Nails across Australia can now breathe easy. Quite literally, with the recent launch of the ravishing range of Miss Frankie polishes. Developed by Kara Jeffers, the dynamo who ran Melbourne’s French Pink nail salon for the past decade, this new range has been created using an innovative, breathable formula.
The unique formulation allows both water and air to pass through the polish, ensuring a healthier environment for your nails. To add to this, Miss Frankie polishes are five-free – meaning they don’t contain formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene, formaldehyde resin and camphor – as well as vegan and cruelty free.
We chat to Kara about her new, innovative product, and what it’s like to build a business from the ground up.
Tell us about Miss Frankie.
Miss Frankie is all about natural nails. I wanted to create a product that people could use and know they wouldn’t be harming their nails, without having to compromise on a beautiful, flawless finish. Our polishes are made using a breathable 5 free formula, meaning they are free of nasties like formaldehyde and allow air and water to pass through the polish – creating a much healthier environment for your nails!
What inspired you to start Miss Frankie?
After owning a nail salon for many years and working as a manicurist, I noticed more and more of my clients wanting a non-toxic polish that still delivered high quality results. I saw that there was room in the market for an Australian made, natural nail polish range and the inspiration for Miss Frankie grew from there. I was really passionate about getting packaging right, I wanted to ensure Miss Frankie polishes not only performed well but were beautifully presented – making them the perfect little gift for someone else (or yourself)!
Tell us about your career and background.
Funnily enough my career started about as far away from nail polish and beauty as you can get! After finishing year 12 back in 1998 I got a full time job at Optus Communications. I started in Telemarketing and quickly realised I was not that great at selling phone plans, so moved into an admin role. From there I moved to the UK ended up working as an Executive Assistant for an American Investment Bank. Luckily I made friends with the EA of the CEO and she helped me so much, teaching all the things I needed to know. After many years of working as an EA in the UK I knew I had had enough of the corporate world. I came back to Australia, enrolled in a nail course and started my own salon Melbourne CBD. Fast forward 11 years of running my salon French Pink (and 3 children later), I decided it was time for another change. My vision has always been to help people transition back to natural nails (my salon never did gels/acrylics), so using my experience as a manicurist and business owner I decided to create Miss Frankie.
Describe a typical work day for you.
After getting kids off to school I normally come home, sort through emails and pack orders from the night before. As my business is still so new I’m spending lots of time working on exciting social collaborations, and visiting stores to deliver samples to get the word out about our polishes. Building a business from scratch is exciting and every day I wake up with all these ideas of what I want to do next!
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Definitely do your research first. Make sure the numbers stack up and make sure it works in with your life. Once I started having kids, running a business in the city no longer worked for me (personally or financially), so starting a product business I could run from home was a much better fit. I heard the most amazing quote from a podcast I was listening to the other night that I thought summed it up nicely. They were talking to Jane Wurwand, founder of Dermalogica and she said ‘Get busy, start your business, go out and change the world’.
What’s next for you, and Miss Frankie?
I am loving the support we have received on social media from fellow natural-beauty enthusiasts, so the next step for me is to get lots of retailers on board stocking our polishes to meet the growing demand for a high quality, natural nail polish. I definitely have lots of ideas for more products to add to our range including new colours for each season. We also have some exciting collaborations in the works, so watch this space!
To find out more about Miss Frankie, and view the range, please visit www.missfrankie.com.au.
