Who knew that fame and success could come from something as simple as your nails? Elyse Harris, a senior at MHS, has acquired over 20,000 followers on Instagram named SwiftPolish which is dedicated to nail art. She also owns a youtube account in which she constructs her own tutorials, reviews certain nail polishes, and shows her audience the proper way to take care of nails. Elyse not only has her friends following her account, but has thousands of supporters from around the globe who also share an interest in the art of nail painting. MDO sat down with Elyse to hear the story of how her success was achieved through her nails.

MDO: “Has nail painting always been a passion of yours?”

EH: “Nail art hasn’t always been a passion of mine, I actually never painted my nails until 9th grade. I decided to start because I was really inspired by other nail artists on Instagram and thought it would be fun to try.”

MDO: “How and when did you decide to make social media accounts dedicated to nail art?”

EH: “I decided to make an account dedicated to nail art around the middle of 9th grade. I started sharing my designs on my personal account, but I thought I could reach more people if I made an account with only nail art.”

MDO: “How do you feel about having so many followers?”

EH: “I’m really happy and surprised that so many people chose to follow me, but I wouldn’t say that the amount of followers I have makes me feel any different about the designs I paint or what I post. Sometimes I feel pressure to paint designs that my followers like, but overall not everyone is going to like what you do and I try to paint my nails because I like to. It’s just a bonus when other people like it too!”

MDO: “How do you come up with all those different nail designs? Do you create them yourself?”

EH: “It’s so hard for me to come up with original designs and that can be really frustrating. Most of the designs I paint are inspired by other people or patterns, but there are a couple designs I have come up with myself.”

MDO: “Do you plan on doing anything with nail art in the future?”

EH: “I don’t really know what I plan to do in the future regarding nail art, but I’ll definitely continue painting my nails.”

Thank you Elyse for answering all of our questions!