His first competition didn't go as planned. "I broke a nail in the last three seconds," said Bachik. "It went flying off in the air, and everything went into slow motion." Still, he submitted his work to the judges — and took home second place. From there, "I was hooked."
One year later, after obtaining his licence, he was able to compete at the pro level and won the world competition in nails. "That's when I knew I was in the right place," said Bachik. Immediately after being awarded the winning title, he was approached by the owner and founder of CND and offered a job on the spot. He took it and became a global educator for the brand.
This officially set his professional career as a "'MAN'icurist," as he likes to call himself, in motion. On the job he was introduced to various famous beauty professionals, including Francesca Tolot, who opened his eyes to the idea of getting an agent — something he didn't even realise was possible. "I said to her, 'Agent? What? You can get an agent to do nails?' You're way too LA for me,'" said Bachik. But he took her up on the idea and started working with her agent and "it kind of all took off from there."
His introduction to the celebrity world came fast and furious. First, he was hired to do the nails for Jenny McCarthy's cover of Maxim Magazine, followed shortly by the cover of Rolling Stones with Britney Spears. Then, came the opportunity to work with Beyoncé for a series of music videos, including "Upgrade U." "I did all of these Queen B videos in literally a two-day period," said Bachik. "It was incredible."
"I'd hear, 'Oh, you're a straight guy? Yea, she's really not comfortable working with a guy for her nails.'"
Despite the ongoing success, he was met with some pushback from potential clients at the start of his celebrity career. "I'd hear, 'Oh, you're a straight guy? Yea, she's really not comfortable working with a guy for her nails,'" said Bachik. "And I get that. But on the flip side, a lot of people were like, 'Oh, a guy doing nails? Cool, let's book him.'"