AAPI Achieve Mentor Spotlight | Bao Hoang

Name: Bao Hoang | Business/Profession: Professor, Southern Arkansas University

Can you share a bit about your professional background and what inspired you to become a mentor for the AAPI Achieve program?

I am an Assistant Professor of Management at Southern Arkansas University. I am teaching strategic management and international business to undergraduate and graduate students. I am also the Founder and CEO of SPACE ASEAN which provides consultancies on ESG, decarbonization, climate risks, biodiversity, carbon credits trading and investments, and environment-related subjects.

What do you hope to achieve by mentoring other AAPI professionals, and how do you plan to support your mentee in their career development?

I would like to use my expertise and professional experience to help my mentee grow their business. I also assure my mentee that the entrepreneurial journal is quite challenging. However, it is rewarding because entrepreneurs usually are value creators for society.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were starting out in your career?

The startup is messy at the beginning but it gets better and better when time passes.

In what ways has your cultural heritage influenced your career, and how do you integrate these experiences into your mentoring style?

Vietnamese people tend to work very hard if they have good opportunities in life. There are many opportunities in the U.S., so they tend to overwork. I have advised my mentee that we need to draw a balance between work and life. Entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics.

What is a professional achievement that you are most proud of and why?

I was born and raised in a poor family in Vietnam. However, I managed to have a terminal degree in the U.S. while my parents and my siblings could not finish secondary school. Now, I have SPACE ASEAN, the firm would contribute to the efforts of achieving net-zero of 700 millions in Southeast Asia.