Shopify New York is a global commerce platform and flagship hub designed to empower independent entrepreneurs and scale small business operations.

In strategic partnership, Vision Creative Group (VCG) bridged Shopify's SaaS product capabilities with the multi-layered ecosystem of the nail art industry to drive platform adoption and community innovation.

Beyond the Brush: Future of Nail Art Summit

A one-day educational summit created to capture live user testimonials and discover how creative entrepreneurs utilize Shopify’s tools. Attendees would learn about product capabilities within the multi-layered ecosystem of the nail and beauty industry.

The experience strategically connected Shopify’s platform to key leaders across the nail sector; from celebrity nail artists, salon owners, independent artists , and beauty enthusiasts to unlock untapped commerce opportunities in niche verticals.

Manual Confirmation

A primary challenge was Shopify's limited internal data visibility regarding which emerging nail and beauty brands were actively using its SaaS platform without manual lookups.

Organic Consideration
Additionally, the initiative needed to overcome traditional software sales barriers by authentically driving brand consideration and conversion through live product demos and community showcases within the event environment.

VCG conceptualized and facilitated the summit at Shopify New York, pairing platform executives with premier industry leaders, including Rita Pinto (Founder of Vanity Projects), Alexandra Pauly (Beauty Editor at Highsnobiety), Alani Noelle (@Wuzg00d), Angie Aguirre (She's Polished NY), and salon owners from 10Piece Nails.

The programming featured curated panels, live use-case breakdowns, and interactive discussions that gathered real-world user feedback while showcasing Shopify’s commercial potential for beauty entrepreneurs.

The summit generated massive market demand, reaching 450 attendee RSVPs to max out the 150-capacity Shopify venue (300% capacity demand) and proving strong appetite for tech-enabled creative commerce.

The initiative successfully provided Shopify with rich user research and live customer testimonials while establishing a repeatable engagement mode for nail & beauty, later tested again with Shopify x Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday Nails for niche targeting.

As Senior Program Manager - Consumer Experiences, I owned the Beyond the Brush summit end-to-end with Shopify New York, from discovery and program design to speaker and partner coordination, run-of-show, and post-event reporting. I aligned Shopify stakeholders, creators, and VCG teams on goals and timelines, managed RSVP and capacity planning, and captured user testimonials and insights for Shopify’s SMB and creator segments.