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 founderof ClawsByVee Spa.

Versace, who was inspired by her mother’s 30 year career in the beauty industry, has been doing nails since 2020. Beginning as a self taught stylist, she later went on to receive official training and opened her own salon, located in Hope Mills, in 2021. She later moved to her current, larger, location at 594 S Reilly Rd. in August of 2022.

Now, she shared that she is looking forward to educating future stylists at her new Academy. After moving into her new Reilly Rd. location, she began her time as an educator by launching 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.”

The ClawsByVee Nail Academy is a licensed state board approved school and will feature two primary programs to start with; a Natural Hair Care program and Nail Technician program, with each program being 300 hours. Versace shared that the Academy will be educating area beauticians in all aspects of the beauty industry and will eventually add on an Aesthetics program following a successful launch.

“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 get business cards, how to go do guerilla marketing, you’ll know how to do those

different type of things to make you better.”

The new Nail Academy building is located at 403 Gillespie St. in Downtown Fayetteville. Versace shared that she’s had the building confirmed since February and is waiting on the City’s approval before construction can officially start.

“Whenever you get a building and you are planning to add from the original plan, you have to go through the City to get things approved, you have to get your layout approved. Right now we’re probably just one little tiny step away from being approved. So once that is done, we’ll be starting construction,” shared Versace.

In the meantime, Versace has continued to provide not just knowledge in her field, but also a place for independent nail artists to get their start. In her former Hope Mills salon, located at 1019 Hope Mills Rd in Ste. 110, she rents out fully furnished and supplied booths to independent nail techs looking for a stable space to meet with clients.

“I rent out to independent nail techs. A lot of people don’t like the commission salon environment, they like the independence. So I rent out that space to nail techs that just want your own kind of space. It’s pretty much equipped so that way you don’t have to worry about, ‘Well, I gotta go find a pedicure
chair. I gotta go get this, I gotta go get that.’ All they need is their supplies and their product and they’re ready to work,” shared Versace.

The next step following the start of construction will be getting proper government accreditation for the Academy to be able to accept government funding and tuition assistance which Versace said is in the works. 

“A lot of people are asking and that is my goal to actually offer, but people don’t understand that it’s a process that we have to go through, a whole two year process, before we can even say that we’re accredited or even accept government funding or anything like that,” said Versace. “We’re working on that, so don’t be afraid. We do have tuition plans available for you all and I’ve hooked up with a few lenders. So if their credit is good or they don’t have
too bad credit, they’ll be able to apply and pay in full but they’re just focused on paying them [the lenders] back.”

A $699 non-refundable and non-transferable deposit is required to secure your seat at the time of enrollment, and tuition plans range from $3,900 – $4,800.

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 at www.clawsbyveeacademy.info.

Potential students can also learn more about the programs and look for updates on the business on the salon’s Facebook page @Claws By Vee Spa.

The Academy is also looking for instructors to add to their staff including Licensed Nail Techs, Lash Techs and Licensed Instructors.

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To learn more contact 910-339-1862.