We recently connected with Lori Sartain and have shared our conversation below.

Lori, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

When I originally started doing nails, I was working for a salon in Midvale, a small city on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah. From the beginning I was booth rent and self employed but I still showed up open to close 6 days a week and waited for walk-ins. I would spend my free time watching other nail techs work. There was around 15+ girls working at any given time.
I would watch their techniques with how they addressed their clients, their prep work and their application. I would ask questions about what they were doing and the products they were using. This is how I formed my own personal technique and style. I took what I liked best from everyone and incorporated it into my own process.
5 or so years later I had a pretty steady clientele and decided to move to another salon in the same area for a little change. I also took a part time job at a local nail school as a receptionist for about 2 years. While I loved the girls I worked with at both salons, I didn’t really feel a strong connection and I was used to more of a downtown vibe. About 3 years after the second salon, I moved to a salon near downtown Salt Lake City. I loved this location and I loved (most of) the girls I worked with here.
It was this 3rd move that made me realize, I could move to as many salons as I wanted but the real problem was my sensitivity to sound.
I have PTSD and unfortunately with that comes an overwhelming sense of irritability. I struggled with the sounds of several people talking at the same time, the diverse music selection playing in the salon and not having the ability to control any of it.
I was taught from the beginning that moving into a studio suite was a bad idea and that no one ever succeeds that way.
I was working at this salon full time but I was also working at a high end holistic day spa called part time and my husband and I were the night managers at our condo. I was stretched as thin as possible working a minimum of 60-80 hours a week. I was tired, burnt out and scared that I had lost my passion for nails.
I eventually quit the spa as the pay was not worth the stress followed by quitting the night manager job because no one likes to be woken up several times a night with complaints and issues on the property.
Almost 3 years in at this location, I realized if I wanted to continue my career in nails, it was time to go out on my own and do the studio suite thing. I was nervous, scared and insecure but it was exactly what I needed.
I moved to a new studio location in Sugarhouse, right in the heart of Salt Lake City. I could play my own music and didn’t have to listen to the constant noise of others sniffing, coughing, whispering, chewing gum etc.
I had started using a product called Luxa Polish and still to this day I swear by it. They opened up applications to be an affiliate so I applied. This was a dream opportunity to me and I was accepted! This was huge to me, I was happy, things were moving up and business was good… for a year or two.
There was one problem, I had been taking care of my terminally ill mother most of my life and her health was declining for the 14th and final time. I was stressed and overwhelmed once again. I am an only child, my mom was a single parent and she didn’t have a dime to her name. She was physically and mentally ill and she only had me to take care of her. For years I had dealt with this and for years I had dealt with it as a semi functioning alcoholic.
I couldn’t progress because I couldn’t stop drinking long enough to make a plan to grow. I wanted to teach, I wanted to offer a more high end service but I didn’t have the energy or motivation that it would take to level up. I didn’t have the financial ability because I was spending all of my spare income at the bar.
Somewhere in the last 6 months of my moms life, I had a premonition. I had several clients who didn’t respect me, didn’t understand my situation and didn’t care that I was hanging on by a thread. They just wanted to know when I could get them in next or if I could just squeeze them in real fast even though my mom had fallen, overdosed by accident or I had been told she could pass at any time.
Very rarely would any of these clients check in on me or show any sort of compassion.
It’s possible I didn’t deserve it as that final 6 months are all a blur. I did what I had to do to get through it.
I had spent this 6 months trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life, I was no longer happy at my studio or with my long time clients.
One day, an Instagram add popped up for an Image Studios opening closer to my house but up in a very well to do area known as University/Foothill. I decided to reach out.
The rent was quite a bit more than I was currently paying and this was the first time I wasn’t 100% certain this was for me. I was already sabotaging myself, my health, my clientele and my marriage.
This would be the first real risk I would take and if I didn’t get it together, it would never work.
My mother passed September 11th, 2021. I then got Covid, got really, really sick and almost wasn’t able to make it to the funeral. It was at the funeral I realized I must have sabotaged every relationship I ever had as there were only about 10-15 people in the entire chapel.
I left there at peace but also feeling so alone. I felt that all I had left was my husband.
While months in the thought process, one week after the funeral, I opened Crow Nail Studio at Image Studios Foothill.
I invested every penny I had in to starting at this location. I remember my husband helping me move and my granite desk falling out of the back of his car, shattering in the street. I could only laugh at this point. We maybe had $100 left to our name and luckily I was able to find a used one online for exactly that.
My inheritance was the $400 I made at a yard sale I had on a rainy day after my mother passed so I used part of that to purchase the books needed to get my instructors license, studied, took the test and passed.
I sold all the products I had that weren’t Luxa Polish and bought two chairs, some shelves and a couple decorations. The clients that mattered, followed and referred friends and family and within about 6-8 weeks I was slammed and able to close my books.
While I wasn’t completely sober from alcohol at this point, I was doing really good and working towards it. Then it finally happened. The alcohol had made me sick for the last time. I ended up in the ER and was told I would die if I didn’t stop drinking. I didn’t want to die, my own life had just began. So March 19th 2022 I decided I would never touch another drop of alcohol again.
I watched my mom fight long term illness all of my life yet she never made the changes needed to get better or feel better at very least. I refuse to follow in her footsteps.
