Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoe Shepard.
Zoe, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story starts in 2021. I had spent the previous seven years working in restaurants, and after the pandemic took such a toll on the industry, I found myself wondering what I wanted to do next.
The answer came in a pretty unexpected way. I was out to dinner with my aunt when someone complimented my nails and asked for my nail tech’s number. I told her I didn’t have one—I had done them myself. My aunt looked at me and said, “Zoe, you are the nail tech.”
A month later, I was enrolled in cosmetology school.
By April 2022, I had my first job at a traditional nail salon. I was the only native English speaker on the team, and initially, I don’t think everyone expected me to last very long. I was determined to prove myself, though. I worked hard, learned everything I could, and by my eighth month, I had become the salon manager.
When the salon later changed ownership, my role grew into something much bigger than management. I was involved in hiring and training, scheduling, marketing, inventory, problem-solving, and essentially all of the day-to-day pieces that keep a salon running. I consider those years my unofficial business education. I was constantly teaching myself new skills and looking for ways to make the salon operate better.
Eventually, I had this very simple thought: If I’m putting this much energy into building someone else’s salon, why don’t I try building my own?
I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew, so instead of opening a large salon, I decided to start with a small private studio. I found a space that honestly looked more like a storage unit than a salon and started imagining what it could become. I mapped out my entire floor plan with Scotch tape on the walls and floor, then enlisted a little help from a friend from high school who had since become a carpenter.
Five days later, we had transformed that blank little room into the pink, retro, Barbie-inspired world that became Lucky 13 Nails.
I invested my life savings into it—not an enormous amount of money by business standards, but everything I had as a 27-year-old nail tech. I opened Lucky 13 in March 2025 with the idea that I could create the kind of nail experience I had always wanted to give people: highly individualized, creative, focused on natural nail health, and genuinely fun to be a part of.
What started with someone asking me for my nail tech’s number ultimately became my own business. Looking back, I think that’s been the theme of my career: I’ve rarely had every step mapped out ahead of time. I just keep following the things I’m curious about, teaching myself what I don’t know, and trusting myself enough to take the next step
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I sometimes describe it as trying to take an old beater car down an off-road gravel path—we made it, but there were a few questionable moments along the way.
My first reality check came almost immediately. When I started at my first salon, I realized I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought I was. I had graduated from school with the technical knowledge, but doing nails professionally, on real clients and within real time constraints, was an entirely different skill. For my first three months, the salon wouldn’t even let me graduate from pedicures to manicures.
I was inexperienced, but I was curious and determined. My boss may not have loved the former, but she respected the latter enough to reluctantly let me stick around and get better. I practiced constantly, asked questions, studied techniques, and invested a huge amount of time into honing my craft. Eventually, the salon that wasn’t sure I would make it became the salon I was trusted to manage.
That brought an entirely new learning curve. It was my first management position, and suddenly the challenge wasn’t just doing great nails—it was learning people. I had to figure out how to be a kind and empathetic boss without sacrificing the needs of the business, how to give feedback, manage conflict, train people, and hold both myself and my team accountable. Those skills took time to develop, but they ended up becoming some of the most valuable things I learned.
Then I opened Lucky 13 and discovered I had another problem: almost everything I had previously built, I had built under my last salon’s name. I had to learn how to create a market for myself from scratch. There was no magic formula. I watched countless marketing videos, taught myself better video editing, experimented with social media, and ran promotions that sometimes worked—and plenty that absolutely did not. Slowly, I learned what connected with the kind of clients I wanted to serve, and I built a steady clientele in an entirely new location.
The less glamorous side of entrepreneurship has probably been my biggest ongoing learning curve. I’m naturally much more of a creative and people person than an administrator, so suddenly teaching myself QuickBooks, budgeting, forecasting expenses, setting financial goals, and figuring out how to turn something I loved into something sustainable was a whole new skill set.
I think one of the biggest lessons throughout all of it has been getting comfortable with being a beginner. I’ve never started something already knowing how to do it perfectly. I’ve just gotten very good at saying, “Okay, I don’t know how to do this yet. How do I learn?” That curiosity has probably carried me further than anything else
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lucky 13 ?
Lucky 13 Nails is my little retro-Vegas-inspired nail studio in Portland’s Pearl District. I specialize in natural nail care, structured gel manicures, Russian manicures, and custom nail art. I don’t offer extensions—my focus is helping clients grow beautiful, healthy natural nails while still getting to have a lot of fun with them.
I think what sets Lucky 13 apart is that I’ve never wanted it to feel like you’re simply coming in, picking a color, and leaving. I wanted to create an experience and a little world people get to step into. The studio is pink, playful, feminine, and inspired by old Vegas and that very specific joy of being a girl in a Barbie world. Even my service menu plays into it: you can “Roll the Dice,” “Make It Lucky,” “Hit the Jackpot,” or give me complete creative control with “Dealer’s Choice.”
The individualized experience is really important to me. I’ve never been interested in rushing through as many appointments as possible. I want to know my clients, understand their nails, and create something specifically for them. Nail art is a huge part of what I’m known for, and some of my favorite appointments are when someone comes in with a loose idea—or no idea at all—and trusts me to turn it into something that feels like them.
I also believe luxury doesn’t have to mean stuffy or overly serious. To me, luxury is having someone remember you, having time set aside specifically for you, knowing the products being used were chosen thoughtfully, and leaving with nails that were cared for rather than just covered up. I want Lucky 13 to feel elevated while still being warm, fun, and a little cheeky.
Brand-wise, I’m probably most proud that Lucky 13 genuinely feels like an extension of me. I didn’t hire an agency to invent a brand or build a personality around what I thought would sell. I made a place I would want to go to, filled it with things I love, created services I believe in, and let the right people find it. Over time, my clients have become part of that world too.
Ultimately, I don’t want people to come to Lucky 13 because they just need their nails done. There are plenty of places to do that. I want them to come because they want their nails done at Lucky 13—for the art, the care, the experience, and the relationship we build along the way. My little slogan is, “It’s your nails’ lucky day,” and I think that sums it up pretty well.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I tend to cast a pretty wide net when it comes to inspiration. I’ll listen to entrepreneurs from completely different industries, and creatively, I don’t necessarily look to other nail artists for inspiration. I think some of my best ideas come from outside of my own little bubble.
But if I had to choose one resource that has had the biggest impact on how I approach both my life and my business, it would be The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
The principles in that book—especially taking ownership of my own life, being disciplined about the way I speak to myself and others, and learning not to take things personally—have shaped me tremendously. Developing that sense of personal responsibility has allowed me to radically believe in myself and take risks I don’t think I would have otherwise.
The idea of not taking things personally has also been invaluable in such a human-centered industry. My work is incredibly relational, and when you own a business, there will always be opinions, misunderstandings, rejection, criticism, and things outside of your control. Learning to separate someone else’s reaction from my own sense of self has helped me stay compassionate without absorbing everything emotionally.
More than any specific business resource, I think learning that I am responsible for what I build, how I respond, and what I do next has been one of the most powerful tools in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lucky13.glossgenius.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucky13_pdx?stkn=MTZiNGc0aDFlMjYzMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
