Nailing The American Dream, With Polish

[Anh map 2,098]

Link to the story >>>> Nailing the American Dream

If you've had a manicure in California, odds are the person at the other end of the emery board was of Vietnamese heritage.

Vietnamese immigrants now dominate California's nail-care industry — and make up a significant percentage of all manicurists nationwide.

...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Link to the story >>>> Nailing the American Dream

If you've had a manicure in California, odds are the person at the other end of the emery board was of Vietnamese heritage.

Vietnamese immigrants now dominate California's nail-care industry — and make up a significant percentage of all manicurists nationwide.

...

Geezuz, tell me about it! When my wife was looking for a job she kept coming back to wanting to go to manicurist school. I kept telling her that was a sh!tty job working with toxic chemicals, and she kept telling me about her friend who lives in Oregon. Her friend owns a salon, and when she came to visit us in 2010 she was driving a new Lexus and dripping with gold and jewelry. What my wife didn't want to digest was that her friend flew here from Oregon with a ticket her daughter paid for, and the Lexus belonged to her daughter, who had a good paying job in high tech. I'd bet she scrimped and saved to amass that collection of baubles just to impress her impressionable friends and family.

There is a massive glut of nail salons here in Northern Cali, and nearly all of them are owned and staffed by Vietnamese girls. We can't go anywhere without having to walk past a few of them, and they are always largely empty except for the employees. Just since my wife arrived in the US I've seen half a dozen new salons open up in our town, and close within six months. The market here is beyond saturated, but neither me nor my wife are interested in moving out of the area. The industry I work in is mainly here, and she has a lot of extended family members within an hours drive of our home.

My wife's aunt went to manicurist school and got her license not long after she arrived a little over a year ago. She worked probably three months before giving up. The salon owners screw them over. The girls basically work only for tips, and they have to pay a station rental out of their tips. She was netting less than $5 an hour.

My wife finally found a job in day care. It doesn't pay much, but it's easy work and she gets to work with kids, which she really loves. She was a kindergarten teacher in Vietnam, and she misses it.

My step-daughter has now gotten on the manicurist kick. I think she's planning on going to manicurist school this fall. She's also planning on keeping a full schedule at the community college. Man, I wish I still had that kind of energy.

[quann 26]

if your stepdaughter want to make real money she gotta go cross-state to be a manicurist. it's still good, i hear some places still get 800-1k before tip a week but certainly the whole industry is not as lucrative as about 10 years ago.

in cali if you're in a really good place your cap will be $800, but generally you're making $400-$500 a week. terrible idea to rent a nail station, that's more for hair salons. just go with the 60/40 system, there's no stress and you're not tied down to one place.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

My wife's a Nail tech, she had no training in Vietnam, learned by watching and practicing at her nieces shop. Money great but her hours suck! Vietnamese run most of shops in our area.

[WeatherEmperor 21]

Forget the health hazards these salons present, the hours the girls work are terrible. My wife works 11 hour shifts 6 days a week and sundays she works just 7 hours. No days off, no paid vacations, no paid sick days, no health insurance, no paid holidays...but she does get big tips. I work way less than she does but get paid more. I dont know how much these girls make in other parts of the country but to me it seems like girls are overworked and underpaid. Im sorry if this offends anybody but to me this is not worth it in terms of a job or career

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

if your stepdaughter want to make real money she gotta go cross-state to be a manicurist. it's still good, i hear some places still get 800-1k before tip a week but certainly the whole industry is not as lucrative as about 10 years ago.

in cali if you're in a really good place your cap will be $800, but generally you're making $400-$500 a week. terrible idea to rent a nail station, that's more for hair salons. just go with the 60/40 system, there's no stress and you're not tied down to one place.

Not much of a choice here. There's just too damn many salons, and the owners dictate the terms. Still, it's better where we live than it is in Oakland. There are a massive number of shops on Grand Ave., and many of the girls working their are undocumented. It would suck for a girl with a green card to have to compete against what is essentially slave labor. Those shops are also owned by Vietnamese.

