Thea Green



Thea Green, the founder of Nails Inc, is known for her “Twisted” entrepreneurial style. She knows her business, staff, and customers to the core, which eventually pampers her with a thriving nails empire. Started in London, from a rough idea taken from the Americans, Nails Inc., is now one of the leading brands in the beauty industry.

Fall into Colors!

There are nails, and then there are the nail colors. Obsessing over nail paints is quite prevalent nowadays. So I took the liberty of visiting the nail queen’s den in London suburbs while on a trip. At the center heart of the extravagant Nails Inc. headquarter, situated off Regent Street in a magnificent 1970s building, there is a platform, which displays 60 bottles of nail paints in a rich, vibrant, and exotic color shades. There are café au lait shades with names such as Fouberts Place and Jermyn Street, Portobello- a tomato red, Kensington-a midnight teal and Camden- a crackle-effect jet-black, edgy topcoat, of course. Nail Inc. is celebrated for their richer screens of nail polish. In the Nails Inc. color library, there are total 100 vibrant shades of colors, all named after London boroughs and streets, and all manufactured in their home country Britain.

Ridin’ High in Nail Style

Thea Green
Thea Green
Thea Green, 39, the woman behind Britain’s largest nail bar chain Nail Inc, surely knows the definition of hard graft. Green not only has changed the face of the entire high-end fashion streets and the burgeoning nail industry by introducing quick and cut-rate nail jobs to Brits, but she is also using her years of expertise to motivate teens into planning their future perspective and ambitions when they grow up. Green is great when it comes to getting things done. Once juggling to pay her bills, she served as Tatler’s fashion editor. The nail queen established her company Nails Inc. keeping a brief synchronization with the current catwalk trends and requirements of customers, as to satisfy the clients’ needs. Her collections include the latest trends around the world, for the delight of customers.With the customers like Beyoncé, what else do you expect?
Green compares the enthusiasm from propelling and learning about international markets to the initial days of the business. Her company has extended its manufacturing operations into various other countries as well, but what she rejoices the most is Nail Inc’s top ten products are the same in every market. In terms of customer trust and satisfaction, it is a nice testament that clients are excited and the products are superstars of the market. They have accomplished everything they had planned to, which includes, setting up nail bar with best services, trade products with outside communities, and take the business on an international scale. Although it took a whole set of 10 years to make it international.
From one store in the year 1999, Thea Green’s Nail Inc. now has around 15,000 clients on a weekly basis and nationwide 60 flagship stores. Not at all bad for someone who entered into venture at the mere age of 24, while there are people of the same age still chaotic about not being at the college drinking affordable Sambucas with chicken wings on the side.

Bringing Home the American Concept

Nails IncGreen’s light-bulb moment arrived on a business trip to New York City, where numerous nail bars offered cheap and quick manicures for busy executives and professionals. While in London, only ladies who had the free time to sit around spa over their free lunch times used to get their nails done. This idea influenced Green and after her arrival, with the help of private investors, she managed to raise £250,000 to launch her first store in 1999 on South Molton Street. Now the business is a giant name in the fashion industry with a turnover of £22 million every year, with 60 flagship stores, and Green holding an MBE.
Thea Green describes her nail paint shades as ‘Rainbow nails’ as she adorns shades of “Orange, Green, Pale Blue, Neon Pink, and Peach.” Usually, most women would prefer balking over wearing these five shades, but the Thea Green is not one of those women for all we know. Trends by her company are translated very easily worldwide in the form of feather and leather polish, and fashionable colors like Brights or Neons.
She never hesitates to express her admiration for American women. Green feels that women in America never shy away from getting their stuff done by some help while in Britain the condition is different.
Once during an interview in Mayfair she expressed, “It’s very different from people in the UK. American women will talk to you about their cleaning lady, their hairdresser, their fitness instructor, and all the things they outsource at home and work. British women hide it, they pretend that they’re doing it all themselves. I like that American way of being completely transparent about having help. It's how you get things done.

Building an Empire on Nails

Nails IncThe staff of Nails Inc. consists of over 400 employees, which is a female-forward business mostly consisting of women having a strong background in retail rather than beauty. According to Green, retention is the key. Nails Inc. is made up of an expert team of mix corporate-savvy, entrepreneurial, and learnt-on-the-job type of people. All are very creative, self-managing, and entrepreneurial, according to the founder of Nails Inc. Before diving into this nail business venture, Thea had undergone a brief research to deal with the enormity of the stuff she was supposed to do before leaving her job. She made a brief to-do list and before taking up the entrepreneurial role, she designed a P&L model, resourced the manufacturing and products, planned wise selection of right staff, and raised investments along with the suitable property.
Green believes a huge deal of brand excitement and greater innovations, whether in the field of international growth or product development, keeps her employees glued to their company. Each and every member in her staff list works to make an impact with a fast pace of approach to delivering the best quality within a period of time. This is probably one of the strong factors boosting her market growth in the nail industry.
Apart from the marketing factors, one of the strong reason Thea’s business is striving is her strong HR strategies, in which she keeps providing praiseworthy employee benefits and perks of working in a nail bar like free highlight product or manicures once in a month. She involves every level of her employees in her marketing discussion for a creative brainstorm session, in which they freely discuss opinions about branding, marketing, shortfalls, profit, and another thing that can be used as a future strategy for company’s growth.
Recession can never hit her business as even during bad economy women always inclined towards fashion. Especially, the business Green is involved in is a huge venture because a casual customer walking down the street could enter and buy two-three nail colors without being concerned about the economic times. Changing a nail color and buying it frequently is much easier than buying a new pair of dress or shoes.

Success behind Thea’s NAIL-VOLUTION

  • Plan and Execute Meticulously a Business Idea
  • Tweak the Ultimate Successful Formula
  • Stay obsessed with cultivating the brand
  • Stay up to date with latest trends to stay ahead of the nemesis
  • Celebrate Success
  • Be surrounded by a strong team, train your staff