He grew up with his family in Vinh Long province and stayed with his grandmother for about a year in the village. After he was around six years old, his family was given the opportunity to come to America because his father is a veteran of the Vietnam War; he fought for South Vietnam and, as a result, was forced to labor in various concentration camps for more than seven years after North Vietnam,
under Communism rule, conquered the entire country. Minh’s family has been residing in San Francisco, California since 1997; therefore, he have lived in the United States for about 12 years. Reflecting back, his mother said that giving birth to him was an extremely difficult process;Minh was born one week late after the expected due date. His mother was in pain on and off for two days straight on top of six days of continuous stomach aches before he was finally delivered. His mother breastfed him and gave him homemade baby food, such as blended vegetables and meat together. However, she told him that when he reached the age of about 2 years old, his main food choices were plain crackers and tofu. he would refuse to eat otherwise until he was around five years old. Minh grew up with his family all of his life, which makes him a very family-oriented person today. Minh have two younger brothers named Thoi and Khai Tran. Dao the older sister is currently a junior in college, attending UC DAVIS in medicine. Thoi is a junior and Khai is a sophomore both at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. His siblings and him are very close, he’s deeply grateful for a supportive and loving family. He also have a half-brother and four half-sisters as well as an adopted sister. He have a large family because his father was married once before meeting his mother. However, his father's first wife passed away due to prolonged sickness, so his father met his mother after the war and they got married following the birth of the four of them. Minh has been involved in various concerts and live shows, because he's the founder of the Au Co Dance Company, Au Co Teen Youth Group and Au Co Production. It was founded nearly four years ago. The program is designed to help teenagers from all walks of life, to break out of their comfort zones and make a difference in society, even though, it’s a Vietnamese group. He welcome all people from diverse ethnicities & cultures. They express their teamwork by performing in dance shows throughout San Francisco. Their latest concert “Your Passport to Music & Dance” was at Union Square. His determination and drive to learn more and help others are increasing by the seconds. During his journey in pursuing the arts, He encountered many obstacles. He comes from a family of ten siblings and his parents wanted their children to go into medicine or law. Since he was not good at any of those things. He went against his parents' wishes and convinced them that he love what he do in Visual and Performing Arts. His passion is embedded in this major, and he will continue to work hard in making that dream happen.
________INTERVIEWS______________
Because I am interested in being an event coordinator, I wanted to interview someone who plans fashion events. The person I interviewed is Minh Tran. He is the founder of Royal Management and is a public relations officer. Minh often does graphic design for various projects and helps to produce fashion shows in San Francisco. He was really enthusiastic during the interview and had much to say about the industry. He is really passionate about his job, and I could tell that he really loves what he does. The first thing I asked Minh during the interview was how he got started. “I am still a student and am majoring in Web Design New Media and studied in Fashion at the Academy of Art University,” he told me. However, he has been working in the industry since he was fifteen and has started his own company. He first started getting into public relations because his sister won a title in a beauty pageant. “I became her agent and publicist, and helped her through things like photo shoots and fashion shows,” Minh said. Then, he realized that he wanted to start his own company that has an aesthetic of “mixing the Asian American with mainstream fashion.” He launched Royal Management around four years ago, and got people to invest in the company to get it started. He picked the name Royal Management because royal is related to beauty pageants and management is what he does. I was really interested in how events are put on, so Minh went into detail about that with me. He explained that he does a lot of collaborations and shows for upcoming designers. When putting on a big event, the first step for him is to “pick a cause, because that is the motivation behind it.” He needs to know who it will benefit. He then finds a venue and gets companies and sponsors involved. He says it is important to “create a blueprint and work backwards from there.” Many people are involved in a fashion show. It would often be Minh’s job to find designers that want to show their designs in the show and make-up artists to do the hair and make-up of the models. He also needs to decide how many designers he wants in the show, and how many models are needed. To find such people, he often “approaches upcoming designers and fashion schools since a lot of graduating seniors already have collections done.” He then looks for sponsors such as hair and beauty schools that can help with the models. A week before the show, Minh said they need to prepare the actual venue. He has to draw a floor plan, and figure out where people are going to sit. The VIPs sit in the front row. Minh told me that this industry is “all about promoting each other.” Thus, designers want to be in the show to show and advertise their work. Sponsors in turn want to sponsor the events so they can get their name out