My story starts like many others you may have heard.  I was a driven young woman who worked her way into a managerial position by the age of 18 at a popular Tacoma nail salon.  I worked long hours, had only one day off, and was severely underpaid… but I was a MANAGER! Wonderful!… right?  Truth be told, the 60 hour weeks, having no life of my own, and making only $10/hour (no overtime) started to exhaust me.  I was dreading work everyday, even painting nails was no longer fun.  But then, 2 things happened: 1) Pinterest and the artistic nail craze came about (and I started enjoying that aspect again), and 2) I began building a clientele that relied on me as an expert on nail care, and I found I really wanted to help these people; if I could be a resource on having healthier and stronger nails, I wanted to be!