Vietnamese nail salon owner lives the American Dream
Tai Ha is the owner of the establishment. He is known as Peter to the Alice community.
By Melissa Trevino
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ALICE, Texas (KRIS) — You might have noticed a lot of Asian products and services dominate the beauty industry from skin care and makeup to even nails. Peter’s Nails in Alice is a Vietnamese-owned family business.
Enter a nail salon and you’ll hear a familiar sound that paints a picture of the nail industry.
The sound of drills echoes within the walls of Peter’s Nails.
Tai Ha is the owner of the establishment. He is known as Peter to the Alice community.
“This is my second homeland. Second country. Second language. Everything. We come here and we thankful for what we have,” said Tai “Peter” Ha.
His homeland is Vietnam. Peter came to the United States in 2003 after his father made the way. He said it was a scary and difficult journey even with a visa.
Peter said it was dangerous to leave because of Vietnam’s regional conflicts.
“When the US opened the assembly back in -1991 – before that time, it was hard to live in because if they know they’ll shoot you or you have to go to jail,” Tai “Peter” Ha said.
Fortunately, they ended up making it to the United States ready to start a new life. But that meant Peter had to give up some things like his career.
In Vietnam, Peter made jewelry. He had to learn a new skill, and that led him to where he’s at today.
“My stepmom is doing nails too. She said – let you learn to do nails. It’s faster and after a few months I go to beauty college in Houston. And I got my license,” Tai “Peter” Ha said.
Peter’s new career is commonly pursued by many from Vietnam. It dates back to the Vietnam War— when actress Tippi Hedren worked with a charity that taught Vietnamese women about the nail industry. This was a way for them to ease into US culture and the workforce.
For Peter and his wife, it allowed them to be entrepreneurs. While they consider their talent easy– they’ve learned running a business takes a lot of work.
“You have to be patient. For a few months – we had no customers. We get to work early. We wait until late for customers to come,” said Tai “Peter” Ha.
It’s now been 14 years since Peter first opened his own shop in Alice.
When he started he only had two stations for manicures and one seat for pedicures, but as you can see his business grew.
“We feel so proud. We come here and we thankful for what we have,” said Tai “Peter” Ha.
Peter said he didn’t know about AAPI month but now he said he’s thankful for the recognition of his culture. And yet he hopes more people would participate.
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