Nailtopia, KFC and a Camera Without Batteries: Our Sheffield Event Story

“Can you do the splits?”

That was apparently what I was asking Nikki while someone was filming our stall at Nailtopia. I didn’t even realise until Sophie sent me the clip afterwards. If you ever wondered what a day out with The Curated Club looks like behind the scenes, that’s probably quite an accurate introduction. 😂

On the 20th September, TCC had a stall at Nailtopia in Sheffield, and I want to tell you how it actually went. Not the polished, everything-was-planned-months-in-advance version. The real one.

How we ended up at Nailtopia

I’d been chatting to the lovely lady running the event about her brand and The Curated Club, and she asked if I’d like to come along. Sheffield is literally about 20 minutes from me, it was on a Sunday, and the day was focused on small brands, education and talks. Honestly, perfect.

I’d already spotted some of the vendors on the list, including a few brands we’d worked with before. Getting to meet people in person instead of just knowing them through messages is one of my favourite things about these events. And I know I need to get TCC out there, meet more nail techs, and build proper relationships with the people behind the brands too.

I liked and trusted the organiser, Rachel, to do a great job. She did. ❤️

The grand plan… and the actual plan

I had ideas. Fun things at the stall, engagement, photos, games, a photo booth, free gifts, new flyers, new décor. A whole different set-up.

Then I went on holiday and somehow forgot how soon Nailtopia was afterwards. The week before, it hit me: shit, it’s next week.

No new flyers ordered. No new decor sorted. The photo booth? Out the window. The free gifts? Also out the window. I checked what I had left from the last event and, luckily, there were enough flyers. I was still disappointed because I’d already got bored of those ones. 😂 We did have some extra boxes to display this time, so the table got a little refresh, just not the one I’d imagined.

And then I realised I was going alone. What if loads of people came over at once? What if I needed a wee?!

So I cheekily asked if any of my brand ambassadors fancied helping, and Nikki and Rachel came to the rescue. Nikki travelled nearly three hours to get to me. There was no way I wanted her doing two huge drives in one day, so I booked us a hotel for the night before.

When she arrived, the silly sausage had put in the wrong postcode and ended up at the posh end of my village. Nikki, babe, I’m at the other end. After a little tour of the area, we headed to Casa Hotel. A night away! No responsibilities! No time limits! What did we do? Go to a bar? Have a lovely meal? Find a peaceful walk?

Nope. We walked over to KFC and went to bed. Absolutely living. 😂

One camera, zero batteries (or so we thought)

On the morning of Nailtopia, we stopped at my cousin’s house because I’d forgotten to borrow her camera. Nikki finally got to meet the triplets, then we headed off to Sheffield. My Rachel was meeting us there.

Parking was fine, we set up in no time and had a quick wander around. We saw the organiser Rachel get emotional thanking everyone for coming. She cries at TV adverts, so I think we all knew it was coming, but it was lovely. You could see how much the day meant to her.

Then we opened the camera. No fricking batteries.

Or so we thought. When I got home, Giorgia told me they’d been in the pouch on the side the whole time. Of course they had. 🙃

The bit that made it all worth it

We had the best day. People came over to say hi, and we got to put faces to names we knew from subscriptions and TikTok. Nikki and Rachel were getting recognised, which was so lovely to see.

My favourite moment was asking someone, “Have you heard of TCC before?” and hearing, “I subscribe already.” Amazing! Immediately followed by me feeling guilty that I didn’t recognise their face or name. There are apparently too many of you for my brain to keep up with, but please know how much it means when you come over and say hello. Seeing people genuinely interested in our stall felt incredible too.

We sold a handful of boxes, and that was a better sales result for us than at our last event. But honestly, selling boxes on the day wasn’t the main reason we went. People go to events to shop and take things home. I don’t expect everyone who’s only just heard of us to sign up to a subscription there and then.

What I hope is that someone meets us, has a laugh, sees TCC pop up on their socials later and thinks, “Oh yeah, I remember them.” Then they get to know what we do, and maybe one day they join us. It’s about trust and relationships, with nail techs and with the brands we’d love to champion.

Social butterflies… sort of

We spoke with as many brand owners as we could. I finally met Clare from Nevelle, Jade from NBE, who was in our last box, and Theresa from Saviour, whose brand fits so well with some education we have coming up. We also caught up with Fern from Bexy Glow, and so many more people throughout the day.

And I have to talk about Meg, who owns MSK. Seeing her nail art in person was incredible. She’s such a talented nail artist, and I stood there looking at all those tiny details thinking, how do you even do that?! I took a photo of the display with the keyboard she was working on, and I can’t wait to see the finished thing.

It was lovely to see Jodie from Botella too. She always leaves me with loads of ideas. She’s so business-minded, but kind with it, and she genuinely wants to see other women succeed. I love seeing her.

Abi from Polish Pad was everywhere with her camera, sharing Battle of the Nail Techs, with Boxy walking around with her. I can’t wait to see how this year goes. The entries from previous years have looked amazing!

But the real social butterflies? Scratch Magazine. They were everywhere, taking photos of everything. I was watching their socials so much when I got home, and when our photo finally went up I ran around the house looking for someone who'd be as excited as me. Then I told all my friends. 😂 I’d absolutely love to work with them soon. Fingers crossed!

We tried to be social butterflies. Nikki is a natural, and so is Rachel. Me? My pitch is still shit. If someone asks me a question, I’m fine. But if I walk up to a brand and say, “Hi, I’m from TCC,” my brain goes blank and suddenly I’m saying, “Ooooh, that’s a nice product, can I buy it?” So, brands we met at Nailtopia: I loved meeting you, and yes, I’m hoping we get to work together. Wink wink. 👀

A proper thank-you

Nikki and Rachel, I can’t thank you enough. You didn’t just turn up; you offered to help and you were incredible. I’m not used to people willingly stepping in like that, and asking for help still feels weird to me. The fact you both did it so wholeheartedly is something I won’t forget. I’m forever grateful.

And thank you to everyone who came over, whether you already subscribe, had just discovered us, or stopped for a chat. I’m there because I want TCC to be good for everyone involved: the nail techs finding their people, the small brands getting seen, and the community we’re building together. I might be chaotic, but I care so much about this. 💗

I’m also realising that these events absolutely wipe me out, especially when I’m back with clients the next day. Will I remember that when planning the next one? Let’s hope so.

Nothing else is booked in yet, but I’d love to do more. If you know an event we should be at, let me know, and follow along to see where we end up next. Hopefully with the camera batteries actually in the camera.

Laurie & The Curated Club 💗