Julia Liou and Thu Quach in HBO Docuseries Not So Pretty
AHS CEO Julia Liou and President Dr. Thu Quach delve into the health and safety issues nail salon workers face when working with dangerous chemicals in nail and beauty products.
“Twenty years ago, I fell in love with AHS’ dual mission of advocacy and services,” said Ms. Liou.
Whether forging coalitions or calling attention to neglected needs, fundraising for civic engagement or lifting up patient voices to change policies, she says, “When I heard that over 100 of our patients and community members who worked in nail salons were experiencing asthma, miscarriages, cancer, and many other health issues due to toxic chemicals in products, I was compelled to raise the issue and organize worker voices to push for needed change.”
Ms. Liou co-founded and established in 2005 the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, which became the first coalition in the nation to combine policy, research, outreach/education and worker leadership development to improve the health, safety and rights of the nail salon workforce. Leading the Collaborative for over 16 years, Julia helped grow the Collaborative from a six-member volunteer group to a twenty-five member statewide coalition that worked with local and state elected officials and mobilized nail salon workforce members throughout California to successfully pass four statewide bills and three local ordinances focused on ensuring healthy, safe and dignified salon working conditions, products, and services. The Collaborative also joined forces with national groups, including Women’s Voices of the Earth and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, to create the National Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance to advocate for federal policies to protect beauty salon worker health and safety.
A fierce community advocate, Dr. Quach’s lived experience has motivated her to make the world a better place for Asian American and immigrant communities. Escaping persecution in Vietnam, Thu and her family migrated via boat to the US when she was just five years old. Decades later, her mother who had been a cosmetologist working in nail salons, was lost to cancer. As a trained epidemiologist, Thu’s research has influenced the nationally-recognized California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and has led to the passing of the groundbreaking Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program local ordinance in San Francisco and subsequent statewide bill providing protections for future generations of cosmetologists.
Learn more here: https://www.cahealthynailsalons.org/