It's a face that has become so prevalent in American culture that the United States government created Minority Enterprise Development week in 1983, which honors the achievements of minority business owners and helps promote continued growth.

Closer to home those achievements can be found in three Willow Glen business owners--Rashell Lawson, Jose Herrera and Mai Truong--who say with hard work, perseverance and a bit of luck, people of all ethnicities can achieve their goals.

Lawson, who owns Kuttin' Up Full Service Salon, describes her inclination to go into the salon business as "hereditary." Her mother, Ruth Claybrooks, opened the Kuttin' Up salon on Bascom Avenue 25 years ago.

Lawson says her mother's salon, where the majority of clients are African American, flourished because she was naturally business-minded--and she wasn't afraid to work long hours, either.

"Day in, day out, my mom worked until one or two in the morning," Lawson says. "Sometimes she would sleep on the couch so she could get up for a 6 a.m. appointment the next morning. The money she was making was so good, she wouldn't turn any clients down."

Lawson says that watching her mother work in the salon inspired her to go into the business as well.

"Growing up, the salon was our bread and butter," she says. "When my sister and I were older, it was just like, 'Oh, we're going to work in the salon with our mother.'"

But Lawson says that her childhood plan changed, and she became the owner of Kuttin' Up almost immediately after graduating from beauty school.

"When I first got into the business, and this is the gospel truth, I came into the salon to work and my mother bailed," she says. "I wasn't quite ready to own a business by myself. I needed more hands-on experience. But it wasn't difficult. I was just afraid to take that next step."

With a little gentle prodding from her husband, Lawson says she soon became accustomed to being the sole proprietor of her business.

And she adds, "I was blessed. The employees stayed and nothing was different. I didn't have to start from scratch."

Strength Through Success

Lawson says that once she overcame her own hesitation to run a business, she encountered no obstacles on the path to success.

"There were no problems," she says, "just room for advancement."

To accommodate her burgeoning clientele, Lawson says, she relocated her business to 2094 Lincoln Ave. because she appreciated the convenient location.

Although she inherited an established business with a devoted clientele, Lawson says she still has to work hard to maintain the salon's track record of success. Six days a week, Lawson commutes from her home in Modesto to work a 10-hour shift at Kuttin' Up.

Despite the long hours and strenuous commute, Lawson says running her own business is worth the effort, because she can make her own schedule. She also says she enjoys working with her clients, some of whom used to have their hair styled by her mother.

"It's wonderful to hear clients say, 'I've been coming to Kuttin' Up for 15 years, and it doesn't matter who does my hair because the service is still good,' " she says.

In addition to providing consistent service, Lawson says her advice to anyone who wishes to start a business is to stay focused, maintain a positive attitude and think ahead

"Have a plan and write it down," she says. "Put it down on paper. Make sure it works and that the business can thrive and make money.

Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce President Joel Wyrick agrees that having a plan is a critical component to becoming a successful businessperson, no matter what your background.

"A lot of people don't have business plans prior to starting their business," he says. "Most people think you need a plan only when you are looking for funds, but this isn't necessarily true. Before starting a business, entrepreneurs need to take their thoughts, put them down on paper, list their goals and objectives and think about the tools they need to take them on their journey."

Entrepreneurial Journey

If Corazon Musical Director Jose Herrera were to add his own advice about how to proceed on an entrepreneurial journey, he would say this: Help out other people.

Likening his experience to the movie Pay It Forward, Herrera says he achieved his success by receiving help from others and "paying it forward" by aiding people in need.

Two of the people who helped him the most, Herrera says, were Willow Glen's Advertising Business Consultants owner Roger Henson and Rivera Advertising owner Arturo Marina, who encouraged him to start his own production company.

Herrera began his career by working at NBC and CBS. But although he was employed at major television networks, it wasn't the road he wanted to travel.

"I thought I could grow bigger, and I wanted to follow my roots, so I went into Latino television," he says.

He later went to work at Univision and Telemundo--two international Spanish-speaking television networks--and it was during this experience that he decided to establish his own production company.

Three years ago, he started Mio Productions. Although he says the first year was a struggle, the business took off even though the economy was on a downslide.

The production company, which worked with other television stations, helped launch another venture for Herrera, the creation of his own television show. As an offshoot of Mio Productions, Herrera developed his own company, Corazon Musical, which produces the Corazon Musical television show, variety programming that features news, music videos, local events and community interaction. Corazon Musical has appeared on the Spanish-language station KTNC for the last six months.

An important attribute of Corazon Musical, Herrera says, is the show's emphasis on direct interaction with the Bay Area's Spanish-speaking community.

"We want to bring out the good vibe that the community has," he says.

Herrera adds that Latinos are gaining increased visibility in the media, and he is trying to improve their presence by also creating more opportunities for Hispanic women who want to break into the industry. Many of his show's reporters are female. Herrera also says the company tries to help the community by supporting and spotlighting nonprofit organizations looking for sponsorship.

