American Dream

“Go be a doctor!” my mom would say

“How about a pharmacist, they make good money”

“Maybe an engineer, a lawyer, but maybe not that...”

What is that, you might be wondering? The hard work, the work with your hands type of work, construction.

My story is not unique but it is special. My story is one of community built, community led, and community roots embedded in change with true economic stability.

Growing up, I bought into this lie, this notion that somehow certain work was more valuable than others. That prestige and honor meant doing something that might make me a lot of money, but I didn't really like it. I thought, if I was a doctor then that would solve much of my confusion and lack of decision making. So I tried to go to medical school...well lets just say, I am pretty sure I slept through most of biology class of my freshman and sophomore year in college.

It wasn't until my husband and I had our son. Our second child, when we realized that we needed to do something different. We were working, one in a medical clinic and the other as a tile setter and living less than a paycheck to paycheck. We were saving each dollar to pay the mortgage, the sitter, insurance, and maybe had enough to get something fun for the kids at the end of the month. That was when I decided that it was time we took a risk. A risk to live the American Dream, or at the least try to, anyway.

It was 2017 when I filed for my first IRS number. I had no idea what I was doing then. I had scoured the internet for as many blogs as possible while nursing and counting how much we actually had left that we were able to put towards business filing fees. It was then that I also learned how lonely the journey of business entrepreneurship really was.

There was not one person I knew that had their own business. Not one person in my circle of close friends and family who even dared to believe the American Dream was possible for them, let alone have time to dream one with me. I struggled to learn the process, the steps and even believed that the only path was to give up sooner than later. But deep down, I was getting really tired of my then boss, and really wanted to at the very least, be able to dress and feed my children without fear of having to choose to not care for myself. I have dreams too.

So, with my new EIN number in hand and having finally figured out how to get my contractor licensed, we set off to live the American dream of business ownership. Well, at least that's only part of the happy progress start anyways.

Along the way, this journey has actually been really hard. I met more people along the way, but also learned that it doesn't really mean anyone wanted to help me. I thought that I was already living the dream to the max until I realized that the industry that chose me, had already also set a path for me and those that looked and spoke like me. So I set off on another dream. One that would take me back to my roots.

In my college days, sleeping through biology was only one part of my experience, the other was actually community work. I traveled and often got into good trouble, to quote the late John Lewis, and that led me to quickly realize that I would not make it if I did not re-root myself in the community.

The community work I rooted myself in quickly led me back to APANO. Within my community, I was able to find countless others who have actually helped me along the way on this journey. I too have leaned back to lend a hand in supporting others in the community. I now spend my time collaborating with non profits while using my privilege to help others build their stories of community American dreams. I get to hear what their struggles are as a contractor, and how I can help them navigate with clear, precise support and directions. I get to hear the stories of their journey as I reflect on mine and how I got where I am today.

I hope to one day be able to fully fund the start of a youth group pipeline for Asian American youth at local non-profits to create space for those wishing to, be able to experience hands-on, in person, and on-the-job work while striving to expose, explain and explore what being a construction doctor, engineer and pharmacist can look like. How we in the trades examine, diagnose, and prescribe our own work as a community to be better in building dreams one brick at a time. And maybe if I can take one sleepy biology student, and help guide them like I have with others in the trades, I can say that the American Dream I was meant to live has always been there. It was in the journey of supporting others in the workforce and contractor development programs I have built in the community and continue to do so to this very day.

Love your singing contractor,

Tina Pham

*Tina loves to do lots of different activities but one of her favorites is karaoke!