Friday, June 14, 2024
Time to read: About 8 minutes. Contains 1,890 words.
Before we get going: a reminder to send in your Lonely Hearts posts! And a reminder to text your friend/coworker/third cousin who’s interested in finding work in the biz/looking for a particular kind of weed-savvy collaborator to send in their post. Check past Boards for a sense of how it works, and submit your short description of who you are and the service/collaborator you seek/offer to stickybitsyo@gmail.com by end of Monday, June 17. I’ll shorten and sweeten your copy as needed. Please include “Lonely Hearts” in the subject line.
My love for weed-fueled manicures is no secret. It’s among my favorite activities to do while high—a treasured creative outlet that I look forward to whenever I have the time and receive dopamine hits from long after the last colorful fingertip has dried.
Instagram has known this about me for a while, so when Stoner Baby Nails came on the scene about a year ago, it wasn’t long until the stunning, sometimes weed-themed sets of this Bay Area nail artist showed up in my suggested posts. I’m a natural nail, nail-art-via-paper clip kind of gal, but I take my inspo from pros like Liv Jumping Bull, the woman behind Stoner Baby Nails. Once I started following her, though, I was inspired by more than just the nail designs. This indie nail artist was building an activated, engaged niche community with little more than authentic enthusiasm.
Stoner Baby events started with dispensary-adjacent pop-ups and have grown into multifaceted day parties like the upcoming Stoner Baby Block Party next Saturday, June 22, featuring massages, facials, piercings, tooth gems, henna, lighter decorating, a communal sound bath, and, of course, nails. What’s most impressive is that she’s done it almost exclusively through friends and Instagram connections within her following of a little more than 1,000 people. And she’s selling out 50+ people paid events.
Liv has no outside investment; she does all the marketing and coordination herself— she’s a full-time nail tech with a knack for community building and a sprinkle of that X factor. I tried to nail down the formula to her secret sauce in the following conversation, asking about her journey developing Stoner Baby events, lessons learned along the way, and advice for any aspirational event organizers or brands interested in creating some IRL magic on a budget.
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