How Rave Nailz Turned Press-On Nails Into a Cultural Movement

Speaker 1: I'm Melanie Bar and today on She Built It, we're going deep with Brillin Frank, the artist and entrepreneur who turned press on Nails into a cultural movement. Thank you for joining us, Brillin.

Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: Can you pinpoint the exact moment when you realized Rave Nails wasn't just a side project anymore, but something truly extraordinary?

Speaker 2: It was just a pipe dream for a long time. I started as a nail artist and I started painting press on nails just for myself and for a few other friends who got interested and wanted to try my nails. But before the pandemic, people were afraid to wear press on nails. So I was like, this would be such a good solution if people weren't so afraid. But then the pandemic hit and overnight people couldn't go to the salon and all of a sudden they were at home and they were willing to try this new thing. And so that's when people started trying them. And ever since then, it's been snowballing. Even as salons started reopening, it just stuck and that demand really stood and it gave me that validation of this really is a solution. I'm a twin mom. I had two five and six-year-olds at home when CO happened and I was looking for anything, you know, any kind of spa day, any kind of self-care, any kind of anything. And I have a friend who has three boys. They were young and I would always say, "How do your nails always look so good?" And she said, "They're press on nails." And I couldn't believe it because they always looked so good on her hands. And I'm a twin mom and I'm running a business and I was traveling all the time. And I had my nails done for years. But then when I was traveling for two months and couldn't find someone did something that I didn't like and I thought I'm just taking these off. And when I tried pressons, I thought this is amazing because I can change them all the time. I can rest my nails. And for someone who's busy working or they're a busy mom or also someone that just wants to change their look consistently, press on nails have been great.

Speaker 1: You're describing exactly what we've seen and even though it might have been years later or it sounds like you started during the pandemic, I'm loving this wave. How did you keep up with orders and maintain quality control when lockdown happened because I assume you started to get a lot of orders probably pretty quickly.

Speaker 2: I did get lucky because I had started manufacturing right before the pandemic. So, I had that base of product on hand, but it was very quick. I need to figure out how to reorder and do this in a way that's because I started with the hand painted nails, I had this quality standard that I was unwilling to let go of. It had to look like a salon manicure. So, admittedly, that has definitely slowed down the growth in some places, but at the end of the day, it's also really protected the integrity

Speaker 1: of my brand. and it is your business and it's great that you can have it grow at your pace and in the way that you want

Speaker 2: to. I'm sure that's hard at times.

Speaker 1: Yeah, it's super important to me that I stay founderled though because otherwise it's just another product. I'm here to make pressons that are treated as something serious rather than a replacement or something cheap like they typically are. So, it's important I stay in control of that.

Speaker 2: Yeah. And I know when I can't find the ones I want, I'm frustrated. So, I understand, you know, wanting to have that detail for the people that buy them. Was there a celebrity that wore your nails where you thought this is going to turn into something really big?

Speaker 1: Honestly, we have had a couple celebrities like Aver Lavine is wearing them in a magazine cover, but I would say honestly it's more the repetitive like maybe it's sort of bigger underground people who everyone really respects or has a cult following. But honestly, it's just the repetition of seeing them show up in cultural moments in at festivals, at your favorite retailer. Like, it's really that repetition that's done it more than any one big name.

Speaker 2: Tell us about the retailers you're in. And for someone who is an artist who is thinking about their art and then has to also switch to thinking about scaling to retailers, do you have advice on that?

Speaker 1: So, this is actually a the way we've started to handle our releases has really opened something up for me. So, there were multiple questions in there, but I'm going to get into the most exciting one for me right now. We basically have our Canon releases, which are kind of like the high fashion moments, and then we have our studio staples. If you think about Alexander McQueen, they have these gorgeous runway pieces, but then you go to the mall and you're going to buy their white t-shirt. That's how I'm thinking about these releases and that's how I protect my art while also being able to scale. Those high fashion releases, the Canon releases, they're limited. They're where all my passion goes. And then I also have this skill. We have the manufacturing and everything set up to make just the best everyday nail.

Speaker 2: And that's so smart because sometimes you're going to an event or you're going out to dinner or you're going out and you want something fun and different and then other days you just want something that is a daily nail color. You don't have to think. You just put it on and you know it's going to work. It's so great that you have the best of both of those worlds. You get to still be the artist you are and also scale. Can you tell us about the retailers that

Speaker 1: you're in? Yeah. So, we're on Amazon right now and we're testing with a few other retailers, so I don't want to put names out there just yet.

