We recently connected with Bianca Word and have shared our conversation below.

Bianca , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

When it comes to asking friends and family for the support of my business, I always feel a little hesitant because not all the time people’s actions match their words. You can have an idea of something you want to do in life and receive so much verbal support and encouragement, but not all the time does it show when you finally decide to take actions with your plan. This is why I find it easier to just use social media to the best of our abilities and whoever decides to like, comment or share will do just that.

The only aspect I feel it is inappropriate when asking your friends and/or family for support is when it becomes financially because SUPPORT comes in so many other ways. Now there is nothing wrong with asking, but if you are approaching the situation as if that is the only way someone can support you then that is when I feel it is inappropriate; especially if you have not done the same for someone in the past or at least have lend a helping hand out yourself.

My reasoning for saying this is because I don’t like to judge other people’s pockets or financial situations and I know they have other things going on in life as well. This is why I say that support can look like: telling a friend about my business, commenting/like/ sharing a post about my business, passing out information for my business and etc.. I have also gained new clients from all of these outlets when it comes to supporting my business.

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

I am a Mother of many talents who decided to take a leap of faith and pursue one of my talents that I had taking a major interest in over time. Now I have always loved going to the shop to get my nails done, but one day I decided to let my acrylics grow all the way out so I could start wearing my natural nails. This choice came about because I hated how fragile and sore my nails were when I would soak my acrylic nails off; I really just wanted my natural nails to be healthier underneath. I began looking on YouTube for designs, press on nail options, and other alternatives that I could do myself all while rebuilding the strength of my natural nails. I took the press on route since it looked the easiest and it seemed to be the least expensive. Once I ordered my products and began to create my own designs, the excitement took over and I would start ordering more products to expand my design options. This liking grew so quickly and so did my nail supplies lol. When people started asking me, “Where did you get your nails done at?” and I responded with, “Oh I did these myself, they are press-ons.” Their reactions added to my excitement of creating my own press-ons, so with that along with some of my friends encouraging me to start selling them, is when I decided to start my own brand in creating and selling my own press-ons.

A friend of mine on social media sent me information of a nail salon offering an “Acrylic For Beginners” class and I immediately became interested. I signed up and I’m so glad I did because the day of, during, and after the class I was filled with so much excitement because I had new ideas, plans, and goals to add to my business. Little did I know that this would be a stepping stone into taking the next step into my entrepreneurship journey. Fast forward, I decided to take that big leap of faith and quit my job so that I could go to school to become a Licensed Nail Technician and I did just that! When I received that email saying that I passed both parts of my exam I celebrated loudly and proudly.

I am now a Licensed Nail Technician and I decided to be a Travel Nail Technician so that I could still build my own business up without having to give a shop a portion of my earnings. As a Travel Nail Technician I get to perform nail care services on the client while they are in the comfort of their own home. This experience is more personal and it still allows the client to receive services for their own convenience. As of right now I do not offer “acrylic services” because I feel that my acrylic work is not where it needs to be and my work needs to speak for itself. Practice makes progress so that’s exactly what I plan on doing until further notice. I also feel like being a Travel Nail Technician you can tend to those clients who are unable to leave the house to go to a shop when they may just want that extra form of self care for themselves.

I get excited when I meet a new client, whether they decide to re-book with me or not because the fact that they decided to support my brand means a lot to me. Although the goal is to get a re-book I’m okay with not receiving a re-book because after every service I evaluate it from beginning to end to see if there was anything that could have been done differently. I will say the #1 thing I always receive great feedback on is my customer service and my personality which is a huge plus to me and my business.

With all that being said I just want my supporters to know that you should keep going after that dream or that idea that was placed in your heart and allow no one to deter you from the direction you want to go. It’s going to take time, dedication, and consistency, but just know it will all work out. I am still in the beginning years of my business and I am still learning and building my brand.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social Media & Word Of Mouth from friends who have received services from me as well.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Leave doors of other opportunities open and don’t be so quick to shut the door just because you are unable to see the bigger picture right away.

I never was the type to “jump on the band wagon” when it comes to trends because I rather just do my own thing and be me, but in this industry I quickly learned that whatever is popular would receive the most likes, views, and re shares. I had told myself that I wouldn’t do certain designs just because everyone else is doing them not knowing I was hurting my own brand. Customers want to see that you can do what’s popular or what’s trending so that they can book your for the service. Who wants to book with a nail tech for a nail service, but has to go somewhere else for the designs? Honestly I am still struggling a little bit with this but when I do post a trendy design the numbers speak for themselves. Plus, you can still do what is trending and add your own twist to it to make it stand out even more.

Another choice I made that I recently decided to go back on was deciding not to offer acrylic services because I could not get the liquid to powder ratio as quickly as I wanted to. I had removed it from my booking site and was done with it. Seeing so many acrylic nail videos on social media, I did not want to limit myself that had potential to bring more income in. You may not get everything you want as quickly as you want but with practice and consistency your skills will get better over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://SignesKreations.as.me/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nailedbysigne