Herrera believes the secret to his company's success is a commitment to providing clients with quality service. But hard work hasn't hurt either—the entrepreneur doesn't take any time off.

"When you are the boss, you have to take your work home with you, even if you don't want to," he says. "Even when I go to a party, I'm networking and establishing connections."

Herrera also credits the dedication of the Corazon Musical team for the popularity of the show. "The people who are working here are doing it because they love the work, not because it will make them millionaires," he says.

Herrera believes if an individual has a solid work ethic and a lot of self-confidence, he or she can break into the media industry no matter what their ethnicity.

"People wonder how we are doing it," he says. "My advice to anyone who wants to get into this industry is tuck in your shirt, believe in what you do, and you'll be able to make it."

Advantage Silicon Valley

According to Wyrick, minorities in the Silicon Valley have more business opportunities than in other parts of the country. And they face fewer racial barriers.

"People of color might have some obstacles," he says. "But we are in San Jose. So considering how diverse the community is, it is not that much of a factor."

He does say, however, that other factors like a lack of the educational background or encouragement to pursue a career or own a business can come into play. But organizations like the Black Chamber of Commerce can provide support and hands-on assistance in helping individuals move in a positive direction.

The Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce provides people of any ethnicity with help developing business plans and even has an "incubator program" through which would-be business owners can lease an office at the Chamber for $300 a month. The Black Chamber of Commerce also performs a service called Next Gen Business Academy, in which members conduct classes for high school students and local groups, propose easy-to-start business ideas and help implement a business plan.

Although there are numerous opportunities in the valley for people of all races to establish a business, this isn't universally the case. Just ask Willow Glen Nail Salon owner Mai Truong.

Truong, who emigrated from Vietnam in 1980, says she especially appreciates the opportunities available to her and her family in the United States.

"Of any other country I have ever been in, America is the best," she says. "It's given me a lot of opportunity for success. And my kids have a good education that I don't think they can get anywhere else."

For Truong, the motivation to work hard and the dream of a better life for her children are inextricably linked.

"I need to work to support my kids and allow them to go to college," she says.

Truong, who owned a salon at Bird and Minnesota avenues for 15 years before opening the 1053 Lincoln Ave. location a year ago, says her customers have watched her raise her children.

"When my kids were little, they used to come into the salon every single day after school," she says. "I had a small area in the back where they would take a nap, and they would play with Willow Glen kids."

Truong says that after 15 years of doing business in Willow Glen, her customers and children are familiar with each other.

"Almost all my customers know my kids," she says. "And sometimes my kids will go to the store and tell me they saw one of my customers."

And after more than a decade of watching their mother work 10-hour days, six days a week, Truong says her children have developed the motivation to work hard also.

"My kids work very hard in school," she says. "I don't have to tell them to study."

One of her children, 18-year-old Michelle, currently attends the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The budding artist's paintings decorate the walls of Truong's salon.

The stable life that Troung has created, however, started out as a struggle. After she and her younger brother left Vietnam by boat to escape the communist regime, she says they spent two years in a refugee camp in Malaysia. In 1982, she joined her father in Virginia. She then moved to Southern California before settling in San Jose in 1984.

While learning to speak English, Truong earned her associate's degree in accounting. She worked for one year as an accountant but says she found sitting in an office and crunching numbers not the kind of career she wanted.

Looking for a change, Truong obtained her beauty license at Milpitas Beauty College. Shortly after, Truong says, her husband's brother leased a space at Bird and Minnesota avenues. Although Truong says he initially intended to develop the space into a yogurt shop, he abandoned the project because he didn't believe it would be profitable. Instead, he asked Truong to take over the lease, and she opened her own beauty salon.

"When I started working, I found that this is the job I enjoy doing," she says. "I enjoy working with customers. I listen to their stories, and when I'm finished doing their nails, they are happy and I'm happy, too."

Willow Glen Works

Although Truong lives outside the Willow Glen neighborhood, she says her many years of interacting with Willow Glen residents have made the community her home away from home.

She has adapted so well to her new home that when her brother and father returned to Vietnam because her father wished to die in his homeland, she chose to remain in the United States.

"I stayed here," she says. "I have kids, a family, a business ... Half of my life has been spent here."

Yet distance has not stopped her from helping family members in her native homeland. After she received compliments from customers about a pair of shoes given to her by Vietnamese relatives, Truong arranged to have her relatives send the shoes to her salon. She says selling the shoes helps support her family because they have a difficult time earning money in Vietnam.

Most of all, Truong says, she appreciates her Willow Glen customers who have helped her salon thrive and who have helped her build a new life in San Jose.

And, through their determination and ingenuity, Truong, Herrera and Lawson are doing their part to make downtown Willow Glen a diverse and lively place to conduct business.