Speaker 2: Okay. We'll be watching.

Speaker 1: Yes.

Speaker 2: What design almost didn't make it to production, but ended up being a bestseller?

Speaker 1: Actually, this is going to be our more simple styles. There's this one style called Rodeo French, and it's just a plain French nail with brown tip. And I thought, "Oh, this will be cute and fun." No, it's her bestseller. It sells off the shelf anywhere we go. And I think it's because it's that everyday style, but it's still expressive because it's not just a French tip. That surprised me. And that also set us up for our release structure where I can make those two different sort of lanes for designs.

Speaker 2: How do you maintain the artist that you are? Like do you have a process for do you take time during the week? Do you set time aside to make sure that you're staying true to your creativity?

Speaker 1: Staying creative while being productive is really tricky. And there definitely was a point where I squashed my creativity because I was so focused on the business. Creativity is now an operational process, too. And when I did that, the things I was making just weren't resonating because I sucked all the creativity out of it. So my way of handling that is I'm really serious about my routines. Know I'm going to have a day where I handle my finances, where I handle all the operational stuff. When I stick to these structures that basically lets me relax into the creative mindset. So then I have these big open areas of time where I can be creative because you have to be in that relaxed mindset. You can't rush through it. You can't force it. I think it's that way for a lot of entrepreneurs. You know, they get into the business and then they kind of lose a little bit of sight of what they actually love doing and then they have to set the time. It's

Speaker 2: interesting that structure allows for more creativity. I mean, I have to block off time on my calendar. I mean, it's kind of silly that we have to do this, but as as business owners and leaders scaling businesses and doing a lot of things, it really is so important to block off that time and say, "Okay, I'm going to let my mind go. I'm not going to get distracted, you know, I'm going to spend the time doing the things that I truly love. What was your biggest fear as you started to scale? What was the most scary part of that?

Speaker 1: Well, like I said, I started hand painted just losing that the integrity of the product. That was my biggest fear, but I'm able to do it. I mean, I think I'm the most picky person in the manufacturing that any of these factories have ever dealt with. But we make it happen. I was terrified of that, but it's worked out.

Speaker 2: It's important though because you're putting out your quality and your brand, and you want it to reach people in the right way.

Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: What design trend have you refused to do, no matter how popular it is?

Speaker 1: I seem to be the go-to person where people love to send I feel like there's these trends on Instagram of like, look at this crazy nail art. and it's like I don't know like it's the nail is a fork and it's a person eating spaghetti or something crazy like that. So that's an extreme example, but I will never make something that's like look what we made into nail art. Like that's not the vibe. I'll never do that type of thing. There will never be a wow factor. It will be always truly design like something I would want to wear. Seriously.

Speaker 2: What legacy do you hope Rave Nails leaves in the beauty industry? And what would you like to see next for Raiden Nails? I

Speaker 1: hope that we exist as proof that pressons don't have to be something that's unserious and that they can be treated with as much respect and as anything else in design, whether it be fashion or any other highly functioning beauty product. So that's our legacy. And what's next is to continue to the product. We have new technology we're releasing in March. So, I'm really excited about that. Just continue to improve and and make it better every Yeah. And even people can go get their nails done, but then they can take time to let them rest and then during that time they can do the pressants. So, I love the pressons. I'm such a big Well, it's funny that it's like giving your nails a break because the pressons are actually the most gentle thing you can do for your nails because the glue naturally roads by itself versus anything else you have to remove it with an acetone or or a tiny saw.

Speaker 2: We've all been there.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And hopefully I mean I think people can just wear them instead of going to the salon eventually. I think sometimes that's just a mental block, but they will last for 2 weeks and then you can put on a new set.

Speaker 2: I'm a big fan. I mean, I remember taking my nails off, looking at my nails, thinking they need a rest and they need a break. And then I just really never never went back. So, I'm a big fan. Can't I have not tried yours, but I cannot wait to try them.

Speaker 1: I hope you get to soon because I'd be curious about what you think and how they compare.

Speaker 2: Yeah. And speaking of that, can you Thank you for joining us today. Can you please share with us how and where we can find you?

Speaker 1: Yes. So, you can shop our nails on Amazon Prime and you can also shop them on our website where we will have limited releases occasionally. So, that's ravenails.com and our Instagram is the same. It's just ravenails all one word. We'd love to see you there.