I’ve never been a hat person. I have worn a hat or two, mostly during the winter, but other than that, hats are not very me.

However, the entrepreneur in me always has that crafty little mind of hers submerged under at least three different hats at the same time! I would be thrilled if she would just sit down and chill out on occasion :o)

The Nail Student Hat – I must apologize in advance for the deep shock that will tremble through the reading audience next. Here it goes. I do not like acrylics. {Deep gasp. Horror. Shock. I may have heard someone say, “Kick her out!”} I know. I know, but everything about acrylic nails makes my stomach woozy. The smell mostly...but anyway, I’m stuck on the acrylic section of my studies. I’ve read about it. Theoretically, I have a fairly solid knowledge base, but, in practice? I’ve actually been avoiding practice. Gels, I like. Acrylics, I can live without. Hopefully, I can suck it up long enough to get past this mental road block.

The Operations Manager Hat – I should call this hat The Terminator. Flying insects have found their way into Posh’aah {ewwwww} Big, juicy, monumental-sized flies have been buzzing around like they own the place. They don’t! We found their hiding place, a garage door at the front of the shop, but don’t know how they are getting inside. We think they may have found a hole or crack to squeeze through near the storefront sign. Anyway, I called in my guy and he doused the front door area in flying insect spray. I’ll see what we’re left with when we get back to the shop today.

The Online Deal Manager Hat – We ran another online deal with You Swoop. We have sold 944 deals! I can hardly breathe. At the end of the run, I was hoping to have sold about 400, but OMG, we’re almost at 1,000. The phone has been ringing constantly. The calendar is booked up, and I am looking for awesome nail professionals to help fill the demand. This will be difficult because I’m learning that I’m a borderline perfectionist. I need team members that can master the art of a clean polish job who won’t be bummed out by the fact that we don’t offer acrylics. Know anybody?

The Marketing Hat – Nikki and Lyvonne are amazing nail artists. In addition to being featured on two local cable TV programs, we were also featured in the August issue of Chicago Magazine as one of the best nail places in West Town...yay!!! We constantly share new designs and favorites with our Facebook friends. Often times, when guests visit us, they will see something cool on Nikki’s nails and want to have the same design on their own nails. I love seeing how happy people are with nail art. I’ve even tried my own hand at nail art. Here’s my first attempt. I call it, “A Mosaic Rose.”

The Mommy Hat – Even as I blog, there is a 1-year-old at my knee screaming, “Maaaa, Maaaa!” He’s not the only one penciling himself in on my calendar. Last night, the 8-year-old insisted that I take him over to his cousins’ house to play. No matter how many hats I wear (or how stressful they are), I always make time for the mommy hat because my baby boys are getting so big {tear}.

And so, I’ll leave you with this story. I stayed open late one night. Trey, my 8-year-old was with me when my girlfriend came to the shop with her 6-year-old son. Her son saw the dollhouse of nail polish and was instantly confused.

“Wait a minute?” he said. “That’s Spiderman.” He pointed at the ultra-girly doll house filled with nail polish. “Why is he in there?”

Trey answered, “Oh, that’s the Spiderman Collection from O.P.I.”

I was dying laughing. My little man had been listening to me blab about the colors in the dollhouse all day :o)

—Makeda, Posh'aah Nail Spa, Chicago