Meet Marjorie Burnette: Owner of MPres Nails

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

Hi Marjorie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
About a year ago, I experienced the most racist, degrading, and disgusting encounter with a nail tech here locally via social media. It really caught me off guard and angered me so bad to see someone of another race who really profits heavily with out black women go above and beyond to try to belittle me. It was all done via social media so of course I screen shot it to simply make others aware of my experience. The post had over 2,000 shares on Facebook within less than an hour. I wasn’t expecting that at all but it really showed me how our culture sticks together to show support when one of us is wronged. Event 2 local news stations reached out to get my story. I was already practicing and teaching myself how to do nails and designs at the time but this made me want it even more. “Representation matters” isn’t just a saying, it’s a reality. I decided to invest in myself and I found how passionate I was about doing this. I had a plan to go to nail school in following summer, but COVID delayed that for me. The thing about having a passion is, no matter what happens, you’ll make a way to do it and keep it as a part of your life. I decided that I would continue practicing but I’d start a customized press on nail business. Everybody things to go back to normal as soon as possible but that wasn’t so easy as we all realized. I was able to help women still hold on to a sense of normalcy and self care during the pandemic. These aren’t our mamas press ons either! I use high end products which allow for them to be uniquely designed and reusable because of their quality.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was the girl who got their nails done every two weeks, literally! Going to my nail appointment was literal therapy for me and I didn’t even realize it. But I also found the art of doing nails so intriguing. All the different designs, shapes, lengths, colors, trends- its expression! My journey hasn’t been easy. With me being a full time single mom, and having a full time employee, it’s not easy to do as much as I want. I never thought I would be on this side of things, literally excited about something that isn’t an overnight success or guaranteed paycheck. I’m motivated by my creativity and the way I lose tension in my body when I start to create. I don’t have to be slammed with orders either, I still practice. I still market my business. I’m a walking advertisement. When I go out, people ask me about my nails and I pull out my business card or I put my Instagram in their phone. I’ve learned to make every moment an opportunity to advocate for my business. I lost friends at the beginning of my business. I have no explanation of it either, they just didn’t support my business. It really hurt me too because I was always there for them in any capacity but Simply share, like, or comments want given to me. I could’ve let that keep me down and doubtful of the outside support I would get. I mean, if the people I considered my friends didn’t support me, how could I expect strangers to, right? You know what’s worse? I would see them share and like other people’s posts, and successes and business and it was like a gut punch. But, passion wouldn’t let something like that deter me. I know that was God making testing me to see how bad I wanted this. I realized that, the world is too large to let people knock me off my path. I was rerouted on my journey and I lost some people along they way but the journey continues! My brand is about persistence. I don’t have the most followers but I have a great support base that’s genuine and consistent! I have sales that are continuously growing. I have goals that I have to reach. My brand is literally trial and error and the beauty within.

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?
Memphis is full of life! This place has a deep history of music, dance, art, food and do much more! First thing we’re doing is going downtown to Beale street of course! Pre covid, there would be live music on almost every corner, food trucks, dancing, and so many dope places to take pictures for the gram! Who doesn’t love a good street style tourist pic to post on social media! There’s also a lot of modern and vintage shopping nearby too . a Schwab is one of my favorite places to go to. It’s like you take a step back in time to see how Memphis was years and years ago. And every time I go I always notice something different. Of course you can’t come to Memphis without getting some ribs or hot wings! I’m not a big rib person myself but I’ll certainly take you to a few spots that I like for wings. We can go to Crumpys, Debo’s, Ching’s, The Wing Guru, the list goes on literally! If we go to Dixie Queen, I’ll get them a suicide slushy! That’s all of the flavors mixed together and it’s good and nostalgic! We can also go to the River. It’s so peaceful and pre covid, there was always an event taking place. There’s some nice night clubs here too and the 28+ crowd is knows how to party drama free. I used to work at Graceland mansion in high school and it’s actually a really amazing and interesting place to visit. Most people from Memphis have never been there, but I try to encourage outsiders to go at least once. Stax museum is soulful and eclectic and it’s also a must see! We can’t forget the Civil Rights Museum. There’s so much cultural significance here in Memphis, even down to the schools and sports teams! We could go to a Memphis Tiger football/basketball game or a Grizzlies game, depending on the season. It would be an amazing week!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my Journey to my son. I found myself unemployed during covid and even though I had a decedent savings, I fell into depression and stress trying to stay afloat mentally. My son would always tell me how good I was doing throughout my entire journey. Some days I would be so frustrated because of how much of a perfectionist I am and he’d just say “Mommy it’s ok to take a break.” He helped me mentally and that kept me going. I included him in my business name also. his name is Preston so I wanted this to be a dedication to my driving force and biggest supporter!

Website: MPresNails.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mpresnails?igshid=hxpcexydgssg

Image Credits
Photography By Keara