Orange County Business Journal
by Tâm Nguyễn
In June, Cal State University Fullerton announced the first scholarship recipient of the Minh Tâm Nguyễn Endowment Fund for International Education, named after my father who passed away a year ago.
The scholarship honors my father’s journey as a refugee from Vietnam. He left Vietnam in April 1975, the day before South Vietnam collapsed. He was a high-ranking naval officer in the South Vietnamese military and the Americans knew he would be a high-risk capture.
By 1978, he was in the United States. He got the idea of the beauty college after watching my mom make significantly more money as a beautician doing hair and nails than he did at his job. The other reason he thought of the beauty college was because he was a volunteer for a nonprofit processing a lot of Vietnamese immigrants and saw a need for a transition job or vocation for them. He believed it was important to contribute back to the U.S.
Minh and my mother Kien opened a beauty salon before starting the college in 1987. It became a renowned beauty college in Garden Grove that has enabled thousands to secure jobs and open their own businesses. His legacy has inspired me deeply, both in business and in the opportunities that I’ve had to give back to our community.
Many of the lessons I’ve treasured most are those I gleaned from my father, who led courageously and consistently throughout his life.
Relationships are Key
Whenever I talk to business students, I reinforce the importance of learning the hard skills of management, marketing, accounting and finance in business school, of course. But I am quick to add that when you get out into the real world, it’s not only about your transactional skills or the P&L statements that cross your desk. Equally or more important are the relationships you build. I believe that people always come before profits, and profits are often the applause you get because of how you treat people.
After my father passed away, my family felt the impact of his deep relationships across the community. Even though we didn’t request contributions, he was so beloved within his industry and in the local Vietnamese community that countless people wanted to make gifts in his memory.
Many of our students and past graduates said their families are successful and that they own multiple nail salons thanks to my father’s legacy. They wanted to honor a person who gave them a leg up to start their lives and find success and financial stability. Their collective contributions of more than $25,000 became the basis for the creation of a donor-advised fund at the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) and the scholarship fund at CSUF.
My advice to entrepreneurs is that as you continue to grow your business, make sure that you have a clear mission that’s also integrated into the community, building a reputation not just for transactional excellence but for the depth and strength of your relationships.
