We were lucky to catch up with Kristin Rossi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?
Wow, this is such a great question. This particularly resonates with me because I have dealt with over the years a long list of haters and naysayers. Let me tell you what, they may think what they are doing is going to be hurtful and destructive to me and my business, however it only pushes me harder to do better, and to level up. Case and point:
About 7 years ago I had multiple complaints made against me on DORA, which is where we get our licenses in Colorado. A co-owner and an employee of a local salon in Denver and a family member of mine made multiple false complaints against me to try to get not only my business shut down, but my license revoked. Of course, DORA dismissed all of these complaints because they were completely absurd and I showed proof to combat their complaints to show my innocence. At the time I thought, oh my gosh, my my business is over, my life is over, how am I going to overcome this?… But after that initial moment of panic, a fight or flight moment occurred and I was like bring it on!!!!! None of this was true and I knew that I could prove all of what they were saying wasn’t true. And in that moment I said, I am going to be the best nail technician in Denver Colorado! Every moment after that, that was negative from a hater or naysayer just pushed me up and up. And here I am, an international nail artist who has done fashion shows in five different countries, been published in over a dozen different countries in magazines, and I am nowhere near done yet, so…..
BRING IT ON!!!!!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hi, my name is Kristin Rossi and I am an international nail artist specializing in international fashion shows, editorial photo shoots and a high profile clientele. I am the proud owner and creator of the Nails By KR Brand. I have been a licensed Nail Tech since 1992 and at 20 years old I sold my little red convertible and opened up my first salon. Since then I have owned and operated salons in Michigan, Florida and now Colorado. All while taking clients on a full-time basis, I began doing nails for events and photo shoots for various local production companies. This eventually caught the attention of Artopia. Artopia is an annual night of art, food, music, and fashion, featuring artist and performers from the local Denver area. After that it became clear this was a world in which I belonged. From local to worldwide I’ve since begun showing work internationally, varying from London and all the way to Dubai fashion week stages and countless publications. However, I do like to stick to my roots and I’m constantly working with local Denver creators to continue to make amazing content and work for my community.
As far as new new ventures, I’ll be moving my business abroad to Costa Rica!
I’ll be opening up a luxury resort with onsite spa services provided by me all while using a wide variety of products from my Body By KR line!
And as always, I’ll be changing the world one manicure at a time!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Flexibility, patience and compassion for your yourself is the key to success in your personal and professional life. From opening up a business to everyday life in general, things often do not go as planned. So to keep your sanity, be as flexible and patient as possible and remember it’s ok if you have to pivot.
I’ve been in this industry for over 31 years and I can promise you I have experienced stress, pain, sadness, anxiety, etc… I think we can all agree when running a business and being a mom of two these feelings are normal from time to time. But how you handle things is what makes you who you are.
Over the years I have been able to shift my response to stress from negative to positive. It’s all about being compassionate with yourself. Give yourself a little grace when things don’t go as planned. Take a step back and reevaluate the situation from a different angle. You never know what you’ll see.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Let me first start off by saying this question is difficult and a little challenging for me to answer. Even as an almost 50 year old woman I still have difficulty with the parent subject. Don’t get me wrong, I was raised with extreme privilege. I’m a country club brat with a silver spoon. I wanted for nothing growing up. Lucky right?…. I suppose the answer is yes and no. Honestly, my father was the most amazing man in my life. He was patient, respectful, loving, compassionate, empathetic and extremely successful. He started me off on this journey and I know he would be proud of me today. But before I tell you my secret to success let me tell you that my life as it was on the outside perfect, but behind closed doors was a different story. My adopted mother was not the greatest. In all actuality, she sucked and still does. She was emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically abusive. Complete opposite of my dad. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad. Now, I’m not telling you this to gain sympathy, I’m telling you this because you can overcome obstacles in life no matter how hard. It’s truly up to you. Hard work and determination will get you everywhere, not to mention a really good therapist and a good dose of honesty.
As far as the impact my adopted mother made on my life, well, it’s because of her I am an amazing mother and wife. I literally just do the opposite of everything she did. I abide by the parenting rules of what not to do.
My father though…
My life was impacted in such a way from my dad that I will forever be grateful. He taught me the importance of hard work, humility, love, forgiveness and giving back. Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself, always be willing to give someone your last dollar and no matter what happens, always take the high road.
Even though my life had impactful moments that were both good and bad, I have since been able to use those negative and challenging experiences to my benefit.
It’s all about how you respond. Always respond and react in a way that you can be proud of.
The high road is the only road I want to travel on.
More of this subject will be available upon my book release next year. Why did you adopt me? It’s a book written by me and about my life with my experiences of abuse in adoption.
Contact Info:
- Website: Coming soon!
- Instagram: @nails.by.kr
