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Jersey teacher Denisha Persaud's $250K nail art hat breaks the internet! 🔥 Sway In The Morning exclusive interview reveals the story behind this viral sensation. From teaching autistic children to creating stunning nail art, Denisha shares her journey of turning passion into a business.
Learn how her unique "Clawset" designs caught the attention of celebrities like Jennifer Hudson and Sweetie. Discover the challenges she faced, her inspiration, and why she values her art at a quarter-million dollars. Don't miss this captivating conversation about creativity, perseverance, and the power of believing in yourself.
Watch now to see the incredible hat that's taking social media by storm and hear Denisha's inspiring story of success.
Subscribe to Sway's Universe for more exclusive interviews and captivating content. Follow us on social media for the latest updates in hip-hop, entertainment, and culture.
#creativeheadwear #artisticexpression #halloweennailart #creativehats #gelxnails
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Meet Denisha Persuad
01:22 - How Heather B Discovered Denisha Persuad
03:08 - Starting Denisha P's Business Journey
07:19 - Recognition from Celebrities: Denisha Pad's Experience
07:59 - Challenges in Starting Her Business
10:38 - Pricing Denisha P's First Hat
11:35 - The Infamous Banana Art Piece
12:12 - Integrating Art into Teaching
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0:00
we have from my hometown of Jersey City
0:03
New Jersey which I am a proud jerseyite
0:05
to say Miss Denisha pad hey Denisha
0:09
Denisha pad do hey Denisha Denisha you
0:12
from Jersey City yes okay born and
0:14
raised born and raised in Jersey City
0:16
what kind of upbringing did you have um
0:20
I
0:21
mean sorry that's all right I uh grew up
0:26
around Westside Avenue uh went to Snider
0:29
High School mhm um you went to sniper
0:31
High School SN s my bad I know it's
0:34
Jersey Snider High School um and I
0:38
stayed local and went to
0:39
NJCU um Hudson County and I'm currently
0:42
a teacher at um JC Boe I've been there
0:46
for 10 years so stay in my city that a
0:48
junior college no um Elementary School
0:52
oh JCB o I don't um you know that's
0:54
Jersey City border AED so you went into
0:56
teaching yes yeah what made you go into
0:58
education um I love the kids I love
1:01
giving back to the kids and I currently
1:03
work with autistic kids so I love what I
1:05
do wow did that require special um
1:08
training to work with autistic kids um
1:10
yes and a lot of patience you know
1:13
understanding but I've been doing it for
1:15
so long I just you know I just flow with
1:18
it I love it you just flow with it I
1:20
like that because you have this primary
1:22
day job that you do but the reason why
1:25
you here has nothing to do with that
1:27
right Heather no I actually found
1:29
Denisha on Instagram I was scrolling
1:32
through my Instagram and for sway knows
1:34
a lot of everybody here knows as well um
1:37
I do have a lot of uh businesses that I
1:40
I've run and do but for years I owned
1:42
the Hair and Nail Salon in Jersey City
1:44
New Jersey so anytime I see Nails I'm
1:46
still a licensed Nail Tech anytime I see
1:49
Nails I just stop and look and then I
1:51
saw this amazing hat is is what I saw on
1:55
on Instagram and I was like Wow who did
1:57
this hat and then I had to go back and
1:59
go back and go back and I saw a young
2:01
lady by the name of Denisha that did
2:04
this amazing hat and I was just
2:05
wondering if she sold them how long did
2:07
it take her to make this hat and I saw
2:10
with the popularity of nails now with
2:12
cardi and and and U Cynthia Revo Tracy
2:15
mentioned earlier and all the women
2:17
that's rocking these nails I was like
2:18
Wow Let Me Find Out Who denish is what
2:20
about the Hat stuck out to you well when
2:24
I used to do nails at my nail salon I
2:26
remembered how long it used to take just
2:28
to do a basic set of nail
2:30
but I saw the intricacies in the details
2:33
of these nails and I was like whoever is
2:36
doing this is super duper creative and
2:38
talented so this is like for those who
2:42
who can't see the hat but you will be
