Nail tech creates education subscription site to support learning needs of pros

Scratch chats to Chloe Corbishley-Bull, nail artist and founder of education subscription platform Pretty Little You Academy, about her membership service and its benefits for fellow pros…

For Chloe, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, the time that coronavirus lockdowns brought was a chance to revaluate her nail career. The nail artist, who spent a year building up her own nail business before lockdown hit, started offering live workshops during the pandemic in order to keep money coming in.

“It was actually my husband’s idea to start a subscription site, as I was doing a couple of paid workshops a month so it made sense,” Chloe reveals. “It meant I could offer better value and more support.”

At first the nail tech, who was in the middle of her educator training, didn’t pursue the idea, not knowing where to begin or how to take on more responsibilities. However, the more she thought about it, the more her passion grew. “The nail tech community can, at times, be isolating – especially if you work alone as a mobile tech or at home. It can be daunting when starting out and often overwhelming.

“We have a WhatsApp group where everyone chats all the time and asks each other for advice and tips. That’s exactly what I wanted,” she adds.

“I wanted to create a community where it wasn’t just about education but about support.”

Before she pursued nails as her career, Chloe used to work in management in call centres. The training she did there and the rewarding feeling it gave her made the transition to nail education an easy one. “It’s such a buzz to teach and when you get people sending you photos and messages of how it’s helped them, it’s amazing. I wanted to offer something that was affordable, accessible and useful,” she says.

@ prettylittleyoustamford

In less than two months, 84 people have subscribed to the Pretty Little Academy site. “I remember feeling so nervous the day I launched. I thought ‘if I just reach five [subscribers] in the first week, that’s a success’ and I think I hit around 20 at the end of day one,” Chloe says.

Those that subscribe to Pretty Little Academy can choose between two tiers: silver and gold. Chloe explains that both memberships offer the same amount of her support, with her always being on hand to answer questions and the WhatsApp group being available to all subscribers. Chloe just uploads two bits of content a week for the gold membership and one for the silver.

What content is provided in the memberships?

Chloe offers a couple of live workshops each month. “The last one was business-focused. I talked about self-employment; where to begin, setting up, social media, and gaining and keeping clients. Previous workshops have covered cuticle prep, builder gel, nail art and infills,” she explains.

“The next live workshop I have planned is a business live with a salon owner, which will be a Q&A,” she reveals. “Sometimes you have big plans such as wanting to open a salon but no idea how to begin, so this will give insight into that.”

Alongside this, the nail tech uploads tutorials every week, which explore everything from tools to use to builder gel and seasonal nail art. Ideas for tutorials and workshops don’t just come from Chloe; subscribers are always asked what they would like to see so that they can fully benefit from the membership.

Monthly catch-ups are also available, making mental health a big focus of the platform so that a supportive, safe place can be provided, as well as regular blog posts with Chloe’s top tips. Subscribers can take part in fun, mini challenges each month, too.

Future thinking

Chloe is looking to build her own site for the academy (currently she uses Patreon, which she commends for its ease when starting out, despite a few standard technical hitches), as well as opening a physical academy where she can offer insurable courses for nailists at every level, including beginners.

She sees subscription sites like hers as the way forward for nail education. “Everyone should be able to access affordable and quality education and I really think this is going to grow over the next few years,” she comments.

“Not everyone can afford to pay £100-300 to go and travel to do a face-to-face workshop, and you can have hundreds of people sign up online for one workshop but realistically you can only have 10-20 at a face-to-face workshop. There’s also the aspect of social anxiety; offering something online where people can watch from the comfort and safety of their own home appeals to so many more.”

Subscribe to Pretty Little You Academy here.