Vinh Truong

What is Vinh’s connection to the San Gabriel Valley?

Vinh was born in Chinatown, but he spent much of his life in family restaurants and sewing factories in El Monte in the San Gabriel Valley.

Vinh also feels a strong connection to the San Diego Valley because of so many cousins he has living there.
 

Where is Vinh Truong’s family from?

Vinh’s parents were born in China. When Japan invaded China, they both migrated over to Vietnam. The youngest of eight, Vinh’s other siblings were born in Vietnam. Due to the war in Vietnam, Vinh’s parents were lucky enough to make it to Kentucky in the United States.

Vinh’s family actually changed their last name from Cheung to Truong to make it more Vietnamese.

Vinh worked on a farm for about half a year before his father, sick of the farming lifestyle, moved the family to Glendale, California, in 1979.
 

What was it like for Vinh growing up?

Vinh felt very different; there weren’t many Chinese families in Duarte. The majority of folks were Filipino. It was a major adjustment for Vinh, especially in terms of culture. He even had a strong accent when they first moved.

He never fit in and always felt a bit like an outcast. It wasn’t until middle school that Vinh started seeing more Asian kids.
 

What were Vinh’s parents like?

They were what Vinh calls typical Asian parents, very much in the mindset of keeping to yourself, worrying about yourself, and staying out of other folk’s business.

When they moved to California, they tried to start a Pho restaurant in El Monte. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not last long. Then, his father did some carpentry and helped a friend out at a noodle manufacturer. The whole family would help out at times.

His parents were encouraged to give him an Americanized name, so for a while, Vinh’s American name, so to speak, was Steven. In fact, to this day, some of Vinh’s siblings and cousins still call him Steven.

However, he wanted to stay authentic and proud of his heritage, so Vinh decided to keep and use his true name.

What happened to Vinh after high school?

Vinh remembers his family having multiple jobs, getting Government assistance, and bouncing between lower and middle class.

He has vivid memories of not being able to wear the nicest or best clothes and noticing everyone else’s outfits and shoes, and wanting to be able to have those luxuries, too.

Eventually, he got a job at Sprint at the age of 16 in telemarketing. Vinh felt he wasn’t excelling at school, so he enjoyed the success he could achieve as a telemarketer. He truly believes that he honed his communication skills at this time in his life.
 

What happened after working at Sprint for Vinh Truong?

Vinh stayed as a telemarketer at Sprint for about two years. Eventually, he left for a huge company that would eventually become what we know today as AT&T.

He worked at AT&T for a few years before cell phones became very popular and more accessible.

He saw the writing on the wall, so he left and worked at Marshalls for a short period of time before working at an e-commerce company that his friend owned. Then, being sick of working in a warehouse, he started working at a jewelry store.

One time while getting food, Vinh had his car’s window bashed in and was robbed for over $1,000,000 worth of jewelry. Two complete backpacks full of jewelry.
 

How did Vinh Truong get into public service?

In the mid-2010s, Vinh lost his father and had a son. It was a whirlwind of looking at finances, planning funerals, etc. For Vinh, this was a whirlwind moment and he wanted to make sure his family would be okay so he looked into life insurance policies.

A short time later, he got a call from New York Life. He thought they were just responding to his inquiries but they actually saw his resume and wanted Vinh to interview.

Four interviews later, Vinh became an agent.

In 2018, Vinh joined the Duarte Economic Development Commission. A few years later, a council member that was retiring reached out to Vinh and encouraged him to run.