When a young immigrant named Suzi Weiss first moved to Los Angeles to work with her brother-in-law in 1981, nail polishes had names like “Pale Pink No. 3” and “Dark Red No. 6.” Only nail technicians knew those names or needed to, since manicures and pedicures were reserved for celebrities or the very wealthy; nail polish wasn’t marketed to “regular women” at all.
Today, women around the world know their favorite shades by name, and the most popular by far is “I’m Not Really a Waitress”—the bright, bold, “I can do anything” red that has become the trademark color of OPI, one of the world’s most innovative and influential beauty brands now owned by Coty. Manicures have become a fashion accessory and an affordable luxury, a means of self-expression for women of all walks of life—just as Suzi knew they could be.
I’m Not Really a Waitress: How One Woman Took over the Beauty Industry… One Color at a Time explains how OPI transformed from a small dental supply company into an iconic beauty brand, and how Suzi herself evolved from “little Zuzi Weiss,” an eager if somewhat awkward young woman (who bit her nails!) into Suzi Weiss-Fischmann: the “First Lady of Nails,” as one fashion editor dubbed her. Each chapter is titled for an OPI lacquer, such as “Toucan Do It If You Try,” “Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around,” and “We the Female.”
Business lessons and inspiration for the next generation of entrepreneurs are threaded throughout Suzi’s story, making I’m Not Really a Waitress as much a business case study as it is a memoir. Most of all, Suzi would say, it’s a story about the power of color: how “it can empower you to imagine and do and be more than you ever suspected possible.”
As the cofounder and creative visionary behind OPI Products, Inc., Suzi Weiss-Fischmann is a leading international authority on nail care and color trends in the beauty and fashion industries.
More info: www.sealpress.com/titles/suzi-weiss-fischmann/im-not-really-a-waitress/9781580058193/
