I'll be honest, the reason I wanted to read this is because I love nail polish, especially OPI, and have always wondered how people come up with such creative names for the different shades and colors! (I'm a die hard Lincoln Park After Dark fan, myself). This book was an empowering look at how Suzi Weiss-Fischmann built her nail polish empire from the ground up. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

I got a free copy of this quite a while back from NetGalley. I’d give it a 3.5, but rounded it up to a 4. I so enjoyed hearing how Suzi grew up, came to America, and how OPI came to be what it is today. The values behind the company were so interesting and heartwarming to read about. Her family’s story and the story of how the factory was it’s own family... If you love OPI, business, or learning more about successful companies you’ll probably enjoy this book.

I'm Not Really a Waitress: How One Woman Took Over the Beauty Industry One Color at a Time
by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Catherine Knepper

As a partner in a women-owned business, I am always interested in reading stories about successful women. Fischmann’s rags-to-riches story does not disappoint. Her ability to envision the future of OPI, a blockbuster cosmetics company, from the remnants of a pretty uninspiring dental supply company, will be heartening to anyone considering a grassroots startup. Besides this, her stories about the creation of her iconic polish names are fun and engaging, and her determination to empower women and support her community makes for a compelling and thoughtful read.


For Goodreads:

Why I picked it —I love to read stories of powerful women.
Reminded me of… Be Fearless: 5 Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose, by Jean Case, the story of another powerful woman.
For my full review — click here

LOL bacause YOLO!
I'm not really a waitress is a book that filled all my expectations as a woman, as a businesswoman and as a fan of OPI Nail Lacquers, in fact, the perfect red for me is just I'm not really a waitress and it was also the first lacquer I bought from OPI!
Suzi gives us a story, HER story, so personal that it almost feels as if you have her in front of you, talking to you, giving you advice to improve your life as a person, as a woman, as an entrepreneur.... Empowerment is the key word of this book, Suzi yells at us that we can do what we want and achieve our goals despite the obstacles and that in the end we will be much stronger and more confident than at the beginning.
Thanks, Suzi! And if you ever come to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, I would love to know, to meet you!

I love OPI nail lacquer and had a great time learning about the like life of its co founder. Suzi Weiss-Fischmann is “The First Lady of Nails” and built an empire out a small dental supply company. Her backstory is fascinating, from her escape from Communist Romania to Israel and finally her move to the United States. Through sheer hard work and creativity, she and her brother in-law built the business from the ground up and changed the nature of nail technology as we know it. It was also fun to see where some of the inspiration came from behind their unique naming system. Suzi took manicures from a luxury item to an everyday accessible fashion statement that evokes feelings of luxury. A great read for anyone who wants to be a beauty insider.

**Thank you to NetGalley for this gifted electronic copy.**

I loved reading about Suzi's life! It gave me a whole new appreciation for what she and George created and how far they took it. In an era where female empowerment is so important, Suzi's story is a fantastic example of a driven, intelligent, badass woman who pushed through fear and uncertainty for something that she believed in.

I enjoyed learning about her childhood and the sacrifices made by her family to create a better life for themselves. Then I enjoyed being taken through the OPI journey, from its humble beginnings in dental supplies to the empire it is today. I now have a real respect for the brand and the book has definitely made me want to add to my OPI collection.

As a nail polish lover, this book was fascinating. I loved learning the history behind one of my favorite nail polish brands.

It is amazing how Suzi Weiss-Fischmann worked at changing the dental product into such relevant nail care product. And the naming of the shades, that is as glamorous as it sounds. Behind all this, was lots of hardwork which is very inspiring to know. The writing is full of wit and her pizzazz.

I expected a different book than the one I read. It was very slow moving and a lot of the chapters had paragraphs in the wrong order. I know this was an advance copy, but I have never read an ARC that was as difficult to read. I am still a fan of OPI. I am sorry to say I could not finish the book. I finally gave up about 60% through.


I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review.

I wish I had loved this book, I was so excited to read it! It's definitely an interesting story and love to hear the background of OPI, but this book needs serious editing. It was SO repetitive!! When I had 13% left to read, I thought I was re-reading prior chapters, I finally had to skim to the end because I was so frustrated. This would have been a great article, but there just wasn't enough content for a whole book, which is why there must be so much filler.

