At sixteen, Tu Sheng set out from the remote mountains of Luotian, Hubei, and headed to Shenzhen with a pack on her back to help her family pay off their debts. A fellow villager introduced her to domestic work. Her first job was caring for Sister Chen, who lived alone. While cleaning, Tu Sheng always noticed exactly how Sister Chen arranged and used her skincare products. She could even point out problems with how they were combined, which impressed Sister Chen. Sister Chen advised her that domestic work was not a long-term plan and that she would be better off learning a trade. She also recommended Tu Sheng for an apprentice position at the beauty salon she often visited.
Tu Sheng seized the opportunity, working as a housekeeper by day and apprenticing at the salon by night. She started by washing towels and handing tools to clients, secretly memorizing the beauticians' techniques and communication skills. A year later, she quit domestic work and became a full-fledged beautician. Her meticulousness and expertise helped her build up a loyal clientele. But the salon owner treated the staff badly and withheld their commissions. Unable to tolerate it any longer, Tu Sheng took the 30,000 yuan she had saved, rented a small storefront in an urban village, and opened her first salon, Tu Sheng Beauty.
The early days of starting a business were difficult. She had no customers, basic equipment, and even faced malicious reports from competitors. With her only employee, Tu Sheng used AI-generated images and copy for social media to attract customers, crafting posts around familiar, relatable human stories that brought in wave after wave of clients. She offered simple treatments for free and won customers over with the results. Once, a regular brought a friend in for a treatment. The friend owned a clothing business and suggested adding makeup services to the salon. Tu Sheng immediately seized the opportunity, learned makeup techniques, and expanded her business. Gradually, the little salon began to take off.
Three years later, Tu Sheng's beauty salon had become locally well known, and she wanted to expand
