Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tâm Nguyễn . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tâm, appreciate you joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
I am grateful for the opportunity to share my crazy exhilarating back story of my journey and breaks into beauty & banking.
First, mentorship matters! Minh Tâm Nguyễn, godfather of the nail industry is a legendary pioneer in the manicuring industry. He modeled social entrepreneurship and I had a front row seat as his son. As a former medical student and biology major I was headed down a career path of safety & stability. What I found out eight years into that upon completing my education was I was neither happy, fulfilled nor passionate about the future. The missing part was the social impact through entrepreneurship serving my community to make a difference. I was able to discover that passion by transitioning into and elevating my family business Advance Beauty College (ABC). ABC has grown into a national leader of the nail salon and manicuring education industry. The impetus of creating an opportunity for Vietnamese refugees was the driving force and eventually created over 50,000 graduates into the nail and beauty industry. My story also has a crazy Hollywood connection. The 1970’s Hollywood actress Tippi Hedren, godmother of the nail industry is forever connected as she sponsored the first 20 Vietnamese women to get certified and licensed to do nails at the end of the Vietnam
War. One of those OG 20 women is Ms Thuan Le, High School friend of my mother Kien Tâm Nguyễn. Through connecting those dots, one of the largest accredited beauty colleges with a manicuring nail program was born at Advance Beauty College right in Garden Grove, Orange County Little Saigon -home of the largest Vietnamese community in the USA.
Second, my break into banking. Mentorship matters! People matter., Mr Stephen H. Gordon, founding Chairman & CEO of Genesis Bank is a banking industry legend. His success of acquiring and selling, mergers and acquisitions, fundraising and growing multiple banks from millions to billion is remarkable. From New York’s Wall Street to Newport Beach and Little Saigon Orange County, California he has most recently built bringing me along with him one of the largest start up banks in Southern California history at $57 million. I am honored and delighted for my break into banking with the opportunity to serve as a Founding board member, investor partner for a FDIC chartered community bank. Beyond the beauty college, Genesis Bank is another social entrepreneur investment and built during the global COVID-19 pandemic with the goal to serve the needs of the underserved, minority communities. When there is an opportunity to make a positive impact in an area of need, it truly makes for meaningful work helping individuals, families and communities elevate. The passion, brilliance, and commitment to build a bank that’s uniquely different because of its leadership and back story of it’s why, has me committed and proud to be part of a team and organization that strives to make a difference.
I am proud to serve on the board of directors for both Advance Beauty College and Genesis Bank as a social impact investor where my decisions directly impact workforce opportunities and supporting future entrepreneurship.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My personal journey into business is based on my interest, passion, and desire to make a social difference in elevating the nail and beauty education industry. I am currently the Chairman of Advance Beauty College, à leading accredited education and training provider for the beauty and wellness industry. I am now a second generation member of the Nguyen family to pursue this beauty education field of arts and creativity. The nail industry in particular is fascinating to me as it’s emerged as a profession of choice and now has more opportunities than at anytime in history to be your own boss and create your own brand. The nail salon industry in America today is a multi billion dollar industry without a prominent national brand. The major obstacle to growth is still the labor shortage which is an industry crisis. Without the licensed professionals who provide manicures and pedicures the salon owners are limited in their growth potential Advance Beauty College takes pride in being a preferred choice and destination for aspiring professional in the nail and beauty salon industry.
What I’m most proud of is the mission we have to inspire, educate, empower and give back to our industry and community in which we are members of. I am also proud that we have seen our graduates successfully go into the industry all over North America and throughout the world. I’m also proud of being part of a legacy business that to date in 2023 has graduated and created job and career opportunities for over 50,000 people I am excited for the future of the nail salon industry as it continues to evolve from what I observed from nail salons to now nail bars, nail spas, and. nail resorts!
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
As I reflect on our business journey with my partners and where we are today from when we started, I often have a profound feeling of deep gratitude. It truly takes a village in business. The most valuable factors that have shaped our management, entrepreneurship thinking and philosophy are the mentors and advisors in our network. These advisors have been our North Star and continue to be. More than any book, video, essay are the people we have met along the way. The great thing is that these mentors and people are individuals we met through networking in our associations and organizations that we are still very active today. Some of which are the American Association of Cosmetology Schools, Center for Family Owned Business at California State University Fullerton, Small Business Diversity Network, Pro Nails Association, Unite As One, Cultured United, just to name a few. My partners and I have been very intentional about hosting informal and formal lunches and coffee meet ups, serving on panels and attend conferences. We have also been very involved with our community and government. Relationships to collaborate and serve the community to the best we can. One of our secret sauces is the people who we see as the greater family and that we all belong to the same community and industry working together. Our mindset is stronger together and let’s do our part in contributing to building our community.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson we had to unlearn is that you have to wait wait wait for more data data data. We have had so many moments of lost opportunities as we went into “analysis paralysis” mode. We over consulted with attorneys and talent found reasons NOT to do something. As important as risk management is and we understand that data is key in making smart and thoughtful decisions, it pushes entrepreneurs towards stalling and freezing.
During the global pandemic of 2020, nobody was able to foresee what the future had in store. Relationship that had trust equity over many years was our secret sauce that took us from survive mode to thrive mode. Instead of freezing and hitting stop on
Everything and go into wait and see mode, we became active participants of utilizing our decades long trust relationships to come together and give back, collaborate and create. We joined forces to create “Nailing It For America” and gave back along with our network of nail salon & manufacturing owners from our industry to the tune of $30 million in personal protective equipment and over 80,00 meals to the isolated seniors and frontline workers. We also pivoted with our team working harder and faster than ever to create an online hybrid option for our hundreds of students to go online to learn the beauty and wellness, nail trade. That was a historic and bold move that has kept us from closing our doors as others have had to do. We had team members and vendors that became family and our decades long trust building and proven relationships proved critical during a time when quick, timely and important decisions had to be made that didn’t have any data or could wait. Lesson learned “Relationships matter, it’s not all about the data.” Combine the two and you have magic when what you know and who you know marry one another! Launch your own “trust building” campaign and think and reflect who are the first 5 people you called or would call today if we were confronted with another global crisis.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.advancebeautycollege.com
- Instagram: @tamnguyenabc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamnguyenmba?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/tam-nguyen-a312544
- Twitter: @tamnguyenabc
- Other: Let’s connect! LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook are what I use the most Wherever you go, Go with all your heart!
Image Credits
Photo Credit: Advance Beauty College Genesis Bank