Luke and Hai Nguyen immigrated to Prince Edward Island from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The couple visited the Island months prior and spent most of their time exploring coffee shops. Hai planned to establish hers but had never worked in a coffee shop before. In fact, she had a 15-year career in advertising and communications and had the double challenge of moving to a new country and building a new business from the ground up.
Luke had a career in the petroleum industry in Vietnam, and found work in PEI as a Fleet Services Project Manager. Shortly after they arrived, Luke attended a session facilitated by the Construction Association of PEI and was connected to the Association’s director by his program officer. He completed a four-month course, applied for a position at Aspin Kemp and Associates, and landed it. His previous experience with oversea projects has made for a smooth transition to his current role.
To fulfil a lifelong dream of owning a coffee roastery on an island, Hai opened The Shed Coffee, a specialty coffee shop in downtown Charlottetown. “We have everything here. Everything is beautiful and fits with our lifestyle,” she says. Her previous advertising experience has been extremely useful. “Every principle is the same,” she says. Hai has been through a process of learning and understanding local insights directly from customers and adjusting her operations accordingly.
As clients of PEI Connectors, the couple says their program officers are always available to assist. “One of the most valuable things is that our previous skillset was recognized. Even though we were ready to start from the entry-level, we could keep building from our previous level,” Hai says.
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