The path of a 'Vietnamese boy who worked as a servant' to becoming the owner of 900 nail salons in the US

"Before coming to America, I thought it was paradise, but it was not," Mr. Quy, a Vietnamese living in Louisiana, shared his story.

More than 30 years ago, when he was just 15 years old, Mr. Quy was sent to the United States by his parents, hoping that he would have a better future than in his hometown of Nha Trang. After a period of staying with relatives, Mr. Quy had to "run away" because of the hardships of life.

Alone in a foreign land, Mr. Quy made a living by working for restaurants and doing housework for some families. During those days, he only knew that America was not a promised land, there were no warm blankets, soft mattresses, plenty of food, and plenty of toys like he had dreamed of.

Despite his disappointment, Mr. Quy always told himself to finish high school and go to public schools where he could attend without having to pay tuition.

"Even though I had to go out to earn a living, I never thought about dropping out of school. Until now, I am still grateful to my mother because she trained me to love learning since I was a child. I didn't think about anything far ahead, I just focused on studying," Mr. Quy said.

At 18, the young man eagerly enrolled in the University of Louisiana to major in aerospace, but because the school did not have this department, he had to switch to chemistry. Mr. Quy could not have imagined that this choice would open up the opportunity for him to become a big boss many years later.

After graduating from college in 1995, Mr. Quy could not find a job. His biggest consolation at that time was having his life partner by his side, they got married while he was still pursuing his studies. His wife, Le Phuong, is a fellow countryman and the owner of a nail salon. With a background in chemistry, Mr. Quy decided to follow the path of "marrying and following his wife", opening a company specializing in supplying materials for nail salons called Alfalfa Nail Supply.

Once, when he went to Walmart, Mr. Quy was surprised to find that there was not a single nail salon. He immediately asked to meet the manager to test it out, convincing them that customers would benefit greatly if Walmart integrated many services in one place. However, they were not interested in the idea of ​​a young man. Mr. Quy struggled to find an older "stuntman" to gain the trust of his American partner, but was also unsuccessful.

Not giving up for two years, when he learned that a Walmart store was closing, Mr. Quy seized the opportunity and returned to sign a contract. And in 1997, the owner of Regal Nails opened the first nail salon in Walmart. To date, Mr. Quy owns a system of 900 nail and beauty salons covering Walmart supermarkets in the US and Canada. Each year, Regal Nails, Salon and Spa Company brings in more than 320 million in revenue. With the franchise model, the company has 100 official employees and about 5,000 workers.

"Competition in the nail industry is quite fierce, but I'm never afraid of that. The basic issue is that I have to make a difference," Mr. Quy shared.

Mr. Quy believes that this system attracts a large number of customers thanks to its attentive service, ensuring hygiene and safety conditions. In addition, the company also has many new products and techniques to attract women. The most prominent is the DreaMau nail polish color mixing machine invented by Mr. Quy, which helps customers choose many colors according to their preferences. All of these factors are thanks to the foundation that Mr. Quy has accumulated in the chemical industry.

At its peak in 2010, the company had more than 1,000 stores. Mr. Quy then became more careful in choosing partners to minimize the risk of opening new stores. There are now 900 stores.

Before gaining a large market share in the nail industry, Mr. Quy had to "taste failure" when he planned to invest in developing a chain of cafes. "From then on, I decided not to go around in circles anymore, but to focus on the nail and beauty industry," Mr. Quy said. Mr. Quy's determination was further strengthened after a course on learning about the characteristics of each person depending on the order in the family. As the second child of four brothers, Mr. Quy knew that he had a knack for marketing.

Mr. Quy believes that the beauty industry will never die, so he has countless new ideas to develop his business. His goal in the near future is to increase the number of nail and beauty salons to 2,000.

To prepare for that, Mr. Quy is taking a class on eyelashes and eyebrows in Houston. He wants to understand the techniques and products before he starts training technicians and opening a salon. With his main business being nails, Mr. Quy is perfecting a machine that mixes nail colors with scents, similar to perfume. The machine is currently 75% complete, expected to be released by the middle of this year.

He is also living a happy life with his wife who is devoted to taking care of the family and two daughters, one 18 and one 19 years old. Mr. Quy's mother, nearly 70 years old, still lives in Vietnam, she only occasionally visits the US to visit her children and grandchildren. His father passed away a few years ago.

In his long-term plan, Mr. Quy pays special attention to training skilled workers, especially those from Vietnam.

"The beauty industry still lacks many workers, I want to create more jobs for Vietnamese people. We need to do it quickly before the law changes," Mr. Quy said.