there, too. Thus, gift bags are a big part of fashion shows. It is really important for all the guests to receive a gift bag. The sponsors make donations for the gift bags. Next, before the show, they will have dress rehearsals that last three days straight. During this time, they have mock make-up sessions. Face charts are made, and the models are assigned to artists. They have to select the models that will be the openers or closers, which are the “it girls.” Clothes are also finalized and fitting and alterations occur. “Shows look really calm from the audience’s perspective, but they are really crazy backstage, and that’s the place to be,” Minh laughed. “It’s just so hectic. Dressers are frantically trying to put clothes on models, and people are just trying to get models on stage flawlessly.” Minh explained that part of his job is backstage managing, and to make this process smooth, he must organize everything perfectly before the show. They take pictures of the dresses and models, and organize the racks, numbering the outfit pieces and putting them in order. Minh said that he is usually backstage during the whole show and does not even get to watch it because there is so much going on backstage. After the show, there is an after party. The after party is usually held at the VIP lounge of a club that they promote. At that part of the event, there is a meet and greet with the designers. I also wanted to know more about how Minh’s business worked. Minh said that Royal Management hires him for specific events. He can be hired to do an entire show, or to do certain parts of it such as publicity. With publicity, he could be asked to create posters or do the imaging for the show. He has different packages that include different services, and they have different costs. The client will pay for a certain package of the things they want done, and they sign a contract with him for that. When I asked Minh how he got his business known by the public, he excitedly told me that social networking is “an amazing tool.” This is because it is “interactive, quick, and has instant gratification.” He said that a lot of his success was due to Facebook, and much of his clients find him on there or contact him through it. He can upload examples of his work on there that allow potential clients to see what he can do. He also said that word of mouth has helped his company to grow and build its name. Lastly I wanted to know what skills one would need to do a job such as his. Minh told me that who you know is really important. He strongly encouraged me to get an internship and get involved with the industry. He also told me that it is really important for one to have a great personality, talent, and drive to achieve what they want. “A person must be true to themselves and love what they do to be good at what they do,” Minh said. He also said that education is very important. “It’s not so much the letter grade,” he stated, “but the knowledge that they have.” He also stated that it would be advisable for them to have a Bachelor’s degree. Minh thinks that having an education not just in the classroom but is also about what you learn and being willing to learn. “You can learn on the streets, too,” he said. As far as people skills, Minh said one needs to be approachable to be able to make it in this field. They should be able to relate to the people they come in contact with and make a connection since this job requires finding people and collaborating with people. “You can’t just be snobby,” he said. “People earn the right to be snobby.” Minh also said that being charismatic is a good skill to have. “You should be able to make a friend in five minutes or sell a product in five minutes,” he told me. I asked him about additional skills that would be helpful, and he said that he has many skills that have helped him along the way. Minh knows how to use graphic design and has a good artistic eye. He is also proficient at programs such as Photoshop and the Adobe Master's Suite. In addition, he also knows how to do photography. When I asked Minh about his working conditions, he said that his job is very demanding and time consuming. The time he has to commit to it varies, and he works anywhere from 30 hours a week to 60 hours a week. He is really hardworking and often does not sleep until five in the morning. However, he feels this is all worth it because he is very happy with his job and enjoys everything he does. Minh also told me that the first years of starting your own company especially in this field can be pretty rough. He said that one probably will not make any money for the first two years because they will have to spend money to do work to build their name. After people get their name out there, they can start charging for their work and they can get paid for doing shows. Minh is a very down to earth person and is also very humble. He told me that he is from Vietnam, and his family did not have much there. Thus, he says “humility is very important.” Minh stays grounded by having three jobs, and he works at In & Out in addition to going to school and running his company. Overall, I found Minh to be a very passionate, hardworking, and humble person. He seems to be very happy and content and inspired by his field. I was really impressed that he has been working in the field since he was fifteen. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to interview Minh, and he gave me a lot of interesting information about his job. I learned so much from doing this interview, and it has given me a lot to think about. I am still very much interested in doing event planning, but this interview has made me realize how much is involved in planning a show. I will definitely be looking more into doing this, and I wish Minh and his team at Royal Management the best of luck in the future. By: Jocelyn Chan
Long Beach, CA
2011
