Growing up in a poor, refugee family from Vietnam in a trailer park in Sacramento, Calif., I never thought my story mattered.

I remember thinking, “Why would anybody care about a poor Asian kid?” Most of the successful people I saw on TV were white. Deep down inside, I thought it would be so cool to be on TV and be a voice for the voiceless, but in the early ’80s, even Oprah wasn’t living her best life. She was navigating her way through the talk show world. I dreamed of running scripts to LeVar Burton on “Reading Rainbow.” He was one of the only black male TV show hosts I saw on TV.

It wasn’t until several mentors convinced me my story, my talent for connecting with people, mattered, that I started to realize my true American Dream. It’s crazy to me that Forbes recently wrote an article about my latest passion work, a podcast called “TruthDare,” which is an amalgam of my professional work as a nonprofit founder, motivational speaker and university instructor.

After the fall of Saigon, my family of 10 came to the U.S. with just four dollars and hopes of achieving the “American Dream.” For my parents, the dream was for me to become a “doctor, lawyer, engineer.” But what got me excited to wake up each morning was my love for reading, writing and interacting with people.

I read every single book I could get my hands on. Reading was a way for me to escape the reality of living in Section 8 housing, welfare and hopelessness in the different neighborhoods we inhabited. I read every children’s book I could get my phalanges on. I read my older sister’s textbooks. I even read shampoo bottles aloud in the shower: “Rinse, lather, repeat, methylparaben.”

My parents’ dreams for me went unfulfilled. I tried to be a pediatrician and even took Mr. Clarion’s honors chemistry class in high school, barely passing. I remember feeling the lowest of energy forms when I tried to make my parents’ American Dream come true. Instead, I listened to my inner GPS and found my American Dream by inspiring people to discover their superpower and use it to help others.

My journey took me to the University of San Francisco, where I had five internships, worked nearly full-time and carried a heavy load of classes. My reporting career took me from Wausau, Wisconsin, to Midland, Texas, then Fresno, Calif., and finally San Francisco. Eventually, I left the TV biz because I wanted to use my knack for storytelling to lift, gift and shift people.

I did this through my nonprofit, Go Inspire Go. It started with me and Kathryn Blancas, one volunteer. Fast-forward nine years later, more than 100 videos of heroes whom I will never forget, 150+ volunteers around the world and enough impact to make me feel like I’ve lived several lifetimes.

From Phoebe Russell, who, as a 5-year-old, was sad to see so many hungry and homeless people in her community. She wanted to collect aluminum cans and give the earnings to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. We helped her enable the food bank to give out more than 200,000 meals.

Then there’s Dr. Ron Holt, a psychiatrist who spends much of his free time speaking about his research and personal experiences to spread compassion in the LGBT community. He travels the country to promote kindness and self-love as he shares his harrowing story about growing up gay in a small Midwest town. People who saw our video wrote to Dr. Holt and said it inspired them to come out to their opposite sex partners and kids. One person wrote in telling Dr. Holt he had been kicked out of his home after coming out to his parents as a teen. He said the video and Dr. Holt’s story inspired him to live another day and be OK with his truth.

Every single hero’s story I’ve told changed my own story, and I promise you, if you pay attention, it will change yours, too. You see, all of our stories matter. Many times, we just feel like they don’t. There were countless times I contacted someone I wanted to feature and he or she would say, “But, I’m not a hero.” After speaking with them and sharing other hero stories I’ve covered, many told me they got off the phone and wept in realization that they, too, matter.

Although I never became a doctor at my parents’ behest, I was reminded by a dear friend and mentor, Gina Pell, that I AM a doctor: a doctor of the soul.

I truly thought I would be a billionaire before I would make it in Forbes. I have now been featured by them twice. Although I may not have a billion dollars in my bank account — yet — I feel like a billion dollars, thanks to a life full of rich experiences paid for by the risks, challenges and hardships my parents and ancestors endured.

One of my favorite quotes shared by the late Maya Angelou is, “Your crown has been paid for. Put it on and wear it.”

I’m happy to share I’m wearing my crown and sharing it with everyone I meet. I dare you to live your truth, share your story and wear (and share) your crown.

Be good,
Dr. Toan Lam

The post A Billion Reasons Why I’m Living the Dream of Inspiring Others (Including Forbes!) appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

I can’t believe I just typed those words, as this is something I kept to myself until now. I think sharing my magic will encourage people to believe, too (pinching myself while writing this on an Amtrak train from Philly to NYC).

