Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Heyward.
Hi Chelsea, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Muse Tips began as a personal exploration through artistry and entrepreneurship. I’ve quietly always been an artist and deeply curious about the inner workings of business. But for a long time, I didn’t know where to make those two worlds make sense in my life. My full-time job is as an athletic director, and I am also an adjunct professor at two separate universities. I’ve always been a bit of a multi-hyphenate but art and business have been to categories I’ve never been able to make quite fit in my day-to-day. That all changed when I finally found nails as my canvas.
At the same time, after nearly a decade and a half working in sports and education, spaces often dominated by intensity, pressure, and performance, I found myself asking a simple but unsettling question: When do we actually get to choose ourselves?
I realized that for me, and so many high-achieving women around me, we had mastered how to show up for everyone else, but we hadn’t mastered how to slow down, express ourselves, or choose ourselves. So, as most modern women do, I decided it was time for some self-care. I found myself doom scrolling Pinterest for nail designs when I came across a beautiful press-on set.
I ordered the Etsy set in the middle of a really good algorithm feed and actually forgot about it. But I kept seeing more and more designs that I wanted to have. Eventually, it hit me, why not try to create my own? I knew I was pretty artistic and figured I could learn quickly how to make them for myself. So I did. And it wasn’t until after I created my second set that the original Etsy set finally arrived. When I saw the difference in quality between what I had made and what I had ordered, I realized I could turn this into something more. It could scratch my artistic itch, provide that experience and education through entrepreneurship, and become a way to help more women choose themselves.
And thus, Muse Tips was born. What started as a late-night creative ritual became a business. What began as an outlet became a calling.
After realizing I didn’t have the capacity to create individual sets for every person who wanted them, I leaned into my background in education. I realized I could teach others how to create the sets for themselves. So I launched Tips & Sips, a space where women could gather in community, express themselves through art, and leave feeling softer, bolder, and more seen. Each nail set I create isn’t just decoration; it’s a reflection of emotion, intention, and beauty that feels lived-in and personal.
Today, Muse Tips offers custom handcrafted press-on nails that are wearable art, Tips & Sips workshops that blend beauty, healing, and self-expression, and Muse Cards, a tarot-style affirmation deck designed around the many versions of what it means to be a muse. Each card includes an identity, affirmation, and practice that helps people center themselves as the muse in their own story.
Ultimately, Muse Tips isn’t just about nails. It’s about reclaiming the parts of yourself that were never meant to be quiet, it’s about showing up as your fullest expression and it is about creative wellness, where art meets identity and beauty stops, centering others, and becomes a portal back to yourself.
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 has not been a smooth road, but it has been a joyous one. I would say the biggest struggle is the learning curve of figuring out everything. I don’t know I don’t know. I’m not a traditionally, trained nail tech, which means everything I’ve learned had to be self taught and required a ton of time, research, and mistakes.
I’m also a new entrepreneur so I’m working through the learning curves of business in that regard. But this is what I wanted. I have a doctorate in education which means I explored the bounds of that field up to every edge. I’m new to this field and forgetting how much learning is actually required for mastery, but I know that the best way to learn business is to do it. I’m understanding everything from marketing, sales, graphic design, and content editing to brand identity and partnerships. I’ve had to wait through the waters of slow months and low sales, and ultimately, as business does, I’m learning a ton about myself and trying to build through and around that.
We’ve been impressed with Muse Tips , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Muse Tips is a business, but it is more than just a nail brand it’s a lifestyle rooted in creative wellness, self-expression, and choosing yourself.
We specialize in custom, handcrafted press-on nails that double as wearable art and emotional reflection. Each set is designed to feel personal, intentional, and expressive not just trendy. Our designs aren’t mass-produced. They’re made with care, storytelling, and texture in mind, so the person wearing them feels like the main character in their own life.
But what really sets us apart is our community-based approach to beauty and healing. Muse Tips offers Tips & Sips, an immersive workshop where women gather to paint, play, and pour into themselves. It’s part art therapy, part girl’s night, part empowerment circle. Women leave feeling not just cute, but also softer, bolder, and more seen.
We’re also proud to have just launched Muse Cards, a tarot-inspired affirmation deck that highlights diverse expressions of womanhood. Each card includes an identity archetype, an affirmation, and a soft ritual or reflection. It’s a tool to help people return to themselves one card, one truth at a time.
Muse Tips isn’t here to just “do nails.” We’re creating a new category: creative wellness. A space where art meets identity, where beauty becomes a portal back to yourself, and where you don’t need permission to be fully expressed.
What I’m most proud of is how many women have told me, both how fun and therapeutic they are experiences with the brand are. That’s the energy and that truly is the brand. And that’s what I want readers to know, Muse Tips is an invitation to remember yourself.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
As a professor teaching Sport Management and Sport Culture at two different universities, I’m constantly talking to students about networking.
And I always come back to this: finding a mentor and building meaningful networks is less about status and more about shared values.
It’s not just about finding someone with the right accolades it’s about finding someone who aligns with how you see the world and who challenges you to grow. That alignment matters more than access.
What’s worked best for me is being myself fully and unapologetically. I’m open to learning, I’m curious, I’m evolving, but I’m also showing up in my wholeness. When you lead with authenticity, the right people find you.
Networking, at its best, is really just connection and connection happens when people feel seen.
Pricing:
- $65 – Tips & Sips class ticket
Contact Info:
- Instagram: musetipsco
- Other: Tik Tok – musetips
