Meet Shannon Tillman

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shannon Tillman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

SHANNON, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

Prayer. I know but the Lord says ” We have not because we ask not”. So I pray and ask that the Lors keeps me creativity flowing so that my clients will love their nails. I am a true woman of God so I ask and pray for the things that will continue to give Him all glory in my life whether business or personal. God is my everything and I am nothing without Him including my business. Prayer is my phone line to God whenever and for whatever even just a hey and a I love you.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Slayed Klaws is my nail brand trademarked by the state of Tennessee. Some days I am still in awe that this is my life. I get up and go to a place that I love where I get to talk to people , be creative, and make them happy. Slayed Klaws is a for profit nail salon based in Memphis Tennessee. We specialize in all forms of nail care including sculpting and pedicures. This year the focus is continuing education classes to continue learning new skills ,reaching back to the community to bring awareness about the salon and giving advice about entrepreneurship.

The thing most exciting about my job is the people. I truly love my clients. Without them Slayed Klaws is nothing. See I prayed for God to send me those with whom I can share my live for Christ with. It’s not the whole conversation but He is a major part of it and why I have this business so I share why. See I have a “glory table” which is my manicure table but we give God all glory at my table. I praise Him for keeping me creative, allowing people to come and talk about life and love, including problems where prayer can be suggested for hard times. Slayed Klaws is also a ” no judgement” salon. I don’t judge because I have been in alot of places mentally before so I like to meet people where they are and just let them get to know me. By the time they leave they know just about everything about me and they’re comfortable that they open up and want to return. I thank God for that so for some Slayed Klaws is also a place of peace and I love it.

What next for Slayed Klaws? Well I have some things I need to work on but definitely new products and mastering some old skills.

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?

I would say prep, foundation, and shaping. In the nail industry these three things can make or break your career.

Proper prep with keep the nails lasting until the next time services are rendered and sometimes beyond. I personally spend at least 45 mins on prep alone. Removing debris, natural nail oils, and other things like hair off of the Nail plate will make the enhancements adhere to the surface longer therfore providing the client with at least 3 to 4 weeks of beautiful nails.

Foundation is always key and should me a main focus when starting to provide service. This comes with repeated practice. Being a foundation tech is the best way to keep your clients without breakage and lifting. Although somethings are beyond the Techs control foundation is one that can be mastered with repeated practice.

Shaping is top tier. With a beautifully shaped nail your client will have potential clients beating down your door. Most clients after sitting so long for set only really take with them the beauty of the Nail set.

If I could give advice to the upcoming tech I would say work on your prep, foundation, and shaping. Everything else like art will come later but those three things will bring you the clientele that will keep you in business years to come. Also have fun and keep a great attitude. Be coach able and want to learn. Picky clients will teach you the most. Be consistent and never stop learning.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

I would have to say prep, foundation and shaping. I will continue to work on these three things because these will give me better timing. Learning what works and does not work will give you the adequate speed needed to be time conscious.

When setting an appointment I ask questions like what service is needed so that I can provided pricing info as well as setup details in my mind for this client. Table setup will help with timing where the client is concerned and also shows professionalism and preparedness. I have personally shaved thirty to forty-five mins off my timing when during certain services because of my focus on those three things. Timing is important to the client and the client is important to me so working on those three things helps me be more time conscious for my clients which will keep them coming back.

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