Legal Question in Employment Law in California

I have a California state license as an esthetician. I was hired by a salon/spa as an employee, but was required to choose between "renter" and "commission" status for compensation. I chose commission, since I was 17 and had no clientele of my own. I was never told that I would be be responsible for bringing new business to the salon. The business had a receptionist that all clients had to go through, and payment for services was given directly to the salon. The business would calculate my portion and pay me; they didn't take out taxes or offer any type of benefits. I would be issued a 1099 at year-end. My employer had me report for work for five months, but had virtually no clientele for me. I provided service to only a couple of people during my tenure there, but still had to show up for work and sit around waiting for clients to walk in the door. I tried to build clientele by offering complimentary services to existing hair clients, designing a brochure of my specialty services, attending a 3-day skin care conference during non-working hours (where I talked to as many people to network with as I could) and putting the salon's brochure in businesses. The salon put off ordering business cards for me because there wasn't enough volume to order at a discount, so I purchased my own. Does the salon owe me any compensation for putting in the time (mostly full-time) for nearly 5 months? I didn't leave sooner because I wasn't able to find employment at 17 as an esthetician, so I waited until after I turned 18 to leave.

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