Some women enter the business world as icons of strength and leadership, always standing in the spotlight of major projects. Yet behind that resilience often lies a mother who once held her crying child in a hospital in the dead of night, who attended classes with a diaper bag on her shoulder, and who worked multiple jobs to scrape together tuition in a foreign land. The story of CEO Lam Hoang My did not begin with glamour; it began with the grueling struggles of over 20 years ago when she first arrived in the United States, fueled only by a dream of education and a better life.
In 2003, her first daughter was born. That joy was short-lived, turning into a nightmare when the baby was hospitalized in critical condition at less than a month old. The image of her tiny daughter in an incubator, surrounded by tangled wires, became a memory she could never erase. Back then, the young mother had only one simple wish: to see her child healthy and chubby like any other baby. Because of this, she gave her daughter the nickname “Pumpkin”—a silent prayer for her well-being. It feels like just yesterday when Pumpkin, at only five years old, became a big sister and helped her look after the baby brother. Time flies so fast; herlittle ones have grown up to be such sweet, kind, and well-behaved children. Seeing them grow is the greatest happiness for a young mother.
Life in a foreign country offered few choices. She was a student, a worker, and a mother all at once. Some days began at 6:00 AM for class and didn’t end until 7:00 PM, with her young daughter quietly following her from the lecture hall to the workplace. What she remembers most isn’t her own exhaustion, but how understanding her daughter was from such a tender age. The little girl was so well-behaved that she would play at the foot of her mother’s chair and sleep whenever she was tired, never adding pressure to a life that was already overwhelming.
Looking back on that 20-year journey today, her greatest happiness stems not from her professional milestones, but from the growth of her children. Lam Hoang My is now a mother of two—a daughter and a son. Her daughter recently graduated from university and is embarking on the next academic chapter to achieve her goal of becoming a lawyer. Meanwhile, this December, her son will graduate from high school, equipping himself for the upcoming journey into higher education. For a mother who once struggled abroad to balance school and parenting, these are perhaps her most sacred and proudest achievements.
Years ago, while standing on stage to receive her university degree, she looked down to see her daughter clapping with pride. In that moment, the woman who had survived every hardship burst into tears. It wasn’t because she had finally succeeded, but because she realized her daughter had silently walked beside her through every difficult year.
What resonates most in Lam Hoang My’s story is her raw honesty as a parent. She admits to spending too much time on work and missing many of her children’s childhood milestones. It is a lingering regret she carries today, even as her children grow and prepare to fly from the family nest.
Ultimately, the message she wishes to share with other women isn’t a lecture on life, but a sincere reflection from personal experience: success can always be pursued further, but a child’s childhood only happens once. When children grow up and leave their parents’ embrace, the lost moments can never be reclaimed.