One might ask what the American actress and star in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds, ” Tippi Hedren, has to do with the history of nail salons in America. The former fashion model and activist had a lot to do with making Vietnamese refugees into nail salon magnates.
Hedren’s contributions to the movement began after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Hedren was working as an international relief coordinator at Food for the Hungry, where she assisted Vietnam refugees to find vocations. Many of the refugees had lost literally everything. Some had even lost their entire families.
The story goes that on one fateful day, Hedren was working with a group of Vietnamese women who were goggling Hedren’s impeccably manicured fingernails when she came up with the idea of these women learning the art of manicures and pedicures.
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Hedren is credited with flying in her own personal manicurist along with additional support from a beauty school to teach 20 women the art of nails. She is also credited with helping them become properly licensed and find gainful employment in nail salons throughout Southern California.
Fast forward more than 40 years later, Hedren’s “mini-jobs program” continues to impact not only the nail industry but also countless lives of Vietnamese immigrants who have immigrated to the U.S. in search of a better quality of life for themselves and their families.
According to “Nails” magazine, “As of 2015, there were around 130, 000 nail salons in the U.S. Over 50% of all manicurists working in those salons are Vietnamese”—a ripple effect of the original 20 women’s perseverance and success that Hedren took a personal interest in and nurtured.
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Hedren’s publicist, Harlan Boll with B. Harlan Boll Public Relations, shared with me that Hedren attended several reunions with these original 20 ladies over the decades and provided an original photo of Hedren with the group of 20 as well as images from one of their reunions.
Zionsville business owner at Mia Nail Spa, Brigitte “Von” Dan, shared her incredibly moving and personal story about her life in Vietnam and her journey that led her to the U.S. and to opening her salon/spa in the suburbs of Indianapolis.
“I lived in Vietnam until I was 15, ” Dan shared. “It wasn’t that you aren’t allowed to ‘dream’ in [Vietnam], but you live on a day-to-day basis. Do I have food to eat today or tomorrow? I moved to America because everybody wants to be in America. It is a country of human rights and opportunities.”
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More than 20 years ago, Dan’s parents came to Indiana with Dan and her two siblings via a Vietnamese connection who offered them a better opportunity and shelter while they got on feet. Her parents opened and ran a successful salon at 86th Street and Ditch Road where Dan worked part time as a young adult. Dan graduated from Southport High School and studied at IUPUI, where she nearly completed her degree in psychology and completed pre-med classes before marrying her husband, Vince Hoang, and starting her own family. She opened Mia Nail Spa—named after her daughter— in 2013.
“My husband saw my potential and said we should find a small place for me, ” Dan shared. “He brought me to this shop [in Zionsville], and I when I saw it for the first time—even before walking in—I knew this was mine. I felt something loving and warm about this area. I was lucky enough that I could get it [the location], and the people here have been very kind and supportive. I love Zionsville.”
Today, Dan’s salon specializes in professional salon services such as nail care, waxing, permanent makeup, and microblading—a 3D brows technique—in a stunning salon that boasts beautiful decor and a relaxing atmosphere. She, along with her staff, are devoted to providing the best experiences and services possible for their customers.
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When asked how she feels about Tippi Hedren’s advocacy for Vietnamese refugees—in particular women refugees—and her passion for starting the nail salon phenomena, Dan replied emotionally, “I am so grateful to have someone like [Hedren] because without people like her, a lot of Vietnamese parents—whose English is not as good—would not have had jobs using their artistic skills and would not have raised so many kids that are making many contributions throughout the U.S. and the world. Many [second generations] have become doctors, lawyers, work for the government and do so many great things because the first generation worked hard so that their children could better themselves.”When actress Tippi Hedren visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in California 40 years ago, the Hollywood star's long, polished fingernails dazzled the women there.
Hedren flew in her personal manicurist to teach a group of 20 refugees the art of manicures. Those 20 women - mainly the wives of high-ranking military officers and at least one woman who worked in military intelligence - went on to transform the industry, which is now worth about $8bn (£5.2bn) and is dominated by Vietnamese Americans.
"We were trying to find vocations for them, " says Hedren, who is perhaps best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and for running a wildcat sanctuary at her home in Southern California.
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Hope Village, the refugee camp, was in Northern California near Sacramento. Aside from flying in her personal manicurist, Hedren recruited a local beauty school to help teach the women. When they graduated, Hedren helped get them jobs all over Southern California.
"I loved these women so much that I wanted something good to happen for them after losing literally everything, " Hedren told the from a museum she is building next to her home. The museum includes Hollywood memorabilia, a few photos of the women at Camp Hope and awards she's won from the nail care industry.
"Some of them lost their entire family and everything they had in Vietnam: their homes; their jobs; their friends - everything was gone. They lost even their own country."
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The Vietnamese gave the nail salon business a radical makeover. In the 1970s, manicures and pedicures cost around $50 - fine for Hollywood starlets but out of reach for most American women. Today, a basic "mani-pedi" can cost around $20 - largely due to Vietnamese American salons, which typically charge 30-50% less than other salons, according to NAILS Magazine.
Forty years after the fall of Saigon, 51% of nail technicians in the United States - and approximately 80% in California - are of Vietnamese descent. And many are direct descendants of that first class of women inspired by the nails of a Hitchcock blonde.
"Of course I know who Tippi Hedren is! She's the Godmother of the nail industry, " says Tam Nguyen, president of Advance Beauty College, which was started by his parents.
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"My mother is best friends with Thuan Le, one of Tippi's original students. It was Thuan who encouraged my mother to get into the business."
As Nguyen speaks, dozens of students are learning about cuticle care in a lecture behind him. At 41, Mr Nguyen was born just before the fall of Saigon. In Vietnam, his father was a military officer and his mother a hairdresser. His parents pressured him to become a doctor, which he dutifully did, but then he decided his heart was in the nail business.
But Nguyen's parents soon forgave him and blessed his decision to take over the family business with his sister. They now run two beauty schools and are opening another. All of their courses are taught simultaneously in English and Vietnamese.
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The language barrier was the initial reason nails were an attractive option for refugees. They only had to learn a few phrases of English to get by.
Not all of the women remained in the nail salon business, but many did. Thuan Le is still working at a salon in Santa Monica, California. Yan Rist, who worked in military intelligence in Vietnam as a translator and then later as a secretary for State Department officials, stayed in the nail business then moved into tattoos once she settled in Palm Springs.
"Tippi got me a job in Beverly Hills so I could make a lot of money, " Yan Rist said. "I worked on Rodeo Drive - but I am a refugee and I didn't dress well at the time. All the rich women coming in - they didn't want to try the newcomer. Every day I went to work it cost me $8 for the parking. Eight dollars for parking! In 1976!"
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The women, who still have occasional reunions, say they never anticipated the butterfly effect their polishing and cuticle cutting would have on Vietnamese Americans, the pampering of ordinary people or the US economy.
"There was hope in a idea that maybe I could help these incredibly wonderful women. And I had no idea it would reach the gigantic numbers, " says Hedren, looking out the window at the lions and tigers fenced in on her yard.
She shows off a tiny bunny painted on her toenail, left over from her Easter pedicure. Her current favourite manicurist is a man, and Vietnamese, "of course, " she says laughing.
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