An appointment with Maritza Jiménez, an uptown Manhattan manicurist

Written by Jahaida Hernandez Jesurum

Ever wondered how immigrants land in certain career paths? Or what they may have been doing before leaving their home countries? Often, these two things don’t necessarily coincide.

For Maritza Jiménez, coming to New York City was a tough and very personal decision. Born in the province of Monte Cristi in the Dominican Republic, Jiménez’s last job before migrating ten years ago was as the head director of a government office. But after the 2004 presidential election, she no longer had connections with the new elected party and found herself unemployed and without a plan.

“I came to New York City with a tourist visa and, like most Dominicans, a few years later I was able to legalize my status,” Jiménez said. “Some members of my family already lived here before me, so they were my main support. My first job was at a hair salon in Washington Heights. I started by washing hair and by assisting professional hairstylists. My initial salary was based on just tips. I had absolutely no experience, and that is just how things worked.”

Jiménez said she was on a mission to prove to herself that she could succeed in New York City.

“I noticed that the manicure and pedicure service was not necessarily offered at these hair salons,” she said. “In just a few months after my arrival, I decided to ask for permission to start offering it and the owner told me I could try. I had a basic idea of how to do nails, but I got the necessary tools and I started to work.”

Within four years, Jiménez had enough confidence in her work that she decided it was time to become independent. “And so I did,” she said. “In this business you will depend 90 percent on clients. I created a solid foundation [of clients] and, after having changed locations a few times, [they] have not abandoned me.”

With her drive and ambition to succeed, Jiménez is no different from the women and children who make up nearly three-quarters of the immigrant population in the United States. The vast majority of women who arrive in the US — and particularly in New York City — have one thing in common: they’re in search of a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Having chosen a career path that has so much competition and corruption in this city, however, can be difficult. Last month, The New York Times published an in-depth investigation on how many women immigrants working in nail salons are being abused in unmeasurable ways by their employers. The attention this story received from the media in the following weeks resulted in an emergency new Bill of Rights for Nail Workers by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to protect all workers, regardless of their immigration status.

In her nine-and-a-half years in the nail business, Jiménez feels fortunate that she has never felt exploited by her work, largely due to the fact that she was able to secure legal status, as well as her nail license early on. Located in a small shop in the Upper West Side near Columbus Avenue, her hard work, self-confidence, and determination have allowed her to be her own boss during all these years.

“Sometimes, one could feel as an undocumented immigrant that your options are very limited,” she said. “I’d encourage everyone to never allow themselves to be comfortable enough in any job or situation — even relationship — they may find insufferable. You must keep searching; it’s all trial and error. You already left all you knew behind in the first place.”