We recently connected with Mariah Piggs and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mariah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I came up with the idea to start my brand because, I was tired of going into to nail salons and leaving dissatisfied. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Those not so great experiences inspired me to become the change I wanted to see. I went to nail school, got my nail license, and spent almost 10 years in the spa industry. Another thing that really motivated me and push started my decision was the pandemic. I figured why not use this time to pour into myself but also provide a luxury, high quality experience to others. I knew this would work because of all the passion and intention I put into the nails I do and products I make. At the time, not many brands were providing high quality custom press on nails and I wanted to change that. Knowing that I would be providing a service that not many were doing made me the most excited.

Mariah, 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?

My name is Mariah and I am originally from Champaign IL, but I’ve spent the majority of my life in Charleston, SC. I am a licensed nail technician and I am also currently in school for Fashion Merchandising at the Miami Institute of Art and Design. Nails and fashion are two things that I’ve been passionate about my entire life. I’m really grateful that everyday I get to wake up and do both.

I got into this industry because as a child I absolutely LOVED all things fashion and nail related. I used to spend my afternoons as a kid flipping through different nail magazines, painting friends nails, admiring the nails I saw on my family members, and musical icons on tv. The products that I currently provide are high quality custom press on nails and cuticle oil. The problem that my product solves is, press on nails completely eliminate time spent in a nail salon as well as the commute. In 10 minutes or less you can have a full set of nails and go about your day! My cuticle oil keeps your nails hydrated, hang nail free, and promotes nail growth.

I am most proud of the opportunities I’ve gotten to have and the amazing people I have met throughout this journey. I am so thankful for the support that I’ve gotten. Not only from my clients and customers, but also from other women owned businesses as well. I’m grateful to know that my brand has made a positive impact.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

So I initially funded my business with my last pay check from the spa I was working in. I used that money to buy everything I needed. My gel polishes, blank press on nails, tools, custom stationary, website domain etc.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media by being authentic and consistent, as well as networking. I shared my ups and my downs, I shared my creative processes, resources, and even provided step by step tutorials. I would post every single day and created content that was informative and also relatable.

My advice to anyone who is just starting to build their social media presence is to BE CONSISTENT. Sometimes I would post and get tons of engagement in less than an hour. Other times I’d post and hardly have any interactions. That’s ok! Don’t let the lack of engagement discourage you from posting. Some posts take a little more time than others to get noticed but eventually they do.

Another piece of advice I have is to find out who your target audience is and cater to them. Don’t worry about those that aren’t. Your target audience is who is consistently engaging and sharing your content with others. As well as the people that keep coming back to support your business. Having people that are engaging on a consistent basis, is more important than the amount of likes or comments you get.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.obnoxiousnails.com
• Instagram: @obnoxiousnails @obnoxiouspressons
• Facebook: @obnoxiousnails
• Twitter: @obnoxiousnails

Image Credits
Mariah Piggs