A new Black owned school of beauty will soon be open for business in Downtown Fayetteville.

The ClawsByVee Nail Academy will be the newest addition to the area’s workforce training options brought to life by Versace Granberry, local business owner and founder of ClawsByVee Spa.

Versace, who has been doing nails since 2020, began as a self taught stylist before getting trained and opening her own salon, originally located in Hope Mills, in 2021. She later moved to her current, larger, location at 594 S Reilly Rd in Ste 110 in August of 2022 and has since been able to launch the ClawsByVee Mentee Program.

“I get so many people asking me ‘How to do this? And 'How do you  do that? How do you start? How can I start?’ So I was like, ‘You know what? Why not get a bigger salon where I can help other people and show them how to do it, show them how to do better and give them advice and uplift them,’" shared Versace. “That's what made me get the bigger location and then throughout all of that, my goal was still to open the school. I didn't know when or how I was gonna do it, but when God put it on my heart to go for it, that's when I was just like, you know it's time to do it.”

Now, she shared that she is looking forward to educating future stylists at her new Academy which is planned to be located at 403 Gillespie St in Downtown Fayetteville.

The ClawsByVee Nail Academy Academy will feature two primary programs to start with; a Natural Hair Care program and Nail Technician Program which will be 300 hours each. However, Versace shared that the Academy will also be educating area beauticians in all aspects of the beauty industry and will also include on a number of topics on top of traditional training.

“What they can expect is a difference. What I mean by that is, typically when you think of going to cosmetology school you think of learning the bare minimum. I plan on providing not only the state board required curriculum, but the business side and more so of the real world side, so they get a knowledge of what to do when they step out,” shared Versace. “I really want you to gain so much that when you get out of here, you’ll know how to purchase a suite,  you’ll know how to go deal with clientele, how to go to business cards, how to go do guerilla marketing, you’ll know how to do those different type of things to make you better.”

While an official enrollment date has not been announced yet, pre-registration for students is open and can be done online at the ClawsByVee Nail Academy website here.  
Potential students can also learn more about the programs and look for updates on the business Facebook page here. 
The Academy is also looking for instructors to add to their staff including Licensed Nail Techs, Lash Techs, and Licensed Instructors. You can contact 910-339-1862 to learn more.

Editor’s Note: A longer feature version of this story will be available in our upcoming Print Issue coming out on August 25.