2:43
able to see it on swayed Universe it's
2:46
it's like a a it's a Bas baseball cap
2:49
that's decorated
2:51
every centimeter of this hat is
2:54
decorated with a different nail a
2:56
beautiful design fingernail it looks
2:58
like all jewels
3:01
completely bedazzled cab except it's
3:03
Nails it looks like a crown a royal
3:05
crown and I'm curious to a just that cap
3:08
along Denisha how long did it take to
3:11
construct all of this it took me about
3:14
two to three weeks to put it together
3:16
but the nails on it are nails that I've
3:19
created within the past five years so
3:20
you created all these all of these nails
3:23
campaing yes that's crazy was this a
3:27
hobby so um during the pandemic you know
3:31
was hard and I didn't know if I was
3:32
going to lose my job as an educator and
3:34
I always loved nails so um I had the
3:38
idea to start my own press on nail brand
3:41
and so I started making press on nails
3:43
and little boxes that look like closets
3:46
but instead of a closet I called it The
3:47
Claw set so it was little claw sets and
3:50
boxes claw like claw claw set I remember
3:54
the show CLA CLA yeah with Nash and
3:58
kuchi yep yeah and then so after making
4:02
so much nail art I would just keep all
4:04
the nails and then um one day I had the
4:07
idea to just put it all together on the
4:09
hat because I also make custom hats on
4:11
the side too so I was like let me put it
4:13
together and see what happens and that
4:15
was how long ago now um that was back in
4:18
I think September September yeah and so
4:21
you since made it into a business mhm
4:24
yeah how and how did you go about that
4:26
process um well you know when I posted
4:30
it I had the idea for so long and then I
4:32
finally put it together and I had no
4:34
idea it would hit like that so I just
4:36
continued making different designs um I
4:39
made a old Diamond blinged out icy one
4:42
and then I contined with the bag and I
4:44
have some more ideas in place as well
4:46
how did you find your audience like what
4:48
made it grow what what were some of the
4:50
key tools you use for your audience to
4:52
grow you think well I already had a big
4:54
following for my nail art in general
4:56
okay and then I just continued it um I
5:00
just wanted like I like thinking outside
5:02
the box like how I could put everything
5:04
together and I was like you know if I'm
5:06
making hats why not showcase all my art
5:09
on one hat and see what happens Claw set
5:14
what is the Instagram um it's the closet
5:17
so it's i t s t h e and c l a w s e t
5:22
instead of closet is Claw set it's The
5:25
Claw set that's brilliant yo I'm I'm
5:28
biting it I'm taking it really creative
5:31
right Mike VI was just sharing with me
5:32
that this is perfect timing because
5:34
often times he'll um comments on my
5:37
nails Heather as well cuz I love nails
5:39
and Mike will be like wow is this an
5:40
extension of your identity I'm I'm
5:42
pretty tame right now of this set but my
5:44
birthday set was super Maxim maximalist
5:48
and I'm wondering as I often ask some of
5:51
my girls the nail text if well one what
5:55
was it about Nails this very tiny canvas
5:59
that you're expressing your art through
6:01
what was it about nails that want that
6:03
had you say that's how I want to
6:06
showcase my art and also are you able to
6:10
kind of like Zoom this into a huge
6:13
canvas where you're an artist that has
6:15
like I don't know uh 100 by 100 foot art
6:20
that you can create as well um well
6:23
before I got into Nails I got nails done
6:26
myself and I would get really long
6:28
stilettos and I would always like go out
6:31
with them and um when I couldn't get my
6:34
nails done during the pandemic I'm like
6:35
I need nails like what could I do so
6:37
then I was like well let me start my own
6:39
press on nail business cuz the nail
6:40
salons were closed it was nowhere to go
6:43
so I started doing nail art and then uh
6:46
eventually it's like I it became like an
6:48
addiction like I loved um painting on
6:51
nails tiny canvases you know um
6:53
showcasing like my ideas and different
6:56
ways that you can represent art on these
6:59
tiny canvases so you're selftaught yeah
