The East Sider: Justina Doak

For many high-achieving East Side families, having a child graduate with high honors from Central High School might not seem so significant… unless that child had arrived in America only six years earlier and knew virtually no English.
Meet Justina Doak, owner of Justina Nails & Spa on the street. When she and her Cambodian parents arrived at a refugee camp in Thailand, Justina was six years old. “Back then, [living in a refugee camp] was the only way to have a chance to come to America,” says the soft-spoken Doak.

They relocated to Rhode Island – where her father had relatives – when she was 12. “I didn’t know how school… or life in America worked. I was scared.” Although she says she wasn’t a strong student, she worked hard and was enrolled in ESL (English as a Second Language) through middle school. 

After earning an associate’s degree from CCRI, she took her father’s advice and worked in nail salons. Fast forward to 2015: She has more than ten years of experience as a manicurist; three of them as a business owner. “Everyone wants that American dream,” says Doak, who is fulfilling the American immigrant’s dream. She hopes our nation can help immigrants who arrive legally with jobs and some education.

Of her salon, she says, “It’s not just an in-and-out type of service. We like to get to know our clientele and spend a lot of time with [them]. If a customer wants to be here on Sunday at 7am, I’ll come in.”

At our interview, Doak’s fingernails were free of polish and her toenails had paper-white polish. She plays with colors – darker in the winter and light, fresh colors in summertime. “In the summer, try at least one color you don’t think you’d ever wear,” she says. Clients who listen to her have chosen hot neon colors and yellow for the first time. 

Her son, Alexander, 11, persuaded Doak to write her life story. Although she struggles with grammar and “putting [words] in a nice paragraph,” Doak has accepted the challenge – line by line, page by page, to write her memoir.
What has her life taught her? “Life is not easy, but don’t give up. Do something that makes you happy.”

Nancy Kirsch is an award-winning freelance writer in Providence. Contact her at writernancy@gmail.com