Anne Phung Nguyen

My name is Anne Phung Nguyen and I am a Vietnamese American entrepreneur residing in the beautiful Orange County California with my wonderful fianc JP and extremely happy Dad Henry. The majority of people know me through my Instagram @annephung, where I document my life - the highs, the lows and all in between. My parents accompanied my family to America in the year 1990, at which point I was just a year old. It wouldn't be possible to share my story to you now had my parents not worked for their dreams and put up with sacrifices. To give them a chance at a more prospering future, I aimed on my goals and worked hard in order to reach it. I had a set plan for my life: college graduate land a corporate job, marry, purchase an apartment and have children. Though I believed that this was the definition of success, life had different plans. In 2013, I realized that I was not happy being at my corporate job. The status and the money didn't not excite me. I felt like I wasted my time to earn a paycheck. I possessed a love of exercising and enjoyed being social and helping others while I walked this new path in life I was drawn to personal training. This year I'll be celebrating my 7th anniversary. In 2014 I began my own company. There are few Asian females working in the field. As an instructor, my aim is to encourage people to live a healthy and fulfilled life through creating sustainable lifestyles that cater to the individual's goals and needs. In addition, I wish for others to be empowered to pursue their goals and accomplish whatever they want throughout their lives. As my career started to flourish, I experienced the biggest loss in my life: my mother's death. Following an 8-year battle with the disease, she is at peace on Heaven. I will never forget her and continue to keep her in my thoughts as well as my heart. It's amazing how the world gives us exactly the lessons we need even when we do not realize that it is there. It was my mother's sudden death that changed me for the better. And I really believe I was given a second chance to experience the next stage of my life. It was Tet/Lunar New Year Day when she passed away. It was her time to start a new chapter in her life as I was given my second shot at living a happy and fulfilling life. In the 30's I am more alive than I ever have. I am able to say that I am living my life now, and not just surviving like I was previously. As I tell my story I hope my story will be a source of inspiration for those of yours. My hope is that my words can make you aware that you're never alone. You have the potential to accomplish anything that your heart desires. As death is all that we can have I wish you a great time in your life and die without regrets.