Meet Olivia Martin | Nail Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivia Martin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve always had an artistic way of thinking and a creative eye. Each job I had prior to becoming a Nail Artist, I would use my creative ways to create; new solutions, ideas, and systems to make work flow better. However working as a bank supervisor or a cashier at a burger joint really didn’t itch my artistic scratch, per se. Nor did I feel a sense of fulfillment.

After leaving the bank I knew I wanted to start my nail journey into becoming a Nail Artist. There’s something freeing about creating art. For me especially, art speaks so many different languages. Art speaks to the eyes, the heart and the soul. And I need that deep connection to free my mind to be completely at peace when I’m working. So it kinda was a no brainer for me. Why not just pursue my passion of doing nails and make my dreams a reality.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When people ask how did I got into doing nails, my first answer is always “I was born to do it”. My mom started painting my nails when I was about 2yrs old. I have vivid memories of chipping off my polish a day later just so she could re-paint them. When I was about 5 or 6yrs old I would do manicures on my dad and he would give me like a dollar or so and from there it was all she wrote. In high school I would carry a little Strawbridges box of nails with my nail art on them. I would show people all time. When I was about 16 or 17, I went my friends house and she was painting her nails in her room and she had a huge box Art Deco liner polishes! So I started painting my nails and I remember I did this zebra print design and she was like “Omgggg WOOOWW you did that?! Do that on me!” So of course I did. That was legit the moment I knew I wanted to do nails as a living. I said “When I grow up I’m going to do nails and work at Glamour Nails.”, not knowing what the law of attraction was at that time, years later that would be the exact place where I did my apprenticeship to get my Nail Technician license.

Before I actually committed to my dream of becoming a Nail Artist I had couple filler jobs in the mean time. My first job was a cashier at Wayback Burgers while I was going to school to become a physical therapist. At that time, fresh out of high school, all I knew I wanted to do something in medical field. One would think, why not just do nails if it’s your dream? I feel like any kid wants to make their parents happy and a lot of times that means pursuing something that necessarily doesn’t make YOU happy. My dad didn’t think doing nails was a “real job”, he looked at it more so as a hobby. My mom on the other hand was supportive through out the whole journey. After two years of working there I got offered a job, making twice as much, at a bank working as a teller. I did what any 18yr old college student would do…I left the burger joint!

Working at the bank full time made going to school more and more less interesting. I was going to a community college at that. Once I found out that it would take me 3 years to actually start clinicals as a Physical Therapist student I immediately was like “yeaaaaaa this isn’t for me”. But boyyyyy did I hate working at the bank! I felt like I was in physical and mental jail. However I definitely learned so much being there. I actually implement some of the same processes and procedures into my business now. I got a phone call when I was on maternity leave, with my first son, asking if could come up to bank. I was promoted to supervisor! Within a year I became the youngest supervisor and a year later I got fired for not meeting quota. When I tell you that was the best day of life I sincerely mean it! I knew I remember being so miserable and just thinking once I leave here, I’m going to do nails. And that’s exactly what I did! From that point moving forward I didn’t want to comprise my happiness for money. My happiness will always be worth more.

I found a beauty school about 5 minutes from my house. Registered for classes and three months later I officially began my nail journey. You know, they always tell you do your research before investing in anything. I definitely learned an expensive life lesson … a $2,800 life lesson at that. I went to beauty for two weeks, was the ONLY nail tech student and was essentially teaching myself. The cosmetologist and barbers had instructors. Their reasoning on why I didn’t need an instructor was because it was just book work and I was already good at designs. I wouldn’t need an instructor until I got to about chapter 10. That didn’t well with me. I was like, you know I’m not investing all this money just to teach myself. Let’s just say getting a refund wasn’t an option. The owner of the school told me “I would never get my nail technician license and if I did an apprenticeship because no Asian nail salon would accept me cause I’m not Asian”. Two weeks later I nailed an apprenticeship at a predominantly Asian nail salon. And what do you know…it was at Glamour Nails. It was the same exact place 16 yr old Olivia said she was going to work at!

