Meet Nadine Marie Poe: Bringing a More Personal Approach to Nail and Spa Care

How an entrepreneur built a thriving spa business in Atlanta and is now bringing her private, health-conscious approach to Northern Virginia

For most people, a nail appointment begins with choosing a color and ends with the finished result. At The Secret Spa-NOVA, Nadine Marie Poe has built the experience around everything that happens in between, from the privacy of an individual suite and careful attention to nail health to the conversations and relationships that often develop across the appointment.

It is an approach shaped by more than a decade in the industry and a career that has taken Nadine from working in one of Atlanta’s busiest salons to building three locations of her own. Along the way, she developed a following that included celebrities and high-profile clients, yet some of the experiences she values most have come from simply getting to know the people sitting across from her.

Now, with The Secret Spa-NOVA, Nadine is bringing that experience to Northern Virginia, where a very different clientele is giving her an opportunity to shape the next stage of a career she never expected to find in the beauty industry.

 

From Starting Over to Building Something of Her Own

Originally from Chicago, Nadine had already pursued several business ventures before moving to Atlanta, with experience spanning marketing, finance, childcare, and other entrepreneurial projects.

Her path into the nail industry began during a difficult period in her personal life. While going through a divorce, Nadine started working at one of Atlanta’s largest nail salons, a busy destination for clients from the worlds of sports, music, television, and entertainment. New to the city and without an established network, she gradually built a loyal clientele, eventually filling her appointment book and working seven days a week.

As demand for her services grew, several clients encouraged Nadine to establish a salon of her own, with some providing the capital that helped make the move possible. Many followed her to the new business, which grew largely through personal recommendations and word of mouth. Over time, the first location expanded into three salons across Atlanta.

The name The Secret Spa emerged from those same client relationships. Nadine had become known among clients as their “secret” for great nails, skin, and body care, an expression that ultimately became part of the brand itself.

 

Bringing the Experience to Northern Virginia

The clientele in Northern Virginia is noticeably different from the one Nadine came to know in Atlanta. While her earlier locations became known for serving celebrities and other high-profile clients, The Secret Spa-NOVA has introduced her to people from a much wider range of backgrounds.

Her clients now include teachers, government employees, military personnel, single parents, and people visiting a nail professional for the first time. One of the things she enjoys most about the new location is the variety of people she meets, each bringing their own experiences and expectations.

Services at The Secret Spa-NOVA range from medical, Russian, and dry manicures and pedicures to luxury medical facials, lashes, and non-invasive laser lipo. Drawing on her training as a licensed nail technician, along with additional certification in infection prevention, Nadine places particular emphasis on assessing the condition of a client’s nails and feet and explaining what she observes throughout the appointment.

 

A Private Space Built Around Comfort

Rather than the shared environment of a traditional salon, The Secret Spa-NOVA welcomes clients into a private suite of their own, where they can relax and discuss concerns about their nails without feeling self-conscious.

Appointments are intentionally unhurried. Clients can settle in with a complimentary drink, ask questions throughout the service, and spend time considering details such as nail shape and color rather than simply moving through the appointment as quickly as possible. Along the way, Nadine explains how the nails are being prepared and cared for, turning those conversations into a natural part of the experience.

That emphasis on education becomes particularly important when clients arrive with questions about their nail health. Rather than simply completing the service, Nadine wants them to leave with a clearer understanding of what she has observed and how proper nail care can help maintain their health and appearance.

 

Making Luxury More Accessible

Working with high-profile clients in Atlanta helped shape Nadine’s understanding of what a luxury experience can look like, but she has never viewed that level of service as something that should be reserved for those with celebrity budgets. At The Secret Spa-NOVA, she describes the approach more simply as “bougie on a budget.”

In Northern Virginia, where a high cost of living does not necessarily translate into disposable income, Nadine is conscious of making that experience accessible to the people who live and work in the community. Discounts for teachers, military personnel, government workers, and seniors are one way she makes that level of personal attention and service available to people with different circumstances.

 

Giving Back Through the Work She Knows Best

As her businesses in Atlanta grew, Nadine became increasingly committed to sharing some of that success with the community around her. Her efforts ranged from providing meals for police officers, firefighters, and other first responders to visiting local nursing homes, where she offered complimentary nail care to older residents who were not always able to care for their own hands and feet.

Those visits often developed into something more personal. Time spent doing nails became an opportunity to hear residents’ stories, form meaningful connections, and bring a little extra care and companionship into their day. Nadine came to treasure those relationships, describing herself as something of an adopted granddaughter within the communities she visited.

 

Building the Next Chapter

Since opening The Secret Spa-NOVA in April, Nadine has worked personally with every client from a single private suite. With the location now becoming established, she is beginning to look beyond the intimate space where it started and toward what The Secret Spa could become in Northern Virginia.

Her plans include building a team and eventually moving beyond the current suite into a speakeasy-inspired location. Envisioned as a hidden destination, the concept plays naturally on The Secret Spa name while retaining the sense of privacy and personal attention that has shaped the experience from the beginning.

In the years ahead, Nadine hopes to recreate the growth she achieved in Atlanta by establishing multiple locations across Northern Virginia. She also hopes that growth will eventually give her more time to return to the community work that has remained important throughout her career.

 

More Than an Appointment

What began unexpectedly during a difficult period in Nadine’s life has grown into a career shaped as much by the people she has met as by the services she provides. More than a decade later, the personal connections that helped establish her career remain central to the experience she wants to create.

At The Secret Spa-NOVA, the result is an experience that reflects both sides of Nadine’s career, the attention to detail that helped build her reputation and the personal connection that kept clients returning. What may begin as an appointment often becomes something more familiar, built through conversation, trust, and the feeling of being genuinely cared for.

As Nadine looks toward what comes next in Northern Virginia, the name inspired by her earliest loyal clients feels particularly fitting once again. With a new community discovering what she has created, The Secret Spa may soon become another well-kept secret, this time as “NOVA’s favorite secret.”

 

The Secret Spa-NOVA

14801 Murdock Street, Suite 135, Office 12 Chantilly, VA

Website: thesecretspanova.square.site

Call / Text: (703) 596 – 5772

Email: TheSecretSpaNOVA@gmail.com

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