I never had a five-year plan for where this would take me.
In the beginning, I was simply drawn to creating. To that feeling of getting completely absorbed in something and watching an idea slowly take shape in front of you.
I think a lot of us know that feeling - finding something that makes the rest of the world a little quieter for a while.
For me, that something became nails.
But the more I did, the less satisfied I became with simply knowing how to create a nice result. I wanted to understand what was happening underneath it.
Why does this product work here but not there?
Why does the same technique give different results on different nails?
Why does one small detail change everything?
And once you become curious about something, it is difficult to stop.
From Passion to Purpose
In 2017, I decided I wanted to take this seriously.
I started travelling to learn, taking course after course, investing in my education and challenging everything I thought I already knew.
More than 50 courses later, I had learned from many different educators, techniques and ways of working.
But perhaps the most valuable thing I learned wasn’t another technique.
It was how much there is to actually understand.
Because you can learn the steps. You can copy the shape. You can recreate the design.
But there is a point where you stop wanting to copy and start wanting to know.
That is where the real craft begins.
From Technician to Educator
Over the years, I also became very aware of what I had been missing when I first started.
I remember what it feels like to leave a course with beautiful notes and new techniques, but still have questions once you’re sitting alone with a real client.
What do I use here?
Why did this lift?
How do I adapt this to this nail?
What am I doing wrong?
Those questions stayed with me.
And eventually, they became part of the reason I wanted to teach.
I don’t want to create courses where you simply watch me do something and then try to repeat it.
I want to explain the things that make everything else start making sense - the products, the natural nail, the techniques, the structure, the hygiene, the details and, most importantly, the reasoning behind them.
Because I know how different it feels when something finally clicks.
Raising the Standard
I believe there is something very satisfying about becoming genuinely good at something.
Not because everything has to be perfect.
But because you know how much work went into getting there.
That is the standard I have always pushed myself towards.
To keep learning when I thought I knew enough.
To question things instead of simply accepting them.
To care about the details.
To keep improving even when nobody else would notice the difference.
And that is what I want to bring into my academy.
Not just better-looking nails, but better understanding.
More confidence behind the table.
More knowledge behind every decision.
And nail technicians who don’t feel like they have to figure everything out alone.
The Journey Continues
When I look back at where I started, the funny thing is that I still don’t feel like I have reached some final destination.
I am still curious.
Still learning.
Still finding things I want to understand better.
The difference is that now, what I learn doesn’t have to stay with me.
I can pass it on.
And maybe that’s the part of this journey that means the most to me.
Something that started simply as a way to create became a profession.
The profession became a craft.
And the craft became something I wanted to share.
That is where I am today.
Still creating. Still learning. Still growing.
Just no longer only for myself.