In 1978, Thao and her family along with 104 family members and friends gathered at her grandfather’s fishing boat and escaped from Vietnam in search of freedom and opportunity. They got lost at sea and six times sea pirates robbed them before they landed on a refugee island off the coast of Malaysia. After nine months on the refugee island, Thao’s family was sponsored to immigrate to the United States. In less than two years, she learned to speak English fluently. Thao earned three college degrees and embarked on careers in Accounting and then Human Resources. In 1998, Thao started her own business and has been a successful entrepreneur for over 21 years providing legal services and identity theft protection to individuals, families, and businesses. Thao’s hopes to return to Vietnam in the near future for the first time in forty years since she fled.