I am a 28-year-old career woman who opened a beauty shop from Dubai to Cambodia, and my husband has to take care of my children

Interviews with real people

2024-06-21 20:35Published in Jiangxi

This is the 4,085th real story we have told

I'm Nini, a 28-year-old native of Zhanjiang, Guangdong, who dropped out of junior high school. Since I was a child, I had a clear goal of going abroad to make money.

At the age of 21, I went abroad for the first time and went to the Philippines to work as a hotel front desk attendant for more than two years. I fell in love and fell out of love there, and the other party split my legs, and I was very hurt, so I went back to China.

To relax, I traveled to Dubai. I did a manicure there, which allowed me to seize the business opportunity and open a beauty shop from Dubai to Cambodia in 3 years.

(I'm traveling in Dubai)

My name is Nini and I was born in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province in 1996. After my parents gave birth to three daughters, they finally had a son, and I was the second.

My parents are very diligent, and my father is a businessman who works hard. I think he's very smart, and I admired him when I was a kid. "Just make money, it's okay to work hard, and be bold in doing things", are the words he often says.

When I was a kid, my dad used to drive his motorcycle out on errands and liked to take me with him. When I was 10 years old, one day when I was returning, my dad said that I should drive a motorcycle, and I was so frightened that I waved my hand and said no, I didn't dare to drive it.

He put me in the car and taught me how to apply the brakes, how to step on the accelerator, how to move forward, how to control the direction.

I was both excited and nervous, and after trying to drive less than 100 meters, he said it was good, and went straight to the back seat. He wasn't at all worried that I would fall or drive into the middle of the road and collide with other cars. In this way, I drove him for more than 20 minutes and returned home unscathed.

My dad always encouraged us to do something like this, and that's why I grew up with a lot of it.

(My little friend)

I love tossing and being the most rebellious kid in the family. I had a lot of troubles when I was a child, and it probably had something to do with me being the second oldest in the family.

There is a "second law" in psychology: the second brother and sister is in the position of "high or low", and has not been the focus of the family since he was a child, in order to compete for the favor of his parents, he is more competitive, more self-reliant and aggressive. At the same time, because of the fear that their needs will be ignored, it is easy to form a pleasing personality, and it is easier to resent their parents, resulting in a rebellious mentality.

I think I fit that law a lot.

As a child, I often felt neglected and insecure. Over time, I formed the idea that only if I am good enough can I be recognized by my parents.

The fear of being denied by my parents also made me care too much about the evaluation of others, so I didn't dare to interact with others, which was somewhat socially phobic.

Character determines fate, and my personality has influenced many of my choices, and the trajectory of my life has been constantly changing.

When I reached junior high school, I began to rebel and had no intention of studying, so I dropped out of school and went to work before graduating from junior high school.

After working for a year, one of my junior high school homeroom teachers persuaded me to study, and he said that with such a low education, I would not be able to do well in the future. I had always had good grades in English, so I went to study Business English for two semesters.

This English study gave me the confidence to go abroad. I am grateful to the teacher for the kind reminder back then.

(in Cambodia)

I love tossing, and when I didn't graduate from business English, I went to Shenzhen to do foreign trade.

I have always liked English very much, and I often take the initiative to communicate with foreigners. When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I set a goal: to work and live abroad, and to buy a house and a car before I got married. This goal guides me all the way forward.

My brother-in-law, who works as a chef in Macau, recommended me to work as an assistant manager in a restaurant in Macau. Macau is close to home, I was very excited, and immediately started to prepare, but I didn't expect to be denied a visa.

After that, my brother-in-law introduced me to a labor company, and it happened that a Philippine hotel was recruiting a front desk attendant, and I successfully passed the interview.

I told my parents that I was going to the Philippines, and they didn't object. So, I went to the Philippines alone, and that was the first time I stepped out of the country, when I was 21 years old.

When I first arrived in the Philippines, I didn't know the place well, I had to deal with everything independently, and I was not used to eating, so I felt very lonely and wanted to cry every day. It took more than a month for me to get used to it.

With this experience, I can adapt quickly to any new place after that.

After more than two years in the Philippines, I returned to my home country. The main reason is that I fell out of love, I was in a bad mood, and the other party split my legs, which hit me hard and I was depressed for a long time.

(Coming home from work)

I have a friend in Dubai who knows that I am out of love, so he invited me to travel and relax.

