As humans, we often forget to prioritize ourselves with the many responsibilities & noisiness of life. We don’t believe self-care is just a trendy word or an aesthetic, it is a practice & commitment to honoring the body & mind in order to sustain yourself over time.
Through self-care, we pour into ourselves in a way that allows us to intentionally pour into others. We practice what we preach here too. Since our clients invest & trust in our mission, we’re able to give back to our community through our non-profit partnerships. When you get a service done at keen you are taking care of both yourself & those around you. To learn more about what organizations we work with, scroll to the section below.
From even the early stages of building keen, striving towards sustainability in all areas of business was the priority. We wanted to offer our community a nail studio with clean ingredients & no toxins to protect the health of your environment, but also the planet in general. Although any stride towards sustainability is impactful, we strategically partnered with sustainability experts who consulted our founder through all the details to make keen as green as possible.
The Meaning Behind Your Mani
keen cares
We’re serious about self-care. We believe it is often one of the first steps towards healing when undergoing any difficult season in life. Sometimes you can’t always feel great in your head & heart - but most of the time a small step towards getting your body to relax into the state of stillness can help a little.
'keen cares' is a giveback initiative we created to leverage our impact as a business to support individuals in need through the power of self-care. Read below to learn more about our non-profit partners that we hand-selected to support. Both of these initiatives are near & dear to our founder's heart.
We Care About Well-Being
keen works closely with both founders to give them the resources they need to actively support their organizations.
Provides women, birthing people & families comfort as they take steps toward healing after the loss of their baby. Walking out of the hospital, empty handed, a shell of your former self, can be debilitating. Aaliyah in Action seeks to provide one of the first steps in the healing process after perinatal loss, neonatal loss or infant death. One of the hardest, yet most important, elements to beginning this healing process is self-care. Aaliyah in Action creates packages are meant to provide small ways to care for oneself while navigating this new life & grief journey. Waking up each day, facing this new reality, is not easy. Providing tangible healing products and ideas can help in even the smallest way to make the day just a little bit easier to get through - they like to call it a "gentle hug" from someone who knows the pain.
Provides essential baby items directly into the hands of Moms in Need. Every day, millions of US families struggle to afford basic supplies for their babies. Everyday, 1 in 3 families struggle to afford diapers for their children. This organization helps families by providing diapers, formula, & other essential items. Their network uses events & community involvement to source products and distributes them through partners in the DC Metro area to get them into the hands of families in need. Their events, collaborations, & conversations revolve around how we can uplift & help moms in our community by building awareness around Diaper Need & providing a direct outlet for the donation of essential baby items. keen happily serves as one of their drop off locations for essential items.
I started keen with a desire to build an intentional brand that made a difference.
During my first pregnancy, my eyes were opened to all the harmful toxins that are used in traditional nail salons. I became attuned to the negative impact these chemicals and single-use products had on the environment. As I brought a new life into this world, I realized how important it was to create the best future I could for my children & my children's children. I couldn't find any local nail studios that seemed to check all the boxes I was craving in a clean, sustainable nail service experience. With that, keen was born. As a female founder, wife, & now mama to two babies - it was particularly important to me that keen existed as an inclusive, safe space where people of all backgrounds could come to feel restored. We live in a busy world where burnout & hustle culture are worn as a badge of honor. I wanted keen to be an invitation to slow down & be more intentional. It's my hope that this space serves as a container to practice the commitment of self-preservation - even when it's hard. Starting keen felt like a natural extension of my personal conviction to take better care of myself, take care of others, & create a better future over time for our planet. Now more than ever, I'm learning that self-care is actually the most selfless thing you can do. The more we take care of ourselves, the more we can show up for those arounds us. This is why keen also partners with impactful non-profits I’ve hand selected that activate change & alleviate hardship for local causes near & dear to our hearts. That's a little bit about me & my journey with keen. It is truly an honor to have you support this business, our employees, & mission.
