The video features an interview with Yvette G., a prominent celebrity nail artist and the creative director of Pink Friday Nails, Nicki Minaj's nail brand. Yvette shares her journey from starting as a hobbyist nail artist at 15, transitioning through her career by working in various salons, and eventually establishing herself as a notable name in the industry catering to celebrities like Nicki Minaj, Rosalia, and Normani. She describes how her innovative nail art style, emphasizing bold designs, drew attention and helped her build a substantial clientele.

As Yvette's career grew, her business approach evolved alongside her clientele. She began viewing her work less as a hobby and more as a serious professional enterprise with the potential to influence her lifestyle. Her partnership with Nicki Minaj began when she was tapped as Minaj's nail artist, which evolved into being the creative director for Pink Friday Nails. This role allows her to explore bigger and bolder designs, contributing significantly to a budding business venture.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. storied [ˈstɔːrid] - (adj.) - Having an interesting or famous history. - Synonyms: (legendary, celebrated, renowned)

You have a storied and impressive career in the nail space.

2. snowball [ˈsnəʊˌbɔːl] - (verb) - To increase or become larger more rapidly. - Synonyms: (escalate, accumulate, build up)

It just kind of snowballed from there.

3. clientele [ˌklaɪənˈtɛl] - (noun) - Clients collectively. - Synonyms: (customers, patrons, clients)

Getting bigger clientele definitely was when I took it a little bit more serious.

4. intricate [ˈɪntrɪkət] - (adj.) - Very complicated or detailed. - Synonyms: (complex, elaborate, detailed)

Nicki Minaj is known for her bold nail, for her intricate nail.

5. practical [ˈpræktɪkəl] - (adj.) - Concerned with actual use or practice. - Synonyms: (realistic, applicable, useful)

Things that may necessarily not be practical.

6. perfectionist [pərˈfɛkʃənɪst] - (noun) - A person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection. - Synonyms: (idealist, purist, nitpicker)

She's a perfectionist. So am I.

7. intermediate [ˌɪntərˈmiːdiət] - (noun) - An intervening substance or thing through which others are conveyed or influenced. - Synonyms: (mediator, go-between, intermediary)

I was kind of the voice and I was kind of the intermediate.

8. adhesion [ædˈhiːʒən] - (noun) - The action or process of sticking to a surface or object. - Synonyms: (sticking, clinging, attachment)

It creates a little bit more safety, a little more adhesion.

9. seamless [ˈsiːmləs] - (adj.) - Smooth and without seams or obvious transitions. - Synonyms: (fluid, smooth, uninterrupted)

We just wanted to give you that little bit more of a seamless look.

10. meticulous [məˈtɪkjələs] - (adj.) - Showing great attention to detail. - Synonyms: (careful, diligent, conscientious)

As someone who is very meticulous about their nails.

Meet The Creative Director Behind Nicki Minajs Nail Brand

Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is Yvette G. Creative director of Pink Friday nails. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. You are a celebrity nail artist. You are the creative director of Nicki Minaj's nail brand. You have a storied and impressive career in the nail space.

So I want to start at the beginning. To start off this conversation, can you tell us a little bit about how you started doing nails and eventually became a celebrity nail tech to celebrities like. Like Rosalia, like Normani and Nicki Minaj, who we're going to be talking about later. Yeah, I obviously, I mean, honestly, I started really young. I started in this whole, you know, nail world at 15. It's a very long story, but to make sure I moved to Mexico when I was 15, I needed something to kind of keep me busy. I started doing nails, and it just went off. It just went from a hobby, and it turned into something, you know, a passion, and it turned into my career.

When I moved back from living in Mexico, that was just something that I always did. And then slowly, I worked at salons. I did. I did, like, every step, you know, I ended up working at a really big salon. It was very celebrity driven. Once I left, a lot of people followed me. Social media went up, and then slowly, I did a lot of influencers. Eventually, we had, I had, like, a few celebrities hit me up, and it just kind of snowballed from there. And I think the, my style of doing nails at the time was very different. It stood out from the normal. So I think that's what was able to, you know, draw the attention of different celebrities that are, were more into, like, the bold nail art, you know, like Rosalia, like, like Nicki Minaj that they love the boldness of the long nails and the blingy stuff, you know, and, yeah, and, you know, here we are. I've gotten to do a lot of things, you know, and every, the network is so big, but, yeah, I absolutely love it, and I'm grateful for it as well.

