Meet Sophie Tran | Creator of Mommy & Me Vietnamese

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophie Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophie, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
When I was a baby, my parents wished there was a VHS tape that could teach me Vietnamese while they were at their corporate jobs. They couldn’t find one so they made one. Friends and family asked for a copy and soon it became so popular that it became a blossoming business, known globally around the world wherever Vietnamese communities formed after escaping the Vietnam war post 1975. Their company was called The He Tre which means Young Generation. At that time all the world envisioned when they thought of Vietnam was a war-torn country full of jungles in movies and documentaries. My parents provided their videos about the Vietnamese culture, music and language to libraries around the world from Austrailia to Europe to America so that when a Vietnamese student was tasked at writing a report about their heritage, they would be able to share about Vietnam’s beauty not just our tragedies. Success and popularity comes at a price though as our iconic store inside the Asian Garden Mall and all franchises shut down due to changing technology making bootlegs and piracy easier. It was the end of an era and a loss for our community.

Against my parents’ advice I have continued to pursue the dream of resurrecting their empire and continuing their legacy in helping the younger generation understand their roots through educational videos. It was hard to do alone and so I worked at many Vietnamese TV stations producing programs for the youth but just under a different name. Honing my skills and creating connections for the day I became strong enough to do what I’ve always wanted to do: help kids of Vietnamese heritage to grow up into confident, happy, bilingual individuals who are proud of where they came from.

Like what happened to my parents, my daughter became my inspiration and my muse for creating learning content for this generation. This time, even the parents from my generation wanted to learn Vietnamese too. I realized that learning Vietnamese is not for the child to do alone but now, it is a chance for parents and their children to bond by learning something together. That’s why I call my new show Mommy & Me Vietnamese to symbolize the parent and the child taking a class together.

Some people may think that after the 2nd generation of Vietnamese people who didn’t learn how to speak Vietnamese due to their parents focusing more on assimilation with the mainstream culture back then, the Vietnamese language will be lost from that point on but I disagree. I found that 2nd and 3rd generation parents may want their child to learn Vietnamese even more because we know what it feels like to feel disconnected, to feel caught in the middle of two cultures and wished that we knew more about our family’s roots. Many Vietnamese Americans who grew up in the United States spent their childhood feeling ashamed of our culture but later spent college and their adult years chasing whatever connection that we can find with others of similar backgrounds through food, music, entertainment and culture. That’s why this generation wants to provide our children with the gift of knowledge so that they can grow up to be secure, confident individuals who know where they came from and can proudly pass on our beautiful traditions and stories.

My goal is to push out educational, entertaining content for this generation to catch this wave and link the past with the future before the chain is broken. Young Vietnamese American parents want it and I hope to help provide resources and tools for families to guide their children. It’s been years since my parents stopped producing programs due to new technology killing their business. In my generation, my sister and I are working hard to use new technology to grow our business and continue our parents’ legacy of promoting the Vietnamese language and culture around the world so that no matter how many generations removed you are from Vietnam, that you can feel comfortable in your own skin and connected with your family’s origins.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up on set with directors as parents. At times I was in front of the camera, at other times I was sitting under my mom and dad’s chairs as they edited music videos. Like many children of immigrants, I was highly involved in my family’s business from helping plan out scripts, to being present for production, to reviewing freshly edited programs with my parents to even putting the VHS tapes into their boxes and selling our tapes at the store. While my friends at school often complained that they are so bored at home, my after school activities encompassed recording voice overs, practicing for upcoming community event shows and even teaching Vietnamese on camera to kids my age.

When I turned 12, I auditioned for and got accepted to the Orange County High School of the Arts and studied Film & Television as a formal education to pair with my first hand childhood experience. After graduating high school early, I earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Film & Media Studies at UC Irvine by the time I was 20 all while I continued to work for my family’s company. I was ready to inherit an empire but instead left with a bankrupt company that shut down due to bootlegs being sold for way cheaper.

I decided to continue my passion by creating content for Vietnamese American youth, not under my family name but for the top Vietnamese TV stations in our community. After nearly 15 years of working in the TV industry as a producer and tv personality, I’ve made connections, gained experience and built a name for myself so that I could finally do what I’ve always dreamed of doing and that’s continuing my parents’s legacy for the next generation. There’s no such thing as an overnight success, at least for me, it was years of dedication and commitment, hard work and sacrifice with one dream in mind and today I am living that dream. Doing what I have always wanted to do: I may not make a lot of money but I hope I make a difference in someone’s life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love introducing people to Little Saigon in Orange County. It may seem a little intimidating to the outsider at first with all the foreign words on storefronts, employees that may not speak English or new cuisines in restaurants that mostly have a Cash Only sign next to the register. One of my favorite spots to take visitors is Brodard or Brodard Chateau for their crunch life changing spring rolls, my favorite place to eat pho is Phoholic and I love the banh mi at Phuc Long Tea House. We could get Vietnamese Coffee at Trung Nguyen Coffee or Da Vien Coffee and eat dessert at Che Hien Khanh. The Asian Garden Mall is an icon in Little Saigon. If they visit during the Tet season, which is Vietnamese Lunar New Year, I would take them to the flower market and Tet Festival at the OC Fairgrounds and tell them about our community’s history. If they are looking to get a Vietnamese traditional costume, ao dai made, I know a lot of Vietnamese designers depending on which style and budget my friend has, if they like music, there are places that play acoustic music to vinahouse. I find it an honor to be able to introduce Little Saigon to anyone interested.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
-The two people who inspired me to do what I do are my parents. Their influential work has helped a whole generation of Vietnamese people around the world stay connected to their heritage and families. Their legacy is so large that I only hope to contribute to it and continue it however I can. -My sister, Jennifer Tran has been my sidekick since we were kids and she still is one of my biggest supporters. It’s amazing to share a passion with someone who just gets where I came from and where I want to go and I’m so grateful to have you as one of the biggest driving forces behind Mommy & Me Vietnamese.
– My husband for supporting my dreams and aspirations. I couldn’t do it without all your help.
– My daughter Aria for being my muse and my driving force for creating content in time for you to learn. I’ve always known that I wanted to continue our family legacy but you are the person who points me in the direction of how to do it. Children are the most honest critics and the content I make is catered to you and your peers.
– All the supporters of Mommy & Me Vietnamese, from financial donations to get us started again to business collabs to volunteers in the entertainment industry to the viewers for watching our content everyday. Every little bit helps us grow closer to our goal of providing resources to new parents.

Instagram: @mommyandmeVietnamese

Facebook: @TheHeTreOfficial

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@thehetretv

Other: TikTok: @mommyandmeVietnamese