06/06/2019
I have been with State Farm for over 5 years now, and I think it's about time I am sharing my life story with my clients and fellow agents.
I was born in Cambodia. I am a genocide survivor. The Khmer Rouge (Cambodian communists) starved my parents to death and killed more than fifty of my relatives. I was in a labor camp for almost five years where I was forced to work thirteen hours everyday without pay and I was starving. I escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand, came to the U.S., graduated from Reed College in mathematics, got a master's degree from Bowling Green State University in applied statistics, had a combined 25-year career in management consulting and software engineering. I was building online banking software at Fiserv when State Farm recruited me.
After I published my memoir, Golden Leaf, I created a foundation, Golden Leaf Education Foundation (GLEF). So far, GLEF has built five schools, four basketball courts, and served over five thousand children in remote villages of Cambodia.
I love helping people. Despite what was done to me and my family, I love people. I love my wife and two children. I met my wife in high school and we've been together since I graduated from Cleveland High School in 1983. My son just completed his junior year at University of Portland in business. My daughter is also going to UP. She just finished her first year in genetics biology.
I have come a long way from the Killing Fields. Being a State Farm agent is one of the best things in my life. I get to work with amazing people at State Farm, my licensed staff at my agency, my wife at the reception desk, and many awesome clients and prospects.
My journey started out incredibly horrific, but today my curses have been transformed into my blessings.
