We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Juarez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexis , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

I know some people would say they would never change a thing, when it comes to their journey, but that’s sometimes not realistic. I believe we all sometimes wish we had a time machine to make a few tweaks in our life.

If I could change a few things and be able to start over I would tell myself to not spend money on all the nail trends. I found myself always coming across the newest color, or design and that of course involves money.

The thing is nail techs don’t profit as much as one would think. All of the basic supplies we need in order to give you a simple set of nails costs a lot of money. From the tips, to the top coat and supplies needed in between is often overlooked.

When I first started doing nails and offering it as a paid service, I would stress over my clients wanting the newest design and I would go out of my way 90% of the time to purchase everything I needed, whether it was nail charms, or specific gel polish. Most of the time, clients would change their mind the day of their appointment and well, next thing you know, I have all these nail supplies in a random drawer I wouldn’t even touch.

In the beginning of my journey everything i made from offering nail services was always getting spent on new supplies or equipment I needed to make my space more welcoming.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Alexis Juarez and I am 27 years old. I was born and raised in Whittier, CA and have always loved being, as I call it, an uptown whittier girl. I am a wife and mother and pride myself in being a business owner as well. I started my business in 2020 as a home based nail tech and have really taken charge of prioritizing my business needs over the last 4 years. In April of 2023, my friend Caitlin, who is also a nail tech, and I decided to take a crucial step for our businesses, and that was going to beauty school to become licensed.

Being licensed and finally setting the goal to not be home based really took my business by storm. I decided to rebrand and open an LLC, and that’s where Librarté Studio was born. I am a libra and create art for a living, so that’s how the name came to be.

I started working in a beauty bar beginning of August and recently in February, I took a big step in moving into my own private studio.

I offer gel extensions, as well as structured manicures. I believe what sets me apart is my time efficiency when it comes to the services I provide. I have been in this industry for quite some time now, so my experience has made it possible for me to achieve beautiful nails in a timely fashion, but also maintaining my clients natural nail health.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I would say the best source of new clients is definitely word of mouth or sharing my work on social media. Most of my new clients are referred by family members, friends, etc. It makes me feel so special when clients tell me “hey I told my niece to book an appointment with you” or “My coworker loved my nails so I gave her your Instagram!”

Also, social media is one of the biggest ways I source new clients. When my clients post my work on their stories & tag me, you wouldn’t believe how many people connect with me. It’s truly amazing how social media has been a huge blessing for my business .

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is one of those things that can be a hit or miss. My Instagram wasn’t really doing so great at reaching the audience I wanted, or just getting the traction I needed. So, I decided to shift and focus on my tiktok account.

It is true when they say to post and be consistent. I would post 2 tiktoks a day about nail tutorials, tips & tricks, and finally one of my videos went viral. I started January 2023 with 300 followers and now I have 50k followers. It is a lot of hard work recording and editing content, but you wouldn’t believe how many clients have found me on TikTok.

My biggest advice I can give is to just be yourself and make your content unique. Don’t worry about what other content creators are posting, but instead post whatever you feel shows a little piece of yourself. You never want to be that person that has one personality online and are completely different in person. Be genuine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://librarte-studio-llc.square.site/
• Instagram: @librartestudio
• Other: Tiktok: @librartestudio