We recently connected with Olivia Peterson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, thanks for joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

My most recent crazy story happened about a month ago. I had a new client that had come to get a luminary (builder gel) set. She had been referred to me by a friend. I started her set as I normally would. About half way through her appointment my worst nightmare came true. She put her hand in the light to cure and it didn’t turn on. My heart dropped. I tried plugging it into different outlets but nothing happened. So, I had to tell her that there is nothing I can do to fix this. I said you can go home (luckily she had matte topcoat on) and I will leave right now and go get a new lamp.
So, she went home and I ran to Walmart immediately. When I got there I didn’t see a lamp in sight. I then went to a local beauty supply store. They only had one lamp and it was WAY out of my price range. I felt very defeated. I looked on Amazon and found a lamp that would ship to my house by the morning. I ordered that and a spare so this situation will never happen again. I texted my client and we found a time to finish her nails.
The next day she came over and I finished her nails. She was very kind and understanding which was very appreciated. I told her that I wouldn’t charge her because of the inconvenience but she insisted. So I just charged 50%. She kindly paid the full price anyway. I am so grateful for the amazing clients that come to me. I have learned my lesson to be prepared for anything that can happen

Olivia, 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 first became interested in nails when my sister in law, Maddie, introduced me to gel polish. I bought the nail kit that she showed me off of amazon. The kit was very cheap and just had the bare minimum for what was need to accomplish a gel manicure. I began by just painting my nails with a solid color and then I moved onto very simple designs using a pencil eraser and a toothpick. Most of these designs consisted of lines and dots. I then moved onto practicing on friends and family.
After about a year of just doing gel manicures I decided to try using acrylic. My mom went to hair school and told me it would not be as easy as it seems. I figured that I had watched enough acrylic application videos on tiktok that I would be fine. So, I bought another kit off of amazon. I began applying the acrylic and surprised myself and my mom with the results. I did a pretty good job for it being my very first attempt. I started focusing more on acrylic and nail art. After about 6 months of practice my parents were encouraging me to go to nail school. I was unsure about this because I had always planned to go to school and become a teacher. I was not planning on spending my entire summer in nail school.
I finally decided that this could be a nice side job while I was a janitor. During last summer I went to nail school monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. I was exhausted every night, but my parents said they have never seen me this happy. I finished nail school in two months. My classmates called me the acrylic queen.
After graduated nail school I became licensed and began building my business in my older brothers room in my parents basement. I was going into my senior year of high school and I was going to school full time coming straight home to do nails. I slowly began building a clientele. Once prom season hit my business had grown immensely. I had to stop taking new clients for about a month because I was busy with graduation and enjoying my last few months as a kid.
After graduating high school I quit my job as a janitor and focused all my time and attention on nails. This summer I have grown an amazing business. I have been able to pay for college and a car. As I start my first semester of college I hope to grow my business on social media as well as begin my journey in becoming an elementary teacher.

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

When I first graduated nail school I was very eager to create a clientele. I posted on Instagram constantly and was always trying to grow my business. Business started grow VERY slowly. I started with about 1-2 clients per week. I would go days without any clients. As the months went on I got more and more clients. Word was spreading much faster. Now I am at the point where I have 2-4 clients per day. My clientele has tripled. I am so thankful for my clients and how loyal they are. Many of them have been with me since the beginning and I wouldn’t be here without them.

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

Social media is a major component for building a business. Without using social media I would have half the amount of clients. Some advice is to post as much as possible. Show what you can do, what your day to day life is like, and what your personality is. People love to know about others lives and they want to know who the person is that they are booking with. This gives clients a glimpse into your life and a way to build a relationship. Many of my clients will post their nails and tag me. This is one of the best ways to spread the word about your business. When this is happening you can easily see the growth. Social media is a necessary step to take when creating a strong clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://glossedbyliv.booksy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glossed.by.liv?igsh=MWhkMjJ1ZW8zZHlpYw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://linktr.ee/glossed.by.liv