Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suki Thao. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Suki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

To start off, the term ‘success’ and how the way an individual defines the meaning of it, is very different for every person. However, in my experience, what it takes to be a successful person in all aspects of life is that you show up and you do the work. If you want to be successful, you have to put yourself in an uncomfortable position, stay in it and push through. It is crucial that you believe in yourself and you do whatever it takes to not give up.

The road to success can also be very lonely and you need to be okay with being alone! Not every friend you have will want the same thing as you and you need to be okay that wanting different will set you apart from the rest. Your family and the closest people to you may not even understand but it doesn’t matter because as long as you understand why you are doing it, you are the only person you need to get the job done. There will be sleepless nights and countless hours of you missing out on ‘fun’, but to put it in a simple question, if you want different results, why would you do the same thing everyone else is doing? Everyone has the desire to be successful in their own way but not everyone is willing to put the work in to earn their success. Genuine success is something that is earned, never given.

In my personal experience based on my current success, I am someone who refuses to stay in one place in life especially if that space makes me feel comfortable. When I catch myself being too comfortable in a position, I feel the hunger to want more because I know my potential is bigger than what I currently have. I believe that the opportunities in this world are endless and you should always dream big especially if you have the opportunities and resources to. Many would say they love to be comfortable but I feel like comfortability is one of the main factors that will set you up for failure. Failure is something that is unavoidable and everyone needs to go through it to succeed and to value their success no matter how big or small.

Everything that happens to us occurred for a reason and we can never control how that will affect our path but one thing we can control is how we react towards the situation. I, myself included, have experienced failure but I am always grateful to have gone through them. I just take it as, what I wanted at the time was not meant for me and if it was meant to truly be mine, it would’ve worked out. Which is why it is important to control what is in your power. Your reaction towards everything matters!

Suki, 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 Suki and I am a Licensed Nail Technician and Manicurist in Sacramento, California. I specialize in acrylic nails, gel extensions (Gel X), different services of gel manicures, acrylic nail art and hand painted gel nail art. I started providing manicuring services at the age of 17 and I am currently 20. I’ve always enjoyed the beauty of art and servicing nails for my clients gave me such a huge advantage to express what I was passionate about.

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be an artist. However, being so young and ambitious yet also very scared and fearful of life not knowing what to expect, I wasn’t able to express what artistry really meant to me, until I launched my business in 2020. Therefore, I named my business ‘Artistry By Suki’. During 2020, COVID-19 affected many small business owners but I am very blessed to say my business flourished amazingly. I worked everyday through the pandemic meeting countless clients who kept me fully booked and always spoke positivity towards my business and also towards me as an individual. With such deep support from my family, friends and clients, I was able to attend and afford the Manicuring program at MIXED Institute of Cosmetology and Barbering in Sacramento.

It was very difficult attending school, accepting clients full time and balancing out a personal life. Going through that phase in my life kept me extremely disciplined and motivated for what I was able to accomplish next. It was very humbling to go through such challenging times but I am glad to say I am here today to see how far I have come along in my journey as a nail technician.

As an individual, I believe that my genuineness towards my clients is what sets me apart from others. To put it in perspective, my business is not just my job or something that makes me money and pays for my bills. I truly value the experience with every client that comes to me. Every conversation holds a connection and I am so privileged to be able to bond my energy with so many rare human beings. Every client stands out differently in their own way and that is what makes them special! Therefore, my clients aren’t just regular human beings that pay for a service and leave, they come in looking forward to catching up with me and actually enjoying the experience as a whole and that’s what makes my services so different from the rest.

If I could name one thing that makes me such a proud nail technician is that I am chosen by my clients! To be chosen by my clients is such a beautiful and unexplainable feeling. Their loyalty for me runs so deep and I will never be able to express it enough and I am very humbled by it! I am able to dream big and be passionate about what I do because my clients are my backbone to my business!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building an audience on social media became fairly easy compared to years ago when social media wasn’t really a big thing. Many social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok made it very accessible to business owners to promote their content to their preferred targeted audience.

In my experience, I grew my business page off of Instagram and I still currently use Instagram as my main platform that my clients book me through. It was very difficult gaining social media attention being a one person business owner because you are your own promoter, manager and worker all in one. I had to figure out how the algorithm works, what hashtags to use to target the clients that I needed for my page and what time was best to post.

To anyone who is looking to build your content on social media, my biggest advice would be to just post your content! Even the ones that you may think that won’t get that much attention, it may even be the post that gets the most attention. The interesting thing about social media is, you are not able to predict or choose what gets the most attention and what doesn’t. That’s why it’s important to just post your content! Think of it like your personal portfolio to showcase your work! Everyone is so different and people find beauty even in posts that you think are flawed.

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

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is consistency! It’s very simple, if you want something to turn out the way you expect it to be, you need to be consistent with what you do. An example of consistency that works great for me is posting! I post almost everyday whenever I can to show my followers that I am active. It can be like a post or a reel or even a story! Just anything to showcase your content. That is also why I have such a consistent clientele because they see that I am consistent with what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://voyagela.com/interview/daily-inspiration-meet-suki-thao/
• Instagram: @artistrybysuki
• Facebook: Artistry By Suki
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Photographer: S Kay Edits Photography + Film, @skayedits