How 2 graduates went from university friends to thriving in the nail industry

I met Olivia Annice, the tech behind Olivia Annice Nails, at university in 2020. Her nail business has since flourished, and I have also joined the nail realm: working at Scratch as a news & features writer since July 2024. We met up to work at Olivia’s first nail event – and here’s our story…

A photo captured by Anya Patricia Temple-Heald of everyone who attended Olivia’s networking event for The Nail Desk Co.

On 11 August, Olivia (‘Liv’) hosted her first event for her online nail community, The Nail Desk Co, where she invited like-minded nail techs to a day full of talks from industry professionals, interactive games and networking.

Representing Scratch, I was among the speakers of the day, sharing how our platforms inform, educate and engage techs, as well as providing insight on how nail pros can be featured across our channels.

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Standing alongside Liv in the same professional space, not only as friends, but as colleagues, was a surreal feeling, and one also shared by Liv. She comments: “Having one of my friends at the event with me most definitely calmed my nerves, as it was something I had never done before.

“It felt so empowering being able to take part in such a monumental movement within the nail world with someone I was already close to, both able to contribute, and benefit, in different ways,” she continues.

Liv and I celebrating after the event.

My support for Liv’s career as a nail tech is nothing new, and stemmed from our first meeting in 2020. Our paths first crossed when we both joined an online group chat made by, and for, students set to start at the University of Leeds that September.

After a few obligatory quiz nights and Zoom calls, thanks to back-to-back COVID lockdowns, we became good friends.

Liv later announced she was a nail tech which, as you can imagine, was greeted by floods of enthusiasm from the group chat, and she decided to continue tekking alongside her studies. From then onwards, she became not just my friend, but my trusted nail tech while living in Leeds.

Liv shares, “When I moved to university, I set up my nail kit in my bedroom. At first, I literally used two kitchen stools with a piece of wood across the top as my table, and sat on the edge of my bed while the client was on a chair. Thankfully, since my clients were students, they were all very easy going.”

Liv’s makeshift wooden tray, turned nail desk in 2021.

Liv notes the benefits of having her friends as clients at university, saying, “I’d often arrange to do my friend’s nails in the evening, so that we could cook dinner or watch a movie together afterwards. This was lovely because it didn’t feel like working and I could relax more – and I often wore my pyjamas!”

I was usually in attendance of these evenings, also turning up in my pyjamas, ready for my fresh manicure: “Lilly started off getting more simple nails, and then slowly let me get more creative, often opting for a mix ‘n’ match mani.” Liv shares.

One of my first manicures by Liv.

“The standout set in my mind is the set we did for Leeds Festival, with a pink and yellow colour palette. At the time it was my most liked post on Instagram, so this confirmed to me that my followers and clients wanted to see the more fun sets.”

My nail art for Leeds Festival 2021.

Though there were also challenges to client friendships: “It was amazing, but also slightly difficult in some ways, because although the appointments were a lot more relaxed, I always felt terrible charging my friends for their sets, even though I still had expenses to cover.”

Four years later, Liv continues to work as a nail tech in Lush Nails And Beauty salon in Cheshire, as well as becoming the founder of The Nail Desk Co.

Meanwhile, I began my role as a news & features writer at Scratch on 1 July 2024. Here, I update nail techs on all the industry news, updates and trends they need to know about, via the monthly print magazine, website and social media platforms.

Both being in the same industry, it allows us to truly celebrate each others successes: “It’s quite common when something happens for my business that my friends are happy for me, but don’t quite understand how fantastic the opportunity really is,” shares Liv.

She continues, “Now that Lilly works in the same industry, it’s amazing that somebody understands what’s going on in my world, as will I with her, so we will have more to relate to.”

“Something I’m really looking forward to is being able to use this mutual interest to help each other in different ways. Since Lilly is quite new to the world of nails, I’m more than happy to explain things or give her some helpful information.

“Then Lilly keeps me up to date with Scratch’s competitions and opportunities, since I never have time to check my own social media aside from interacting with clients and other nail techs.”

Liv’s current manicure set up in Lush Nails And Beauty in Cheshire.

Our friendship has reiterated the importance of having a supportive network within this industry, a gap Liv had previously noted.

“The reason I created my networking community, The Nail Desk Co, was because the nail industry has, for a long time, felt like more of a competition, rather than a community,” the Cheshire-based tech reveals.

“When I first started, I would message nail technicians I admired for some advice, and was often ignored. I never wanted anybody else entering the industry to feel like that, so as soon as I felt I had enough experience in all areas and had perfected my work, I created the safe space.”

The Nail Desk Co‘s Instagram page.

She continues, “These connections in the nail industry are beyond important, everybody should feel like friends, not enemies, wanting to help each other feel comfortable and succeed.”

Follow Liv’s personal nail account on Instagram, The Nail Desk Co on Instagram and keep up to date with my updates as a news & features writer for Scratch via my Instagram.