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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鈥檚 beauty schools and they have helped establish Vietnamese-Americans as the mainstay of the nail salon industry.

Minh鈥檚 wife Kien talks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.

(Photo: Minh Nguyen. Credit: Minh Nguyen)

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9 minutes

Last on

Thu 30 Mar 2023 02:50GMT

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