Just Trying To Help A Friend

It was 2003 and 33-year old Cinnamon Bowser was helping a pregnant friend prepare to deliver her third child. She never dreamed she would need an act of Congress to get someone to come to her friend's home to give her a pedicure before her baby was born. Cinnamon searched high and low, using the Internet and local telephone books, but could find no one to help. Most people would have cursed the darkness and moved onto the next thing, but not Cinnamon. She smelled a business opportunity and moved in quickly for the kill. It wasn't long after that experience that Nail Taxi, a mobile nail boutique, sprang into action.

The Concept Takes Flight

"When I was home with my first child, the Nail Taxi idea just began to expand," says Cinnamon. "I started telling women in my daughter's playgroup about the concept and I received such positive feedback." After completing classes at a local women's business center, Cinnamon, who had a journalism degree but no experience in the salon industry, subscribed to salon industry trade publications to bone up on the ins and out of the nail technician business. With $5,000 from the family savings, Nail Taxi was born.

Nail Taxi hosted its first live event on May 15, 2005, and Cinnamon has been a busy woman ever since. She plans to license the Nail Taxi brand by expanding into ten cities by May 2007, beginning last month with Richmond, Virginia. In addition to the usual manicures and pedicures available everywhere, Cinnamon spices things up a bit (pun intended!) by offering  uniquely designed treatments designed to pamper and please. And they sound good enough to eat! Choose from Pumpkin Sugar Spice Soufflé (for the fall season only), Cinnamon Bun, Peppermint Pleasure, Cool Citrus Breeze and Green Tea & Cucumber. Prices range from $35 for a classic manicure to $65 for one of the signature scent pedicures. Add-ons are always fun and Nail Tax offers several including paraffin treatments and gel and acrylic nail application and maintenance.

The Mission, Expanded

Nail Taxi's core mission is to provide stellar nail care services for clients wherever they are in their busy lives. But like so many Lifestyle CEOs who set out with a particular mission in mind, Nail Taxi's has expanded into realms Cinnamon did not predict. Most notably, Nail Taxi's missions now include being of service to people who are infirm, elderly or otherwise incapacitated. Nail Taxi technicians provide services in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and other places, so in addition to providing women like Cinnamon's pregnant friend with services that make their toes pretty, Nail Taxi provides Cinnamon with a way to minister to people who benefit spiritually from the tender loving care provided by Nail Taxi technicians who gently clean, massage, moisturize and polish their hands and feet.

Trifecta Redefined

In horse racing parlance, a trifecta is a system of betting where one must correctly predict the identities and order of the first three horses to cross the finish line. Cinnamon is not a betting woman, but she has a trifecta of her own. Says Cinnamon, "My Jesus, my husband and my mother" are the winning combination that makes Nail Taxi work. "My faith keeps me focused on the fact that Nail Taxi's purpose is far greater than mere generation of revenue. I have also learned to rely on Jesus 'to make ways out of no ways' as the church folks say." Cinnamon says that her husband Steve literally makes Nail Taxi possible. "On most weekends, he's alone with our children so I can work the business," she says. "He  helps me to strategize, he 's my sounding board and he attends conferences and exhibits with me. I call him my MVP!" Cinnamon says her mother is her biggest fan, encouraging her to pursue her dream of financial independence without sacrificing devotion to family. Says Cinnamon, "Though she lives in North Carolina, she travels to Virginia frequently to be with our children so Steve and I can attend to Nail Taxi business."

Trading Spaces

As a busy wife and mother, Cinnamon is used to making the adjustments that are necessary to integrate home and business. She's also proof positive that you don't have to have a huge fancy office to make your business a success. When Cinnamon's first child was born, her office was located in a study in the family home. Once child number two came along, some fancy footwork was necessary in order to accommodate both the growing family and the growing business. Today, Nail Taxi is operated entirely out of a wall in the family's living room. The entire space is about 10 feet by 4 feet and it includes a desk, computer, file cabinets, two lamps and a side table holding the printer/copier/fax/scanner. Cinnamon says that the light that streams through her office/living room combination is "fantastic and inspiring."

The Lifestyle CEO Choice

Cinnamon is committed to her family -- husband Steve of 7 years and their children, Madison (age 4) and Cooper (age 16 months). She appreciates being in a position to own a business that provides income along with the flexibility and control she needs to stoke the home fires. "I am so blessed to be able to run Nail Taxi and be at home with my family at the same time," she says. And while she wouldn't trade it for her old lifestyle of working full-time on someone else's terms in the journalism field, she's honest enough to admit the downside. "The work is grueling, it never ends and I do stay tired," she confesses. "I am making many short term sacrifices of things like shopping sprees, sleep and exotic vacations, but the tradeoff is worth it for me," she says. Despite the challenges, Cinnamon loves every minute of it and stays "incredibly excited to be creating and growing my own business."

Cinnamon's Pearls of Wisdom

"Create an advisory board for yourself. A group of friends, colleagues and associates who can serve as a trusted sounding board."

"Remember to celebrate. A colleague recently gave me a bottle of sparkling cider and told me I needed to take some time to celebrate. She said I was always looking past my successes and triumphs and onto the next challenge. She was right so I took her advice!"