Veteran nail tech and Kupa educator Ann Chang started her new YouTube channel, The Nail Tips Show, because she wanted to help nail techs grow in their art and enthusiasm for the industry. “I want to really show that the nail business isn’t just about the mani/pedi; it can be more fun,” she says. Seeing the competition side of the industry is what transformed nails from a job into a passion for Chang. “All I saw was the work every day to make money at the salon, and because of that I didn’t have passion for it,” she explains. “When I saw the professional side of it — the competition, the beauty shows, the art of it — that’s when I fell in love.” The show features techniques, education, and show coverage in Vietnamese and English.

Chang collaborates with her husband, who works in production and media, to create videos for her new channel. Because she is bilingual (English and Vietnamese), she creates videos in a combination of both languages to reach a wider range of nail techs. Ultimately, she wants to eliminate the divide between American and Vietnamese nail techs. “There shouldn’t be labels,” she says. “We’re all nail techs, we’re all in the beauty industry, and we all can benefit from each other. Our culture and our way of doing business are different, and we can always learn from each other and make the industry as a whole better.”

The aim is to bring the creativity of show nails to the salon for beginning and intermediate nail artists, according to Chang. “I feel like those are the people working hard in the salon day-to-day and those are the people who need help the most,” she says. “Not everybody is creative. I’m trying to bring my creativity and do it simply enough so they can do it and use the techniques in the salon.”

Watch Ann Chang on her YouTube channel The Nail Tips Show or follow her on Facebook @nailtipsannchang.

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