Tracey Revis, owner of Tracey’s Place in Encino, Calif., has just done her third NAILS cover shoot (she previously did the nails on the November 1997 and November 1999 covers).

If she is not at her salon, there is a good chance that you will find Tracey behind the OPI booth educating other professional nail technicians and students, not only about the benefits of using OPI’s products, but also about the benefits of education, communication, and high industry standards.

You see, in the past 18 years Tracey has not only been a nail technician and a salon owner, but she has also been an educator. She is not afraid to tell you exactly what you are doing wrong (and what you can do to fix it) and what you are doing right.

She was the first person to offer to go on the record about the MMA issue that resurfaced this January in Los Angeles. “After reading the article in the L.A. Times, I was so fired up,” she says. “I think our industry needs to pull together and form a loud voice letting the consumer know about the dangers of MMA in out industry. If we disseminate information, we can put an end to the manicurists and salons that give the rest of us professional nail technicians a bad rap.”

And on top of all this, she is a mother, making sure her two children (Evan, 9, and Camille, 8) are not getting the raw end of the deal because of their mom’s talents and ideals. A few years ago, she closed the doors of her salon to spend more time with her children, later deciding that she could manage to both spend time with her family and run a successful salon business. “Doing nails is a passion of mine; nothing compares to the nail industry for me,” says Tracey.

 

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