Family, hard work, and discipline are the foundations on which IDC Nails owner Tommy Dinh has built his business.
Since their grand opening on Oct. 14, IDC Nails has been fully booked every week. Offering a welcoming salon experience, quality nail designs and open communication, IDC Nails is the destination for anyone looking to get a fresh set.
The root of the business is family history. Tommy’s parents are half Vietnamese, half American. They grew up in Vietnam after the war.
In the 1990s, they came to America through the immigration program. His parents met after they moved to the country, and Tommy was born in San José, California.
It was when his family moved to Texas, two years after Tommy was born, that his parents got into the nail business. When Texas proved to have an overabundance in nail salons, his parents moved to Pennsylvania to pursue their dreams in a place with more opportunity for growth.
After a lot of moving around in the business, Tommy’s parents finally bought their own salon in Cranberry. They settled down in Franklin, and that is where Tommy has lived for the majority of his life.
Throughout his teenage years, Tommy found himself immersed in the activities your typical high schooler was into: football, wrestling, weight-lifting and more. He was set on the fact that he would never do nails. “My parents did it all the time, and I just never wanted to do it,” Tommy said.
When he was 17, Tommy joined the military. He was in the military for several years before he met his wife. The birth of their first child was a turning point for him. “I told myself I wanted to get out of the military. And that is when I decided to start doing nails.”
Tommy shared the fear he felt when he transitioned to the nail business. “I was always ready to do it. There was just a mental block in my head that told me ‘You can’t do it,’” Tommy said. “I was just afraid. Sometimes you’re more ready for something than you think you are.”
Tommy shared advice for others who may have struggled with a similar experience.
“One of the biggest things I have to tell people is even if you’re not ready, or you are ready, just jump. Make the leap, and you’ll succeed. Stop limiting yourself off of what you feel,” he said.
Ten years after he made the decision, Tommy was able to open his business in Slippery Rock. His wife is currently attending New Castle School of Beauty to eventually work with Tommy at IDC Nails.
IDC Nails has a creative story behind its name. “You know when you’re a young kid and you’re dating, and you ask the girl where she wants to go eat,” Tommy joked, “What’s the girl’s answer? It’s ‘I don’t care!’”
He told himself that if he were to ever own a business, he’d name it “IDC”. “It would be funny, and I’m a humor guy,” Tommy said.
Fast forward a few years, and Tommy was ready to open his business. When he filled in the business name while registering with the state, he jokingly entered “IDC Nails”. “It went straight through,” Tommy said. “It was meant to be, I guess!”
IDC Nails offers full set acrylic nails, acrylic refills, gel polish, manicures and pedicures.
IDC Nails differs from other nail salons because of their open communication, punctuality, and modern-day technology, according to Tommy.
“I grew up in those older salons, so I know what it is that they don’t do. I’ve always had solutions for those,” Tommy said. One of these solutions is utilizing social media so that clients can easily reach out to book appointments.
Tommy mentioned how he felt limited by the generations of salons above him that did not accept his ideas because he was too young. “That is why I wanted to separate and really let my work show,” he said.
Tommy values family and community, and he has made these the core of his work at IDC Nails.
“It’s really nice to help people,” Tommy said about the most rewarding part of his work. “I love putting a smile on people’s faces. I love being able to put what they want in their head on their nails, making their imagination a reality.”
IDC Nails is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“At the end of the day, I am a family guy,” Tommy said. “I can work five, six, seven days a week, but I am very big on family.”
Tommy shared a quote from a coach that has stuck with him throughout his life. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. You can be born with talent, but discipline, consistency, and hard work will always out-beat it.”
