Welcome!

And we really, truly mean that.

(If you’re not enrolled yet and found yourself here by accident, click here to find and enrol in a course that works for you. We’ll see you back here soon!)

Monaco is a beautiful, unruly beast, and it will give you back everything you put into it, ten-fold. Our community is second-to-none and the most open-minded, supportive, loving group of people you could imagine to exist. You’re going to fit right in.

So let’s get you underway –

1) Join our Student-Only Facebook Group

If you haven’t already, we would love you to join the Students and Graduates Facebook group. This is a general support and advice group but we do a lot of course organisation within this group so it really is rather important that you join. I know not everyone is a Facebook Person but our group is worth joining it for!

We also have Facebook Messenger Group Chats for each region. Some are chattier than others, but it’s a great way to have direct contact with your Regional Mentor as well as your local community. We love a good meet-up!

If you’re enrolled in ‘Salon Success’, please also join the Salon Success Facebook Group here.

PS – Please do not, under any circumstances, private message your Educators on Facebook. If you don’t want to post publicly in the group, email us instead.

2) Get Social!

Add your Facebook and Instagram Handles to this post, so we can all follow your journey and celebrate your progress.

You’ll find us @MonacoNailAcademy on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube.

We encourage you to use the hashtags #LearnAtMonaco (for pretty much anything), #ShopAtMonaco when you use our products, and #CompetitionFreeZone to promote that you’re a safe space for other Nail Techs to enjoy your work – there’s no spying or copying in this biz, just inspiration and learning!

Tag us in everything you post too – sometimes we only get permission to re-share and promote your work if we’re tagged.

3) Complete our Pre-Training Survey

If you haven’t already done this for previous classes, please head over to this link and fill out our Pre-Training Survey. You will need to complete a Learning Styles quiz and Personality Test beforehand so that you can add the answers within the survey. Both are quick and easy but it’s crucial that we have the results to be able to help you learn in the best possible way. We’re trained to fully understand the outcomes and adjust our teaching styles accordingly.

4) Start your Course!

Access the online components of your course by logging into this website. You’ll find them under Dashboard > Courses > Modules.

If you enrolled in individual modules, they should already be there. If you enrolled in the Foundation Certificate in Nail Technology, please give us 2 Business Days to get everything ready for you.

Click on any Module to start going through the course content. You will occasionally see markers that say ‘It’s time to book a lesson’ (which refers to a 3-Hour block with a Mentor, either in person or online via Zoom).

• Start with The Theory of Nails. You can work on this while also working through practical modules at the same time.
• With the practical modules, definitely start with Manicures and Pedicures first unless you have a prior Beauty Therapy or Nail Qualification.
• You can then pick and choose from Dipping Systems, Builder in a Bottle, IBX, Acrylic, Hard Gel, Poly Gel and Soft Gel Extensions in any order. Of all practical modules, we would prefer that you did E-File last, with a bit of experience under your belt.
• The Art of Nails and Salon Success are also awesome courses that you can work on side by side with others. We highly recommend starting Salon Success as soon as you get it, and doing a couple of lessons a week, even if you THINK you’re not ready.

5) Book your Lessons! 

(This doesn’t apply to The Art of Nails, Salon Success, or to some Short Course options)

SUPER IMPORTANT – There is a misconception that Lessons are Assessments. We get a lot of students saying they’re not ‘good enough’ to do a lesson yet. That’s the point! A lesson is where we teach you. You see the pre-recorded demos in your course, then you do a lesson and we guide you through giving it a go yourself. Please do not delay booking your lessons!

Only once you have reached a Lesson Marker (‘It’s time to book a lesson’) in your online workbook can you book in to work with a Mentor on a particular skill.

You can book via the Marker page or at the bottom of the page you’re on now. Please make sure to look at the Google Calendar first as some are Online Only, In Person Only, or Assessments Only.

If you want to do all live lessons back to back (for example you are travelling or taking time off work to do them), you are more than welcome to do this, just complete all online content first and then book them all at once.

6) Find models for your lessons

Almost all Lessons require models. You can see details of what models are required by downloading and printing the Lesson Guides for each Module (linked above).

A handout to help you find the models you need can be found below too.

You are welcome to use our Student Facebook group to find other students with whom you can share models. This just takes off the time pressure during a lesson.

We’re also aware of but not affiliated with this Facebook Group which might help.

7) Attend your Lesson

If your lesson is online, download the Zoom App well in advance, onto your phone. On the day of your lesson (or perhaps try it in advance), click ‘Join Meeting’ and type in 957-455-7300 (Tip – It’s our phone number with some extra zeros if you lose it).

You will be able to see your Mentor and they will be able to see you.

Set your phone up somewhere at an angle that we can see your work from. You’ll see examples of how others have done it in the ‘Virtual Classrooms’ chapter at the start of every Module.

The goal of the lesson is to polish the skills you saw in the videos you have already watched. If you have met your prerequisites, you have already watched 2 camera angles in great detail go over the skill that you are about to practice. In the live lesson, mentors are there to reinforce that learning, not replace it. They are there to make sure you understood what you already saw, demo to give you a refresher, watch you to make sure you’re getting it right, demo again and again to just show you bits you missed such as file angles.

To get the best out of your experience, I would suggest getting an Octopus Tripod from Trade Me (they’re under $5), attaching your phone to it, and attaching the Octopus to your overhead desk light so that your phone camera is facing down over your work space. Make sure your phone can be plugged in to its charger from your desk and that you have a good wifi signal.

If you live near another student – get together at the same house/salon and stream in together!

I can’t stress enough that this should be a last resort. You only receive the number of Lessons shown on your Lesson Guide. If you enrolled before September 2023 and call in sick to a booking, you will have to pay ($90 per 3-Hour Lesson) to rebook that used-up Lesson. For everyone else, lessons are non-refundable within 7 days of the scheduled booking.

If you do have to call in sick though, please use the Facebook Group. We have different Mentors on different days and no shared phone line so if you post in here anyone who needs to see it, will. No one wants a PM on their day off 😉

8) Complete all remaining criteria for your qualification

Have you completed –

• All prerequisites for your Module? For example, passing the Theory Assessment. The Overview page of your Module will tell you what is required.
• All pre-recorded content in your Module? Click ‘Complete Course’ when you’re over 90% completion.
• All Live Lessons for your Module? The Overview page of your Module will tell you how many there are, and you’ll see them marked as ‘It’s Time to Book A Lesson’ inside the course, or in a list on Fresha, our booking system.
• All Exams associated with your Module? The Overview page of your Module will tell you what exams are required. Inside the Module, usually under ‘Bonus Content’ you will also see ‘How to Pass the XYZ Module’ and another ‘It’s Time to Book a Lesson’ Marker. Once you click that, it will specify your Assessment.
• All Portfolio Submissions required for your Module? Again, the Overview page of your Module will tell you if a Portfolio is required. Inside your Module, these are marked as ‘Portfolio Submission’.

Top Tip – Push Ctrl+F on your computer keyboard to bring up a ‘Find’/Search bar. Type Portfolio or Lesson or whatever you’re lookiung for and this will be highlighted for you.