Where have they gone? This is just a guess, but I would hazard a guess it’s a combination of feeling they lack anything worth contributing, and, more importantly, self preservation, but we HAVE had new electrologists come here and contribute over the last several years. I would include myself in this list, Emancipated Elect and Adrien. There are assuredly others I’m not thinking of. None of them can bring the experince and knowledge lost recently
So what do these 3 ( myself included) have in common? Well for one, each of us come from a place where there is no Licensing of electrologists for one .
Have a look at the top 5 posters for this site. Only two still post here, Andrea, and Dee. Well Andrea is the site’s owner , and not an electrologist. Dee is still a moderator here, but due to other personal committments posts less frequently than she once did. So what happened to the other 3?
I’m not sure what happened to LA girl, the boards primary Laser professional, but the board has become very electrology-centric. She may have ( goddess forbid) deceased, retired, or something may have happened to cause her to limit her exposure here.
Both James and Josepha though, dont really appear to be posting here on anything approaching a regular basis.Why might that be? I’ll leave that question open for the moment.I’m certain you know the answer.
So why does someone post in response to a consumer question or concern? Is anyone paid to do so? NOPE! Do they gain more exposure which might bring them more clientele for their business? Possibly, but this is not assured.
So…What DO they get out of it? They get to demonstrate their skill and knowledge. They get that warm and fuzzy feeling from truly helping out. That demonstration of skill and knowledge has both a reward, and a risk associated with it. The reward is obvious, increased visibility means someone seeking electrolysis is more likely to come accross them and subsequently purchase electrology services from them, thus increasing revenues. When you are providing a service in a personal service setting, more business is a good thing, and therefore a posative influence on your income. So what is the risk?
The reality is, that we provide a forum here on hairtell that is OPEN. Anyone can post a question here. Anyone can answer said question.Anyone can also post a comment that is derogatory however.That derogatory comment, will be remembered, even if it has no validity, and even if it is taken down to limit it’s exposure as has been the case recently.
So…I hate to say this, it actually pains me to do so, but any electrologist who has been practicing for more than 5 minutes will tell you, that client feedback, most especially in a public and open setting, is not necessarily a good thing. As much business that exposure can bring you, it also has the capability for you to have loss of reputation when things go wrong, and when you are dealing with people who are already paranoid of skin damage, and emotional over a very personal to them issue , the likelihood of having a client who lashes out at said electrologist, or misconstrues something said or done, increases exponentially. I hate to call them “bad clients” because they arent “bad” because they have feelings or emotions over hair removal or skin quality.Just one client getting upset however, can have a devastating effect on your business. When electrology is your sole source of income, it can destroy your livelihood.
I regularly converse with at least 2 electrologists in my province, those being, Rea at follikill and more locally, Time4you, who occasionally posts here. BOTH these professionals make real strives to educate, and to as you state, show their work. However you wont see Rea post here, and time4you posts rarely and not usually in answer of consumer questions. Why? Because, the risk-reward computation, doesnt make sense. The risk that you will have a client , who is going to say something negative about your business, increases exponentially.
I know I have personally had to “fire” two clients in the last 3 years. I wont treat them, at all. One was actually my highest paying client, EVER! We’ve all had them. So called…“bad clients” . Well they arent bad just because their emotions get the better of them, but they can completely DESTROY your business in an open forum, with little to no recourse. I’ve seen it happen twice now in the last 2 years, with electrologists who were amoung the top in their field and contributed more to this site than anyone else! Think about that, of the 3 electrologists that are top posters here, 2 of those 3 have had this happen. That’s a 66.6 % probability , that posting here and contributing can have a detrimental effect on your business, not matter how long or how many times you have made posative contributiions, what is remembered? The one incident that didnt go as posatively as hoped. You can have THOUSANDS of positive referrals from happy customers, but ONE UNHAPPY PERSON negates all of that. And, the reality is, we ALL have unhappy clients to some degree or from time to time it is the nature of hair removal.
Being unlicensed, and not charging for my “services” for the most part, I’m personally somewhat insulated from this. Destroy my reputation! Go for it! Perhaps that’s why I make an effort to contribute here, there is no risk-reward computation, because I’ve eliminated the risk factor.
The unfortunate part in all this, is the knowledge, and contribution, is watering down. We have had far more knowledge bleed away from hairtell because of this effect than we have had knowledge and experience come to the site.
I’ve taken a LOT of flack for continuing to support electrologists who have had to leave, because their reputations have been thrashed , by ONE UNHAPPY CLIENT. We ALL have unhappy clients. Every single electrologist on this board, has had, at one time or another, someone unhappy with their work, their premises, with how fast the removal is happening, with the overall costs, or a dozen other reasons. The probability that one of those persons will post something inflamatory or derogatory increases exponentially with how much you share of your knowledge and experience in a forum that allows public feedback.
I used to comment a lot on Rea’s blog. I just visited her site, and went to leave a comment on her latest article. I couldnt. It seems she has now disabled comments on her articles. I dont know why, but I can definitely guess.
The risk reward computation is, that if you contribute regularly, and share of your experince and knowledge, there is a 66.6 % probability, you business will suffer as a result. That’s why knowledgable professionals arent contributing anymore.
I’m going to confess, there is a LOT I’d like to say about this issue. I have to admit, I am genuinely angry about it. It isnt fair. It’s contrary to the sharing of knowledge, something I have supported and strived for since day one here. Of the 3-4 top professionals that helped me by contributing to my learning significantly, TWO of them are no longer posting here. I fear, that it is only a matter of time, before others in that list suffer the same fate. In each of those two cases, I have knowledge of details directly related to me that I CANNOT pass on that directly negate the very public assertations that were made about them. It’s sad, it’s aggrivating and it is completely un-necessary that such has occurred .
My fear is, honestly, your plea to attract experienced professional through this article, to come show their work and contribute, will fall on deaf ears.The risk reward comparison, makes it so.
There are at least 2 electrology organizations, that are places where such knowledge is shared and work is shown with other electrologists. Neither of these accept public viewing or allow the general public ( non-electrologists) to post or view content. When I started taking up the practice a few years ago, I gave Dee a REALLY hard time over the fact that this was the case. I still dont qualify now to be a member in either one. I was told, I didnt understand why this was the case. I DO understand now. I also still dont qualify for membership in either because of my “non-professional” status. There are a number of other electrologists , whom, because of where they are, or whether they are licensed, simlarly dont qualify to take part. At the time a few years ago, I thought this made electrology something of a "“closed society” that was not forthcoming with sharing information. I’ve come to realize, it’s a method of mitigating that risk-reward issue. I still dont like it. I think techniques and expertise should be shared. It’s upsetting that it’s not, but I do understand somewhat more why this is the case. They arent doing it so that they can protect or keep information proprietary, they are doing it so they can prevent scenarios like the ones that have played themselves out here, from happening to them
To the two electrologists who have had this happen, who’s businesses and livelihoods were tarnished unfairly and without justification, please come back. The best way to show that these unfortunate situations that lead to this is just a blip in the radar, is to overwhelm the static with posative contributions. Between the two in question, there is over 70 years of combined experience , a tremendous loss to the profession in terms of knowledge. Your contributions are those of the best in the world in your profession. I beg of you both, dont let the vocal minority silence a shining star. Overwhelm the sky with light instead. Show what you have always shown, that you are the best of the best. There is good reason these people are the best in the world at what they do, it’s because they put the effort into it and shared their knowledge and experince.
Seana
