Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julie Ventura. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Julie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
As an international nail art competitor and nail education consultant of over a decade, I’d been itching to expand my teaching beyond local, in-person classes. In 2019 I decided to invest all my time into creating a premium online education experience for nail techs all over the world. It started with one course, my Master Hand-painted Nail Art course.
I spent months creating a unique, self-paced experience for students as they walk through the necessary steps to learning how to hand-paint nail art more precisely and efficiently using bite sized micro-lessons. Not only did it break down everything from understanding which products & tools to use and when to use them, but it broke the fundamentals down to how and where to hold each brush based on the desired painting technique which all require a different balance of control between you and your brush. Arm movements, wrist motions, finger dexterity, I covered it all whether you’re painting on yourself or on a client. It even walks you through what order to paint your design in, when to create outlines before flooding color and vice versa. Shading, highlighting, ombre and the subtle differences in painting with polish, gel or water-based paints.
But I didn’t want my students to lose the personal connection they had with me in my live classes. My favorite feeling came from watching students have their “Aha!” moment when understanding a technique they’d been struggling with. So, I implemented 2 things that changed the game. One was the interactive instant troubleshooting system that gives students the option to compare their work to dozens of example photos. After choosing one that matches their work the best, it gives them a written or video description on what they did right and what they can improve on and how. Second, I added a personalized feedback option. When you’re struggling with a technique and the instant troubleshooting system just isn’t cutting it, I analyze photos of your work and personally walk you through solutions.
The course was a hit! But with so many students asking for help on techniques and topics unrelated to the course, that’s when my mission statement became clear. To elevate the industries online education experience for everyone. While consulting with brands to help them elevate their educational offerings on the side, NailKnowHow became a platform dedicated to providing nail technicians and enthusiasts with education tailored to their unique path in the nail industry, no matter what that is! So, I created the Nail Career Quiz where you get matched with a fulfilling nail career based on your personality, values & skillset (whether you’re licensed or not) & started my mission of finding the best teachers in each of these career paths to guide students while keeping high educational standards.
Today we have 8 top educators (some are yet to be announced) who have all created or are creating education designed to guide you to success in your nail career path. Whether you’re taking clients, looking to land brand deals with content creation, creating a press on business, looking to dive into brand education, own a salon and more, NailKnowHow has got you covered!
Nothing brings me more joy then helping nail techs and nail lovers realize there are dozens of different career paths in this industry and there is room for everyone’s success! That’s the beauty of it.
Julie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
By the time I was a student in nail school, my work was already published in NAILS Magazine. I competed in the first ever NAILS Next Top Nail Artist (& most recently placed 2nd in the ALL STAR comp) and landed a spot on the reality TV show “Nail’d It!” while working as a nail artist in NYC. My work has been featured on the cover of NAILS Magazine, NYFW, & more.
From there I moved to LA to recruit, train and manage teams of mobile nail professionals with GlamSquad until I worked managing the education department of international nail brand, ORLY. With a passion for teaching, I took my expertise of curriculum building & founded NailKnowHow with a single course on my specialty, hand-painted nail art. The Master Hand-Painted Nail Art course was the true beginning of everything. Now, I hope to continue elevating the standards of nail education through NailKnowHow where we match nail techs and enthusiasts with fulfilling career paths in the industry and education to guide them to success.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
After the success of the Master Hand-Painted Nail Art Course, I was bombarded with questions about other nail techniques and business guidance. I initially thought to just start pumping out courses and videos to help anyone and everyone I could with my experience. But then it hit me, just because I have experience in most of these fields, doesn’t mean I’m an expert. Nail art competitions? That’s my space, that’s my expertise. Sure, I’ve created and sold press on nails, made my own indie polish brand years ago, scored brand deals & built a loyal clientele, but none of those were my specialty. So, why not find all the top leaders of each of these career paths and help them create quality education so they can guide students to true success. No one wants to learn from someone who’s dabbled in the field they’re looking to pursue, they want to learn from experts! That’s when big changes happened and NailKnowHow became what it is today!
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
After creating my first online course for NailKnowHow, I knew I had to market it properly. I had very few followers under the new business name and wanted to do everything organically and by word of mouth. I trusted my gut and gave away my course to a handful of nail artists I knew were looking for education. They raved about it and word spread fast! I started getting consisted students and all my socials were growing. I thought, this is the time to invest in my business and really push things forward!
So what did I do? I spent $6,000 on a marketing course. At the time, this was WAY more money than I could afford to spend. But I believed in it and boy did I regret it! A few months later and all of my progress became stagnant. I was getting less students in the door, lower conversion rates, my content wasn’t going viral anymore & everything just felt like it was falling apart.
This was an expensive, but awesome lesson learned that your path, your industry, your business is unique and cookie cutter sales techniques will not always work for you. Being your authentic self and showing that to your audience is 100% always going to be the way to go! Believe in yourself, be aware of your audience’s mindset & needs and work your butt off to fill them!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nailknowhow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nail.knowhow/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/julieventura
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nailknowhow
Image Credits
Julie Ventura