I'm Not Really a Waitress: How One Woman Took Over the Beauty Industry One Color at a Time

by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann

Overview

Inspiring women to pursue their own colorful dreams, I'm Not Really a Waitress tells the story of how Suzi Weiss-Fischmann transformed a small dental supply company into a #1 beauty brand around the world


Today, OPI is known as a global beauty brand, famous for its trend-setting colors, unforgettable shade names, and celebrity collaborations with the biggest stars from film, television, music, and sports. But behind all the glamour is the little-known tale of OPI's unlikely origins-an intimate and inspiring story of a timid schoolgirl who arrives in this country with little money and no English and becomes the business leader and industry game-changer known worldwide as "Suzi, the First Lady of Nails."

In I'm Not Really a Waitress—titled after OPI's top-selling nail color—Suzi reveals the events that led her family to flee Communist Hungary and eventually come to New York City in pursuit of the American dream. She shares how those early experiences gave rise to OPI's revolutionary vision of freedom and empowerment, and how Suzi transformed an industry by celebrating the power of color-and of women themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580058193
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	03/12/2019
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	707,603
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann is the cofounder, brand ambassador, and creative visionary behind OPI Products, Inc. She is the leading international authority on nail care and color trends in the beauty and fashion industries. She is a frequent contributor to top magazines and has been featured hundreds of times in articles, blogs, and television shows. She is an active public speaker and gives keynote addresses, inspirational speeches, board and trade show presentations, and gala talks around the world.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Great Opera-tunity ix

1 Suzi without a Paddle 1

2 This Color's Making Waves 19

3 Toucan Do It If You Try 39

4 Color So Hot It Berns 57

5 We the Female 77

6 Don't Bossa Nova Me Around 103

7 My Address Is "Hollywood" 121

8 Lincoln Park After Dark 133

9 That's Berry Daring 149

10 Purple with a Purpose 169

11 It Never Ends 181

12 Rosy Future 201

Editorial Reviews

"Suzi Weiss-Fischmann set out to create a red polish that every woman could wear, and with I'm Not Really a Waitress, she nailed it."—Allure

"Meet Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, the brains and bravado behind the brand's trend-sparking shades."—Martha Stewart Living

"So you're at your standing manicure appointment trying to decide between You Don't Know Jacques! and Lincoln Park After Dark, and you find yourself wondering: Who is the creative mind who comes up with these fantastically punny nail polish color names? Mystery solved: It's Suzi Weiss-Fischmann."—Cosmopolitan

"The woman who has shaped the way we do nails is Suzi Weiss-Fischmann."—Los Angeles Times

"Suzi's such a fierce female entrepreneur."—Kerry Washington in WWD

"[Suzi Weiss-Fischmann] is just as rad as you think she'd be."—Elite Daily

"Suzi is a true risk taker, right down to her perfectly manicured tippy toes."—Family Circle

"The average person can't detect the difference between berry and burgundy or tell fuchsia from hot pink. It takes an exceptional eye and special sensibility to recognize the exact shade of scarlet that women all over the world will be swooning over next season. Suzi Weiss-Fischmann has spent a lifetime doing just that, season after season, year after year and created a brand that's now the most recognized and revered in the world."—Vogue India

From the Publisher