Vy Trinh, pronounced “V,” was born and raised in Vietnam. While her father wanted her to stay in Vietnam and get married and have kids, Vy had a different plan. She wanted to see the world and get an education. She decided to apply for schools in the United States. She was originally accepted to Houston University in Texas. After one year, she didn’t love the weather or the cost of living. She wanted something with a different environment and applied for Weber State in Ogden. She fell in love with the area and decided to stay here.

Originally struggling with the language, Vy remembers going through a McDonald’s drive through the first week she was in the United States in 2010. The worker could not understand her to take her order, so she had to park and go inside and point at the menu to get her order completed.

In a unique turn of events, she graduated from Weber State in marketing, summa cum laude. She was hired by Meridian Restaurant Group as their marketing manager. She finds it humorous that she once couldn’t place an order at a fast food restaurant, yet she was put in charge of communication for a franchise owner of 125 Burger King Restaurants.

She remembers being bold when she applied for the job before she even completed her degree. The hiring manager was uncertain that she could handle the demands of the job while completing her final semester in school. She knew from working multiple jobs to pay her way through school, often 12-15-hour days to make ends meet, that she could do it. She got the job.

Then, in 2019, she decided she wanted to venture out on her own and started as an independent marketing consultant. She has helped small businesses in the medical spa industry, restaurants, retail, financial, and other small businesses. She has a keen eye for design and branding.

I had the opportunity to meet Vy when we sold some ads to her as the Marketing Manager at Meridian; she was very professional and great to work with. We kept in touch after she left Meridian, and, one day, had the conversation about some needs we have with our growing company, Connection Publishing. I told Vy I would love to work with her and that I didn’t know what job title she would even have. She loved the magazines and said she was ok with that; she wanted to come be part of what we were building as long as she could keep helping her clients on the side. She has been a huge asset to us and our organization.

Vy has advice for anyone who might be scared to try something new. She says just go and do it. Work hard and things will work out. The courage I see in her decisions and determination to make it on her own are inspiring and a great example.