Meet Ginger Brandstrom of Ventura Manicurist

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ginger Brandstrom.

Ginger, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It’s kind of a crazy story-how I ended up in beauty school. I was in my mid-30’s and had a job waiting tables at a local breakfast joint. I loved the customers, but the management wreaked havoc on my anxiety. On one of my days off, I decided to go treat myself to a pedicure. Long story short I left my purse in my car with a sweater over it on the front seat. Someone was casing the parking lot for a person to do that, and my window was shattered and my purse was stolen. My work schedule was in my purse, so I text a co-worker to get a copy of the current schedule.

Well, the boss had made a change to the schedule in the meantime, and I was added to a shift that wasn’t on the schedule my co-worker gave me. Maybe it was the next day, I didn’t show up for my shift. My boss called me that morning and told me I was scheduled, so into work late I went, anxiety high. She was riding my ass, and I just wanted her to back off a little bit. I loudly whispered “Jesus Christ”, and the result was a 2-week suspension. I had never been late, never called in sick, and here I was on a suspension. This job was my means for survival. I felt such a relief in that two weeks of not having to go to that job and went to see my doctor to ask him to put me on a stress leave. It was such a breath of fresh air.

Little did I know it would change my life in a way I never imagined. I had always heard, “you look like a hair stylist,” because I have good hair, and I’ve always had great stylists who taught me how to style my hair. I would balk when people would say I looked like a stylist because I truly felt that that was impossible. On my suspension from the restaurant I heard it once more, and the time was right for me to roll with it, and I signed up for beauty school. One of the best decisions I have ever made. I was able to build a clientele in school, and when I graduated I went straight to booth rental in a salon.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Going straight to booth rental after beauty school was challenging. I was brand new to doing hair when I enrolled in beauty school. Some students had been doing hair in their garages before beauty school, but I had never touched anyone’s hair before. I lacked experience and confidence, but I had the clientele.

I ended up walking away from hair when the door opened for me to be the manicurist in the salon. The manicurist they had when I started working there up and quit one day and the stars aligned for me take over. The beauty of it was that my hair clients stayed with me for nails. I earned a Cosmetology license in beauty school, which covered me for nails. Although I struggled with hair, I didn’t struggle with nails.

Ventura Manicurist – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Being hurt in the beauty industry by industry people is, sadly, very common. Salon owners can become very territorial, and try to dictate the way booth renters run their businesses. Unfortunately, the relationship I had with the first salon I worked at didn’t end well. If I knew then what I know now about labor laws, independent contractor/employee, things would have been a lot different. I would have known how to stick up for myself. I did the best I could with what I knew at that time. I didn’t really pray much back then, but the day I gave my notice I was on my knees in the bathroom because I wanted things to go smooth.

I really thought I would be the exception to being hurt by this industry. All I know is that I wasn’t happy there anymore, and I had to make a change. So I did, To this day (almost 4 years later) I have tried to make an amends to her for my part because I know it hurt her for me to leave. She gave me an opportunity in her salon that paved a good path for the business I have now. In August, a group I started called Tri-County Manicurists will celebrate its 2-year anniversary. It’s my way of bringing unity and healing to an industry full of grudges, hurt, resentment, burnt bridges, heartbreaking intimidation. I think that’s what sets me apart from others. I’m not afraid to face the hurt.

I’m not afraid to talk about the brokenness in our industry. Granted, there is a lot of good! But the good seems to take care of itself, you know what I mean? The people struggling in our industry have a place to go, within our group, to talk about their struggles, to be mentored, to put both feet back into their business, to be re-inspired.

Being a manicurist isn’t like being a stylist. It can be a lonely place. Usually, there is only one manicurist in a salon, so this gives us a way to connect with others.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The fact that my business is autonomous makes me feel pretty successful. Giving back is also something that is important to me. I can’t keep what I have unless I give it away.

When I was new to doing nails there were 3 local nail techs (Wendy, Irene, and Raechele) who took me under their wings. I would go to their salon and watch them work. They so freely gave to me. There are so many ways to give back to our industry. Our Tri-County Manicurists group has 62 members today. We span from Pasadena to Santa Clarita, to Paso Robles/Arroyo Grande, and everywhere in between. We meet up about every 6 weeks to network, share ideas, get back to basics, mentor, inspire, teach, learn.

Some members drive 3 hours for our meetups. We have a Facebook page called Tri-County Manicurists. The only requirement we have for membership is that you live close enough to drive to meetups. Meeting as a group is a big part of how we connect. We meet in the Ventura area and post updates on our FB page. Our group is open to people interested in the nail business, beauty school students, nail product companies, magazines, etc… if its nail related, we’ve got a seat for you! Our first meet up was only supposed to be a meet and greet.

A lot of us were following each other on Instagram but hadn’t met in person. Almost 2 years later we are still going strong! That’s another great example of success. If it all ended today I would be happy to know that it made a difference, not only to me but for many other nail techs.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 8057948247
• Instagram: ventura_manicurist
• Facebook: Tri-County Manicurists

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.