By Chloe Baker, Senior Opinions Editor
In a dorm room in the Schottenstein Residence Hall on the Beren campus, tucked in a corner among paintings, collages and photos of friends, sits a nail desk that has become something of a landmark at Stern College for Women. A caddy overflows with nail polish in every color imaginable, and a clutter of sparkles, gems, brushes, drills and gloves cover every open surface on the desk. This is the desk where Atara Seff, a senior marketing major at Sy Syms School of Business, has spent the last three years building one of Beren’s most recognizable student businesses.
Starting as a hobby during the end of her gap year in Israel, Seff’s nail painting has evolved into something much deeper than your average side hustle. It has become a space where strangers become friends, where tears are shed and laughter is shared and where the ritual of getting one’s nails done is transformed into an hour of connection in the middle of a hectic week of classes.
“Before I started doing nails, I don’t think I ever had a passion for doing things,” said Seff, perched at her desk between appointments. “I kind of found that passion through starting and doing it.”
Seff’s journey began in June 2022, when a friend on her Bar-Ilan gap year program showed her the basics of how to do nails. Two months later, her mother gifted her a full nail set for her birthday. For someone who has always loved art, doing nails seemed a natural skill for her. But it wasn’t easy. “In the beginning, they just looked so ratchet,” Seff laughs about her early attempts. She spent hours perfecting wonky and off-balance designs, saying she was driven by her “detail-oriented” nature.
Her first client at Stern in the fall of 2023 was her now-best friend, who insisted Seff do her nails despite her protests. The appointment took three hours. Seff painted little stars, the same design she would recreate years later for that friend’s wedding day. The sets that once took her three hours now take her 40 minutes to an hour depending on the design.
Word spread organically through text messages and word of mouth. Years later, she’s now doing around seven appointments a week, sometimes two or three back-to-back. She juggles them between classes that run until 3:00 PM., and her responsibilities as a resident advisor and head of the Beren campus package center.
What Seff didn’t anticipate was how demanding the business would be. Physically, she developed carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful straining of the hand’s nerve that resulted from long hours spent working with her hands. But more significant was the emotional toll of the job. “Sitting with someone, talking with them, sometimes they just want to tell you stuff and you don’t always know how to handle it,” said Seff. A client going through a breakup, someone processing family drama — the intimacy of an hour spent face-to-face, hands held, can create vulnerability.
She’s learned to set boundaries, ending appointments by 9:00 PM to protect her sleep schedule. “Saying no is very hard,” she admits. “I love that people are wanting me to do their nails. But I didn’t realize that I need to have me time.”
There’s a certain alchemy that happens during Seff’s appointments. “The schmooze is always awesome. It’s never awkward,” Hayley Geiger (SCW ‘27), one of her regular clients, told the YU Observer. “Even if I tell her I don’t like the design or she needs to change the shape, it’s not awkward.”
Despite setting boundaries, Seff has been able to create genuine friendships and listen closely to clients during appointments She has become a confidant to many, privy to the monthly evolutions of their lives. “They’ll tell me all about this guy and how they’re feeling, and then at the next appointment, they’ll tell me everything that happened,” said Seff. Some monthly check-ins have turned into genuine friendships. One client drove an hour and a half to see her over the summer. Another has declared that no matter where Seff is, she’ll travel to have her do her nails for her wedding.
For Seff’s clients, getting their nails done isn’t just about aesthetics and looking good. There’s something empowering about having polished, designed nails that express their mood or personality. Geiger still remembers her most memorable design. “One time I told her I want everything. Cool colors and patterns. I’ll never forget it, they were really wacky, awesome nails,” she said.
As graduation looms, Seff’s feelings are bittersweet. Her clients feel the same. “I’m really sad that Atara is graduating,” said Geiger. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now that she’s not going to be here next year.” It’s a sentiment Seff hears often.
What scares her most is starting over. “I don’t even know where to start. I had this big clientele at Stern and then I’m going from 100 to zero,” she said. But she is hopeful, and has visions for opportunities beyond just nails. Marketing opportunities, content creation, combining her business degree with hands-on experience. The skills she’s developed during this stage of her life will translate to whatever comes next.
If Seff could tell her first-year self anything, it would be to “believe in myself,” she said. “Even if you screw up, it’s going to be fine. It’s just nails. It’s literally not that deep.”
But of course, it is deeper than nails. It’s also about discovering a passion when she wasn’t sure if she’d ever find one. It’s about learning to trust her own hands and abilities, her own self. It’s about the community she built out of her campus dorm, one design at a time.
Her dream for the future is modest but telling. She envisions a room in her house with her own setup, where people come to her, where she controls the environment and client list. But in the meantime, there are still nails to paint, clients to treasure and conversations to be had.
In those moments of focus, creativity and connection, she is exactly where she’s supposed to be.
Photo Caption: Atara Seff sitting at her nail desk
Photo credit: Chloe Baker