3 weeks in to my sobriety I decided to hire an employee. Something I would have never even considered as a drinker because then I’d have to remember to pay them and not spend their paycheck at the bar. I put up a story on my Instagram and instantly had a few people reach out. I decided to meet with the first person who responded and thought she didn’t have the same experience or clientele as the others. I knew the second I met her, she was the one. Mackenzie has now been with me for 8+ months and has recently closed her books too.
I am still a Luxa Polish affiliate and have had a few opportunities to work conventions with them andI have made some amazing friendships in the process.
I am also an affiliate for a few other brands and I am currently being paid by Instagram to make Reels.
I recently added permanent jewelry to my business as well.
While I am still working towards raising my prices to charge my worth for nails, I have more than doubled my income in the last year or so my mom has been gone and in the short 9 1/2 months I’ve been alcohol free. I am healthy again, I am genuinely happy for the first time in my life and I am beyond grateful for all that I have and for the chance to do it right.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started out at cosmetology school and as soon as I took the nail course I knew that was what I wanted to do so I left and went to a nails only school. Some would call me a beauty school dropout. I worked at 3 different salons before setting out on my own journey in a private studio.
I have now been doing nails full time or full time and a half for almost 16 years and currently work at an Image Studios in Salt Lake City. I have one employee working when I’m not in the space and it’s nice to know the space I created is being used to it’s full potential.
I am sober from alcohol and would not be where I am today without this achievement. It took a laundry list of unfortunate events for me to realize alcohol wasn’t for me.
I offer services ranging from polygel extensions, builder gel and structured gel manicures to gel polish toes and all kinds of nail art.
. I love doing nail art and find extra enjoyment in being able to create a set of nails without limitations based off of an idea in my head or a print, picture or pattern seen somewhere else. My favorite style to do is anything abstract.
I have been a Luxa Polish affiliate for about 4 years and love everything the product and company has to offer. The owner is an amazing woman who I absolutely love, the products apply better than any others I’ve tried and they are all vegan and cruelty free.
I recently added permanent jewelry to my menu and have been having fun with that on the side.
I pride myself on the sanitation of my space, tools and services. I love helping people feel their best wether it be extending length on their nails, adding shape to flat nails or fixing a disaster from nails done by someone else. Nothing makes my day more than a client telling me I’ve just made theirs.
It’s been a long and bumpy road but hard work pays off and it’s finally showing.
The hardest part of this journey has been the realization that I don’t charge enough. I struggle to inform my clients of price increases without validation. At almost 16 years in the industry, I’m still seeing people right out of school charge more than me.
I strive to stay up to all the newest trends and styles and even though I myself am an educator, I love taking continued education classes. I have yet to take a single one that I didn’t learn from no matter how basic it was.
I struggle with OCD and I feel that most of my clients are the same so we tend to pair well together.
I have recently set out on making reels, tutorials and educational posts in hopes to help other nails technicians. I am a firm believer that we are all on the same team and I love helping others succeed.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I am often asked by other nail techs new and old, how I grew my clientele. Not only did I grow it once, I did it twice only the second time only took 6-8 weeks. The number one way to grow a clientele is referrals. Let your favorite clients know you are accepting clients and have them send their friends. This way you know the type of person you’re getting and you’ll most likely click with them.
You can’t convince someone you are one of the best, if you yourself don’t believe that too.
I am constantly watching tutorials and videos of others doing nails and always trying to bring something new to my space before everyone else is offering it. Follow the trends and keep up with them, that is one thing I do to set myself apart from many other nail artists.
I also like to guarantee my work. I make it very clear that nails are “jewels not tools” I even have an after care card I send home with all new clients. However, on the occasion, clients are still going to disobey those rules or have an accident and break a nail. I like to offer a 2 week guarantee. This means that if anything happens within the first two weeks of their appointment, I will fix the broken nail(s) for free. This is a huge advantage as I have had many clients tell me they broke a nail getting in to their car leaving the salon and the salon wanted to charge them to fix it.
While I charge for late cancelations and no shows, I am human and understanding. I think it’s ridiculous to charge someone who just totaled their car on the way to their appointment, has Covid or the flu or cancels due to bad weather. You’re basically telling the client you don’t care about their well-being if you charge for this. I regulate it by giving each client one late cancel a year. That being said, a no show is still a no show. I’ve had people cancel while in labor, in the ER, after getting in an accident and even had a friend call me once when the client was in jail.
If you want to build a full and reliable clientele, be the nail technician that you, yourself would want.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Other than referrals, it’s hard to get noticed when you’re just another fish in the sea. This day and age, social media is a must for growing your business.
I strongly recommend having a separate account from your personal day to day one.
While it’s good to introduce yourself from time to time and let people know big and exciting things happening in your personal life, your professional page doesn’t need to be overloaded with selfies, political rants, stories of you drunk at the bar, your new shoes, you complaining about how hard your life is, your kids, family or pets etc. unless of course that’s what you are selling.
Trust me, I used to do all of the above. My following sat at the exact same number for years. I’d lose 2 followers then gain a couple then lose a couple more. As soon as I stopped doing this and let my business page, be a business page, my following nearly doubled in less than a year.
Another important thing when it comes to being seen is consistency. Algorithms are real. Every time I go on vacation and take a break from work, it takes a few weeks to get back in with everyone’s feed. Don’t just post the same thing all of the time, mess around with it. I like to post pictures of nails I’ve done, informative posts, product posts and reels on nail tips and tricks as well as tutorials on nail art or application of products.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @crow_nail_studio