The other day I had a chance to meet with the owner of one of my favorite local businesses, Inspire Natural Beauty and eco spa in downtown St. Pete. Lea Ann Barlas asked me to stop by and show her how to use Pinterest for her business. Of course I couldn’t go and not get a pedicure. I was embarrassed to admit that I still had remnants of my pedicure from months ago. I wish I could get pedicures every month, but that just doesn’t work with my schedule or budget and I HATE nail polish remover. It’s one of my least favorite smells. Thankfully, I brought home some Priti NYC nail polish remover pads ($10/pack) that work like a charm. They remove the polish without harsh toxins and leave your nails looking and smelling better.

Kaitlyn did my pedicure again, but this time I chose the color Lace Aloe, which we decided was a very boring name for this sparkly teal polish that would be better named Mermaid. Just like last time she did a wonderful job. She attacked my dry and cracked heels just like I asked and she took care of my cuticles without making me cringe. While she worked on my toes, Lea Ann and I talked about the importance of Pinterest for businesses and started setting up her boards. I think Pinterest will be a great platform for her spa since pinners love health and beauty tips. You can expect to see boards for Nails, Skin Care, Make-up, Massage/Aromatherapy, Green Living and Tampa Bay. They’re already so good about sharing this information on their Facebook page, but now it will be even easier to organize and share their favorite links and images.

After my pedicure, I had a brand new experience. On occasion (maybe once a year), I’ll get my eyebrows waxed just to give them some shape, but that usually leaves my skin looking red and feeling pretty raw. So I was very excited to learn about sugaring as a method of hair removal. It’s like a gel with sugar in it. They wipe it across your hairs with an applicator and remove it with a strip like you would with waxing. The difference is the sugar isn’t hot and it only removes the hair and dead skin cells. Waxing removes live skin cells too and leaves you with raw skin. I really liked it and will probably use this method from now on.

After the sugaring, we sat at a boring table and gobbled down some lunch from The Spot Bar and Grill. I guess they just started delivering, which should help with their space issue. I wasn’t as impressed with my Bleu Cheese Burger as I was with the Surf and Turf Burger I had last time. For one, it wasn’t very hot because the delivery guy got lost and I think it was missing bacon. I could be wrong about that, though. It also looked like a lot fewer fries than what I got sitting down at the restaurant. But I digress…

So we did some more pinning and talking about what kinds of boards would work for their business. Before I knew it it was time to get Alistair from school. We had so much fun talking about Pinterest, Facebook and social media in general that time just flew by. Once the Inspire Natural Beauty Pinterest account has a few more pins, I’ll share the link on my Facebook page. In the meantime, you can follow me at www.Pinterest.com/JennLikesIt.

I’d love to do more business like this. I really enjoy teaching Tampa Bay business owners how to use social media to reach more people. I basically do this on the fly every time I walk into a business and talk to the owner. I always ask to meet the owner, because they’re the heart of the business. If they aren’t passionate about what they do, then why should anyone else be. So far the city of St. Pete is filled with local business owners who love what they do, like Lea Ann at Inspire Natural Beauty.

What should I call this new position I’ve created for myself?

• Social Media Coach
• Social Media Tutor
• Social Media Helper

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If you’re a passionate Tampa Bay business owner and you need help getting your Facebook page, Pinterest boards or Twitter account started, please email me at jncollette@gmail.com. I’m available to manage social media accounts on an ongoing basis or I can teach you the basics and let you take over.