I used to often watch the "arrogant" videos in Dubai, and I have long wanted to see how many local tyrants there are, but I don't have time, but this is a good opportunity.

I originally planned to play for ten days and half a month and come back, but by chance, I stayed in Dubai.

As the plane flew over Dubai, I looked down curiously and saw the occasional square or circular building in the endless brown desert. So desolate? I wonder if I'm on Mars.

As soon as I left the airport, I was hit by a heat wave, and I felt like I was in a huge oven, and I could barely breathe. The high temperature, the fatigue of the journey, and the sadness of falling out of love, I was not at all as excited as I imagined about my first encounter with Dubai.

After two days of shopping, I found that Dubai's urban layout is not a large area with a concentration of high-rise buildings, and beyond it is a large area of low-rise residential areas. Entire high-rise buildings, such as the Burj Khalifa, are also concentrated three to four blocks around the main road. Compared with the domestic Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, it is really a small thing.

(A corner of Dubai)

On the third day of my arrival in Dubai, I went to the International City with my friends to do nail and beauty treatments. The store is comfortable, the staff is patient, and the results are good.

When I paid the bill, I was intimidated by the high price, because the same service item only costs less than half the cost in Guangzhou.

When I came out of the store, I thought that the high fee might mean that it should be good to do a good job here. Together with my friends, I decided to investigate.

At first, I was full of enthusiasm, but after a few days, I quit.

I live in a villa area, and it is more than half an hour's drive to the international city, and I get sick from my car. Every time I get off the bus, the temperature difference is huge, and the alternation of hot and cold makes me very uncomfortable.

After running for a few days, I found that my delicate skin had become rough and lacklustre, I felt ugly, and my mood was depressed, so I thought about leaving quickly. But I was unwilling, so I finally came and went back in a few days, which was not cost-effective, so I would stay for a while.

In this way, for a month in a row, we went to understand the market every day, and went to every beauty shop to ask if they were recruiting, and each of them replied that they were recruiting. This also proves that the industry is really good, so we just did it, we learned and recruited people, and opened a store in Dubai.

(with friends in Dubai)

In 2020, in response to the predicament caused by the epidemic, the Dubai government implemented a number of measures to stimulate economic development, launched economic stimulus plans four times, liberalized the application conditions for 10-year "golden visas", launched customized "settlement plans" for professionals, and planned to hold the "World Expo" in October 2021.

A series of initiatives have attracted a large number of people to Dubai.

In 2021, we were particularly busy, working overtime every day, sometimes even overnight, and our efforts brought us far more than expected.

I've always loved beauty since I was a child. When I first came out of social work, I was exposed to the beauty industry, and I found that I liked it very much. Turning a passion into a career is something I never thought of. Perhaps it really fulfills the saying: opportunity always favors those who are prepared.

But then the accident came that caught me off guard and almost collapsed.

In March 2022, the boom in attracting investment subsided, and with it, there was a significant decrease in the number of customers in the store. At this time, one of my store managers and another right-hand man offered to leave, which was tantamount to adding insult to injury.

At that time, I was mainly in charge of technology, and they were responsible for staff management, event planning, and customer development. The backbone is gone, I feel that it is over, the business they are responsible for, I am afraid that I am not good at it, and the store will definitely not be able to operate.

During that time, I was very stressed, and I washed my face with tears almost every day, trying to find someone to talk to. My friend took me to a party to relax.

(Expensive nail art made in the store)

On the yacht, a Chinese man caught my eye. He looked a few years older than me, was handsome, had a well-proportioned build, and had a very friendly smile.

I heard him talking to someone else and he was fluent in English. So I walked up to him, took the initiative to speak, and asked stupidly, "Do you know English too?" In this way, I met him and added contact information to each other.

In the chat afterwards, I learned that he is from Shandong, 7 years older than me, dropped out of high school and came out to break through, and also started from foreign trade, the company has been sent to Dubai for 10 years, and now has his own company.

Similar experiences have brought us closer to each other, and I'd love to talk to him.

Every time I encounter difficulties and feel bad, I will confide in him, and he will comfort and enlighten me in time, giving me the feeling of being a brother and a teacher.

As the relationship grew, I could feel that he liked me, but I just wanted to be normal friends with him. The shadow of the previous broken love is still there, I don't dare to trust a man easily, and I don't want to start a new relationship.

