Lien Truong: Finding America

December 2008 Cover Woman

“Over time, they share their life stories with you,” Truong says with wonder. “It’s amazing the people you meet through here. I feel like I have a much bigger family here in town.”

No stranger In a strange land

The secret to Truong’s success can be found perhaps in her willingness to take a chance in a new country. But maybe even more likely, it comes from her decision to never take anything for granted, to appreciate what she finds in everyday life.

As a child, Truong observed the ways of the Chinese society, and while she treasured her life and experiences, knew that more opportunities awaited in the United States. Her parents wanted her and her brothers and sisters to be able to pursue their hearts’ desires, so they made sacrifices for their children’s futures.

Since then, Truong has made sure to stop and reflect on what she has accomplished, and why.

“My parents basically gave up everything they had to give their kids a better life,” she says.

Like the secret sauces that bring flavor to the chicken, pork and beef dishes in her restaurant, Truong has developed a personality made up of a unique blend of ancient culture and innovative entrepreneurship. She has found a niche in what was once a strange land full of promise but also full of challenge and uncertainty. Truong has formulated a sort of philosophy of life from her life story.

“You can do anything,” she says. “Children in America are very lucky, and I always tell her (Truong’s daughter, who is 20) that. In China, being a woman is very hard. I could not see myself running a business there.”

The experience of her immigration taught her to enjoy the present, to savor the little things in life. Even things like television and snow, neither of which she had ever seen before coming to America, invoke in her an appreciation for each day.

She has become a popular personality not only in her restaurant, but to those who meet her in the community and through chance. No longer unsure of her place in life, she has found where she belongs.

Her past has encouraged her to explore the unknown, to always experience new cultures at the first chance. Because of what she learned when she took a chance on herself in a new place, she celebrates diversity.

“I love to travel,” she says. “I’ve been to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Europe,” she says.

Of course, she makes sure to try the food.

“I always try the local specialty,” she laughs.

Family ties

That central focus on food carries with it the ties that bind family over two continents, by timeless memories and through the sharing of recipes and table talk.

It’s the certainty of family, her rock, that enabled Truong to make a new start for her and her daughter, in a town she discovered when she was just passing through. Southern hospitality invited her to start her new business in Rocky Mount, and she jumped at the offer. The kind of business she would open just came naturally.

“Food just became a passion.”

As much as Truong loves being in her restaurant, she makes sure to take the time to enjoy the good things in life with her family.

“I love work, “ she says, “and I love family.”

Having them so intertwined is a blessing to Truong, and for years, she has made sure to return to China to visit family who remained there, like her grandmother, who died at 105 years old last year.

When she visits, she is reminded of the rich culture she still carries with her. She still observes those virtues, like respect for the elderly and service to parents, and she knows she will carry them with her as she flourishes in her business and family lives.

She is close to her daughter, who is now an international business major in college. She has instilled in her the same will that she honed growing up, and repeated to her over the years the importance of becoming a leader in her community and in her own life.

She hopes her daughter can find something she loves to do and spend many happy years fulfilling that purpose. She wishes — as mothers often wish — for her own daughter to be as happy as she has been.

Truong looks around Hing Ta and listens to the happy din of workers and diners. Laughter rings out across the room at a table where a family eats and chats. More customers crowd in through the doors. The popping sound of sizzling meat comes from the kitchen, and tantalizing smells waft over from the buffet table.

Truong smiles.

“I love it so much it doesn’t seem like work,” she says. “To do something you love to do, that’s the luckiest thing.”