The prevalence of Vietnamese women in the nail salon industry dates back to the Vietnam war, which saw large numbers of Vietnamese immigrants arriving in the United States. Tippi Hedren, a Hollywood actress, was involved in a charity which provided vocations to Vietnamese refugee women. The goal of the charity was to help its target demographic integrate into U.S. society. Hedren invited her personal manicurist to teach a group of 20 Vietnamese women the craft of doing nails. The training required for nail salon work is short and inexpensive, the work itself does not require high English proficiency, and the work hours tend to be flexible enough to allow immigrant mothers to attend to family obligations. During this era, the costs associated with opening and operating nail salons were low.