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Nailfriends for Indie Nail Professionals

Weekly emails, stories + non-cookie cutter tips to help helping indie beauty pros build healthy businesses financially, mentally, physically. If you've ever wondered if you're charging enough for your area or wanted to scale your service biz, you're in the right place! ๐Ÿ™Œ Mary (she/her) is a nail professional and marketing nerd who believes that, as co-creators of beauty that moves in the world, we deserve to be well compensated for our creations and we get to decide what that means.

@oohNiceNails Instagram grid featuring Halloween nail styles
Featured Post

nail art + pricing

Halloween is my Olympics + it starts on August 1. That's what @oohnicenails (aka Jess Warz - NAILS Next Top Nail Artist finalist, editorial artist + salon owner) replied to this recent IG story: Jess is famous (+ won 3rd place in NTNA ๐Ÿฅณ!) for all kinds of handcrafted nail art: handpainted artwork, sculpted masterpieces, organic embellishments... And I'm not just talking about Swarovski crystals. Look ๐Ÿ‘€ ๐Ÿ‘‡ Yeah, that's a real spider perfectly encapsulated + repurposed post-mortem from a dusty...

Mary is smiling behind a book called "Nails". The book is obscuring the bottom half of her face.

CHARGE๐Ÿ‘ YOUR๐Ÿ‘WORTH๐Ÿ‘ How many times have you heard that + just found yourself... ๐Ÿค” ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ ๐Ÿ˜ฐ ๐Ÿฅด ๐Ÿ™ƒ? The "charge your worth" advice makes my teeth hurt for a couple of reasons. Lots of people take those words at face value. (Ask me how I know lol.) Your worth as a unique, once-ever-cosmic-event is priceless. There's no way anyone can pay what you're truly worth. Pricing is a super personal thing. What's "fair" or "required" varies from person to person + market to market. So what's a nail tech to do...

Hey Reader! This email is coming atcha late because I had a VERY full weekend + forgot that today is Monday. Even though I had one client, did some prep work for a couple of CND classes + got a permanent filling in my first EVER root canal. ๐Ÿ˜’ All before attending a pre-screening of the movie Kneecap. (It was amaaazing!) Speaking of very full days, I know it's sooo easy to accidentally let a little ๐Ÿ’ฉ fall out of the scoop... So in case you need a reminder of some things that can keep your nail...

Just a quick one today Reader. I don't want you to get caught out with not enough notice! TOMORROWWW (July 1) registration opens for CND x Scratch Magazine's new nail competition called North America's Star Nail Artist. And guess who I'm rooting for? Yes, YOU! I can feel you puffing your cheeks out + rolling your eyes at me because you may not consider yourself that kinda nail artist. But here's why I want you to enter anyway: SWEET cash prizes for finalists A chance to party with you at next...

When most people ask me for help with nails, they're not usually thinking beyond the technical mastery of the craft itself, Reader. Like, if you finally master Plexigel, then you'll magically have a full, thriving, profitable nail business? I totally understand the logic. Andddd... ๐Ÿ‘‡ ๐Ÿ‘‡ ๐Ÿ‘‡ ...I wanna gently remind you that while we are artists, engineers + craftpeople, we are also BUSINESS people. And running a thriving business that doesn't burn you out involves more than whipping out a...

My favorite distributor just stopped by to drop off some MUCH needed remover wraps. She dished some good news(Heather is hiring another nail tech to manage overflow requests) + some not as good news(some techs are seeing a seasonal dip in business earlier than usual). So I jumped onto Facebook to see what other techs are experiencing. Is it just a Denver thing? Is it a more widespread thing? before consulting the nail hive mind And it got me thinking... How freakin' cool is it that we have...

โ€œWhen are you going to buy a house to deduct? When are you going to have kids to claim?โ€ My stomach clenched in rebellion. โ€œNot in time to help with this yearโ€™s taxes,โ€ I told the accountant. It was my first time filing taxes as a booth renter. I didnโ€™t know I was supposed to keep track of my expenses throughout the year. So now I was sitting across from a Khmer church auntie who could win an RBF staring contest with Miranda Priestly as she impatiently brainstormed business expenses. The...

After 2 clients and 16oz of light roast americano, I still couldn't stop yawning or stretching. I turned up my space heater and still felt chilly. And then my hip flexors started aching as if I'd been to a double barre class. I knew there was no way I'd be able to "power through" the rest of my 10 hour day. I don't know a nail professional in the world who has time to be sick. If you're like me, you're fully booked at least 2 weeks out. And a lot of them are standing appointments. You...

Hey Reader ๐Ÿ‘‹ It's the start of Aquarius season + I'm finally ready to share a bit of my plan for 2024! But first! This is going the last newsletter you're getting from mary.chhea@cndeducation.com. Long story short, Google + Yahoo are implementing some changes that will make your inbox a happier place. ICYMI, businesses like me + you (if you send a newsletter to folks who opted in to hear from you) must have a verified domain to send newsletters. Because "cndeducation.com" isn't my domain, I...

A masked couple pose for a selfie inside the magical experience that is Meow Wolf Convergence Station

Iโ€™m currently waiting to board a flight to London after departing on-time and returning to Denver due to technical (electrical?) issues. Not for work. Iโ€™m off for a sneaky week with my spouse to celebrate our 18th anniversary by getting my face *thisclose* to as many Cornish tidepools as possible. Which brings me to my dilemma Reader: As a business owner, how do you prepare for a restful vacation? Itโ€™s SUNDAY. Itโ€™s my wedding anniversary. ๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿ’ And I brought my laptop to do client work while...