Vanessa Martinez used to work two jobs to make ends meet. Now she works three.
In another era, the 26-year-old from California’s hardscrabble Central valley could have been a poster child for the American Dream, the sort of ambitious, up-by-her-bootstraps personality that politicians of both major parties like to highlight.
Forced to fend for herself from the age of 18 and with no family money to fall back on, Martinez put herself through cosmetology school so she could work as a hairdresser. Now she’s studying again to qualify as a funeral director.
When she’s not cutting hair, she has a job picking up
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