Hung Nguyen, 44, determined the barrier wouldn?t stop him. In the past two decades, he got married, learned English well and opened a growing auto repair business.
The shop at 11591 S.W. Canyon Road is tucked in a cramped turn off the main road, beside other car maintenance shops. Last year, the pair opened a second location three times larger than the original, a 10,000-square-foot spot in Tigard.
The Beaverton couple credits their success to perseverance and keeping their business debt-free.
?I work hard,? Nguyen said. ?This is kind of the American Dream. But it was hard to get there.?
Nguyen moved to the United States on a sponsorship from his brother. Without that help, ?life would have gone nowhere,? he said.
Nguyen?s first job was at McDonald?s. He later earned an automotive associate?s degree from Portland Community College and worked at local dealerships.
His wife, Vivian Nguyen, 46, came to America through the Humanitarian Operations program, which paid for politically persecuted South Vietnamese to legally immigrate to the United States. Her father was a former police officer who was jailed for more than 12 years in political asylum during the communist regime?s takeover in the Vietnam War.
When she moved to Oregon, she worked as a medical technician before wedding her husband. Later, she took business classes at PCC and Portland State University to help him launch an auto repair business.
Nguyen said her husband has the technical know-how, but she?s got the bookkeeping sense. Under her conservative watch, they spent their own savings of $10,000 on equipment and rented their first location. They did not take out any loans and stayed free of debt.
?The first year was crazy,? Nguyen said.
Over the years, they kept a routine, waking up at 6:15 a.m. and working until 7 p.m. They dealt with happy customers, less-than-happy customers and a single mother who couldn?t pay her car bill. At home, they raised two daughters, 9 and 11 years old. Eventually, they saved enough money to expand in 2010 to a $1.6 million property in Tigard.
Their frugality saved them during a slow economy, they said. They expect business to continue growing.
?We have to be tough,? Hung Nguyen said.
-- Dominique Fong
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