My wife's aunt never pulled in $500 on any single day. Most days she made far less than $100. She said she spent most of each day waiting for customers to come into the shop. That jives with what I've seen looking at the shops when I'm out. They're usually empty.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

Forget the health hazards these salons present, the hours the girls work are terrible. My wife works 11 hour shifts 6 days a week and sundays she works just 7 hours. No days off, no paid vacations, no paid sick days, no health insurance, no paid holidays...but she does get big tips. I work way less than she does but get paid more. I dont know how much these girls make in other parts of the country but to me it seems like girls are overworked and underpaid. Im sorry if this offends anybody but to me this is not worth it in terms of a job or career

Our wife's must work for same people,lol. Same damn hours! The sad thing the only one that complains about it is me. I can tell you in the big state of Iowa the girls base pay range from $500 to $700 a week. My wife brings home good money but if you do the math it sucks.

[Dan_P 5]

I think that the pay is good if you are an in demand manicurist and build up your cliente. Otherwise, if your skills are so so or you just star, don't expect a good pay. And obviously, you have to find a good location.

Today, starting out is very tough due to our over saturation in areas and low demand.

Still, no speaking English fluently and without much education, nails can be an option. It is tough to find a good paying desk job without English skills and decent education.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Dan_P

[phil09 8]

I moonlight as a tax preparer, and several of my clients own nail salons. As expected, their incomes vary widely with the location of their business. The best one I've personally seen grosses about $300K/yr. At that level, its employees are also doing quite well with tips. At the other end of the spectrum, another salon grosses only about $80K/yr, but all the folks who work there are members of the same family.

My sister-in-law used to own one, and the income from the salon helped her put five of her younger siblings through college (they also got some loans and scholarships). As soon as the last one graduated, she put the salon on the market because she thought all the chemicals and fumes would be detrimental to her health in the long run.

[Dan_P 5]

I moonlight as a tax preparer, and several of my clients own nail salons. As expected, their incomes vary widely with the location of their business. The best one I've personally seen grosses about $300K/yr. At that level, its employees are also doing quite well with tips. At the other end of the spectrum, another salon grosses only about $80K/yr, but all the folks who work there are members of the same family.

My sister-in-law used to own one, and the income from the salon helped her put five of her younger siblings through college (they also got some loans and scholarships). As soon as the last one graduated, she put the salon on the market because she thought all the chemicals and fumes would be detrimental to her health in the long run.

When you say $80k for the whole salon, is that actual income, or reported income, or both?

[phil09 8]

When you say $80k for the whole salon, is that actual income, or reported income, or both?

$80K is the reported income. On the other hand, for the other salon ($300K) it's actual income. 99% of the receipts of high-end salons are run through credit cards; with the new 1099-K reporting requirement, it is virtually impossible to conceal.

[decker 1]

Fairbanks Alaska has a couple nail shops and it's mostly VN too.

Linh wants nothing to do with that. She went in for the drive through lunch stand. Doing ok as long as summer is here. Winter hits and it gets sloooooooooooow.

Immigrants have always done what they can to make it go I guess.

[VinceN 25]

My wife was doing this way before coming the states. She owned her own beauty salon where she did everything, so she automatically adapted to the nail salons life as soon as she got here. She makes good money even though the hour sucks sometimes, but I rather see her in a nail salon than some manufacturing/meat plant.

Edited June 19, 2012 by VinceN

[quann 26]

$80K is the reported income. On the other hand, for the other salon ($300K) it's actual income. 99% of the receipts of high-end salons are run through credit cards; with the new 1099-K reporting requirement, it is virtually impossible to conceal.

maybe that place is the exception, but no way will most girls accept 100% taxable income. it's a 50/50 system, 50% check and 50% cash

[hniHnitsuJ 8]

Forget the health hazards these salons present, the hours the girls work are terrible. My wife works 11 hour shifts 6 days a week and sundays she works just 7 hours. No days off, no paid vacations, no paid sick days, no health insurance, no paid holidays...but she does get big tips. I work way less than she does but get paid more. I dont know how much these girls make in other parts of the country but to me it seems like girls are overworked and underpaid. Im sorry if this offends anybody but to me this is not worth it in terms of a job or career

Let protest all the Salon Owners. Demanding Vacations paid, Holidays paid.. sick paid for ALL our's wife.. less time at work and more time spending with us...