Hair Stylist
To book an appointment with Thao, please book online by clicking here or the button below her bio. You can also text her at (425)598-5673.
Work Instagram: @nguyenninghair
Specialty
Men's haircuts, perms, & permanent hair straightening.
Years of experience
10+ years
How did you got in the hair industry/business?
“I slept on one of those Vietnamese rugs in a small room with my entire family in the back of my parent’s office when I was young. When we finally got our own place and could afford cable, I remembered Sailor Moon was my first anime and even though my English wasn’t strong yet to understand what the show was even about, finding something to watch with a bunch of pretty drawn girls fighting crimes in heels and a cute talking black cat was so appealing that I made sure to race home from school every day to catch it and I think the English dub version that Cartoon Network played helped me improve with my English. My dad suddenly left us when I was about 10 with practically nothing. I waited and he never came back so all I knew from my childhood besides Sailor Moon was the struggle growing up with a single mom and 2 younger siblings in the roughest neighborhood of Seattle.
I was really tired of being broke so by the time I was legal to work, I took that opportunity and juggled between 2 jobs while I was in highschool to save for my future, but still that wasn’t enough. My grades were terrible because I was too busy working to be focused in school to get accepted into any traditional college, and my Asian mom definitely was not supportive of me wanting to attend an expensive fashion design school so I just went straight to the workforce after graduating high school to try to save more money to follow what I thought was my dream at that time. I did everything from calling people’s landline phones for surveys to slanging apple pies at McDonald’s to valeting cars at a hotel to delivering pizza. At some point, I got really burnt out from working 70-100 hours a week with multiple minimum wage jobs at the same time that I decided to maybe attend beauty school to get my license so I can do hair in the meantime instead to fund fashion design school. I started beauty school and never looked back, I loved it so much, there’s a light that sparkled in my eyes immediately. My first ever client I practiced giving a haircut to at school was so happy afterwards that he gave me a total of $20 on a $7 haircut and told me to keep the change for my service. He also told me, “I want you to always remember your first haircut to see how far you’ve come”.
The saying that good things happen in the dark was what happened to me. In those dark times of resentment, bitterness, and hurt, was when I found the hair industry and true happiness that it brought me to be able to pass on the love and joy to others. I went on to co-own a hair salon in Bellevue in just 4 years of hard work being in the industry, taking a hair salon that was extremely close to being out of business to scaling to a 6 figure plus revenue business by the time I left. Long story short, I left to move forward to building something that better align with my values. The journey of being a successful hairstylist to becoming an entrepreneur comes with a new set of challenges and pain one must endure, but my “why” keeps me going because I’m aware that achievement without fulfillment is an empty place. I am in the stage of my life where I am more purpose driven. I am thankful that everything that I’ve gone through and experienced in my life shaped me to who I am today and the burning desire I have to help as many people as I can in this lifetime on Earth.
I want to build a sustainable company that leaves a legacy to continue to inspire each individual to go after their dreams regardless of their circumstances, I hope to one day obtain enough resources that I can invest in other minorities, entrepreneurs, and creatives because that’s who I needed when I was younger. I am privileged to be given a 2nd chance in life and not end up a statistic still playing victim to my own situation because I was born in the right country where the possibilities are endless, it’s what I do with my privilege to empower others that will give me a meaningful life. Thank you for all your support and believing in me all these years”.
Zodiac Sign
Taurus; Hardworking, ambitious, independent, persistent, generous, practical, but also hardheaded, stubborn, and vain.
Hobbies
When Thao is not working or writing online biographies about herself in third person, she likes to meet up with her Subaru community to go on drives or do track days, read either Manga or self development books about finance/business, watches anime/K-drama, cosplaying, go to the shooting range, getting more tattoos, a lot of self care activities to stay in shape like Soulcycle, boxing classes, learning to golf, and also finding new places to eat so she can recommend her clients to try. Click here for one of her recent list for Vietnamese Food.
Favorite thing about her work
Definitely the ability to touch lives and connect with others on a deeper level. At the end of the day, business is about people; serving people, bringing value to people, and building relationships with people. Each person has their own story and not only is it refreshing to learn from other people of different walks of life to gain worldly perspectives, but it’s also inspiring to know we may all have our own version of struggle but keep going. Oh, and the fact that everybody comes out sexy after their haircut.
Press
425 Business 30 Under 30 2018
31 Women With Badass Jobs In Seattle