7:02
wow that's right Denisha pad here
7:04
representing Jersey City New Jersey oh
7:07
how did you feel you got to say it all
7:09
you got to say New Jersey City
7:10
absolutely no not New Jersey City Jersey
7:13
City New Jersey Jersey yeah I'm not
7:16
saying all that but go ahead wow how did
7:19
you feel Denisha cuz we communicated
7:21
through DM I reached out to her because
7:23
I thought that's cool your work was
7:24
absolutely beautiful and I wanted the
7:26
citizens here in the sueden morning show
7:28
to see your work because it's is a a
7:30
worldwide show but how did you feel when
7:32
you got recognized by Jennifer Hudson
7:34
and the Jennifer Hudson show and sweetie
7:36
and Nike and how how did that make you
7:37
feel because as sway pointed out you
7:39
started this at home and selftaught it
7:42
felt really good you know um especially
7:45
when you've been listening to artists
7:47
for a while and you look up to them and
7:49
to see that they appreciate your art and
7:51
that you can capture their attention
7:52
like it feels really good can people
7:54
still purchase the claw sets mhm yeah
7:57
they're available on my website what
7:59
what have been some of the challenges
8:01
over the years too I've heard different
8:03
stories and sometimes with celebrities
8:05
as well there's one I won't call her by
8:07
name but famously she has allegedly
8:10
gotten into altercations with nail text
8:13
you know um fights yeah physical fights
8:17
name calling a lot of times things will
8:20
go viral on social media where there
8:22
will just be a dispute between a client
8:25
and a nail tech I wonder if that's been
8:27
a reality in your world at all if not
8:30
just what are your unique challenges um
8:33
I mean people have a lot of opinions I
8:36
feel like um because it's the first
8:39
design like this and first hat like this
8:41
there's been a lot of negative
8:43
commentary from nail text and positive
8:46
some people like it some people hate the
8:48
fact that you know I'm self-taught or
8:51
that I didn't go to school for it or
8:53
that um you know they've worked so hard
8:56
and they haven't gotten the attention
8:57
that they feel like they deserve but
9:00
like for me I just stay like organically
9:03
true to myself you know at the end of
9:04
the day I I just want to create art and
9:07
show my work and share it with the world
9:09
like I mean if the fame comes with it
9:11
that's amazing but at the end of the day
9:13
I just love like showcasing my art you
9:16
know like I feel like people are always
9:18
going to have like something negative to
9:20
say but I especially when the Hat went
9:23
viral at first it hit off on Twitter and
9:25
then there was so much negativity that
9:27
came behind it because I stated my price
9:29
and I stated what I felt like I deserve
9:31
for it I remember yeah that's when I did
9:35
yeah the research came with the price I
9:36
forgot we failed to mention the price
9:38
what was the let's mention it now I
9:40
didn't know that was a thing okay I'm
9:43
not let's mention the price what's the
9:45
price so my very first hat because it's
9:48
my very first hat um I'm not settling
9:50
for less than 250k for
9:54
it did you get it I didn't get it not
9:57
yet no not yet to come but for My First
10:01
Hat because it's the first one and
10:03
there's so much art on it and it took so
10:04
much time to make I don't look at it as
10:07
like just wearable art I feel like it
10:10
should be showcased absolutely it's a
10:12
piece of art it's there it's like like
10:14
any Museum any painting on the in the
10:16
museum sculpture anything else right
10:18
that's what I always wonder though too
10:21
um is how does an artists decide the
10:25
value of their art is it something where
10:27
you consult with others you know who
10:30
have similar genres or you know those
10:33
who sell art to dealers um yeah how did
10:36
you come to that price so it's five
10:39
years just the first one is 250k every
10:42
hat after is going to be a different
10:45
price but because it's the first one
10:47
that's what I priced it as but it's five
10:49
years worth of work you know I don't
10:51
know if you guys recent recently seen
