Currently vice president of Kupa’s Vicki Peters Signature Series, this power tech has been doing nails for 25 years. She’s probably done more than 250 cover shoots for various magazines including NAILS, Nailpro, and TV Guide. When we needed someone to do the nails for this month’s Power Issue, we knew she was the one to do it.

Before starting at Kupa two years ago, Vicki had worked for both NAILS and Nailpro (where she managed competitions and education). “It was always in the cards that when I moved on it would be to go to Kupa,” says Vicki, who does a little bit of everything—from product development to marketing and PR—for the Buena Park, Calif-based company. “I had a longstanding relationship with them and putting my name on the Beautiful Nails brand was my goal.”

With Vicki’s input, the Beautiful Nails line was streamlined and new products were developed, the biggest of which is the company’s new S-Gel.

Something we certainly don’t need to tell many of you is that Vicki is always accessible—either by phone or e-mail—to help techs who need technical advice. She’s probably passed along her knowledge to thousands of nail techs through direct e-mails and the BeautyTech.com site.

“The most important thing is that people know they can reach out to you when they don’t have anyone else to turn to,” says Vicki. “And everyone knows I’ll give them a no-nonsense straightforward answer.”

“I love getting that phone call from a tech I advised and having the tech tell me about her success. Or getting an e-mail about how someone I’ve worked with has become successful. That makes it all worth it.”

When asked what she will do in the future, this power nail tech says she will never leave the nail business. But when she finally does put down her nail brush, she wants to unplug. “I will be writing books and reflecting. You don’t learn anything until you’ve taught it to somebody else.”

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