It took me a year to get thru beauty school. Took six months to finally get my license from the state. I went to work recently for the very same nail salon that I frequented for years.
I was steadfast about my decision to work there. It's Vietnamese owned, my coworkers don't speak great English, but they do great nails and it's always busy. ALWAYS. My mates who went to beauty school constantly questioned my plans to work for this place, I suppose they had "delusions of grandeur," with the idea that they'd go to work right after graduation in a high-end salon, making tons of really great trendy money.
Well, trendy money in fancy salons requires you to pay $500 a month in booth rentals, plus more money for products and supplies. That's out of your pocket before you've taken in one customer. Then you beg for the walk-ins so you can make a little money and pay that booth rent.
No thanks. That's too much struggling. I wanted simplicity, and I wanted to make money. At the nail salon we're working 6 days a week, sometimes 10 hours a day. The customers come in the door constantly, and I"m in no way begging for work like my classmates from beauty school. In fact, after a month of working, I'd like a break!
It's funny to see the customers' faces when they notice a very white girl among the Vietnamese ones in the salon. It inspired me to get my new business cards printed, "White Girl Do Nail."
