I am ecstatic to share this painfully sweet interview with Rachel Kim, CEO of Nailed Kit. She graduated from Harvard Business School, she works her ass off and makes a living off making parties and fingertips more exciting. The only thing that could possibly be more lovable than her are her Border Terriers. Without further adieu, I give you Mrs. Kim.
Who are you, where do you live, what do you do?
My name is Rachel Kim. I live in San Francisco with my husband and two of the cutest dogs ever, Flyer and Rudy. I am the Founder and CEO of a start up called Nailed Kit. We make DIY nail art kits for special occasions such as birthday parties, bachelorette parties and baby showers.
What made you decide to start Nailed Kit?
Prior to founding Nailed Kit I managed marketing at a sports website called Bleacher Report in downtown San Francisco.
I was inspired to launch Nailed Kit while planning my friend Leah’s bachelorette party. Her request seemed simple enough at the time: She was looking to do something classy, and she didn’t want to wear anything outlandish or call a lot of attention to herself. I set out to find an alternative and in the process realized most bachelorette party products are pretty terrible and not well designed. Don’t get me wrong, penis straws are funny once, but after your third or fourth bachelorette that gets a bit boring.
Out of this frustration I got to thinking: what if we all had matching nails? Of course it wouldn’t be a true bachelorette without personalizing them for her, so I wondered if I could create custom monograms for us to wear on our nails. It turned out no such product or service really existed. Thus Nailed Kit was born.
How do you decide who will be able to help you design the next kit?
One of the main ideas behind Nailed Kit is to work with prominent graphic designers and illustrators to create exclusive designs for Nailed Kit. The beauty of Nailed Kit is we can explore many unique designs and not just do a repeating pattern which is what you mostly see at the store when you see nail wraps. Because it’s flexible I am able to work with many designers and will look to add to my existing collections as well as add entirely new ones. Basically the sky is the limit!
Do you have a go-to designer nail polish you rock when you aren’t killing it in nail art?
Since I’m always on the go, I absolutely love Sally Hansen’s insta-dri line of nail polish, I love how quickly I can do a mani. My latest obsession is a color called ‘Gone Grey’ it’s a lovely dark gray that reflects Fall.
But otherwise, I love Butter London and this Aussie nail polish brand called Hello Darling, they are doing some really fun stuff with nails.
If we stopped you on the street, what would you be wearing?
I’m pretty casual most of the time. I love my skinny Levi’s, leggings and chambray. Also recently discovered that the Nordstrom in San Francisco carries TopShop, so I’ve been wearing a lot of their tees and little dresses with colorful leggings.
What is one thing not many people know about you?
I’m a triplet. I have a brother and a sister and we were born on April Fools day. Also, my dogs have become sort of famous on Instagram. They have over 2,000 followers and growing.
Find her on Twitter
@rachelhoneth
Special thanks to Donna for suggesting Rachel to me via Twitter. If you have an incredible, fashion forward woman you would like to nominate for my Wonder Woman Wednesday series please comment below or send me an email!
