More behind this new Warner Robins nail salon than meets the eye

A Warner Robins native recently opened a faith-based nail salon in her hometown.

“I feel like it’s my ministry,” said 29-year-old Akiria “Kikih” Walker, a Chirstian and owner of KB Beauty & More.

“I feel like the Lord blessed me with a spirit of understanding and empathy. Nails, I felt like, was an opportunity where I could speak to people and then genuinely give them love, because that’s something that I’ve aimed for my entire life.”

Her business mission statement, which is etched on the glass front door of the new business, is ‘“where purpose meets willingness.”

“I feel like I am willing to love people where they are,” Walker said. “So that means I know that I have to bend to accommodate them, and so I’m willing to do that as long as I am able to do what God has called me to do, which He’s called all of us to do, honestly, is to love people and love our neighbors as we do ourselves.”

Her business mission statement is also her life mission statement, or life vision.

“It’s something I’ve kind of created since I was young, and I’ve stuck to it, and now I’m finding purpose in it as an adult,” Walker said.

“KB” in the name of her business stands for Kingdom Builders, while the “& More” is designed to reflect that her salon is more than just about nails, pedicures and waxing.

Her aim is to offer a welcoming and safe space for her clients where she offers a listening ear.

“It feels like a therapy session sometimes for my clients,” Walker said. “For me, it’s just them feeling safe.”

She also has a prayer board, where clients may post prayer requests, on the wall near the waxing room.

“I do pray over my clients each and every night,” Walker said.

Her clients followed her from another Warner Robins salon where she rented a booth for nearly four years. Before that, she worked as a nail technician for another salon for almost five years.

Cheryl Hunnicutt of Bonaire is among those who followed Walker to her new location where Hunnicutt was getting her nails done recently.

“Kikih is an awesome nail technician,” Hunnicutt said. “She also does my pedicures. But beyond being a great nail technician, she is a good person.

“She’s a good human being. I love coming in and talking with her.”

Hunnicutt’s granddaughter, Reba Powers, first told Hunnicutt about Walker. Power has been Walker’s client for about a year. Hunnicutt is a new client, with the recent visit her third appointment with Walker.

“If you need a good nail technician at a reasonable price, Kikih’s the lady,” Hunnicutt said.

KB Beauty & More offers acrylics, builder gel, polygels, and a soft gel, which is a gel-x service. The salon also offers manicures, pedicures, and waxing from eyebrows to full body waxing.

Gel manicures are $35. Acrylics start for short at $60, Acrylic overlay, which is on the natural nail, is $55, Walker said. Pedicures start at $45 and go up to $75. A plain manicure is $15.

“I try to make it affordable,” Walker said. “But at the same time, I try to make sure that I’m getting what we’re worth at the same time. But I want them to know that we can work with them.”

Appointments can be booked on Square. Walker has a more detailed price list in the salon than shown online.

Walker’s close friend, Maria Rostro, is currently her sole employee.

A 2016 Northside High School graduate, Walker received her cosmetology diploma from the former Virginia College’s Macon campus. She holds a state-issued master cosmetology license.

She started out doing hair.

A silent investor who saw Walker working as a nail technician and believed in her paved the way for Walker to open her own nail salon.

“It’s something that I wanted for a long time,” she said. “The opportunity presented itself, and I took it.”

KB Beauty & More celebrated its grand opening Aug. 15 with a ribbon cutting and reveal of the new salon’s interior to her clients. The salon opened for business Aug. 17.

The salon at 700 Feagin Mill Road, Suite 300, is nestled in a shopping strip anchored by the OM Food Mart #1 convenience store and a Chevron gas station near the intersection of Feagin Mill and Peach Blossom roads. The same shopping strip is home to Tacos & Mariscos Ofelia, which serves authentic Mexican food, and other businesses.

KB Beauty & More hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The number is 478-662-2057.