While on an East Coast tour for Go Inspire Go and motivational speaking, I was on a plane and saw one of my favorite stories, “The Wizard of Oz,” in the queue of the in-flight entertainment. Who wouldn’t love a story with lions, witches and, for some, glittery shoes? Dorothy had a fabulousness all to herself: her energy, her spirit and her sense of adventure of wanting to go over the rainbow where she, too, could spread her wings and fly like the bluebirds. Little did I know, Dorothy’s message and her journey would have so many parallels for me and if you pay attention, perhaps for you too.

I was a fan since seeing my sister Lynn Billett in “The WIZ” performed live at Valley High in my hometown of Sacramento. At the time, I didn’t know how or why that story resonated with me so much. Like Dorothy, I needed to go further along my journey before I could fully understand it.

But something in me knew it was special. It touched me deeply. “You’ve always had the power,” was one of my favorite quotes by Glinda the Good Witch. Wow, so much meaning packed into those five words.

As a child, I used to wake up thinking, “Who am I going to meet? What am I going to learn? What does the day have in store?” I, too, wanted to see other lands. I knew I, too, had a bigger story to tell one day.

My parents were much like Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. They tried to tame my excitement and sense of exploration. Like many Asian immigrant parents, my mom’s American dream for me was to be (cue cute little Asian woman’s broken English voice) “a doctor, lawyer, engineer.”

I wanted to use my power of communication — reading, writing and talking — in some way, shape or form. I failed them, it seemed, because I took a risk and followed my yellow brick road to attend the University of San Francisco, which led me to become a TV reporter.

“How you make money tell stories? How you have money buy clothes for TV?” Ma would ask, puzzled.

Back then, I was mad because her American dream didn’t match my American dream for myself. But now that I’ve met many “wizards” who I thought reigned in the Land of Oz (or TV, etc.), I realize that you never quite arrive, that you have the power to change your story and that the change starts with a small action you can make today.

For me, the preconceived notion of the “dream” was to become a TV reporter. Then I got a taste of working at PBS as a co-host/correspondent. Later, I added university instructor to the resume. The twists and turns in the road led me to different characters and places — my own Oz continues to change.

I never thought my story mattered… it wasn’t until I told people about how we immigrated to America on a boat and landed in Sacramento with four dollars to our name. How our first home in the U.S. was in a trailer park. Or the story of how I achieved my dreams and still am dreaming a bigger dream. But my story does matter and so does yours.

That is why I’m excited to finally, fully share my story and allow it to be told. Here is my story told for the first time in this fashion by Brian Rashid, a motivational speaker, former speechwriter for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and writer for Forbes.

Like Dorothy, my Kansas was Sacramento, California. I, too, didn’t know why, oh why, I couldn’t go to another place — a land far away from some of the bad zip codes where I had to learn to stand tall on my own feet.

Like Dorothy, the yellow brick road is my life’s adventure to lands near and far. My journey has taken me all across the U.S. and to other continents. I was able to do stories, motivational speaking and storytelling workshops across many ponds, the U.K., Ireland, Australia… and, oh, the people I met! The lions who yearned for courage, the scarecrows who thought they didn’t have a brain and the tin men and women who had a bigger heart than they could ever know. I met soul brothers and sisters and together, we continue to rise above the clouds to discover other rainbows.

I believe if we do life right, our relationships, the people we meet — our light, our rainbow shines brighter. The characters in your story help make your life less bumpy. I met some seemingly bad witches who tried to cast societal spells on me. People who tried to make me fall under life’s “safe” category, chasing after big paychecks and larger-than-life job titles.

But instead, I followed my gut and diverged from their road. Brick by brick, experience by experience, the path turned golden. I learned life lessons and made soul connections money couldn’t buy.

The next road I’m choosing? My biggest dream ever — a role that’s authentic to my heart and soul — that of “Inspirator.” It’s a made-up word that I believe means, “One who inspires others to be better and do better for themselves and others.”

Together, let’s skip, do cartwheels and click our heels together so that you, too, can discover your power. That is my American dream — my soul’s dream for me and you.

I hope to meet you along the yellow brick road. Please share your story and the stories of heroes around you.

Onward and upward,
Toan

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