Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilian Le
Hi Lilian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in an immigrant household and my mom was single mom of two. My mom was raised in extreme poverty in Vietnam post Vietnam war. She came over to America with her brothers in the 90s and worked in salons since then. Although she struggled with English, she was able to successfully start up a nail salon on her own. I’ve always looked up to my mom and wanted to support her back in my own way.
After my mom sold her salon, my sister and I went our own separate ways. I left GA and met my husband. Together we worked to save up for a house, but we ended up deciding to put our money into our own salon instead, just like my mom had. We were hesitant at first because we were only 21 and 23. After finding out we were pregnant, we just knew we needed to find a way to support our new little family.
After I gave birth we found a space for lease and just one month post partum we signed the lease and began constructing the salon. We were scammed and ghosted by a couple of bad contractors, but that didn’t stop us. We wanted to give up so many times but we couldn’t just leave all of our efforts to waste. Finally after 10 months, my husband and I were able to open on Christmas Eve.
I hired on my mom and stepdad, and hopefully within a few years I will be able to retire them early.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No it’s been very difficult. We didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t know we needed a contractor so we hired a plumber first and he ended up scamming us. He gave us a fake license and only showed up twice a week for about 3-4 months. He charged us random “advance fees” and sucked all of our money. Only when I had gone to the city for advice did we find out what he was doing and he took his tools and left our suite with smashed holes in the wall and unfinished piping. We had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fix everything.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My husband and I worked in many fields. I’ve worked in salons, restaurants, medical clinics, and Human Resources in the city. My husband is in the military and has also bartended/served, and now he works in air conditioning and car mechanics. So we know what it’s like in just about every industry!
How do you think about happiness?
Family makes me happy. Just being able to work with my family and support my family has accomplished all of my dreams
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