She’s just a girl who can’t say no. That’s why Glen Burnie, Md.-based roving nail tech Lori Anderson is busy many days from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., tending to clients from Baltimore to Annapolis to Washington, D.C. And she wouldn’t have it any other way Anderson, a nail tech since 1984, has been mobile since 1995.

”I still work part-time in a salon so I can keep in touch with that environment, but I don’t like to sit around, so I simply meet my clients there,” she says.

Anderson’s mobile clients run the gamut — evenly divided between those who are short on time and those who have difficulty getting around. “I do weddings and nail parties for children and I also go to hospitals and convalescent homes for my elderly clients,” she says. “One of my clients is a high-level executive who I see at her office. She’s usually on conference calls through the entire service.” Her most exhausting stint was four days spent tending to the entire finance department at three different bank branches. (They had received her services as a reward from a grateful boss.)

Despite space limitations, Anderson provides all types of enhancements and pedicures services. Plus, she never leaves home without the latest polish collections.

The downside of the niche she’s carved out for herself, says Anderson, is that clients page her at all sorts of crazy hours and it becomes difficult to keep business and leisure separate. Other challenges the mobile tech faces are keeping her equipment stocked and maintaining a professional demeanor despite the hectic schedule. Her advice to anyone contemplating such a move:

  • Stay organized
  • Allow adequate travel time
  • Protect the table surface you’re working on
  • Don’t overbook.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.

Read more about