We recently connected with Ellie Masis and have shared our conversation below.

Ellie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Truly my nail obsession began pretty early in my teens. My mom had these press on nails she would usually grab at the local drug store and that’s where it really all began. I remember being 13 and begging her to please let me wear some press on nails. Eventually press ons turned into actual nail appointments at the salon. Although, I never was truly happy with my nails or the service I was receiving. Eventually I gave up on the salon and my mom was the one who bought me my first at-home gel manicure kit. That’s where the obsession really began. Finally at nineteen, I signed up for beauty school and became a licensed nail technician.
Once I graduated I was quickly let down by the reality of being a nail technician. No one really ever talked about the amount of time it actually took to make actual money. The salon that i started working at worked with an app that offered deals to clients. What they don’t tell you, is that most salons are only commission based and do not offer hourly rates. Therefore, after the client purchased a deal, the app keeps half of that total, the salon gets the other half, and I was left with approximately $6. Yes, $6 for a two to three hour appointment. I remember my first paycheck like it was yesterday, the anticipation, I think I even had that twinkle in my eye. I had worked 45 hours that week, all to be let down by a check signed for $120. This was one of the hardest moments for me, because I had this dream, this love for nails, but realistically i had to figure out if this was going to be my professional career or my hobby.
As much as I wanted to quit, I just couldn’t let it go. I just had to keep doing nails, I couldn’t see myself going any other direction in my career.
Time went on, and the pandemic made its arrival into the US. The salon shut down due to a city mandate for the infamous “two week quarantine”. Well this was my way out of the salon. I couldn’t just sit tight wondering what was going to happen next, so I decided that there had to be a way for me to keep doing what I loved. That’s when I decided to start my own press on nail business. From that day on, for an entire year of the pandemic, I worked every single day of my life. I had the opportunity to join the creator fund on tik tok, one of my videos had gone viral and I ended up with 10K followers overnight. This is where I truly realized I had found my place in the nail community. Shipping my products to Canada, to Spain, and all over the US.
Little did I know, most of my following were women living in my city. When the time came around to where it was technically safe to be around humans again, I decided to take the risk and offer in person appointments again. In about a couple hours i was booked out for the month. I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was going to take me another couple of months or even years to get to that point in my business. Since then, 5 years into my professional career, my business is as busy as ever. I have made amazing connections with my clients, I have made friends, reached several of my goals in the Instagram nail community, and im the happiest I’ve ever been with my business.

Ellie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am 24 years old, happily married to my husband and a dog mom. I would say I am someone who is really scared of risks, yet for some reason I am constantly taking them. I come from a Guatemalan- Honduran home, so in my family being shy isn’t really a “thing”. I guess that’s why I am definitely an outgoing person.
My passion is anything art. I used to draw a lot when I was younger, eventually my artwork went from a big canvas to the smallest little canvas, nails. Anything from character drawings to insane 3D sculpting on a nail is what I really enjoy doing!
The look on my clients faces when we’re done is definitely the best feeling. Comments like “I trust you” or “I can’t believe this is exactly what I asked for”, is the reason why I do what I do. Along with forming deep connections with my clients. Well, if anything they’re more like friends at this point. I get to see my clients go through so many stages in life. I’ve seen them go through first jobs, college acceptances, breakups, marriages, pregnancies, and basically every major life event. The trust that these women have in me is a privilege. I see it as a privilege. Of course, I know I’m providing a service, but in reality, I feel like im just growing close to people more and more everyday.
In fact, I feel even they see me go through all of my stages of life as well.
Recently I had to go through one of the hardest moments of my life. Four months into my marriage, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Hodgkins Lymphoma.
At this time my husband obviously could not work. He had many chemotherapy sessions and doctors appointments. This flipped our lives upside down.
I found myself really holding a lot of my feelings in. I found myself being the one to now takeover the financial responsibilities as well.
Who was there? My clients. They were the most supportive in the worst time of my life. I think there were clients that even decided to make extra appointments just to be able to support me. I had clients help me both emotionally and financially. It was the hardest time of my life, but I was okay. I was okay because my business brought me a lot of peace in that time.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

One of the best strategies has definitely been social media. I don’t think my business would be where it’s at if I didn’t have Tik Tok or Instagram. Consistency is key, and yes it is hard. Specially when you’re a one woman show. I have to make time even when there’s no time. Keeping up with trends and learning new filming techniques is critical. Sometimes even doing things that are outside of my comfort zones.

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

Putting my all into my services was key to building my reputation. I remember when I would go to other nail salons, I never had conversations with whoever was doing my nails at the time. It was always go, go, go. I make the biggest effort to connect with my clients. Have those meaningful conversations, explain your services, give them advice, those are the things that make them want to keep seeing you. Of course, doing a good job at your trade is important, but most of the time people are really looking to have genuine connections.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @elliephantnails
• Other: @elliephantnails on TikTok