We recently connected with Lucia Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lucia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

Throughout my nail career, and time as an educator in my field, I have learned that our students are not properly prepared to have a successful business by simply reviewing our states curriculum.

One of the things I would change about the nail industry’s education system is to implement a mandatory program, included in the states current curriculm, elaborating on the state’s business requirements, permits, taxes, licenses, and renewal’s.
This program would include everything from how to register your business name, which type of business you would like to establish, how to set up an EIN if one is needed, tax permits required by your city, county, state, insurance policy information, merchant options, and fees & renewal time frames for all of these. Also detailed tax information so our students understand how to do proper record keeping & budgeting for their business taxes.

Upon realizing this need, I developed a presentation that discussed each one of these topics in depth. I reached out to the other educators in the school and we planned a day for all of our students to get together and participate in my presentation. We were able to sit with our students & go through the actual websites they would need to access, review in full detail how to set up their businesses, how to reach out for insurance quotes, gave examples of the different merchants & fees, and answered every question they had.

I have volunteered my time to local beauty schools to host this presentation & find it incredibly rewarding to see how much more prepared our students feel afterwards. This is most definitely something I plan on continuing to provide.

Making sure our future business owners are properly prepared is most definitely part of my purpose.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Lucia Garcia, owner of ‘Mi Luz Nails’, I have loved nails since I was a little girl! I was the neighborhood nail tech & remember creating super cool art! I would change my polish every other day to match my outfits & did my best to avoid smudging my nails! The regular polish struggle was real!

In college I studied to become an art teacher, but as time passed I made my career in corporate management and absolutely loved it!! I believe because of that experience I am able to have a successful business today! 14 years later I finally decided to chase my dreams! I left my corporate career, and became a licensed nail technician!

I specialize in sculpted nails & hand painted nail art! Many of my clients bring in nail inspiration found in photos, their outfits, nature, or simply allow me to freestyle, which is the best! I would’ve never imagined my art canvases being nails!

I believe that the environment I create in my salon is one of the things that sets me apart from others. It has always been incredibly important for me to create a space where my clients are able to fully relax, communicate freely, receive quality long lasting nails, excellent service with industry leading products & tools, & have an experience they will look forward to receiving again!

I book by appointment which allows for one-on-one quality time. I also make sure to book enough time so that we are not rushing during the process,. This helps my clients to feel calm and look forward to their next nail date!

Inspiring others to reach their goals is a huge part of this nail journey! Your dreams & goals matter, & you are most definitely capable of achieving them! I feel beyond blessed to be able to do nails every single day! I have such beautiful relationships with my clients and feel so thankful to have such amazing people in my life! I truly feel I am living my purpose, and that is what I am most proud of!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Deciding to leave my corporate management career was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made! It seemed crazy wanting to leave almost 14 years of hard work, benefits, retirement, & 4 weeks of paid vacation!

What was even more crazy though was that my son was the first one dropped off in before school care, the last one picked up from after school care, I had severe insomnia, wasn’t eating well, & lived with terrible migraines, yet still managed to work through them! The day finally came when I had enough!

Over the course of almpst three years I sold my house, moved to a new city, left my corporate career, & dared to dream! I completed the Nail Technician program & have not looked back! I have worked more hours than ever before yet have had more time with my son than ever before! No more before & after school programs, no more insomnia, & no more debilitating migraines!

We have all faced so many challenges these last few years! I truly believe my business has continued to grow because I’ve stayed focused on my purpose, I’ve understood that even the trials are a part of the journey, & I’ve kept my faith trusting everything will be ok! It’s been four years now & I am truly beyond blessed!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Growing clientele is definitely one of the most difficult parts of establishing a successful business! I believe that having the right environment and support system in the beginning of your career is incredibly important!

I was very blessed to booth rent in a salon owned by a friend of mine! Through her referrals, social media, & the bazillion hours of marketing done through out the years, my book is almost completely full!

One of the ways I grew my clientele was by making little promotional packs! I included my business card, a $5 gift card, a mini lotion sample, & some candies! I passed them out to all the tellers, cashiers, waitresses, post office staff, & everyone who worked in my plaza!

Another strategy I used is to participate in community events! Set up a booth at your local art festival or vendor events! Make cuticle oil pens & sell them there! Sell gift certificates! Set up a raffle where clients need to complete a contact card to enter! Then ask them to follow your social media page to participate in the live raffle drawing!

Also many times, especially right before school starts, many schools are looking for sponsors to buy ads for yearbooks or sports events in exchange for your logo or business card being published! You’d be surprised how many teachers & parents look at these & are willing to support local businesses!

When growing your clientele focus on the kind of services you wish to offer and seek out those clients! Stay consistent & remember marketing is included as a business expense! Include it in your budget! A friend of mine once said, “You have to spend money to make money!”. Be strategic & fearless & your hard work will pay off!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=jeulqjh0qj85&utm_content=47yly3t
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiLuzLucia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUEzFHVbrowoeCjj7arFYBg

Image Credits
Lucia Garcia ‘Mi Luz Nails’