Gianni Le Nguyen fled Vietnam at the age of five.
Late one night in the early 1980s, her father wrapped his two young daughters in a fishing net and rowed a basket boat out to meet a more seaworthy vessel a quarter mile offshore. They spent five days battling storms, illness, and pirates who took everything Gianni’s dad possessed, including his official papers. This began a bureaucratic mess that left her family in refugee camps for over two years before they finally made their way to Beaverton, Oregon.
Almost 40 years later, Gianni is a successful entrepreneur, mother of four, and wife to an American named Brian. Her journey fits a pattern of Asian immigration that has strengthened the USA. According to Pew Research, "Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated, and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances, and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work, and career success.”
Gianni and I talk about her journey and how it affected her relationship to money, financial security, and her thoughts on a strong work ethic.
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