20 years later: Louisville executives look back on 9/11
I was at University of Louisville Speed school for my first semester as an undergrad for computer engineering and computer science degree. I was with a group of friend trying to get an early brunch/lunch at the engineer cafeteria (today Miller IT Center.)
I was one of many, if not all, students in the Speed school cafeteria gathered around the TV with Breaking News reading “America (or United States) is under attack.” The news was playing the first tower of the World Trade Center on fire, and then another plane going through the second one.
At that moment, I didn’t know what to think but simply having a feeling like the world will fall — more like we are being invaded by aliens from outer space movies that we watched. The real fear of not knowing what to do or where to go, because I immigrated from Vietnam where wars destroy our country. I always believed and still do that the USA is the gold standard and the number one country on earth. So at that moment of the 9/11 attack, I felt lost and wondering where else to go from here.
As part of Kentucky State Board of Cosmetology requirement for enrolling in KY State beauty licensing program school such as Louisville Beauty Academy, a student must be a high school graduate, or having a GED. If student who graduate in state of Kentucky and attended Jefferson County Public School (JCPS), he/she may request a high school transcript online as below:
If you already have your beauty license but haven’t worked in this field for a while, or if you are a transferred licensed professional/student from other states and needing a brush-up for your job or Kentucky State Licensing Examination – THIS IS THE PROGRAM FOR YOU
Di Tran is receiving this recognition on behalf of everyone from Di Tran Enterprise. We thank the community people of Louisville Kentucky for the ongoing support. Di Tran Enterprise wishes to continue this effort to serve and add more value to our community development.
Jewish Family & Career Services Mosaic Award 2020-2021 and Louisville Business First + University of Louisville – Family Business Award Finalist
Louisville Beauty Academy – Founder – Di Tran – Spreading the Community Service Mentality
Di Tran is the founder of Louisville Institute of Technology and the Louisville Beauty Academy. He is currently a participant in the Louisville Welcome Academy, the Office for Globalization’s free leadership training program for leaders who work with the international population.
His work was recently highlighted in Louisville Business First.
Tran says that he is on a mission to bridge the gap that exists “between the foundational knowledge students can learn through college and the practical application of skills that businesses are looking for in new hires.”
The Louisville Institute of Technology is a post-secondary education institution that offers a three-month apprenticeship program for students who want to their basic knowledge and turn it into in-demand skills.
Tran would like to work with employers to offer the program as an alternative training programs, get accredited through the U.S. Department of Education so that students have financial aid options, and become approved by the Kentucky Commission on Proprietary Education in order for veterans to use their benefits.
Jewish Family & Career Services is proud to honor our MOSAIC Award recipients. These five individuals who call Louisville home have made significant contributions in their professions and our community. To date, JFCS has recognized almost 70 refugees, immigrants, and first-generation Americans who make our community richer and stronger for their work. We are excited to have Neeli Bendapudi, Di Tran, Berta Weyenberg, Kaveh Zamanian, and Bapion Ziba join the ranks of these remarkable individuals.
Di Tran – Jewish Family & Career Services – Mosaic Award Winner – May 2021
This is Di Tran’s story.
Di Tran was 12 years old when he fled Vietnam with his parents and three sisters to begin a new life. Knowing no one in the United States, they reached out to Catholic Charities who sponsored them to come to Louisville. His parents worked factory jobs, sleeping about five hours a night for five years until they saved enough to build USA Nails on Broadway.
After school, Di worked in the store every day. He went on to University of Louisville and earned a master’s degree in computer engineering and sciences while helping his mother to expand the number of nail salons they had in Louisville.
Di worked at UPS, Humana and other companies in Louisville all the while expanding the family business. Ultimately, with his mother, he started the Louisville Beauty Academy and since its opening in 2016, have trained more than 260 people in cosmetology, nail technology, aesthetic.
Today, Di Tran runs Di Tran Enterprises, LLC which owns and operates licensed private post-secondary schools, as well as a variety of small businesses in the greater Louisville metropolitan area.
Additionally, Di serves as the President and Chief Academic Officer for the Louisville Institute of Technology, a post-secondary education institution he founded with the mission to prepare students and apprentices through intense, immersive practical training so that they may qualify for and attain employment in high-demand information technology technical fields and professions.
Di’s life story demonstrates the power of working hard to achieve goals, which is something JFCS Career Services clients do every day. Like Di, our clients rely on their own talents and strengths, receiving support from our career counselors along the way, to make and achieve their goals.
Louisville Business First (LBF) – Di Tran – Family Awards
Tell us about your role with your company and how you’ve contributed to making the business better.
As the founder, I am the business leader, motivator, finance officer, and chief labor worker. I simply wear multiple hats as any small business owner would. The key is, I enjoy doing all those things and love helping every single individual that I interact with, one way or another. There’s no job that is too small or too big. Lead by example, learn like a life-long student, be a mentee to many and be a mentor to a lot.
What have you learned from older family members in your family business?
