You get your chicken and broccoli combo delivered right to your door, along with your Fresh Direct order and all of your other online purchases. So why not a mani/pedi, too? Entrepreneur mom Cinnamon Bowser
created the fabu company Nail Taxi, which delivers style—and pretty mani/pedis—to your home.
Cinnamon, how did you come up with the idea for Nail Taxi?
I got the idea from a girlfriend who was pregnant with her third child. She wanted a pedicure before she delivered her baby. I wanted to find someone to come to her home to do it, but couldn’t. She was due any minute, and neither one of us had a minivan to pack up our kids and take her to a salon. I knew that a service like this should exist. That’s how Nail Taxi, a mobile nail boutique, came to be.
What had you been doing prior?
I had been doing public relations and marketing for years.
Ahhh, you already had the building blocks to start this.
I did. I didn’t know anything about the industry, but I started subscribing to industry publications. I took courses at my local women’s business enter and went to as many salons as I could. But it was two years before the company was birthed.
Let’s talk about where Nail Taxi is today.
It’s doing really well. We just finished Fashion Week, and that was thrilling. The first year Nail Taxi was in business, we got a lot of great media coverage and people wanted to know how they could start one in their own city. We started a licensing program since then.
What would you tell busy moms about good nail care?
The main thing about nail care is that you’re groomed. You don’t have to have polish on to have your nails manicured. Lotion goes a long way as well as a little cuticle oil or even olive oil. File your nails, too. If you want to do polish, that’s great. There are no wrong choices in polish; all colors are great. I tell women all the time that it’s just polish; it’s not a tattoo, and to have fun with it!
What advice would you give to other moms who are thinking of starting their own businesses?
I would like to stress that even if you don’t have all the info, don’t let that discourage you. There were two years between the time I had the idea and then started the company. As mothers, we think if we don’t do it now,
then the opportunity will pass us by, and that’s not the case. It’s a lesson that I still struggle with. It’s making sure that you’re always progressing and taking a step forward every day, which is what life is really about.