The school community has its very own nail artist within its walls. Sophomore Presley Sutherland started her manicure business over the summer out of her basement with the support of her parents and her best friend.

Sutherland shared her inspiration for doing nails. 

“I was on the side of social media where I was watching girls do their own nails,” Sutherland said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to go on Amazon, and I’m going to get a starter kit, because I’ve seen those where it comes with everything that you need.”

She said the first one she got were acrylic, and she did my her practice set.

“It was really, really bad,” Sutherland said. “It discouraged me, and I had stopped doing it, but I had all the supplies. I had bought nail tips, and all of that.”

She said she started using gel instead.

“I noticed a big difference,” Sutherland said. “I liked the way the gel polish cured, how shiny it was, and it was easier than acrylic. You can get the same thing just with colors instead. So, I started practicing and I just kind of realized that gel nails art was what I wanted to do.”

But it wasn’t perfect from the start. There were struggles and challenges to overcome to get her business out there. 

“It was really hard, and I knew nothing about product-to-money, so I started doing my best friend’s nails, and I would post those, and they were awful,” Sutherland said. “They were so bad, but she every single day just kept coming back to support me, and the nails would fall off, and she’d just get them glued right back on.” 

She said her friend would post and tag her in her social media.

“After a while, people started hitting me up on Instagram,” Sutherland said. “They would be like, ‘Hey, can you do this? How much?’ My prices are super cheap because I am still practicing because there still is human error with doing that type of stuff.”

When starting up the business, Sutherland said it could take two-three hours to complete a set, but now with practice she can complete a set within an hour and a half. From the start, Sutherland said her prices were low, her clients were encouraging her to raise the prices.