20-year-old and broken-hearted, she decided to leave Taiwan and start a new life. She literally “jumped the plane” and landed in LA California after finding her then fiancé cheated on her. She wanted a new beginning and have heard of the American dream.

It started really rough for her. She was a penniless immigrant, working menial jobs at 2-3 dollars/hour. Fast forward 30 years, she’s a multimillionaire entrepreneur R.N. who employees more than 100 people with more than 30 doctors on her payroll. She owns 5 Dialysis centers, pharmacies, health foundations, and multiple beautiful homes and condos in Southern California.

How did she do it? What are the most important lessons from her journey?


1.       Goals.
As she drove my sister and me from the LAX airport to her mansion in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in southern California, she said, in her accented English, “The #1 thing to success is to make goals. Once you make up your mind on your goal, you always find ways to accomplish it.”
At 20 year old, penniless and the first from her family to be in the US, own her own, she made up her mind to become very wealthy and to help all her family members to have a better and easier life than she did herself.
She did just that.


2.       Persistence.
She put herself through multiple training programs to get her LVN and eventually RN. It was hard to work multiple low wage jobs to pay for school and food but she did it.
Some of her business ventures failed. People flock to her when she made them money, left quickly when business ventures show any sign of weakness. But she persisted and continue to build her empire of multi-faceted medical business.


3.       Resilience.
She suffered great losses, financial, professional, and a few times personal. She lost her mother, my grandma shortly after losing her husband. She didn’t slow down with grief. She kept working hard towards her goals.
She weathered the hard time in life and in business with great resilience.


4.       Generosity.
She’s one of the most generous person I know. She’s employed and created job opportunities for all family members and friends who needed a job. I worked for her the summer before heading UC Berkeley. She tried to give me all the hours possible, allowing me to save up more than 5k before going to college.
Even though there are people who took advantage of her and back jab at her in return for her generosity, she has never lost faith in being kind and generous. She continues to help many people without jobs. Friends of friends and relatives from afar hear of her reputation and frequently ask for favors for job opportunities. As she continues to find ways to help others, she becomes more and more successful herself.


5.       Courage.
She’s a leader, not a follower. She studies her niche market and the numbers hard. Once she has her mind set on a business opportunity, she can’t be dissuaded. Sure some of the chances she took did not materialize, but the 10 or so large ventures she took became part of her medical empire which not only made her American Dream come true but also feed many families and given many their much needed job opportunities.


 If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.
5 Lessons a Penniless-Immigrant-Turned-Multimillionaire Aunt Taught Me

2 thoughts on “5 Lessons a Penniless-Immigrant-Turned-Multimillionaire Aunt Taught Me

  • January 18, 2017 at 2:45 PM
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    Very inspirational article thanks for sharing!

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