“There is strength in diversity if we can embrace each other’s story and identify how we can learn from one another with compassion, patience, and encouragement.”
Meet UCI alumnus Hai Truong. Hai is a budding entrepreneur — the kind of role model who can #ActivateTalent. The front page of his website features a snazzy portfolio of his projects, from his work at UCI Applied Innovation to his start-up Creative Squeeze.
Hai describes his passion as “telling stories about entrepreneurship and business from a variety of perspectives.” To showcase how he tells those stories, his website features articles he has written. Hai’s specialty is brand publishing — writing copy that sells a brand, from freelance work to spinning UCI spirit. His goal is to spread awareness of a brand and inspire readers to take action.
As a content producer, Hai writes copy for UCI Applied Innovation’s website and Cove Currents newsletter, covering the latest entrepreneur and business activity at UCI and around Orange County. At UCI Applied Innovation, Hai is proud to be “engaging with programs and departments across campus and the surrounding community to participate in dialogue, conversations, and explore potential partnerships.” Working at the Cove in the UCI Research Park, he’s devoted to spreading the word about student, alumni, and researchers engaged in entrepreneurship and bringing potentially life-saving technologies to the marketplace.
Hai can relate and empathize with the people he writes about since his journey from UCI as an undergrad and then a return to UCI for his career is far from a predictable story. “Several years ago, I was working in the mortgage industry as a business analyst while freelancing as a copywriter. I was living with some friends from college and we tried to start a few businesses while working full-time. We tried finding mentors and getting advice, but our network was limited at the time, so we went with what we knew — and that resulted in several failed businesses.”
An unexpected layoff from his job took Hai in a different direction and presented another opportunity to try again with his start-up Creative Squeeze — a digital creative agency specializing in graphic design, web design, branding, and photography.
“With nowhere else to turn, these same friends and I came together again and tried our hand at building another business. In three years time, we became a profitable design agency, allowing my partners to quit their other jobs and work on the business full-time alongside me. It was a long road to get to that point, as I was working odd jobs and living as lean as possible to keep not only myself afloat but also helping my family. I’m grateful that I had two friends and business partners whom I could rely on. This experience also exposed me to entrepreneurship in a hands-on way I may not have otherwise explored given my circumstances.”
Friendships and professional relationships are some of the most important support networks that students can plug into during their time at college and long after they’ve graduated. UCI Applied Innovation channels this spirit of collaboration by building an ecosystem of support, resources, and mentorship for the campus and the community to spark innovations that can make a positive impact on society.
When asked for advice about college, Hai said “keep in mind that college isn’t just what you learn in the classroom. The value of your college education is also determined by the access you get to opportunities, communities, and resources that may change the course of your future in a really big way.”
At UCI, Hai learned the skills he needed for the workforce, but he also owes his success to his direct approach of asking for advice and trying new things. These are the skills that he wants to empower students with.
“College can be a transformative experience if you allow yourself to think of what you are capable of, passionate about, and most importantly how you want to make an impact. It isn’t easy to think about things this way if you have other pressures or expectations you have to balance.”
Balancing his passion and his ambitions with everyday pressures is no small task, but Hai more than lives up to the challenge. His story is inspiring for anyone who is discouraged by their first, second, or even third failed business. Always learning and growing along the way. Inspiring growth. That’s what it means to #ActivateTalent.
Hai is an #ActivateTalent hero because he believes “that talent and potential should not be restricted due to a person’s geography or economic situation. What’s important is to understand the challenges that each population goes through and to empower people to own their experience and journey so that they can be an advocate for themselves, and their community.”