So when this first snowballed, when you were getting contacted by celebrities, did your business mindset change at all? Did you, did your approach to nail art change? What did that look like? It definitely opened up my mind. It's definitely, I think when I started, it was such a, my mindset was more hobby. This is fun. This, you know, this is something that I enjoy doing. This is like a side thing. And the moment that I started getting bigger clientele, it definitely was, was that's when I took it a little bit more serious. Like, wow, like, this can definitely change my life, my ink, you know, different things. So as in regards to, like, nail art and, like, the creativity aspect, it definitely changed because I could go crazier. I could do, you know, the bigger, bolder things, things that may necessarily not be practical, may not be, like, every day. So it was able to do the crazier things a little bit more out of the box.

And as you said earlier, Nicki Minaj is known, aside from her really impressive music career, for her bold nail, for her intricate nail. So can you talk to us how you were tapped by Nicki Minaj to become her creative director? So I had started doing her nails, I think about six, five years ago. About five to six years ago, we started with, like, music videos. She would, you know, and then I slowly turned into her full time nail artist, and we, I would do the nails on her. You know, that's just what we did. Eventually, you know, she was, when she had, when she got pregnant and she had her baby, it just wasn't practical anymore. So we switched off into press ons, and that's what I would do. I would just make her a lot, a lot of custom press ons and just anything that had to do specifically with, like, music videos and things like that. And when she decided to do that, she contacted me and said, hey, you know, she had a briefly mentioned it. It was something that she definitely had planned on doing. So when she went and went forward with the, you know, with creating the brand, she said, she reached out and asked if I would be a part. And she said, you know, I don't, can't think of anybody else. We work together. You know, my style, you know what I like, you know, what I don't like. And she's like, you know, she's a perfectionist. So am I. So she said, this is, I think this would be the best. And obviously, you know, I jumped out the opportunity to, you know, to do this. I mean, it's an incredible opportunity.

So talk to us how that working relationship is going, because it's different working one on one with someone and making nails for them themselves and then starting a whole business based on that. So has anything changed since you guys started paying Friday nails? I mean, things are obviously always evolving and always changing. She's on tour, so she's a lot more busy. But we've definitely been able to work one on one because I do know her a little better. It. Things have flowed a little bit easier because I would, you know, I remember the first time we created a lot of designs. Her main thing was she wanted people to, because, like you said, everybody loves her nails, everybody loves the boldness of them. And, you know, she wanted her fans and more people to be able to have her looks and have her nails. So that was our initial inspiration. So I just created a whole line, just a variety of nails and of things that were inspired by her. She gave me like, hey, I want this. I want that on that. I want you to maybe do these. You know, she gave me a few pointers. I did some more. She gave me a little bit of creative freedom as to like, okay, just, this is what I want. And then from there, you could, you know, do whatever you think I would like. And then from there, she, you know, I presented to him, I showed it to her, and she said, this is, these are the ones that I like because I did give her a broad option. So she handpicked the current, you know, the designs. And so now as the process manufacturing went, we were able to, you know, keep in contact, obviously, text, emails, things like that, a couple in person meetings. But, yeah, she was able to do a little bit of everything while she's, you know, do or doing her tour.

Let's talk a little has changed, definitely. Let's talk a little bit about that creative freedom and that creative process a bit more. So as the creative director, how are you involved in the overall business and what steps are you making to maintain the quality and the unique designs, especially as they're going from being produced for one specific person to being mass produced to an entire audience? Yeah, I can honestly say I have been in every single part of the process. I was, we made sure, for example, the quality of the nail that that was the major thing because my, my point of view was the advantage as the creative director. I'm also a working nail tech. Like, I've done this, I've been hands on, so I know what a quality nail is. And I've seen press ons come and go. We use them on sets and things like that, you know, and we needed something that was strong, that would hold all these beautiful designs. I'm like, if I'm going to put a gem on there, I want a base that's going to be strong enough and it's going to look, you know, a certain way. So, yeah, we, I was, you know, along with the team, we were present. We even went to the manufacturing company. We looked at everything. Uh, at a certain point, I was like, I think. They probably think, like, I'm very annoying because, like I said, I'm very. I'm a perfectionist. And I also know that Nikki is not going to put out an a product that she would not wear herself or something that she would not approve of. So, you know, a lot of these things that, you know, because she was doing that, I was kind of the voice and I was kind of the intermediate of, like, okay, what about this? You know, but I also. She also trusted me in the. The quality aspects. Like, okay, I know I like this, but I know she knew that I would be able to, you know, get that quality to be top tier. You know, something that, you know, that it's not. It's not just the looks. It's also the feel and the wear, you know, to your point, press ons have come and gone. And as someone who is very meticulous about their nails, I mean, the worst case scenario is when you're out a nail chips and nail breaks off.