For me, the most captivating part of the book was when Suzi went back to the concentration camp with her mother. It was moving and I wanted to read a book about that!

Next complaint, the emphasis on how OPI is so iconic. Is it recognizable? Of course! Is it iconic? Not really. To put yourself in the category of Coca-Cola and Nike is a big stretch. Suzi actually compares their level of iconic with Kleenex, in which people don't say tissue, they say Kleenex. The nail polish is great, but I don't know anyone that refers to it as OPI.

The next irritation was the constant throw away sentence that her family and kids are her priority. It's dropped in all the time, but then she admits that her sister basically raised her kids. It's okay to make your work your priority, but please own it. It further perpetuates the myth that women can have it all, because she didn't find that balance herself. She worked 14 hour days, and her husband and sister raised her kids. So work was her priority and she was incredibly fortunate to have family to take care of the children.

Last sticking point - no pictures!! So much of the book is about Suzi's gift of seeing colors and identifying trends. But there is no color in the book! Please show us a picture of her 3 favorite reds so we can see the subtle differences! So much color description without visuals to back them up.

Wait, I do have one more complaint. She names the book after the color "I'm not really a waitress" which is a classic color. Then in the book she barely mentions it. She goes into much more description of creating other colors, but this one is just mentioned once. Why name the entire book after a color that she has no great attachment to?

I liked the description of this book and therefore requested it from Netgalley.
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann transforms a dental supply company into a renowned cosmetic company -OPI.

One of my favorite OPI colors is Cayenne Pepper, sadly it is no longer made. I found the section concerning name colors quite interesting. I enjoy the unique names of their colors but I truly believe the name coloring and actual development should be credited to the R & D staff. Even if she named them, they brought it to the finish line. I found her story very interesting. I learned a lot about her and her upbringing.

I really enjoy this story. It reinforces that you can do anything if you put your mind into it.

I volunteered to read and review an ARC of this book provided by Perseus Books, Da Capo Press,and Seal Press and Netgalley. These are my unsolicited opinions.

If you love OPI nail polish, I'm Not Really a Waitress is the book for you. It's a fascinating read and peek behind the scenes of how OPI came to be (I had no idea they started as a dental company!) Such a fascinating book for beauty lovers and entrepreneurs alike.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

I picked this up because I am a nail polish lover and knew exactly what it would be about thanks to the reference in the title.

It was a really fascinating read, she turned a dental company into a billion dollar nail polish empire! So inspiring! I felt like it went into enough detail to be interesting but not so much that it seemed like homework which a lot of books about businesses end up feeling like.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from Netgalley.com and the publisher Perseus Books, Da Capo Press. Thanks to both for the opportunity to read and review.

Ms. Weiss-Fischmann has written a book that engages, whether you'really main interest is the author and her story or how she created one of the biggest brands in beauty. Her humble beginnings in communist Hungary to the friendship with her brother in law which lead her to where she is today is an affirmation that anything is possible if you work long enough and hard enough.

Highly recommended.

I'm Not Really a Waitress is part auto-biography, part business advice book from one of the founders of OPI.

Suzi traces her childhood in Hungary to Israel and eventually to New York City. After working with her brother in law in the garment industry in NYC, they eventually travel west to California. There they run a dental supply company before finding their way into the nail and eventually nail polish industry.

Their story of an immigrant family creating a beauty empire was very interesting. My one fault with the book is that the author attributes essentially all of the color development, and much of the naming, to herself. With a team of 700 people, it would seem that at least some of that development should be attributed to those working in the R&D labs, turning her color ideas into reality. There is a lot of "I" in this book. She clearly devoted her life to her business and family. I found it sad that she admits she had very few personal friends.

I received an advanced copy of this via Net Galley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Perseus Books for an advance read of this title. I'm very interested in all things beauty, and I love OPI polish. As a matter of fact, I currently have on Samoan Sand. This book could be for a myriad of readers: beauty enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and biography enthusiasts. It's almost broken into sections where this is evident. I would have loved to see more background on stories behind the polish, fun facts, etc. But, the author gives good advice, her story is very interesting and I LOVED the parts about OPI and the early days, how some shade names came to existence. I highly recommend this book.