The Mani Mixer 2026 | Finding Your Nail Community
As a certified yapper, silent appointments at my nail studio are pretty much non-existent. My workdays in the studio consist of hour-plus gab sessions but the reality is that being a nail artist can be surprisingly solitary. It's part slumber party, part Jungle Cruise skipper and part unofficial life coach. It's one of the reasons I went from a salon suite to opening Vacation Nail Collective. As much as I love spending time with my clients, I missed having co-workers.
Most days it's me, a client and the song "Baby I'm Worth It" by Fifth Harmony that somehow wound up on the Studio Jam playlist and has inexplicably played three times in a row. Between working on set, salon appointments, writing blog posts, creating content, packing shop orders and teaching certification classes, it's easy to fall into a black hole of overstimulation and busy-ness. The thing that keeps me sane is the community of nail friends I've made along the way.
One of the best things I've gotten out of this industry has been the people.
My earliest nail industry friend was my former nail tech, Syrenin, who was actually the person that pushed me to pursue nails professionally. The rest were YouTube creators who had absolutely no idea I existed but somehow managed to become my first nail educators.
That's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to heading to Chicago on July 26th for the nail tech social event of the season, The Mani Mixer.
The Mani Mixer was created by my nail bestie, Dylan Pritchard. We met through Kokoist and have spent our fair share of time teaching, attending trade shows and talking shop together. He's my Scorpio sister, one of my favorite people in the industry and we are absolutely no strangers to strong opinions and hills we're willing to die on.
When Dylan asked me to be on the panel for the second annual Mani Mixer it was an immediate yes.
This year I'll be joining the expert panel alongside Dylan, Courtney Cantwell, Ash Biasella, Reina Santos and Anastasia Rozdobutko. I'll also be lending my eyes to judge the nail art competition, with a theme that's right up my Barbie and the Rockers alley: 80's Neon Glow Party.
Online connection is great but there's just something about IRL connection. The people you meet at classes, trade shows and industry events have a funny way of becoming collaborators, mentors, sounding boards and friends.
That's why I'm so excited for The Mani Mixer.
You'll hear from some incredible working nail artists and educators from all walks of the industry. There will be raffle prizes, swag bags, food, drinks and a nail art competition. More than anything, it's an opportunity to spend time with people who understand exactly what it's like to do what we do for a living.
If you're planning to attend, be sure to come say hello. I'd love to meet you.