However, with his company, I began to cheer up, and by exploring little by little, I learned to deal with and deal with many things that I was not good at and did not dare to face before.

About 5 months later, the business is on the right track, and in the case of declining customer traffic, the income is higher than before, which can be regarded as surviving.

After this trough, I have grown up very quickly, and my business level and treatment have been greatly improved, and I can deal with many problems with ease. This gave me the courage to open a branch in the future.

(We're married)

After the business stabilized, my mood improved, and I slowly fell in love with the handsome guy in Shandong, and later entered into marriage.

The market in Dubai is stabilizing, and I think we need to open up new markets. In April 2023, I was already pregnant, so I asked my partner to visit the Philippines and Cambodia successively, and finally decided to open a branch in Westport, Cambodia, with site selection, decoration and training at the same time.

There are three major service sections in the store: nail art, semi-permanent eyelash art, and light medical beauty. I learned about the continuing education schools through the online platform, compared them one by one, saw which one had good technology, new and fashionable, and then arranged for employees to learn.

After everything was ready, on January 12 this year, the store had a soft opening, and on April 30, it officially opened.

Perhaps in the eyes of most people, with the level of economic development in Cambodia, prices should be on the low side, but the actual cost of living here is very high.

The consumption of the capital Phnom Penh is about to catch up with China's first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The coastal city of Westport, where there are many casinos, the gaming industry is thriving, and investors and tourists are concentrated, has seen its consumption level rise sharply in the past two years, even surpassing Phnom Penh. This is the main reason why I chose Westport.

Nowadays, there is more and more business in the Westport branch, and I often fly between Dubai Westport.

When I was planning a new store, I kept it a secret from my husband because I was opening a store in a foreign country, and I was afraid that he would not agree and affect my decision. I didn't have to tell him until I had to go to Westport to choose a site.

(Cambodia branch opened)

Growing up as a child, coupled with the early experience of stepping into society, made me sensitive and independent. I'm always afraid of causing trouble to others, and I'm used to solving problems on my own, and I don't want to rely too much on others.

I have always believed that if a woman wants to be happy, she must not count on others, she must rely on herself.

Luckily, my husband understands my personality and respects my choices. When he learned that I was going to open a branch abroad, he knew that the opposition was invalid, so he turned to support it.

When I was in love with him, I didn't think he had so many virtues. After getting married, I found out that all his advantages were in my criteria for choosing a mate.

He was very considerate to me, would make breakfast every morning and give me gifts every holiday. Every time I had an awkward relationship with him, whether it was my fault or not, he was the first to coax me.

Once, when I was in Cambodia, I happened to find that he had several photos of his ex-girlfriend, and I was very angry and accused him of being unfaithful and touched my bottom line. He hastened to apologize and promised to absolutely love me.

Two days later, I texted him, and a few hours passed, and I didn't wait for his reply, which has never happened before, and he used to respond almost in seconds. I'm upset, something happened to him? Or is it cheating?

Finally waiting for his news, he said that because he was on the plane, the mobile phone was turned off. I thought he was lying, and I scolded him again.

Unexpectedly, the next day, he really appeared in front of me. It turned out that he secretly bought a plane ticket, and it took more than 20 hours to cross the border to coax me, and I was naturally angry.

(In love with each other)

Some men think that housework is a woman's business, but he never thinks of it that way. I cook, he washes the dishes, he cooks, I wash the dishes. I have had a great time working with him.

I went to Cambodia just after my daughter was a month old, and I used to stay there for a month or two after that. The daughter and the home in Dubai are completely handed over to the husband.

But the husband had no complaints, and said: "Children and wife, I must put my wife first." "I think every woman would be very touched when she heard such a thing.

My husband and I, a Cantonese and a Shandong, are separated by more than 1,000 kilometers, but we met and fell in love in Dubai, maybe it was really the fate of the previous life.

Meeting him also made me more convinced that the future and love do not conflict, and the right person will stand in your future and work together with you.

My husband is very self-motivated, and for the better development of the company, he has been studying, trying to improve his English and Arabic, and suggested that I also learn together.

I think it's good to have enough language, and to spend your time on something more worthwhile.

Adults need to know what they want, then learn to make trade-offs, and live with the consequences of their choices. My goal is clear, and that is to make money.

