Community Highlights: Meet Jacie Currington and Ashley Farmer of Pretti Nails

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacie Currington and Ashley Farmer.

Hi Jacie and Ashley, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
We met at a previous salon where we became friends. Jacie left the salon to focus on opening her mobile nail salon while working from home and Ashley joined her shortly after.

We’ve been inseparable since then! We faced many challenges separately and together with finances, family, and careers. We looked into several suites to move into to service our clients but none of them worked out. Instead, the opportunity came to purchase an RV for the mobile salon and with the help of clients and family who believed in the idea. Not too long after, Ashley became pregnant and we both were getting requests for new clientele and still needed a space to work. One day we get a phone call saying there’s a space in downtown Memphis that would be perfect for us.

Of course, initially, we were skeptical because downtown seems very overwhelming and over budget. We didn’t have good credit, any money for a deposit much less whatever rental rate they wanted for a downtown spot, but we went to see the space anyway with our good friends at Noir Rose Salon. The seed was planted for a block of spaces to become black-owned beauty businesses and that seed grew FAST!

Before we knew it they approved us for a 1200sq ft space, Jacie sold the Mobile Salon, and we moved into the previous location of Noir Rose Salon to start working our butts off to fund Pretti Nails LLC.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While very rewarding it was not a smooth road at all. Family chipped in to help us remodel and Jacie’s husband and friends built the first layout to get us started. We saved a lot of money that way but the process took so long because our budget was based on whatever money we made day by day. If we weren’t at our nail table we were at Home Depot. It took us over three months to get to the point where we could have clients come to the new space.

Ashley had her baby around the same we opened to the public and not long after she (and the baby) were able to come to work, Jacie’s mother fell ill and she was gone while we were just getting started. Our pedicure area was down for the entire summer so a lot of business was turned away. Any updates we tried to make were stressful due to outside contractors trying to take advantage of us. We were exhausted and working constantly to put more money into the salon.

The following year the pedicure area was finally open but it’s also when the pandemic started. So we were very discouraged to have to close the salon and miss our busiest season. To our surprise, that time off and the resources for small businesses helped us to re-brand, re-model and re-introduce ourselves and our salon to be bigger and better than before.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Pretti Nails LLC?
We are a full-service nail salon that offers natural nail services and Acrylic/Gel Services. We pride ourselves on being professional and friendly. We cater to all types of clientele from those who love all the latest trends in the art to those who love to maintain a beautiful Mani and Pedi. We really love what we do, and want to take the hassle out of going to a nail professional.

While most of our clients love the ability to book an appointment in advance we also service same-day (previously known as walk-ins) appointments whenever possible. We love our brand for being unique and not typical of most nail salons. Even when complications arise we always use those moments to become better as individuals and as a salon.

We want Memphis to know that we love what we do and we chose this path because we have a passion for it. It’s not just a paycheck for us, it’s a career and passion that the owners and staff love deeply.

How do you think about happiness?
To speak for both Ashley and Jacie, it’s the small accomplishments that make us happy. It’s the referrals, our glowing reviews, assisting in the personal growth of our staff, meeting people from all over the world, paying a bill on time, providing for our families, and just seeing the salon grow.

Pricing:

• Gel Manicure $35
• Classic Pedicure $40
• Acrylic Full Set $50
• Men’s Services $25+

Contact Info:

• Email: Info@prettinails.com
• Website: Www.PrettiNails.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/prettinails
• Facebook: Facebook.com/prettinails

Image Credits
Ashley Farmer, Jacie Currington, Cassandra Dunlap, Ja’Lisa Smith, Jamye Carter, and Mattie.