10:53
the banana that sold for millions of
10:55
dollars and I'm just looking at it and
10:57
I'm like you know I'm not talking mess
10:59
anybody's art but this took so much time
11:02
effort patience you know it's it's over
11:05
250 tiny canvases on a hat you know so I
11:10
felt like you know at first I had it
11:11
priced at $100,000 and I was like you
11:14
know what no I'm going to go up on it
11:16
because it's worth so much more and I
11:18
feel like you know you got to believe in
11:20
yourself and you got to be a number one
11:22
fan so that's what I feel like my art is
11:25
worth so I'mma stick with it reach her
11:28
at once again give got your social media
11:31
it's the closet the clet there you go I
11:34
got you m I think it's great I mean in
11:36
the artwork you're talking about is that
11:37
banana that what happened oh yeah I
11:41
think that is I think that is great um
11:43
that you pric it at that price point uh
11:45
when I look at the Hat the intricate
11:46
details of it it's extremely detailed
11:49
and when you look at the nails you are
11:51
right it's mini canvases are just on one
11:53
hat and it's that's not necessar yours
11:55
isn't concept art as much as is like
11:57
abstract art and I commend you for
12:00
stating your price um I think you will
12:03
find a market and then it takes a unique
12:05
buyer for that type of hat but once you
12:07
find that one you're going to do really
12:09
well with other ones that you make but
12:12
the question that I had though is um in
12:14
relationship to you mentioned that you
12:16
um teach autistic kids and I'm just
12:20
wondering have you been able to
12:21
integrate the art into your teaching
12:25
because I know autistic kids really
12:26
gravitate towards color and I was
12:28
wondering have you been able to engage
12:29
this in the classroom not this
12:31
specifically but we do crafts every day
12:34
like every day we start the day with a
12:36
morning meeting and then we do a craft
12:39
like my kids that's one thing like they
12:41
love crafts they love um making art so
12:45
we always do projects and stuff like
12:47
that not necessarily the nails but um a
12:51
lot of people have like inquired about
12:54
you know what about bringing it to the
12:56
classroom see my classroom I have old
12:58
boys in my room I have all autistic boys
13:01
so I'm not I'm not really sure that
13:04
they'd be so into the nails but I did
13:06
bring it with me one day to work um and
13:08
they were so mesmerized by it they were
13:11
like wow Miss P it's so shiny look at
13:14
the colors you know they were Amazed by
13:16
it so even getting that you know like
13:19
approval from them it it it feels good
13:22
too Miss p is here Denisha pad right
13:26
hella Talent let's say the name of the
13:27
company again have the be it's The Claw
13:30
set and just know you can go on her
13:31
website it's thecloset.com you can
13:34
purchase the claw sets no they're not at
13:36
the price of the Hat obviously that was
13:38
her first one and the other ones are
13:39
marked down differently she also does
13:41
coloring books she does bags um yeah she
13:43
does coloring books um it's a stoner
13:46
coloring book and she has a strain of
13:49
the day as well sway oh Mrs
13:54
P it gets better for you huh SW she said
13:58
Heather can I that on absolutely say I
14:01
don't mix work and you know outside you
14:05
know what I doing outside but I like his
14:07
coloring books right purses bags Y
14:11
unique cats um Nails whatever you want
14:14
she's a One-Stop shop including
14:16
education give it up for Denisha prad
14:19
thank you Denisha so much man I hope you
14:21
had a good time here yes thank you so
14:24
much you're welcome thank you for being
14:25
a guest on woman Toom winning Wednesdays
14:27
wooho
14:29
anything you want to say in closing um
14:32
thank you so much for all the love and
14:33
support and for having me here guys
14:36
absolutely she got great gifts the
14:39
holidays are here absolutely a very
14:41
unique gift you can give make sure you
14:43
go on her platform
14:45
it's the claw set.com all right. Denisha
14:51
thank you for coming by
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