TAMPA, Fla. — A Hillsborough County woman has an out-of-the-ordinary business. Christin Forsyth provides nail care services to disabled or elderly people in their homes or in hospice care.

On a recent morning, she was traveling to a disabled woman’s home in Brandon.

“I am bringing her some flowers,” she said while holding a small bouquet.

She said she usually travels up to 25 miles with her Flirty Nails Mobile. But sometimes she will travel a greater distance for a special case.

“It breaks my heart. So I have to. I have to go even though it is so far away,” she said.

One morning she was at Tana Brothers’ home to do both her toenails and fingernails. Brothers gets around mostly in a wheelchair because of neuropathy in her feet.

Brothers doesn’t feel comfortable going to a nail salon but wants to keep her nails looking good.

“My nails have always been very important to me,” she said. “My fingernails and toenails because I am a Florida kid and I grew up in sandals, and my toes were always showing and wanting them to look good.”

Forsyth said she started thinking about the need for mobile nail services while on months of bed rest during a high-risk pregnancy eight years ago. She decided to start her business during COVID lockdowns.

“No chance to get a polish and their hands and for a woman that’s very important. It changes your mood. It makes you feel alive,” she said.  

Forsyth says she has special training to work on the hands and feet of elderly clients with fragile skin.

“And I don’t think age that can change that or illness have to change that. We all deserve to feel good," she said.

Forsyth said some of her clients in hospice care are very close to the end of their lives. That can be heartbreaking but also rewarding.

“Because I’m doing the manicure. It’s going to be their last manicure and I think that’s heartbreaking. And they are surrounded by their families. They are seeing me make her smile.”