Have RV, Will Travel

According to news accounts from Toronto to Texas, he’s the guy who put the “man” in manicure In December, nail tech Man/in Bayless caught the attention of the Racine Journal Times, near his hometown of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and made the front page. From there the article was picked up by the Associated Press and spread nationwide. So what’s so unique about Bayless? After all, he’s hardly the first guy to wield a nail file.

For the 35-year-old Bayless, the story begins a few years ago. As a journeyman electrician, he was finding work in his field increasingly difficult to come by and he began pondering new career options. One day, while his wife was busy cooking, he lent a hand by cutting her grandmother’s fingernails. A good son-in-law, he also cut her toenails a few times after that. Then the light dawned Bayless’s wife and her mother had an idea; With all the elderly and homebound people needing nail care, why not create a mobile salon — with Bayless at the helm? Bayless agreed it was a great concept and he enrolled at Gateway Technical College to study nail technology — with the ultimate goal of providing nail care at assisted living facilities and at seniors’ homes.

“I walked into the classroom my first day with my long hair and leather motorcycle jacket and they told me the welding class was down the hall,” he recalls.

With license in hand, Bayless did an internship at a salon in Racine, while applying to the state for his mobile nail technician’s license “They told me in the 17 years the license had been available, I was the first to apply. So I know I’m the only one doing thus in Wisconsin,” he says.

Bayless outfitted a 1990 RV with spa pedicure area in the back where the bedroom had been and built a manicure area in front. Once fully equipped, Nail Trips Manicure and Pedicure Salon was ready to roll. Able-bodied clients receive services in the RV, but if a client is housebound, Bayless can bring all the necessary equipment to them.

Since receiving all the publicity, Bayless says business has picked up considerably. “About 50% of the calls are from older gentlemen who are uncomfortable with the salon atmosphere,” he says.