Right then and there I faced my first obstacle chasing my passion. When you’re learning something that you actually have interest in it motivates to WANT to learn and succeed. I faced my first heartbreak after completing my hours of my apprenticeship. I had to accrue 600hrs to complete my apprenticeship in order to test for my State Boards. After sending all the completed paperwork in, it was weeks before I even heard any feed back of when I could start my tests. I eventually called the Boards to check up on my paperwork, they later determined what the issue was. My “apprenticeship license” was pending due to not having my high school transcripts. I was unaware that you even needed an apprenticeship license before you started to accrue hours. At that I wasn’t informed that they needed my high school transcripts. They were adamant that I needed to re-accrue my hours, once I got the apprenticeship license. Let me put this in perspective; 600hrs, no more than 40hrs per week, is about 4 months. I was completely crushed that I had to re-accrue those hours again. For starters once I became licensed I was going to get a raise. Then at that being a young mother (20yrs), supporting your family and chasing your dreams was a lot to deal with. It completely crushed me…I cried . At that moment I knew this is a test to see how bad I really wanted this dream of becoming a nail artist. I could have just given up and said the same thing about Physical Therapy, but I couldn’t my heart wouldn’t let me. And from that point moving forward I knew I had to have concrete faith. Looking back at that minor setback it was an essential part of my success and faith. Because in years to come I faced way more intense setbacks and failures and having faith is what got me through it.

July 9th 2014, a day after my birthday, I received my Nail Technician License. LIVFORNAILS was born (via social media) shortly after. Then Nov. 22, 2016 LIVFORNAILS LLC was officially born.

Discovering who I was as an artist has been… an interesting journey. I wanted people to be able to look at my work and know “Yeah, that’s Liv’s work”. I wanted it to have an unspoken signature. I could do just about any design, but a lot of the artwork I created, didn’t FEEL like me. It was easier to decipher what I didn’t like to do more so what I was great at. I knew I didn’t like to replicate other artists work because it didn’t seem authentic to me. Over time I started to get into my groove. During nail sessions I worried less about what about what design was I going to do and focused more on the client. My clients will tell you I will ask them two questions “what’s your vibe for today/ you know like how are you feeling? and Do we like matte or shiny?”. I knew I wanted my work to be a fusion of the clients personality mixed with my artistic flow. To this day I still don’t plan out nail designs until I’m literally at that moment of painting. It stresses me out more to pre-think out designs. I just like to chill and vibe out with my clients.

Nov. 12, 2017, was one of the hardest days of my life. I was starting a new salon after taking a year off to be a stay-home-mom with my second child. That same day my husband got arrested and was going to jail. He battle the active use of his addiction for a year and half. My whole world crumbled, however I still showed up to work the next day. I had a family to provide for. During that time something unlocked inside of me artistically. I became more interested how I made my clients feel during our nail sessions. I noticed deep conversations triggered a more unique art style and my work came out “differently”, but in a good way. I bring together abstract thoughts, feelings, ideas and concepts through my nail art. I am what sets my work apart from other nail artists. Learning a person or just causally talking helps my brain on the creative process. My art work reflects both of our vibes. My art work is a piece of me. It tells a story. It’s not just a cool design…it’s has depth and character.

February 2018 was when I officially had that “Aha” moment of my nail career. I knew exactly what inspired me and what kind of artist I was. I got the opportunity to display my nail art in The Delaware Contemporary Museum. I was amongst 300 other artist that displayed their work. I created a piece named Nero Altair (Black Bird). It was a 12 piece collection of nail sets that showed each feeling I went through watching my husband go through his active addiction. I need depth in order to create. I need meaning, I need real passion, even as far pain to create. When creating Nero Altair that by far was the hardest piece of art that I have ever done. I was used to hearing other people’s stories in order to create, but hearing my own was very hard. It’s by far my best nail creation I have ever done.

I believe what makes me so successful is that I refuse to stop or give up. I’ve had failure after failure set back after setback, but I refuse to let go of my dream. Not many people can even say they’re living their dream.

I’ve learned that you need to fail in order to know what winning truly feels like. I’ve learned that all the things you ever dreamt about is on the other side of fear.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First stop in coming DE we would need to stop for sushi at Toba. The have the best sushi around, hands down. Your plate is always beautifully arranged. Then a nice shopping trip down in Lewes at the Outlets. Then relax at the beach while we’re there. While visiting you definitely need to check out the nice trails at Brecknock. That’s definitely my go to spot to hangout and chill. Then to top it off a fun little weekend trip to NYC. That’s the best thing about Delaware it’s so close to everything 2-3 hours you can be in DC, NYC, or Philly.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Having faith has gotten me through my success as a Nail Artist and a business owner. If it wasn’t for Jesus I really can’t say if I would be in the same position I am today. They don’t tell you the challenges and defeats you’ll face when becoming an entrepreneur. Nor is it a norm to see on social media people’s failures. Part of being successful is failing a lot. Having faith in Jesus is a necessity to help me navigate those failures. There have been times I felt like giving up and having that faith just to hold on to was a sense of comfort.

Website: https://livfornails.as.me/

Instagram: @livfornails

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/livfornailsllc/