Always be in survival mode. Always be hungry. Always serve and use your small business to serve even more. Focus on the need of the community and you will find your business in it.
What are you most excited about for the future of your company?
My dream is to have 1,000 graduates from our schools and, more importantly, 1,000 of those graduates being employed. I am close to the 500 marks. Of course, I don’t wish to stop at 1,000 but exponentially increase that number. That’s where the satisfaction comes in — giving back/paying forward to the No. 1 country on Earth and the best people on the planet, the United States of America, and, more specifically, the city of Louisville and its people.
Where would you like your career to be in 10 years?
I don’t focus on my career nor plan that far for myself or my career. My eye and mind are on a very specific target of what I want to accomplish, and that is those 1,000 graduates and many of those I mentor be successful. I want to die happy and smiling that I did pay it back to this No. 1 country on Earth that has accepted me and made it my second home for my family and my children.
What is something you think your generation does in terms of business better than any other generation?
Better is not the term I would use because if we read the history, processes, and rules for business success never change. As an example, small business success comes from hard work, persistence, failing a lot (fail 99 and win 1), and still do it. The rule never changes.
I would say different times require different minds and require consistent adaptation. In this world, technology is at the forefront of everything and so it is for small businesses. Learning usage and adoption of technology is a must. The older generation probably catches up slower than us, and we are slower than the next generation. It’s also a simple law of life — we get old and we tend to do what we know best. And I say it’s not a bad idea to stick to what you know best 80% of the time, which allows the 20% to change, even when we are old, to adapt.
Who is a business leader (outside of your own business) in Louisville you admire and why?
I don’t have an idol for small business, but I have and idol for life and way we live in life — and that person is my mom.
I have always wished to have David Jones Sr. and now David Jones Jr. to be my mentor so I can learn the magnificent transformation and contributions that they made for the city of Louisville through Humana and other companies.
Rising Star/Next Gen: Recognizes emerging leaders/next generation leaders who are making an impact in their business and their local community.https://3ed9f78323d699d3489d8e8af4546e46.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Chelsea Ellis, CEO, Jim Reynolds Asphalt Contractor Inc.
Terry Hyland, president, Hyland Insurance/AHA Insurance Network
Christina Searcy, director of client experience, Mira
Di Tran, President/CEO, Di Tran LLC – the Di Tran Enterprise that includes Louisville Beauty Academy LLC, Louisville Institute of Technology, Trans Family Properties LLC and USA, US and Bardstown Road Nails Salons LLCs
The leaders of Kentucky’s public community colleges raised an important and timely issue (“Will you be ready to go to work…” CJ, 3.8.2021) regarding the resources and support necessary to put Kentuckians back to work as the restrictions from the pandemic abate. The gap between available occupational, technical, and professional career opportunities and the workforce-ready talent to meet them has grown, not shrunk, in the last year. Lifting restrictions and opening in-person enterprises will unleash a tidal wave of pent-up demand that generates economic activity and wealth. The question is, who will benefit from that economic turbo-charge and for how long?
The emphasis on institutional diversity, equity and inclusion appropriately sets expectations that demand much more than status quo. Specifically, the DEI post-pandemic economy should benefit minority and low-income populations, and in a manner that is sustainable and long-term. The post-pandemic workforce and small business community in Louisville must reflect and support economic success and personal achievement by minorities, low-income individuals, immigrants, and those displaced by poor health, military service, and other social circumstances. Principles of diversity and inclusion are paramount.
Include Kentucky-based career colleges in the mix of institutions that are helping individuals re-train, re-skill and re-tool for employment and entrepreneurship post-pandemic. The Louisville Beauty Academy (www.louisvillebeautyacademy.net) and the Louisville Institute of Technology (www.louisvilleit.org) excel at providing on-time, immersive and true work-ready programs that prepare graduates for employment on day one. Completers at LBA immediately go to work for nail and beauty salons because the training specifically ensures their success in earning Kentucky licensure. Likewise, successful apprentices at LIT can attain the Full-Stack Programmer “I Have Done It” certificate in three months. Employers in financial, healthcare, logistics and manufacturing are eager to put those IT professionals to work immediately, solving enterprise system deficiencies and delivering end-to-end interoperability that includes text-driven end user applications.
LIT and LBA programs are extremely specific to the workforce. They are typically shorter and more intense than programs offered at other institutions because they recognize the importance of timely completion and employment. They are highly hands-on, emphasizing practical real-time instruction. The programs are highly affordable and accessible in-person, on-line or in combination.
Community college leaders acknowledged that job-seekers post-pandemic are “most likely to enroll in a nondegree program or seek skills training.” That phenomenon is driven by the economic and entrepreneurial opportunities right around the corner. LBA and LIT are ideal complements to public post-secondary education. The diversity and inclusion principles apply to the academies’ ownership, staff, and student populations. It should also apply to the institutional diversity that is supported in our community to achieve the DEI economic boom that is so necessary.
Di Tran, CEO – Louisville Beauty Academy/Louisville Institute of Technology
