We recently connected with Stacey Boyd and have shared our conversation below.

Stacey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

During 2021 my Mum was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer, resulting in a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy – as this was during the time when Covid was still rife, my Mum was not given much support and myself and my Dad were her primary carers – it was really hard to see her battle through not only the physical and mental demands of the cancer and treatments, but her appearance also greatly suffered. She was never one to really care about her looks but it became somewhat of a treat for me to pop round and put a little bit of colour on her nails for her as her nails were one of the only parts of her appearance that hadn’t suffered in some way during the treatments.

It made me realise I wanted to create an opportunity for people that couldn’t or didn’t want to visit a typical nail salon for reasons such as childcare, illness, disability, work scheduling, cost, anxiety etc. to still be able to take some time for self care, and thus High Tides was born – providing a ‘salon experience through your letterbox’ which contains everything you need to do a salon style manicure from your own home with a focus on maintaining healthy and happy natural nails.

Stacey, 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?

Hello there! I am Stacey, owner and qualified nail artist at High Tides Nails. I had always had a keen interest in nails, but all of the jobs I had worked in had always been areas where having anything on your nails was not allowed, such as care and the food industry. I took the opportunity during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown and trained remotely to be a nail technician with a very well known training academy, just as something to pass the time Initially! I qualified in manicure, nail anatomy, gel and acrylic and after qualifying I continued my education further, looking at areas such as nail health and repair whist returning to my job after furlough.

It was in the following year whist caring for my Mum who had breast cancer that the idea was born to be able to create a ‘salon style nail appointment through your letterbox’ to help others that may be in a similar situation or have other reasons for not wanting to/being able to attend a standard salon. We make parcels consisting of your chosen set(s) of nails in 2 sets of 10 different sizes (so no need to measure!), a full size application kit which features everything you need to apply your nails safely and so they last, and leaflets containing information such as application & removal instructions as well as care tips for your press ons and natural nail health. All of these are then packaged in a box that is small enough to fit straight through your letterbox too, so no more waiting in for the postman either.

As a qualified nail technician I am proud to say that not only do I strive to keep up to date with all of my training, every single product and piece of equipment I use is professional only standard, is made and tested in the UK, is cruelty free and vegan. I also stock a large range of HEMA free products for people who have HEMA allergies. We also stock some additional hand care items such as cuticle oils and hand creams that again are cruelty free and vegan, and are made by certified small UK business.

The beauty industry is well known for not being particularly eco-conscious and this is another area I have throught long and hard about – almost all of our packaging is fully recyclable, we have cut down on excess plastic in our packages completely, we post out with my delivery services most economical option, and I recycle things such as nail files and gel polish bottles with a special service as these are typically not accepted in standard recycling. We also provide instructions on how to remove your press on nails without damaging them, meaning they will last for many rewears, thus making your nails that little bit kinder on the environment too.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is such a key thing for me, and something I really strive to chase with every customer I recieve. I keep in mind every day that without the customers who purchase from the business, I quite simply wouldn’t have a business at all!

In every single one of our parcels that go out I always take the time to pop in a hand written note, and were relevant I’ll try and add something personal to this, such as if it is a return customer, someone I may have chatted to online prior, or someone buying a set of nails I love or a cuticle oil scent I’m currently using too – I feel like this goes down really well and it is mentioned loads of times on my reviews.

I also encourage people to take photos/videos of their parcels however they feel comfortable – it may be an unboxing, a showing off my nail collection, or a ‘Nailfie’ (a selfie of their nails!) and I make sure that all of those that are sent to me or tagged are always shown in my social media stories and added to my photos highlight on Instragram. I know myself how great it feels when something I post is shared by another company and I hope it makes me customers feel the same way!

We also have a points section on our website where people gain points for actions such as purchases, following us on social media and for their Birthdays. I also occasionally pop on and add extra points with a little note, for example I gave everyone extras for Christmas and it was really appreciated.

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

Social media for me is the biggest headache and a source of joy all at the same time! I can’t say I know everything about social media having only been running High Tides for 8 months now, but I find every day is a learning day, and I just strive to be authentic across all of my channels. Our social media isn’t the fastest growing but we are aiming for long term quality over quantity, and the majority of our subscribers are suppliers and customers for our business, allowing us to forge really strong and organic connections with people who are genuinely interested – it is no use having a huge mass of subscribers that are inactive or aren’t interested in what your business has to offer!

If we run into problems such as having an issue with the website or a supply delay, I always make sure I am straight on my social medias and just tell people openly and honestly what has happened, equally we are always on there straight away to share good news too and we’ve found some really great customers through social media.

One thing I find social media really useful for as a new business is being able to do market research from people who are already interested in your business (so in turn people who are most likely to buy!), so I am always popping up stories that feature interactive polls, Q&A boxes and sliders of things such as ‘which do you prefer’ or ‘what would you like to see’ etc

I also find that staying true to your brand and the values and products/services you have to offer is so key too – there is no use relying on trending audio/video etc and losing sight of your niche as you will lose customers and followers so quickly that way. Stay true and authentic to what you want to say and show people and although your growth will be slower, you will also have a following of people who are invested in you and your brand and want to see what you have to say and sell.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hightidesnails.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hightidesnails/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hightidesnails
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HighTidesNails