Before the pandemic happened, nail artist Asa Bree was in what she describes as a “very toxic” salon situation. ”COVID kind of caused that to implode,” she says. “I had a very strong Instagram and social media presence at that time. It occurred to me that it can all crumble very quickly, especially with all that COVID did to a ton of businesses.”
Bree stepped away from the online nail community, which she says was a really big decision, because “if you’re not online, you’re not really participating.” Instead, she took that time at the beginning of the pandemic to start a business with three of her friends. “It was a really incredible experience that showed me I can run a business, I can work for myself, and I can do it all, almost without social media,” she remembers.
While Bree says she and her partners still participated “a little bit” on social media, for the most part she retreated into herself and started thinking about what she wanted her future in nails to look like. After all of the COVID-induced separation, she thought there needed to be a fun platform to bring people back together and showcase the fine art that is nails IRL.
