Today we’d like to introduce you to REBEKAH LALGEE.
Hi REBEKAH, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I moved to Missouri in 2020 with my husband and kids right before Covid. I was working a medical coding job remotely and had no friends here. I started getting into digital art, then painting, then cross stitching and pretty much any other form of art I came across that kept me busy. I never considered myself an artist until I saw people showing interest. Then, in 2022ish I picked up a nail. I realized that nails are tiny little canvases. I also realized this could be a great way for me to get human interaction whilst doing art. I wanted to create videos on social media, but I didn’t want to teach people how to do nails and nail art without being formally educated. I found a great school, the whole time telling myself this is not going to be my career. I believe I told myself that to protect myself in case it didn’t work out. Once I graduated Nail School a fellow nail tech suggested I check out Blush salon in Saint Peters. The rest is history! The salon completely changed my life. I’ve met so many incredible people and I’m working my dream job.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I was in my mid 30s with a secure job, taking a risk which involved me making a huge decision for myself and my family.
I remember the first time meeting one of my clients and she was telling me how she loved working from home and hanging out with her dogs, and I went to the bathroom and cried. I wondered if I had made the right decision. Turns out, I did.
One of my challenges in the beginning was meeting new people and sitting with them for hours without knowing a single thing about them. Especially being new. these nails did not take 45 minutes. I would spend sometimes six hours with one person. In fact, my first paying client I ever had sat with me for endless amount amounts of hours because she believed in me. We have since become friends and I’ll always appreciate her. At the end of our first appointment she asked if she could give me a hug and I knew I made the right decision.
Since my business has grown, I am now able to choose who I work on. Because I am a business owner I get to make my own decisions on who I choose to spend my time with and work on. I feel incredibly honored to be able to be in this position. I’m part of the reason I do have an application process is because I did not quit my secure job to end up being an anxious mess. I took this risk so I could have control over my mental health and it is very important to me that I enjoy my career. Life is short!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in all forms of nail art. My favorite is when my clients have 100% trust in me and let me do freestyles on them. Freestyles is when you trust the artist give them vibe, colors, or even a mood board and then I create the set. Freestyles used to terrify me, but I’ve learned to trust myself too.
A lot of nail techs have issues with AI pictures or even refuse to do them. I am not a fan of AI replacing art but I do consider it a challenge to re-create and make it better than the AI version.
I am most proud of the relationships I have formed at the salon with the people that work there and with my clients. I always thought I was antisocial, but it just turns out I didn’t enjoy working at Best Buy lol.
I believe what sets me apart from others and what might be part of the reason clients come back to me is my genuine care for each person in my chair. These nails don’t take 45 minutes they take hours. One of my favorite things to think about is when they look down at their nails, they smile. For some people nails is the only thing that they do for themselves so I do take my job very seriously.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I would love to continue doing nails for the rest of my working career. Over the next 5 to 10 years I’d love to have a well established and trusted social media presence. I would love to potentially have my own line of nail products.
I’ve also considered going back to school and getting some sort of counseling degree so that I could provide therapy whilst performing nail services. It often feels like I am a therapist, but I think it would be cool to actually be able to provide useful tools for people’s lives and maybe the nails would be free because the insurance would cover the therapy.
That is almost an outlander dream, but it is something I often think about.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tiktok.com/@cherrybaumnails?_r=1&_t=ZT-9AoFKWRXYgn
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherrybaumnails?mdxt=MXM5M2dxbzVjZmxibg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/cherrybaumnails?mdxt=MXM5M2dxbzVjZmxibg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
