Hi, my name is Johanna Soto. I was born in Chiapas, Mexico and I came to the United States when I was 23 years old. I lived with my grandmother and my four brothers. We were a very poor family. Our parents abandoned all of us to the care of my grandmother when I was 3. We lived in a small house with a dirt floor and no electricity. As I grew older I knew in order to survive that I had to find a way to make money.
I started working in a beauty salons in Mexico for six years before I emigrated. I worked in a beauty salon in the Fruitvale in Oakland doing hair and makeup after I arrived. I did not have the proper permits that the state licensing board requires to operate “legally” so to my great disappointment I had to quit after two years.