Khoa Le, Entrepreneur and Filmmaker: I feel like if you know how to do it,
if you have a feeling that you can solve something, then you better do it,
otherwise this universe is going to take it away from you.
Film Courage: How did your parents risk their lives for you and your brother?
Khoa: Well we are from Vietnam so 1975 was communism.
My family's background is we were rich people like Crazy Rich Asians you saw the movie, we were like
that in Vietnam and within that conversion 1975 everyone went to zero. My parents had told me that
they it was like a 50/50 or even 60/40 chance of dying to get us into a different country,
so we traveled by the boat and pirates and plundering and murders happen,
while I'm in the stomach of my mom. Their goal was to ensure that we were secured my brother and I,
they felt at the time there was no hope in Vietnam. They did everything they can, they said
they were rather die then to suffer in Vietnam, in feeling that we were going to be imprisoned.
Film Courage: And so you traveled to the US and you landed where?
Khoa: I was born in Thailand so we went to Thailand and then six months later I
came to America but during that time my mom had post-traumatic stress and even developed
slight schizophrenia and and then later on the Whatchamacallit the people took us into a foster
care so I was with foster care. My second parents were Irish and Italian and that's where I learned
how to play the piano, I learned the American culture, do that I learned a lot of type of stuff
and yeah so that was my upbringing. Then my parents and you know so think about this we
came from going into the country with no money going into a family that had a lot of money and
then about two years later go back to a family back into the ghetto only to survive again learn
how to survive and we went from being you know my foster parents are very loving people right and
and then going to the back going back to home in Jersey City [New Jersey] and it was really,
really bad back there, one of the worst cities in America, my parents were working 12-hour days so I
don't get to see my parents at all that's my life that's my that's my brother and I'll bring you how
long were you I guess was it called a ward of the court or you were with these foster parents yeah
they were forced until my mom got better you know they had to show proof that my mom had to have the
paper say that she's good she you know she's as long she's on the pills which she's still on today
you know she has to be on pills so she suppresses her anger on things so you were there a year six
months or oh for my foster parents I was there for about almost two years two years wow okay
without my parents yeah and then once they were in Jersey City then you went back to live with them
and now you're getting acclimated to New Jersey life yeah that's pretty much it yeah yeah I mean
you know my brother has the worst story because he's experienced racism right and his story was
you know he would get chased by the white folks when he was in the privileged neighborhood and
then he comes over here he gets minorities injured everyone is a minority in Jersey City
but we're all racist to each other but then in high school when I get it was a fight every day,
a shooting, a stabbing once a week, in the shooting once a month, no news, no media,
that's the norm and that's the school I went to just to put in perspective
and so was there a time where you were in high school where you said I don't want to stay here,
I want to leave. I didn't know there was another life the most I've seen was TV
you know what I'm saying like I never went into the most of it is going to New York City
and Jersey in life but and then that life in in foster care was so like a blur to me that I don't
remember God was the sort of baby when I was back there and so I thought that my life was gonna be
that you know always living in danger all the time how often do you think about those early stages in
your life and then What feelings are attached to those memories you know I think about every day
I got two kids and I think of how privileged they are you know and I think it's the thing
that feels me I still work 12 to 14 hours a day you know why it's because of those memories
it's being able to have is my parents I think about my parents giving us this shot at life
and for some reason I received all this these gifts abilities the capabilities that I have in
my pinky that most people I do know that you know technologically business-wise music and everything
else and I feel like it was not given to me by an accident it was given to me for a reason and
I feel like I put a lot of weight on my shoulder to go ahead and try to make the most out of it
and I always feel this way I feel like if you know how to do it if you have a feeling that you could
solve something then you better do it otherwise this universe is going to take it away from you
and your brother is where my brother is he lives in in Jersey in Central Jersey and he's
a software developer with nothing like me at all zero, he's a programmer, not into sports
19 music 90 films nothing like that but he's very supportive, he's a protective brother yeah
what would you say is the best thing or some of the best things that came from humble beginnings
understanding how to build something from scratch from nothing I think that is a gift I think that
you get perspective around not judging people no matter where they come from you try not to judge
them at least or you consider if you think something wrong you might you might think
something else around like okay there's a reason why they stole something at the store you know it
doesn't mean that bad people they just be able to survive so I think of it that way I look at it as
you know career speaking wise for me I look at it as it's because I came from nothing I was forced
to solve problems from you know like you know take you know I guess so it's you could give
me anything that and I'll be able to figure out how to solve it and that's what it was,
I don't know I would say like any problems we had so many problems and so many
adversity in life that that money was not the answer because we didn't have any so you figure
out how to solve it and you figure out how to do it efficiently you figure out how to do it with
with other people collaboratively with people and then you figure out how to do it again and
and I feel like how that affected me for today was well I mean it's how I created full feature films
built two businesses three businesses at the moment and and you know and be able to
survive through it and be able to come out something that's
almost what people consider almost impossibly impossible to to you know to see through so it
made you resourceful well 100 is resourceful yeah you think it also you weren't as afraid of risk
I'm always afraid of risk always afraid of risk I'm more afraid of disappointment from the risk,
I think just naturally I don't want my parents just being disappointed in me and I want my
friends disappointed me I think that it's this you know like unlike someone like Gary
Vee [Gary Vaynerchuk] or someone would say don't think who cares what people think about you I'm
the complete opposite where I care what the people that love me think about me because they work so
hard to get me to a place to to get to me to a place to have certain opportunities and I
wish to kind of squander that then it's almost selfish of me that I think the lookout for them
that's how I kind of look at it even though they might not be thinking that
but my mind always goes to that for some reason and it keeps me fired up.