Meet Cathleen Kaye of Dacula

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cathleen Kaye.

Hi Cathleen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is long but full of amazing things I never thought possible for me. I am currently a stay at home mom of 2 young children, business owner, farm owner, home schooler & wife. I’ll start from the very beginning of where it all started. I am not a very girly girl. I was never into getting my nails done or wearing makeup. In early 2021 I had just given birth to my 2nd child and about 2 weeks after, I developed post partum psychosis. I got put into a local mental health facility to get help and while I was there for 2 weeks I had time to decompress and attempt to regain some of old self. When I arrived back home I had a long talk with my husband about how I feel like I had lost my old self and motherhood had taken its tole on my mind & body. My husband is an amazing man and always very supportive, he knows that I have always been a very artistic individual (winning awards in the past for my art) and that doing art brought me peace and joy. He said I should find something artistic to bring me joy again and try to find my new self. I agreed and went looking for something that really called to me. I went through many hobbies, home decorating, and multiple health kicks later I stumbled across a girl making and selling press on nails online. She was so talented, I showed my husband how cool her nail art was and he said to me ” I bet you could do that.” I thought about it and I thought I could too. So I started slowly accruing supplies to make press on nails, setting up a nail station in our bedroom, watching video after video of nail art tutorials. Eventually I got pretty good. I wanted to make a bit of side cash to support my happy hobby so I opened an etsy shop selling press on nail sets fall of 2021. The pandemic had decimated the walk in nail industry so many people had switched over to press on nails so the supply and demand was perfect. After only 2 months open online and posting to tiktok I had sold 100 sets. Business was booming, I was so happy and a better wife & mother because of it. My postpartum psychosis melted away over time and a new woman remained. Fast forward to spring of 2022 my husband and I went on a 5 year wedding anniversary trip with our 2 best married friends to Disney world. It was amazing. The night before we left to go I went to my local salon to get my nails done as a little treat to myself. It did not go well lol. My nails looked terrible! They were everything horrific you could imagine nails could be. I cried. I showed my husband and he said you could probably fix this yourself, you already have everything you need. So I did exactly that. I took them off, put new ones on and they looked amazing! I was so proud of myself. The next day we were off to Disney. The whole week in Disney I got so many compliments on my nails. I was floored. When the trip was over and driving back up to GA with our friends, my best friend who is a licensed cosmetologist was telling me I would make a great nail technician and that I should consider going to school to get licensed. We talked about the whole 7 hour ride back home. When we got home I thought about it for about a month. I was not 100% set on it. My 2nd child was about to be 1 and I didn’t think I was going to be able to be home with them and do school, but I looked into schools anyway. There were many uncertainties but I persisted. I interviewed 2 schools. I eventually found a school in Atlanta that offered night classes. Suddenly everything seemed possible. Before you know it I was inrolled into the prestigious Elaine Sterling Institute of Atlanta. I was appart of their nail technician night program. The program was 7 months long. I started early September 2022 and graduated March 9th 2023. I attended class Tuesday – Thursday 7pm -10pm and Saturday from 6am – 4pm. My husband worked during the day while I stayed at home with our kids, I took care of them and our home all while studying and doing homework. He would get home at 4pm, I would leave at 4:30pm and drive from Dacula GA all the way to Lenox mall in Atlanta so I could arrive on time for class at 6:30. Class would finish at 10pm and I would drive back home and get home around 11-11:30pm. Shower, sleep and do it all over again lol. Saturday I would wake up at 4, get the kids ready and then drive to the school. It was a long, hard but fun 7 months. During my time there I won a national nail art scholarship which I later used to help fund the opening of my in home nail salon. Shortly after graduation I studied hard and took my state board exam in June of 2023. I passed with flying colors and officially got my state license in August 2023. During my time at ESI I learned a great deal about the nail industry, and I made the decision while in nail school that I would never work for a regular nail salon. I would only work for myself. I had certain standards and the only way I could guarantee those standards is to work for myself. So while I was studying for my state board nail license exam, my husband and I were converting a spare room in our home to a in home nail studio. Paint, plumbing, hand laying every floor board, 3 trips to ikea layer and I was open for business August 2023! I did not think my business would scale up so quickly, I lived in a small town and I did not think people would care a great deal for my kind of nail art or experience. I was very very wrong. I took 6 months and I was fully booked out 3+ months at a time. I worked alot. In 2024 my amazing clients nominated my little salon for the best of gwinnett award and we won! I could not believe it. The award hangs proudly in my office near my license and ESI diploma. Nails changed my life. I never dreamed it would go this far but I am so happy I followed my dreams and it brought me here to this moment in my life. I am a better, wife, mother and a better version of myself than I was before I had kids and it all thanks to nail polish & a dream.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not a smooth road. Lol I fought a lot of challenges.
– financial issues. We are not wealthy. I needed to find a way to make money for gas to get to and from school. How to pay for school, school supplies, opening a business later.
– my husband’s job, sharing 1 car together. Balancing ESI night school, my husband’s work schedule, homework, house work, farm work & being a stay at home mom of a 1 & 3 year old.
– dealing with postpartum psychosis, mental health issues & trying to persevere through to the end.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a multi award winning nail artist & I am self taught. I am very proud of my nail art scholarship award, opening my own in home salon, winning best of gwinnett 2024. My salon is a acrylic free salon & I specialize in gel based nail products. I also specialize in natural nail health, short nails & nail art. I have built a wonderful list of clients who come to me each month for amazing nails and extravagant nail art. I am so blessed. I am known for my small nail art and hand painted details in shorter nails. What sets me apart from others is my constant commitment to my clients nail health as well as their self expression. Many nail technicians only care about the nail extensions but not the real nails underneath. I care about both.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is christmas morning 2001. I begged my parents for a weimaraner dog. I was obsessed with them. I had a dogs 101 book that I read every day. I loved them so much. They surprised me christmas morning with a littler weimaraner puppy wandering around our living room. I named her Skippy after one of my favorite childhood movies my dog skip.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catkayenailspa.glossgenius.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catkayenailspa?igsh=N3B3b3MxNzdjM2xj
• Other: https://linktr.ee/BABEBLING?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=f23ab822-19cd-4352-b255-bdd7bec25875

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me, with permission of my clients.