Today we’d like to introduce you to Davi Smith.
Hi Davi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It’s actually pretty simple. I always really enjoyed nails as a kid, I would paint designs on nail tips and eventually on myself in middle school. When I started high school I joined the cosmetology program, originally wanting to do hair. But when we started learning acrylic nails, that quickly became my favorite thing, and what I was best at. I graduated high school with my cosmetology license and in the same year started doing nails from home in a little she-shed. I did that for about 4 years before moving to Sola Salons in Southpark Meadows, where I have been for nearly 4 years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a relatively smooth road, I was lucky to be working from home when I still lived with my mom and she didn’t ask me to pay any rent or anything, so I was really able to focus on practicing and gaining clients. Unfortunately covid happened less than a year into my business so I had to close for a while, which really sucked. Once I was able to open back up my business really began growing. Things got really tough when I had to move to Austin though and a lot of my clientele didn’t follow, which is to be expected when moving to a new location. I definitely struggled for a bit but within about a year or so I was doing better. I’m now to the point where I’m booked out about a month typically and my regulars are gatekeeping so that they can get in haha.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My profession is technically a cosmetologist, meaning I’m licensed to do hair skin and nails, but I specialize in nails. I’d say my clients know me for my art and the manicure I provide with every service. Every time I get a new client they tell me how no one has ever done their cuticle work and prep as detailed as I do, and I take a lot of pride in that. I’m always working on bettering my technique. I also really enjoy doing nail art, I typically hand paint everything I can; partially because I can’t supply every sticker in the world so it’s easier to just paint it, and partially people pleasing. I’ve gotten really good at painting simply because I was scared to tell people “no I can’t do that,” so I was forced to try. It’s scary at times but I usually end up doing better than I anticipated
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think good luck has definitely played a role, but most of it is hard work and persistence. I wasn’t just amazing at nails within my first week of doing them, I have had to practice A LOT. Since high school I’ve been watching nail videos all the time trying to learn what I’m doing wrong because my manicure doesn’t look like this nail techs manicure. I have been able to teach myself everything I know through that, since cosmetology school only teaches the bare minimum. To this day I’m still trying to perfect certain techniques and once I get them down it won’t be because I got lucky, it’ll be because I’ve been working at it for years
Pricing:
- New client appointment, including a removal and new set starts at $80
- Full sets start at $60 and increase by length, plus any nail art
- Nail art prices are a standard $20, $40, or $60
- Pedicures start at $60 for gel toes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nailfx.glossgenius.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/x_nailsbymae_x?igsi=Z2M1Nmx0cTNteTQz&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@x_nailsbymae_x?_r=1&_t=ZP-99LPLv3sSR4
