Congratulations to Tai Nail & Hair Salon for celebrating their 10 year anniversary on May 19. The salon, located at 17 Lockwood Avenue, is owned by mother Lillian (Lily) Reyes and daughter Taisha (Tai) Martinez. Lilly is from the Dominican Republic and Tai was born in Bronx. Both are proud Latinas.
“Over the last 10 years, many things has happened and we have been able to stay open to provide our clients with the same or better service. When the pandemic hit us it was hard because we had to close for four months. But when we opened again we were busy. We had clients from everywhere coming here because their salons were still closed, and we were prepared for it. We remodled the salon to fit the new requirements for reopening and still keeping in mind that we have to protect ourselves, employees, and clients. It wasn’t not easy at times but we were not going to give up that easy, we are strong Latina women,” said Tai.
“My mother has 20 years of being a hair dresser and has opened two salons in Yonkers and the first in Mt. Vernon back when I was only 18 years old. She really understands how important customer service is and the things that school didn’t teach me my mother did. I am very grateful for her and I couldn’t ask for a better person to show me. I graduated from Westchester Community College with Business Administration Associate, and graduated from SUNY Empire State College with a Bachelors in Business, Management, and Economics.
“Five years ago, I decided to return to my mother’s business (salon) to help her run it and was a little lost to be honest but I knew that working for someone else may not be what I wanted after all. I remembered how much I did not like being in the salon because all I would see is my mom had to do, and I didn’t want that for myself. So I left the business, finished my bachelor’s degree, traveled the world, and LIVED like I never did before. Today, I have become the most popular nail technician in Westchester County because I specialize in Ingrown Pedicures and have been known as the Pedicure Queen. An ingrown pedicure is focusing on removing the extra cuticle around the toenails or removing an ingrown toenail.
“I have clients from all over. Our salon isn’t popular because of me but of the service we provide. Every morning we all have our famous Dominican coffee that some clients make their appointments around it, we are bilingual in Spanish and English, do really good pedicures and nail service, and my mother is amazing with hair some of her clients have been with her for 15 years. But most importantly, clients leave happy and feel like family. Our clients know we are a clean, reapable, understanding, and honest Latinas that appreciate them,” said Tai.
