I’m Penny, founder of Monaco Nail Academy. I’ve been a Nail Artist since 2007 and I absolutely love it – nails are a passion I discovered accidentally and one which has taken my life in a direction I never imagined!

As a Level 2 ‘Scholar’ Educator for Artistic Nail Design, I’ve won awards for best practical nail application amongst the Australasian Education team twice, coming second behind Vanessa Zuj in 2015. I was also privileged to be awarded Runner Up Nail Technician of the Year 2015/2016 at the NZ Beauty Industry Awards and have won the following awards –

• Highest Practical Nail Score amongst Level 1 Artistic Educators (Australasia, 2013)
• Highest Practical Nail Score amongst Level 2 Artistic Educators (Australasia, 2014)
• First Place Sculptured French Acrylic 2015
• First Place Gel Polish Manicure 2015
• Second Place Tips and Overlay 2015
• Runner Up NZ Nail Competitions Grand Champion 2015
• Runner Up Nail Technician of the Year 2015
• Highest Written Test Score amongst Level 1 and 2 Artistic Educators (Australasia, 2016)
• First Place French Sculptured 2016
• First Place French Tip and Overlay 2016
• First Place Stiletto Twist 2016
• Highly Commended Photographic Nail Art 2016
• Highest Written Test Score amongst Level 1 and 2 Artistic Educators (Australasia, 2017)
• First Place Salon Design 2017
• Second Place Gel Polish Nail Art 2017
• Third Place Stiletto Glitz and Glam 2017
• Third Place Salon French 2017

I’ve worked closely with Alisha Rimando Botero, Sam Biddle, Tracey Boyle and Kylie Clare and was honoured to be asked to present 3 demonstrations at the 2014 Melbourne Rock Hard World Tour, a privilege usually reserved for the Level 3 Global Team.

in 2023 I moved into a judging role, judging two days of live Floor Competitions at the NZ Nail Competitions at the NZ Hair and Beauty Expo.

My day to day work with Monaco is more about running the business as well as handling all things marketing, but you’ll see me around.

I offer the following modules –

The Theory of Nails
Manicures and Pedicures
Using the IBX System
Builder in a Bottle
Dipping Systems
Acrylic
Hard Gel
PolyGel
Pre-Formed Soft Gel Extensions
E-File
The Art of Nails
Salon Success: Business, Marketing and Social Media

You can book any of these courses through my salon, Hard Lacquer Nail Studio.
Click here and scroll to ‘Nail Tech Training’