(Three mouths per family)

I feel like I'm working hard, and I'm busy from morning to night every day. I don't have much to do other than learn the business and upskill. When I go out to socialize, I also want to get to know more people for work. Outside of work, I basically don't go out, so I can be called an otaku.

I always want to focus my time on making money, but I also have times when my investment failed, and I was almost cheated out of 500,000.

I have an employee who I met in China before, and she has good skills, so I recruited her to the store.

Once, she was excited to introduce me to a project. She said that the founder is quite visionary, and has technology, ability, good market prospects, steady earnings, and if you invest 500,000 yuan, you have the right to dividends.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the money and asked me if I wanted to participate. Out of trust in her, I happened to have some spare money on hand, so I planned to give it a try. After I took the money out, I suddenly calmed down, analyzed it carefully, and felt that something was wrong.

The founder only opened a studio, and the investment cost was estimated to be more than 200,000 yuan, but he asked me to invest 500,000 yuan, which was higher than the original shareholder, which was obviously unreasonable.

Later, my judgment was proved to be true, and it was not long before I heard that the person was involved in the case and had an accident. They all say that you should be cautious in investment, and I'm really glad that prudence saved me.

(In Cambodia)

The entrepreneurial process is not always smooth sailing, and as a manager, you will always encounter some strange people and tricky things. The local employees in Cambodia have a casual work attitude, which is sometimes really maddening.

Once, a customer came to the store for a beauty treatment at the appointed time, but the staff on duty was not in the store, and the customer asked me what was wrong.

I was in Dubai, and I immediately sent a message to the employee, but she didn't reply, and she didn't answer the phone. I had to apologize to the customer and urgently contact the other staff to come to the rescue. Fortunately, this customer didn't bother in the end.

Occasionally, I will encounter customers who are difficult to get along with.

There is a customer who is said to be worth tens of millions. She set up a recharge card in her store in Dubai, and later asked for a refund of the unspent money in the card because she was going to do business in another country.

After I informed her of the amount to be refunded, she thought it was wrong and wanted to refund the amount she had requested. I didn't agree, and she actually called the police, saying that I was suspected of fraud, and threatened that she had a way to break me.

I didn't do anything wrong, and reasoned with her. In the end, she realized that she had lost her weight and accepted my plan, and the matter was over.

(Traveling in Thailand)

In Dubai, I cried, I hurt, I despaired, but now, I love the city, my career, my little family, and my best friends. The locals here are also friendly.

I remember when I was just over two months pregnant, I had a long-haul flight, which caused me to faint as soon as I got off the plane. The airport staff immediately came to check my blood sugar and reassured me not to be nervous.

After making sure that I was only suffering from temporary hypoglycemia and that my body was fine, he specially arranged a car to take me, and it was already midnight when I got home. Such a thoughtful gesture makes me feel very warm.

I used to stay in Dubai on a work permit, which has now expired, but I haven't renewed it.

Because now it is a visa on arrival to Dubai with a Chinese passport, you can stay for a month. I often spend ten days and a half in Dubai, and then go to Cambodia or go back to China to see my parents.

The children basically can't take care of it, and I am very grateful to my husband for his dedication. My daughter is very cute and changes so fast, every time I go back to see her, she changes. Sometimes when I think of my daughter, I feel very sad and want to cry.

(Baby Girl)

You have to give up what you want to get, and for me at the moment, it is impossible to balance family and career, but I don't regret my choice.

In the three years I have been in Dubai, I have started a business, bought a house, got married, had a baby, and achieved the goal I set since I was a child. I'm quite happy with my life now, and I enjoy the busyness that comes with my passion, which makes me feel very fulfilled.

I used to regret that I didn't go to college, but now I'm relieved. In the university of society, I have learned a lot and gained what I wanted.

Only by looking at the world can we have a world view. A person's insight is very important, and if he sees more, his vision will naturally be broad and open-minded. And all of this affects your perception of many things.

May everyone be able to live the life they want.

[Dictator: Nini]

[Written by: Nina Youyou]

[Editor: Drunk Hongyan]

We can't experience different lives, but we can feel different life trajectories here, every photo here is a bit of life, every story is a real life, if you also like it, please click to follow!

(*This article is based on the oral statements of the parties, and the authenticity is the responsibility of the oral narrator.) Friendly reminder from this account: Please identify the relevant risks by yourself, and do not blindly follow the trend to make impulsive decisions. ）

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Personal opinion, for reference only