How did you get into doing nails?

When I first joined my volleyball team at Northern Lights, everyone started painting their nails white. I asked my mom if I could get some white nail polish, and then it went from white nail polish to more colors. Then, I wanted to do extensions last April, so I’ve been doing nail extensions on other people for about a year. 

When did you decide you wanted to start a business?

It kind of just happened. A lot of my friends were like, “Oh, that’s so cool how you do your own nails.” They asked me one day if they could get their nails done and that’s when I started. It took me a long time for me to figure out how to do it on other people. After a while, I just started adding prices to it because it’s a lot of work and because I didn’t know how to ask people for money.

What has your experience been like learning how to run your own business?

It was pretty hard to come up with the prices because I’m new at doing it, so it took a lot of research. I will probably just gradually raise my prices as I gain more experience and knowledge of my work.

How do you balance work and school?

I have a study hall and I do a lot of my work there. I do get all A’s, but I’ve always had my expectations for myself and that didn’t change after having a job. I average one to two clients a month, but now that I’ve had my business for a year, I’ve got more attention, like word of mouth. I think it will become more difficult, but since it’ll be the summer soon it’ll be easier to work more. I like to plan out my free days with clients as it gets busy with volleyball too. I have volleyball four to five days a week. Balancing work and school can be difficult but I think my school will always come before me doing nails. I just have to make sure I get my homework done before I do someone’s nails. 

How many clients do you have?

During Homecoming, I had around nine clients. That was pretty hard to figure out, but at the same time I knew that it was coming and I just did all of my work during school and used all of my class time in order to do all of those nails. I do have a lot of regular clients, like my friends. I’m just about to get a new client that I haven’t met before which is exciting. I get new people who want their nails done every other month or so.

What do you like about your job?

I like being able to do nails for my friends. I’ve always done art since I was little, so it was pretty easy for me to start doing designs. I’m also a perfectionist, so people are usually pretty happy with their final results. It’s also a really fun, new way to spend time with my friends.