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War near the Mekong River. I was the oldest of seven kids. My family [was] very poor [until] my father learned watch repair and eventually opened a jewelry shop. But in 1975 when communist North Vietnam took over South Vietnam, the government confiscated my fatherÕs business at gunpoint, and within months the old regimeÕs currency was declared no good. Each family was given only $200. My father had to start from zero. Facing struggles with limited resources, my mother had to start working with him to make ends meet. With determination and perseverance, they managed not only to survive, but also to save enough money to plan for our escape from Vietnam. When I was 12 years old, my father placed a big responsibility on my shoulders. We were living with the fear that one day the communist soldiers would return to take all of our possessions and money. So my father would duct tape U.S. money and thin pieces of gold to my thighs every morning before I left for school. I was like a walking safe box for the family. My father told me that if I came home and saw that the house was occupied with soldiers, I should not come in and should take my brothers and sisters to my grandmaÕs. By age 14, I was approaching the age to be drafted into the Vietnamese Red Army, and my father didnÕt want meÑor my brothersÑto go [fearful that] IÕd never return. One day my father told us we were going on a short vacation to the farm. We could carry only our small school backpack with one set of clothes. My mom packed dried rice and lemons for the trip. We were very excited. We all thought we were going on an adventure. To avoid being detected, my father paired us up with an adult waiting at various points along the Mekong River for a boat to come by. We never thought we were escaping Vietnam when they told us to play hide-and-seek at the bottom of the boat where rice is usually stored. The boats were traveling along the Mekong River, stopping by different stations to pick up other escapees as they moved eastward to the ocean where another slightly larger fishing boat waited in the middle of the river [where it met] the ocean. We were loading one by one from kids to elders during the night. There was so much commotion that it [caught the attention of] the coast guards from far inland. Three boats were sent out to investigate. The captain said to run. Everyone who had not embarked hurried up and jumped on. He [went] full speed toward the ocean. The three coast guards started to fire gunshots toward our boat, and I could hear [the bullets] flying by. Finally, we reached the ocean. They gave up the chase [fearful] that an American warship was nearby. After four days at sea, our boat encountered a huge tropical storm. Without the skill of an experienced captain, we would never have made it to land. The ocean was so rough that it knocked all of us unconscious. The captain fought it. We escaped death once again. A few hours later, we saw land. The captain raced the boat at full speed, heading straight to shore. But, unfortunately, we ran into the Malaysian Coast Guard with guns directing us to leave. We pleaded for help. Our boat, which was carrying 175 children and adults, couldnÕt survive another storm. But they didnÕt care. They just pushed us out into [deeper] water. So our boat floated along the Malaysian coast for another half day when the captain saw what looked like a pier. He drove the boat hard into the pier with the purpose of crashing the boat so it would become disabled. Everyone jumped out onto land like a bunch of ants [stumbling upon] sugar. Some Malaysians notified United Nations peacekeepers. We were taken to a refugee camp, which was [on] about one acre with a small building that held about 4,000 to 5,000 people. We were there for seven months waiting for the U.N. to interview us and see which country wanted to take us. Every country denied us because our family was so big. Finally, a small church in Memphis, Tennessee, took us in. We arrived in December 1978. It was freezing cold. My parents were depressed and lonely. They didnÕt know English, and my father worked fixing watches from early morning until night. We never saw him except for the weekend. 52 February 2013 | beautystorebusiness.com Finally, after three months of living there, we found an aunt living in San Francisco who invited us to stay with her. Even though we were grateful to all of the nice people in Memphis, we took a bus out to San Francisco. I got a job selling newspapers on the streets of San Francisco after school. I made $5 a day in 1979. I was the richest kid in school. In high school, I got a job at a grocery store and made enough money to buy my first car for $3,000. It was our very first family car. We went everywhere in it. I went back to delivering newspapers in the morning and delivered pizzas at night so that I had time to study during my early years of college. Was it during college that you were introduced to the salon industry? I raced through college, taking summer and winter classes. During my third year of college, when I was almost done, I met a woman who had a nail salon. Also at that time, I had to write a business plan for my small-business class. This particular woman was always talking about how much her salon could make, but she had no business [sense]. So I [suggested that we go into business together]. I cashed out $20,000 from my credit cards and put all of it into the business, starting my first salon in 1988. My dad thought I was crazy. But with two classes left to graduate, I was making $5,000 cash, after everything, per month. I was one of the first people to have the European Touch pedicure spas in my salon, and I even started distributing to spas on the West Coast for the company. Then I became fascinated with franchising and read the book by John F. Love, McDonald's: Behind The Arches, All images courtesy of LeChat Nail Care Products BSB: Please share with us the story of how you came to the United States. LUU: I was born during the Vietnam