Jenny Nguyen's artwork sells for as much as $500 to Hollywood's elite — even though it vanishes in a matter of weeks.
Nguyen, 29, is a celebrity nail artist and the owner of JennPaintt Nail Lounge in Los Angeles, where she offers a range of services, from manicures to eyelash extensions.
But her most popular offering is nail art: Using different types of gel paint, polish, gemstones, stickers and other supplies, Nguyen can create an intricate cloudscape or a bouquet of spring flowers across someone's fingertips. The designs typically last two to three weeks.
Some of Nguyen's most famous clients include Paris Hilton and Hailey Bieber, but her salon is open to non-celebrities, too. Her designs have also been featured in ad campaigns for companies like Apple, Converse, and Chanel.
In 2022, her salon brought in over $600,000, according to tax documents reviewed by CNBC Make It — a number that Nguyen expects to surpass before the end of 2023, given how much her customer base has grown.
Leaving New York for Los Angeles
Nguyen studied education at Hofstra University in New York, but left college her junior year to work full-time and help her parents financially support her three younger siblings, who all lived in New York at the time.
She first moved to Los Angeles in 2019, seeking a respite from New York's harsh winters. At the time, Nguyen was a substitute teacher for a public school district and had planned to continue her teaching career in Los Angeles.
"But I wasn't making enough money teaching," Nguyen recalls. She knew she wanted to try a new job, in a new industry, but didn't know what, exactly, she should do next.
So, she decided to try working for herself. "I was always drawn to entrepreneurship because I'm very competitive, very bossy and I'd rather work for myself than listen to other people tell me what to do," she says.
Then, the pandemic hit. "I follow a lot of nail artists on Instagram, so while I was at home in lockdown, I kept seeing it on my feed, and I thought to myself, 'Why not give it a try?'" says Nguyen.
Building a six-figure business from scratch
It only took a few months for Nguyen to perfect her craft. In early 2021, she obtained her manicurist license online through Advance Beauty College — a program she says cost her about $9,000 and took a few weeks to finish — and started to advertise her services to clients on Instagram, reaching out to photographers and offering free nail art for their shoots to build her portfolio.
Her vibrant designs quickly grew a following on TikTok and Instagram, where social media influencers and celebrities' assistants would message her and request appointments. "Social media and customer referrals helped me build my client base," says Nguyen.
In January 2022, Nguyen opened the JennPaintt Nail Lounge in downtown Los Angeles. She says the salon sees about 300 customers in a typical week. JennPaintt Nail Lounge currently has 16 employees including Nguyen's spouse, Bryan Truong, who co-owns and manages the salon with her.
"Being an entrepreneur is very lonely and stressful … but when I started hiring more people, I felt a lot better, and I've been able to grow my business faster," says Nguyen. "If you want to go far, you have to go together."
Nguyen says she still works late into the evening and on weekends to grow her business — during a busier week, she estimates that she's clocking between 80 and 100 hours on the job.
But Nguyen says the long hours are worth it to have a creative pursuit that she loves and pays well. "Nail art is always exciting and makes people happy," she says. "I'm so grateful to do this work."
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