I always felt I was different. My earliest memory of my youth was my very first time I felt amazed to do something different from my classmates, but still achieve my goals by getting a high demand job after graduating from a university.

Coming from the ancient capital city of Hue, Vietnam, I was supposed to follow the same path as others, stick with theories from books to get high marks without much attention for soft skills training and development. I was encouraged to choose a university major which many people believe would easily lead to a job after graduating. I followed this plan and everything went well until the second year of my university life, I started to think that if everyone in my university studied hard enough to get a good degree, they would certainly apply for the same jobs as accountants, bankers, and so forth.

However, each company only recruits a few positions every year while the number of fresh graduates were huge, not to mention people who had already completed their degrees and were still searching for jobs. I kept pondering how I could stand out from the crowd to get my desired job.

Fortunately, my father and sister were on hand to play a role as my first mentors by asking thought-provoking questions for me to make decisions. They always encouraged me to continue studying hard and not feeling bad if my decision was different from others. They encouraged me to observe myself more, to help me figure out what my strengths and weaknesses are.

Next, they advised me to work on my English skills harder and volunteer in international organizations where I could help disadvantaged people, practice speaking English, improve my communication skills and gain more life skills. While my peers already applied for a job as final-year students, I was not so sure what kind of jobs I wanted to apply for, or what my passion was. I felt frustrated with myself and bored with my daily life. Besides these things, I was also afraid that no one would want to hire me after I finished my degree, and what would happen if I could not afford my life after graduation.

Then I again observe around and think over and over “What are the skills vital to me to be independent financially even if I could not be employed any time soon?” and “What problems could I solve for young people like myself nowadays?”. When I reached my late twenties I found out that most young people lack necessary soft skills without proper guidance, so they can not find the job they desire, and they struggle to manage their finances even though they are all aware that every decision in life involves money.

As a result of researching and learning from many real cases of my international and Vietnamese clients, I realized only English language skills and personal financial management skills will make me feel secured regardless of where I am, or what my life stage is. I knew from that point on that I wanted to be a mentor to help more young people to achieve their ambitious goals.

In addition to those personal experiences, with 10+ years of working experience to help my clients improve their English and personal financial management skills from scratch, I am a firm believer that more and more young people nowadays should develop these skills so that they can make sound life decisions and not feel so nervous about life in the real world. Thus, it is my life’s work to assist more young people to be independent by helping them discover themselves better, and working effortlessly to help improve their English skills and personal financial literacy.

So will you join me?