Sixteen-year-old
G. Hannelius might be best known for starring on Disney Channel's
Dog with a Blog, but she's also a beauty guru and entrepreneur. G's been making nail art tutorials on
YouTube for over three years and now you can have red carpet-ready nails, just like G, with the push of a few buttons. Her new app,
Make Me Nails, puts the power in your hands (literally!) allowing you to design and create your own custom nail wraps.
Check out our Q&A with G all about the app, her inspiration and #BUILTBYGIRLS below.
Cambio: What inspired you to create the Make Me Nails app?
G: I've always had a love of nail art and I did nail art tutorials on
YouTube and my fans really responded to it and loved recreating the designs and when I saw how much they loved it, I wanted to find a way to make nail art more accessible for people so I partnered with
Lauren Jones who runs a digital marketing company, she kind of had that
tech influence and we thought what's more accessible than a mobile app and that's where the app idea stemmed from.
Cambio: How does the app work?
G: Make Me Nails is the first very customizable nail wrap app, so users can go into the app and they can design custom nail wraps. They can upload an image by taking a photo, they can upload from their camera roll, from
Facebook or
Instagram, they can log in through the app or we have a variety of pre-selected designs.
Cambio: Where do you look for nail art
inspiration?
G: I love looking to YouTube and Instagram, those are probably my main places, but I mean you can even get inspiration just from a pattern on a dress that you like or whatever it is, just everyday inspiration. If you see a really cool pattern on a mug, you can turn basically any print that you like into nail art which is what makes it so fun and creative.
Cambio: What's one piece of advice you want to give to teen other girls?
G: My mom always says, "Loud and proud," and I love that saying, because teenage girls especially can benefit from that and believing in that. I know so many girls, and I do too, that struggle with confidence and feeling insecure, so I think being "loud and proud" basically just stands for being confident and being proud of yourself and your everyday achievements big or small. [That] can really boost your confidence.
Cambio: Who inspires you?
G: My friends, my family and my mom really inspire me. And
Lauren Jones who's the co-founder of Make Me Nails. She inspires me daily. She's so incredible and hardworking.
Cambio: What advice would you give to other teen girls who want to be entrepreneurs like you?
G: I would say keep dreaming up ideas, because that's where this whole Make Me business started from. It was just this tiny idea and I thought, "Oh my gosh, this could never happen, because it's this crazy idea and it didn't even exist at the time, creating customized nail wraps in an app. That technology doesn't exist, how would I figure that out?" And there were all of these kind of "I can'ts" in my head, but when I really put it down on paper, and this kind of dream became a reality, it's a total "I can." "I can do it and what more can I do?" Just taking your ideas and taking them seriously, and turning them into a goal and something you can achieve.
Cambio: What does
#BUILTBYGIRLS mean to you?
G: #BUILTBYGIRLS means something special. I think girls are incredibly smart, talented, hardworking and I think girls bring something special, especially when they're all working together. #BUILTBYGIRLS means something amazing.
Find
Make Me Nails in the app store soon.