, even though I enjoyed them both enormously.
“Also, winning the first Nailympia European Cup in 2022 was great, as it was the first one ever given, and I generally like the word ‘first. The best combination, winning it for the first time! It’s a great cup for European competitors to motivate them to travel between Germany and the UK to strive for this special trophy.”
