Meet Lay Hogan | Nail Technician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lay Hogan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lay, what role has risk played in your life or career?
What I think about risk is that they need to be taken in order to enter new phases in life. If you are always scared of the unknown you will always be stuck where you are trying to grow from. When I think about risk taking, I don’t think about the fear about it I think about the end goal that I am going to achieve and the person I will grow into when going down the journey to achieve it. Taking risk played a huge role in my life, from me taking a leap of faith when I decided to move from my home town to Atlanta when I was 19 without any sole connection here. It was really just a gut feeling to me that Atlanta was the place I needed to be to start my journey in life. I always been the type to try new things, you really don’t know if you dislike or like something unless you try it. So every new adventure I have taken in life started with the fear of failure, the fear wasting my time, and most the fear of disappointment. Taking risk only fuels me to push harder. So you can say taking risk is a huge part in my life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Today, I got where I at today because I always been an open minded person, sometimes I think before I speak, I take action before I think the plan all the way through. It shows in my nails, I feel with nails its a mini canvas that the client is letting you not only represent you but also themselves. No two client nails will ever be the exact same because there is different energy that projects from everyone. I is sometimes hard because you can get a block but you have to learn to play your emotions out in your creativity. I’m still learning so much on my journey the biggest thing I learned is never stop being a student always to open to expand your horizon and knowledge in your field. When people think of me and I brand I want them to think of their confidence. To know that me and my brand represents to show the best of them and to make sure that their not only happy about their nails but their experience. My story is nowhere near coming to end and right now it is just climbing to its peak to greatness.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite spots in Atlanta, whew there are so many. My favorite spot to eat and drink would be “Sivas” in Kennesaw. I always get their lamb chops and a strawberry margarita, I tell everyone you can not go wrong there. They have good food, drinks, music and of course hookah. Then just walking downtown is an event in itself. You are always bound to run into some good spots and meet good people along the way. When coming to Atlanta you have to be ready to get out your comfort zone if you are a shy person, its so much to offer here. Then the waterfalls in Roswell is also a nice quiet get away if you want something quiet and out door. Last, the night life in Atlanta, as I tell people “Atlanta never sleeps” especially during Bruch. For Bruch you have to visit Breakfast at Barneys and make sure you get there early or make your reservation because they get packed past. For the kids you have Candytopia, my daughter loves it there, for the colors and the candy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I learned that real sucess is built with a team, strong people behind you showing that there is not only one way to go about things. I would like to start off by shouting out my best friend Laelani, she is more like my friendship soulmate. She seen that I was the type that would try to rush my process that needed time to grow. We would sit on the phone and I would go on and on about different things. Until, she called me out. She noticed I always mentioned nails and doing something in the beauty industry. She is also a nail tech in Miami and I would ask her a million questions while she did nails to the point she pointed and helped me looked for a nail school and pushed me to give it a try. Soon I realized doing nails was one of my passions in life. Also, I would like to shoutout my friend Vanessa, she’s seen the tears, the happiness, and the stress. She calms me down when I get overwhelmed with trying to achieve my goals. I feel everyone needs that one person they can just come to and show them in themselves in raw form, a step away. She is that person to me. I go over my ideas with her and the game plans I have in motion to get it done. Lastly, my favorite book “The subtle Art of not giving F***”by Mark Manson. Its always the first book I recommend to people. It’s a guide on a mindset to keep when going about my career and achieving things for myself towards my future.

Website: https://nailvaultbylay.glossgenius.com

Instagram: lay_thadon