Coming To America
A Vietnamese immigrant's work ethic is the key ingredient in a good, old-fashioned American success story.
Some would say entrepreneur Thanh Quoc Lam paid his dues a
lifetime ago, long before he set foot on American soil. Lam spent
his childhood in war-torn South Vietnam. At age 16, he encountered
the oppressive policies of the Communist regime ruling his country
when he was sentenced to two weeks in prison after he tried to
prevent a government official's mistreatment of a girl who
lived next door.
"[Being in prison] was terrible. After that, I know I
cannot stay there," recalls Lam, 39, in halting English, his
second language. "Sooner or later, we'd have to leave the
country." Perhaps the dramatic circumstances of Lam's
early years left him better prepared than most entrepreneurs to
deal with the demands and setbacks of starting a business. Today,
Lam's thriving wholesale French bakery and chain of sandwich
shops dot Honolulu and ring up gross annual sales of more than $4
million.
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