Hair done, outfit ready, but what am I missing? Oh right, nails!
Nails are something that is crucial to a perfect outfit, they’re the piece that ties it all together. Accessorizing can be jewelry or hair clips, but there’s something else that has been on the rise for the past few years, press ons. Press ons are such a versatile element that can really help add contrast or express yourself when it comes to fashion.
“Once I started using press ons, I was able to change them whenever I wanted to without feeling bad about wasting products. For people who get bored easily or like to match nails to your outfit. This is a great option to change it up safely,” said senior Karen Rivera-Perez, a small business owner who sells custom press ons from her shop Gelii Nails. “They also protected my natural nails from breaking so they would grow underneath the press ons and now they’re steadily growing. They save you a LOT of time since you do not need to sit and paint your own nails or have someone else do them for you.”
Creating nails had always been a passion of hers. It stemmed from a habit she had when she was younger. “Painting my nails started as anxiety as a kid, and so I painted my nails to not bite them and now it’s something that I enjoy doing for people and it’s so beautiful,” said Rivera-Perez.
She decided to start a business after a couple of her friends brought the idea to her. “So for my 17th birthday, on a real summer I got my first gel nail kit. And soon after I started doing nails for just me and my sister. And eventually I had lots of friends asking me if I would consider trying to make it a business. I never thought of that. So a few months into school, I think it was in December, when I just decided to try selling press on and it’s been pretty fun, ” said Rivera-Perez.
Another factor in her reasoning to branch out and create this business was because she had so many designs she was making at the time. Although when she first started doing her own nails, it was to break her habit, it had blossomed into a hobby of hers to de-stress after dealing with school and extracurriculars.
Her initial intention was to share it with family and friends, but when she realized how many opportunities came with the project, she started to promote herself through social media. “So far, I only have and I have been promoting either through their social media or mine. My clients have also reached out to their friends or people that they know and I’ve gotten a lot of orders from that too,” said Rivera-Perez.
Juggling both academics and a small-business can be a struggle. With trying to make time to handle homework and studying while also taking care of orders, it can be hard to find a balance. Especially for Rivera-Perez, given that she’s an IB candidate and plays two sports. “ I just try not to see my business as a chore or as a business. I’m not able to take as much time in my day for my nails, but it’s just all about finding a balance between actually studying, doing sports to practice and just having some time for myself,” said Rivera-Perez.
When designing nails, Rivera-Perez tends to find inspiration in different aspects of her life. Typically, she will find inspiration from Pinterest or nail techs that she follows but when she’s doing hers or her sister’s nails, she likes to take inspiration from objects, ideas, album covers, and more. “My favorite set so far was inspired by my orchestra pieces. I just took random inspiration from how I imagined the sound would be,” said Rivera-Perez.
When creating a business, Rivera-Perez said that the first step is to think about your audience and how much you should invest into it. When starting her own business, she notes how she invested a lot of money upfront which caused her to worry a lot about not being able to make that money back. “You have to be really careful and smart about what you’re putting in economically the time that you’re putting it in. Because if you’re not smart about it and put too much at once, it backfires, then you’re just stuck with a lot of product or you’ve wasted a lot of time,” said Rivera-Perez.
However, she still urges others to go for their dreams. “If you really want to do something, 100% go for it. I never thought that I would be able to do anything like this . I really really enjoy having the opportunity to do this. So if you really have that passion or motivation for it, then go for it,” said Rivera-Perez.
If you would like to support her business, you can find her on instagram @Gelii_nails.
