KOREA FOUNDATION

ASEAN in KOREA 

Happiest when customers say “I did my hair here before” - Hairdresser from Viet Nam: Kim Jae-hee 

Kim Jae-hee

Kim Jae-hee, who is originally from Viet Nam, is a hairdresser with 13 years of experience. Well-known among locals for her skill and dedication to both her craft and customers, Kim has many regulars. Becoming a hairdresser in a foreign country was fraught with many obstacles, but today, Kim says that her occupation “couldn’t be a better fit.” For the December issue of the ACH Monthly, we sat down with Kim, who is happiest when customers leave her hair salon with a smile on their face.

Q. How did you choose to become a hairdresser?

I’d been considering a profession in the aesthetic business, but didn’t have the courage to give it a try. Apart from a brief part-time job at a restaurant, I didn’t have any work experience; I was busy with housework. I wasn’t very good at Korean either and didn’t think I would be able to learn how to be a beautician. But my husband kept encouraging me to give it a try and gave me the courage to step outside my comfort zone. Looking back, I was hesitant about learning to cut and style hair, but decided that I could start small and learn the craft by observing others. I started my beauty career in 2008 by working at a hair salon. The first things I learned were organizing inventory and cleaning the floor.

Q. Do you remember your first customer?

Oh, yes. (laughs) It was a woman who often came to the shop. Until then, I usually cleaned up and watched the owner cut hair. But that day, the customer insisted that she wanted me to do her hair. She gave me the opportunity that changed my life, saying: “Whatever it is you want to do, you can’t learn just by standing by and watching someone else. You have to experience it yourself.” I was shaking. I had no idea whether I was doing everything correctly. I shampooed and cut her hair while reminding myself each second that I mustn’t mess this up. After everything was done, the customer said, “I love it. Thank you.” I remember being so happy that day that I wanted to jump up and down.

Q. I saw an interview where you referred to your “Korean mom.” If it’s OK with you, would you mind explaining who this person is?

Sure. There is a gathering operated by the city where I live that connects foreign women with Korean women in a sort of “mother-daughter” relationship. It’s there that I met my Korean mom (hereafter, mom/mother). Since the day I met her, my mom treated me like I was her biological daughter. In the early days of my business, I called her a lot: it was always, “Mom, it’s so hard. I want to give up.” But each time, she encouraged me with the same logic: “Nothing comes easy. Just wait a bit longer. You’re good with your hands. I know you’ll make it.” When I began studying for my license, it was my mom who introduced me to my first job. She was friends with the owner of the first hair salon where I worked.

Q. What hairstyling techniques (cutting, perm, dye, “magic straight,” etc.) are you most confident about?

I know for sure that I’m good at dying. (laughs) I can do bright colors, dye roots, dye white hair—everything.

There are a lot of similarities, but there’s one big difference. In Korea, you have to have a hairdressing license. But in Viet Nam, you can open a beauty parlor even if you don’t have a license as long as you’ve got the skills. Oh! I almost forgot. In Korea, the beautician business is divided by area; there are independent shops that do only hair, only nails, and so on. In Viet Nam, beauty parlors are closer to the dictionary definition: in one shop, you can get your hair and nails done, or get a massage.

Q. As an experienced hairdresser, what qualities do you think good hairdressers should have?

The first thing you need is perseverance. You have to learn difficult skills. There’s also a lot of stress because you have to constantly deal with many different kinds of people. As a beginner, it’s normal to be unable to recreate the image that is in your head with your hands. In the first couple of years, I thought about quitting at least once a day. In my mind’s eye, I was an accomplished hairdresser. But I couldn’t get the scissors to move the way I wanted them to, which stressed me out immensely. (laughs) While you’re in the learning stage, there will inevitably be times when you are yelled at and feel disappointed with yourself. If you can weather this storm, you will be able to move on to the next step, and the next. If you want to be a good beautician, you have to have perseverance.

Q. I understand that you have a lot of regular customers. What’s your secret?

I keep my business hours. Business hours are a promise that I make with my customers: I don’t close the shop on days that I don’t feel like working or leave early on a whim. When doing hair, I do my best for each person. If I worked faster, I might be able to take more customers and earn more in the short run. But this wouldn’t be satisfying for either me or my customers. I guess my secret is to set aside the desire to earn more money and instead concentrate fully on the customer who has chosen to bring their business to my shop. If you have a good experience somewhere, you naturally want to go again. When customers come back to my shop based on the good memories they had of their previous visit and say “I did my hair here before. I want you to style my hair again,” I feel like that’s the reason why I am in this business.

Q.  Are there any memorable incidents that happened during your career as a hairdresser?

I have more memories of people than incidents. There was an “auntie” who gave me really good advice every time she visited. (I call her “Auntie” because we’re close.) She worked in a different part of the city, but that didn’t stop her from regularly coming to my shop. She helped out with the small, everyday things that need to be done, and always said, “Jae-hee, you have Auntie. Don’t worry about a thing.” She taught me a lot of things about living in Korea and continued to visit me as much as she could after I opened my own shop to cheer me on. I’ve met so many good people in Korea. I think the Korean expression is “have a lot of people-fortune?”

Q. That’s right. If you didn’t become a hairdresser, what occupation would you have chosen in Korea?

Before marriage, I wanted to be an office worker. I was really shy and found it difficult to make conversation and interact with strangers. I had the vague notion that, if I had a regular office job, I could surround myself with people that I see every day and keep doing the same type of work. I think my personality has changed a bit over the years. Having been a hairdresser for a long time, I learned how to deal with people. I was made for this job. (laughs)

Q. Do you style your own hair? Or do you go to a another salon?

I blow-dry my own hair, but I call a good friend of mine whenever I want to get a cut or dye. It’s not easy to cut your own hair! We worked together as employees before I got my own shop. She’s not working at the moment. Whenever I call to ask her to do my hair, she never fails to come over—really fast!

Q. Does your family drop by your shop often?

Absolutely. As you may guess, I’m in charge of my family’s hairstyles. My husband and sons come by a lot. My mother-in-law visits pretty often as well. When I first got my beautician license, my mother-in-law was the most excited about it! The day I got my license, she bought dinner for the entire family. 

   When my youngest was little, he would always say to me, “If you get your own business, I will clean, big brother can help you do hair, and daddy can sit at the counter.” The boys really loved to visit me at work before I got my own shop, saying that they wanted the whole family to work together at the shop. But now that I actually have a shop, they don’t help me clean it. (laughs) They’re all grown up now and have their own lives.

Q. What was the hardest part about life in Korea when you first arrived?

There’s a two-hour time difference between Viet Nam and Korea. 7 a.m. in Korea is 5 a.m. in Viet Nam, so it was really tough to get up in the morning. In Viet Nam, people go to the market in the morning, have a simple meal, and return home after doing their lunch shopping, whereas Koreans have their breakfast at home. Getting used to that was nothing, however, compared to the hardship of waking up in the morning!

Q. There are many other Vietnamese citizens who live in Korea or other countries. There are also many ASEAN citizens in Korea. Do you have any advice for them?

Everything in Korea—the food, weather, language, and lifestyle—is different from those of your home country. It’s a completely different culture. If you have come to Korea with the desire to settle down here, you need to be willing to learn and accept Korean culture. Instead of complaining about why Koreans don’t do things the way you are accustomed to, try to learn the Korean way of life while accepting the fact that there are bound to be differences. It’s not easy to adopt a different culture, but it can also be a lot of fun. Later, you will realize that you are the beneficiary of the time you spent learning, not other people. (laughs)