So as you know, that the beauty industry really is oversaturated. So how are you standing out among the competition and making these nails, these press ons, the best in the business? I personally think that, again, it's the base of the nail. Our quality, the shape of our nail is, it's a little bit stronger. It's a little bit sturdier. We also gave it a little bit of a more. I don't want to say gel, but more gel, like acrylic, like, as opposed to just a piece of plastic. Sometimes a lot of, you know, you don't want it to be too flat. So when you give it a little bit of, like, a shape, a little bit of a curvature in the right spots, it creates a little bit more safety, a little more adhesion. It just makes it kind of grasp onto your note a little bit better, and it just gives you overall, overall, like you just got your nails done, you know, that's what we wanted. We wanted you to. You wanted your nails to look like you just got your nails done. Like, you just went to the salon and spent hundreds of dollars on your nails, and we just wanted to give you that little bit more of a seamless look. And I think that's what sets us apart is it's just, again, it's just the quality. I know I keep saying that, but I think it's just the quality of our nails is just amazing because we really put the effort into, you know, even just the right thickness from the base is a little bit, you know, everything we really went into detail when it came to things like that.

What's your favorite part of this business and what was most surprising to you from producing these press ons from start to finish and then launching them into the market? Just the manufacturing, like, being able to be there and see how much technology like it, that was just so mind blowing that all this technology that's used to create, like, a tiny little nail, I think that was like, my favorite part is just being able to see that because you don't, you don't always, you know, me creating them, you know, in my office or in my desk, creating the nail. Doing it is so much different than seeing this machine and doing all these, just all this technology that is used. It's amazing. And, you know, our manufacturer is one of the top, top manufacturers. So it's definitely very, it was really amazing. It was very mind blowing to see that.

As you know, Nicki Minaj has a really supportive fan base within the barbs. So talk to us about how they've reacted to pink Friday nails and the support that you've received from other celebrity clients. Honestly, I'm very happy to say that everybody, we've gotten great reviews. Everybody has been very happy. I think the only problem now is people just want more and more. But aside from that, everybody's very happy. You know, we have such a great customer service department as well. So even if there is, you know, anything able to be on that, and, I mean, the barbs are not forgiving. So if the barbs approve, then, you know, we're set, you know, and we've also expanded beyond just, you know, her fan base. But it's. Yeah, I think so far. So far so good. Everybody's happy again. The only thing is they just keep wanting more. So, you know, we're ready for that.

Talk to us about that a little bit more. How do you, how do you expand past her fan base and just get to women or other people who want quality press on nails? I think one of the biggest tools right now, for example, is we've been using, for example, Shopify collabs. We've been able to use that to expand beyond, for example, this pop up right now. We're going to go, we're going to bring it to the people, and they've been able, and they've been a very crucial tool in helping us bring this to more people and not just the Internet, not just her specific fan base.

I know that you have a collaboration with Shopify, and in New York City this week, there's a pop up with your business, can you give us any insight into what that event is going to be like? So we're very excited because it's going to be a chance for them to experience our product, you know, firsthand, you know, get to touch it, get to enjoy it. It's going to be like a full salon setup, so they're going to be able to come and get pampered, get their nails done, and, you know, they have a lot of nice photo moments. So it's just very, it's just going to be very submersive, just, you know, and very personal as well. So we're really excited about that. You know, thanks to Shopify, they created such a beautiful space that I'm so excited for everybody to see and everybody experience, you know.

Why shop, Shopify specifically? What about this relationship do you look for? I think, I mean, it was kind of, we kind of knew, you know, Shopify is like the entrepreneurship. Like, they are just known and they're, they're just so amazing. They just have all the great tools. It was just very seamless for us to use, you know, to be able to work with them. And we've gone beyond, you know, just the general, which is it's already such an amazing company. It's already such an amazing space for anybody to be able to, you know, work with and with us. It's just, it was just kind of, you know, it was very obvious for us that that was going to be the, if we wanted to work with somebody in that sense, it would have been them. Like, it was just very, you know, you could just very obvious, I know, is the music to any business owners ear is the people want more and more, more, more.

And that's what you were saying with these nails. So how is the business doing since it launched and what can we look for next when it comes to pink Friday nails? We're doing really good. We're really happy with, with what we're creating right now. Right now, our biggest focus is just getting, because we are a new brand. We just want as many people as possible to see us, to know about us and just be prepared. We want people to understand that, you know, that we do stand out, that it is different because, you know, obviously we're in a market. We want people to understand that, that it's, we're not the same. This is, this is something different that we created something from scratch in reference to, like, our quality and our type, the type of, you know, nails that we're doing and for the future. I mean, we are definitely, you know, hoping to eventually be in a retail space. There's a few other things that we have in the works that we're not quite ready to announce yet, but we definitely have a few projects or a few ideas coming up.

We are certainly looking forward to seeing what those projects are. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much again for having me. I really appreciate it.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Business, Nail Art, Nicki Minaj, Celebrity, Forbes