The Beauty Tycoon: Distributing 3 Billion VND in Cash and 50 Tons of Rice to Flood Victims

” Both Mai and her husband understand the loss and suffering of the people, both materially and spiritually, as the two of them were born and raised in the Central and Northern regions and have experienced the hardships, losses, and devastation caused by severe storms and floods.

Empathizing with their struggles, Mai and her husband, Khánh, decided to take action and directly deliver 3 billion VND in cash and 50 tons of rice to the affected communities,” wrote Mrs. Phan Thị Mai, CEO of the Mailisa beauty salon chain, on her personal Facebook page recently.

According to the female entrepreneur, who is commonly known as Mai Lisa, she initially considered donating 500 million VND. This was because, at the beginning of the year, she and her husband, Hoàng Kim Khánh, had already initiated a “Zero-cost Kitchen” project worth over 70 billion VND, and on September 5, they had also presented 153 gifts and bicycles to students in Đắk Nông. As a result, their financial situation was somewhat strained.

However, after being persuaded by Mr. Khánh that the people in remote provinces were already facing challenges and were now suffering even more due to natural disasters, the couple agreed to contribute 3 billion VND.

” This afternoon, Mai will visit Mr. Đạt’s Saigon rice warehouse to order 50 tons of rice, after which it will be loaded onto a truck. At 5 pm, Mai and her staff will fly to Hanoi, and by noon tomorrow (September 12), they will arrive at one of the five locations: Phú Thọ, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Cao Bằng, or Tuyên Quang. It is expected that the rice will reach the localities within three days.

Although we have been in contact with the local authorities, Mai also wants to visit and assess the situation firsthand. If we encounter families who have lost their homes and are in dire straits, the couple will build additional houses for them,” said Mai, outlining her relief plan.

According to YouNet Media’s Q3 2023 data, Mailisa is the most talked-about beauty salon brand on social media, with over 135,000 discussions, accounting for nearly 40% of the top 10 market share and far surpassing the rest of the rankings.

The Mailisa name went “viral” thanks to videos of their staff dancing and singing together, as well as the company’s grand events. Most recently, in July, to commemorate its 26th anniversary, Mailisa hosted a music festival on Nguyen Hue Walking Street (Ho Chi Minh City), inviting a slew of A-list stars and opening its doors to the public for free.

Mrs. Phan Thị Mai was born in 1975 in Tan Dan commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province, into a farming family. She has one sibling, and her father passed away when she was 11 years old, while her mother was illiterate. Mai’s childhood was spent accompanying her mother to the forest to collect firewood and selling vegetables and fish at the market.

Before establishing the Mailisa Specialized Beauty Clinic in 1998, which later became the Mailisa beauty salon chain, Mrs. Mai worked as a shoe factory worker and a restaurant server. She entered the beauty industry after meeting a hair stylist client and gradually built the Mailisa “empire” that exists today.

While the company’s revenue remains undisclosed, Mrs. Mai once shared in a social media video that Mailisa spends billions of VND monthly on employee salaries, with the lowest-paid janitorial staff earning over 10 million VND.

Mrs. Mai is also renowned for her dedication to philanthropy, notably the “Zero-cost Kitchen” project in Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh City. She shared that if they had rented a space, she wouldn’t know how long they could maintain it, so she decided to spend over 30 billion VND to purchase land and construct a six-story building to house the kitchen. She then invested an additional 40 billion VND to ensure the kitchen could operate sustainably over the long term.

Previously, in September 2023, Mrs. Mai and her husband collaborated with the District 12 Police and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of District 12 to organize a charity program, donating 22 tons of rice and 1,100 gifts worth 550 million VND to disadvantaged households in the area. Duc Tho district in Ha Tinh province, Mrs. Mai’s hometown, is also a frequent recipient of the couple’s charitable efforts.