Christy Hepworth

Christy Hepworth is the cofounder of Jamberry Nails, a company that she launched in 2010 with her sisters Keri Evans and Lyndsey Ekstrom. Christy’s husband, Adam, is the company CEO and he helped the company go from identifying a great idea to creating a successful product. The company also sells professional nail lacquers and gel enamels and other accessories.

While Lyndsey watched a salon technician apply a new product to her toenails in a matter of minutes, an idea came to her: women could easily do the same in their own homes for a fraction of the cost. Lyndsey showed her sisters what looked like stickers, and with some research, they created a product to sell at a local women’s expo. They expected to make a few hundred dollars, but when their take was $4,000, they filled orders and prepared for the next event. At a Christmas fair, they doubled their sales. Since then, the company has grown to over 20,000 distributors and more than 50 employees—with an income much more than the $400 each they originally hoped to earn each month.

Before the launch of Jamberry Nails, Christy earned her bachelor’s degree in humanities from Brigham Young University. She moved to New York City and earned her master’s in education and taught English as a Second Language in the Bronx. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.