Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Sarah Nguyen of Beverly Hills

We recently had the chance to connect with Sarah Nguyen and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity all the way. Integrity keeps you standing on business – meaning not compromising or riding the fence. Allowing your yes to mean yes and your no mean no. Integrity means being truthful, being accountable, being respectful, loving your neighbor as you love yourself, doing what’s right no matter the cost & moving in the wisdom & love of God, which may sound cheesy but it’s my truth.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Sarah Nguyen, also known as CHRMD (charmed). I’m a Vietnamese-Italian nail architect with over a 10+ years of experience in service, beauty, fashion & everything nails. I’m known for my jeweled sculptural adornments on tiny canvases, client experience & nail integrity. I began my nail journey back in 2013 when I moved from LA to New York. It was the fuel that helped with my sobriety. I was heavily involved with drugs & partying for almost a full decade so keeping myself occupied with nails and a new environment attributed towards my focus of what is now my career. I was given these gifts to not only be of service to others but to also create using the different elements of nails. It has been a rewarding journey of highs and lows, lessons and blessings & a ton of art! Blessed really is an understatement.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The one I never saw coming! My relationship with Jesus. I have always been truly authentic in my style, aesthetic, the things I enjoy, etc. yet I used to really care about the opinions of others, allowing there words or views to shift my views. Yet since I have been rooted in getting to know Jesus over the past couple of years, I only care about how he sees me. I don’t pay any mind to the opinions, ideologies of others when it comes to who I am, I only care about how HE sees me.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
RELATIONSHIPS!

This one is a long one, yet to keep it short. I am someone who believes in marriage and family values. I see value in a marriage where the husband is the provider, protector and supporter, especially over his family (wife and children). We are each others eyes and ears.
My standards and views on relationships shifted after being with someone for 9, almost 10 years where it was mostly one sided. I was under serious emotional abuse & manipulation where words spoke more than action. I had such false compassion for him as well as those around me (it was all tied in together)… I was the provider, taking care of everything: overhead, bills, food, travel, transportation… everything under the sun. There was no 50/50. He made sure to always have weed though…that was his priority (as well as being outside with my best friend).
At the time, I genuinely believed he would change, he would want marriage, he would want a family and he would want to support and provide for these areas. Yet none of these things were a priority for him. In addition, we weren’t in alignment spiritually. Him and his family are heavily rooted in voodoo and I don’t stand for that. I was at one point convinced that it was good until I started to receive understanding and the evidence of what his family was really doing. I don’t care what anyone says, voodoo is voodoo. There’s no such thing as white magic, black magic, good magic or bad magic. It’s all manipulation that is not of God, I want no parts.

Once I really started to see the truth in everything and began setting boundaries, moving in silence and sticking up for myself, it was now becoming a problem with him and those around me. I was a yes girl, a doormat. I never said no or was made to feel guilty for saying no… all the false compassion was out the window. The lightbulb turned on and I was fed up of being used and taken advantage of and I packed his stuff and sent it to his mama’s house.

Now having experienced much with manipulation and emotional abuse, even from the relationship before this, I am able to quickly discern the patterns (through words and actions) … that’s with anything, family, friends, work, etc.

So yes I changed my mind and perspective and how I move. I’m not operating in false compassion and I’m not a doormat. Period.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes. I don’t falsify or put out anything fake about who I am or what I stand for. What you see is what you get.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
1000% … I give my all in everything, I pay attention to every detail, big and small. I don’t do anything for the praises or validation from people anymore, that’s one thing I’m firm on. I dealt with a lot of bullying as a kid (even in early high school) and my Ma would tell me “You’re a Rosati, You don’t take shit from nobody. I raised you better than that. You take everything with a grain of salt.” … needless to say that stuck with me! My confidence grew over time in everything, even down to how I work, how I dress, how I do anything really. So yes I do my best in everything without the glorification from anyone. The only one I choose to glorify is my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, HE gets ALL the glory. Period.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chrmdbysarah.com
• Instagram: @CHRMDbySarah