Godfather of manicures
In 1975, Navy commander Minh Nguyen, left behind his macho military life and re-trained as a manicurist. He migrated from Vietnam to the United States during the fall of Saigon.
In November 1975, Vietnamese Navy commander Minh Nguyen, left behind his macho military life and retrained as a manicurist. He migrated from Vietnam to the United States during the fall of Saigon.
He went on to open a beauty school in Little Saigon, California and encouraged thousands of Vietnamese refugees to become nail technicians. Today, more than 40,000 students have graduated from Minh’s beauty schools and they have helped establish Vietnamese-Americans as the mainstay of the nail salon industry.
Minh’s wife Kien talks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
(Photo: Minh Nguyen. Credit: Minh Nguyen)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Wed 29 Mar 2023 07:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Wed 29 Mar 2023 11:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Wed 29 Mar 2023 17:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Wed 29 Mar 2023 21:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 30 Mar 2023 02:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
Podcast
-
Witness History
History as told by the people who were there