Van boventallig naar droombaan: hoe Samira’s ontslag een nieuw begin betekende

Voor dit interview spraken wij met Samira Van der Mee – Maghnouji, een 49-jarige medisch pedicure uit Arnhem. Samira heeft zich in 2019 laten omscholen tot pedicure. Vandaag vertelt zij haar verhaal.

Declared redundant, and then?

“I worked for a health insurer for twenty years. Thanks to the crisis, I was declared redundant in 2019. There you are, after twenty years of putting everything into your work. Looking for a new opportunity again. I didn’t want to go back to office work, I was really ready for something completely different. And above all, I really wanted to work with people.

After searching the internet for a while, I noticed that I kept ending up in the pedicure profession. I therefore contacted the Gelderland training institute to take a look at a practical lesson. Feet seemed very dirty to me at first. But during the first practical lesson I noticed that you are not concerned with this at all. The class I took was about corns. During this lesson a corn was removed between the toes. The rest of the foot almost fell away! I only saw the corn and the technique used to remove it. I found it very interesting and I immediately registered for the course.”

45 years old and back to school

“That’s how it came to pass that I went back to school. And with great pleasure too. Of course it was quite exciting at first, following an education again at my age. This was completely different from what I was used to. The first lesson was about cells, what is a cell and what is cell division. That was really some income! But soon I got the hang of it and started getting high marks in my exams. I had a lot of fun, the physiology and anatomy of the foot is extremely interesting.

I first completed the basic training and then also followed the training to become a medical pedicure. I became a medical pedicure because I am of Moroccan descent and I noticed that many older Moroccan diabetics do not speak the Dutch language. This is very difficult during treatment and also if you want to give a client advice about care at home. I therefore really wanted to distinguish myself so that I can advise these customers in Moroccan. After completing my medical pedicure training, I first started working at a large pedicure practice. I was able to get started right away, with eight clients in one day. I learned a lot there. It was also very nice to start the work this way, I had direct colleagues who I could go to with questions and I was able to gain a lot of practical experience.”

Your own practice: it feels like visitors!

“During my work in the pedicure practice, my husband did not sit still: he built a practice room in the garden. I am now working full time in my own practice, Pedicure Practice Samira. It really feels like I have visitors all day. I have very nice clients and I really enjoy my work. That “dirty” feeling had already disappeared during the training. In fact, the worse the foot, the prouder I feel of the work I deliver. People come in in pain and leave almost hopping. My clients really confide in me, we cry and we laugh together. You really build a bond, I am so happy with the work I am doing now. Sometimes I almost think: I wish I had been fired sooner!”

Entrepreneurship

“Working as a self-employed entrepreneur is really different from the office work I did before. Entrepreneurship takes a lot of time, but because I enjoy it so much, it feels less difficult. When I still worked for the health insurer, I thought days of up to 17 hours were long. Now I think that’s a short day! I now work four to five days a week with very varied hours. I can have very long days from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., but I can also only work in the morning. The number of hours I work is therefore very varied. I really like the fact that I set my own hours.

To become a pedicure you must really love people and have a listening ear.

I would definitely recommend the profession. I never had a moment where I thought “why did I choose this profession”. It really makes me very happy to be able to help someone!”

Meer Opvallende Verhalen

Een rolstoel hoeft je, in het pedicure vak, niet tegen te houden!

Een rolstoel hoeft je, in het pedicure vak, niet tegen te houden!

Marianne, 55 jaar, heeft het complex regionaal pijnsyndroom (CRPS). Ze zit in een rolstoel, moet dagelijks leven met ernstige pijn en leeft op pijnstillers. Toch blijft zij werken als pedicure en heeft zij een positieve kijk op het leven. Marianne noemt pedicure zijn echt een roeping. Lees hieronder het verhaal van Marianne en haar bewonderenswaardige positieve instelling.
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