About Me
Hi, I’m Deborah!
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My Nail Journey
How it started.
When my BFF gave me my first gel manicure at 15, neither of us knew what kind of passion it would inspire. I never knew something for my nails could feel so luxurious, soft, and durable. 6 months later I bought my first, very own gel kit! The next year another friend showed me glue on press ons - something as a professional I discourage, but as a teenager who didn’t know any better, I thought I hit the jackpot! My interest kept growing from there.
Where it went.
After graduating high school, I went to Pacific Lutheran University and got my bachelor’s degree in business administration. I knew that some day I would want to run my own salon. Throughout my years at college, I experimented with every nail extension technique I could - acrylic (which I always got in trouble for using in the dorms), hard gel and poly gel, soft gel extensions, dip, tips and forms, and started learning and experimenting with nail art.
How it’s going.
Once out of college, I thought I needed some time to figure out what life/career direction I wanted to go in. I got a job at an office, met a man (who is now my awesome husband), we adopted a puppy, and then Covid hit. I started thinking - did I want to work in an office, or follow my passion doing nails? Thanks to the endless encouragement of my husband, I enrolled in Portland Beauty School and got my nail license - the fever dream that lasted 9 years has finally become my reality!
What’s next?
Now here we are - I’ve started my nail business and all there is left to do is get to know you! I offer gel manicures, gel extensions, and builder gel overlay services. I’m looking forward to learning more art styles, doing continuing education, taking classes, and developing my business skills to one day achieve my goal of having my own salon. I’m so excited to be working with the girls at Brilliance Salon and Day Spa!
Bio
I am excited to introduce myself and I’m looking forward to seeing you in my salon station! Some of my favorite personal fun-facts are:
I’ve been doing my own nails for 9 years, and taking the leap from hobby to career is super scary but super exciting!! I loved going to school and getting a formal nail education, and you bet I’ll be educating you, my clients, along the way!
My favorite color is pink, and I try to wear it almost every day - why not wear what makes you happy?!
My favorite food is Thai food, especially fresh salad rolls, pad Thai, and pra ram with extra peanut sauce! And nothing beats the heat like a Thai iced tea!
Our dog’s name is Katsu, named after the fried Japanese chicken or pork cutlet dish (we call him Chicken more often than not!). He’s a Shiba Inu, an ancient Japanese dog. Katsu means “cutlet,” which is especially fitting because at 3 years old he’s only 15 pounds - a full grown male should be 25-30! We also adopted two litter-mate cats in September ‘22 and named them Sushi and Gyoza. We have our own little Bento Box of pets! At 9 months, they’re already bigger than Katsu!
I absolutely love to cook and bake. Some of the favorite things I’ve made have been homemade pasta with various sauces (my favorite is pesto!), bread, lemon-blueberry cake, veggie burgers, pizza, pumpkin and apple pies (homemade crust AND fillings - gotta go all the way!) and fudgy brownies. My hubby makes the best pork roast, too!
In high school I played 5 instruments - piano, saxophone, flute, oboe, guitar, plus I sang. I even got a scholarship for college to play saxophone, and we toured in Portugal and Spain my first year. I don’t play as much anymore, but I stick with piano and saxophone and love listening to wind orchestra music - my favorite to play!
I grew up watching shows like Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, and CSI, and keep watching them to this day! I listen to true crime podcasts pretty much all day, every day, and watch a lot of documentaries and docuseries. Despite my affinity for true crime, my favorite show is Futurama! I’ve watched it through hundreds of times, and I can’t imagine ever not liking it.
I love reading. My fave genres are romance, historical fiction or non-fiction (bonus points for historical romance), and fantasy. However, it takes a lot to get me to watch a movie or show of any of those genres - somehow it’s better to me on the pages.
