We’re looking forward to introducing you to Hang Tran. Check out our conversation below.
Hang, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I have quietly built up my confidence, my independence, my strength, my courage to face challenges in life as a person who has gone through many events, rebuilt myself and created a company that produces processed meat products sold throughout the United States and most importantly, the quiet development of my love for nature and people after experiencing great events in my life.
People may see me as a strong young woman who overcame events to change her fate. But the truth is that those events have trained me to become a person who knows how to listen and sympathize with difficult stories and can motivate people who have and are going through life events so that they can be stronger, and believe in themselves that they will overcome and heal like me.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the founder of the Hangsfood brand. A single mother who went through many ups and downs and built the brand from scratch, no money, no connections, no experience.
Young with many ambitions to succeed, I tried many businesses from selling on the Amazon platform, repairing phones, manufacturing clothes, making youtube videos about food and travel, doing photoshop,… after all I still could not find my true passion in it. Until I tried myself with stock investment, this was the biggest mistake and made me lose everything. My lesson is not to do things that you do not have knowledge. After that big failure, I used all the remaining money to buy ingredients to sell my best dish, which was “Bun Bo Hue”, and I was right, people loved the dish I cooked. From there, I improved the dish and through many difficulties in doing business at home, I came up with the idea of creating a new, condensed recipe that everyone can simply prepare for a traditional dish with a complicated and time-consuming recipe.
Then from California I moved to Texas to establish Hangsfood. All the difficulties just started when I started the production business but did not have much money, connections or industry knowledge. Another failure when USDA came to me and said that my products did not have the USDA seal. They confiscated all my products at the market. Even though I had completed all the other legal documents. All the hope seemed to collapse in me once again. But I didn’t give up.
I would like to especially thank Inspector Mr. Ryan Peters of Texas Meat Safety Assurance who taught me the knowledge to do HACCP and all the knowledge in the field of production that I work in.
My products are currently expanding and are available on the shelves of Asian markets across the US in partnership with major distributor MT Trading.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I learned that when you stand at the crossroads with an empty stomach, an empty pocket and a broken heart, you will learn the greatest lesson of life.
Then you will understand life in the most true way.
Nothing in this life is more important than life and death.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
“Hang you have done very well, all that you have gone through, the failures, the lessons that you have not hesitated to step into have created a new person who is never defeated by the difficulties of life. I am proud of you!”
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to pursue success, money, fame. things that most people in this life think are important.
But after the events of my life, I understood that everything I and other people are pursuing is an illusion. Just one event in life, those things will disappear.
Your life can also disappear at any time, right at the crossroads. So what you bring to life, the happiness to people, the values you bring to help people, that is what remains.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people remember me as someone who always strives in life, no matter how difficult it is, I always stand up, always move forward, always inspire single mothers to start from scratch, the person who created a brand with traditional Vietnamese dishes in America.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hangsfood.com
- Instagram: @hangsfood228
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hangsfood/
Image Credits
Hang Tran
