Maiyoua K. Thao:
Translating for understanding
Translating for understanding
By Heidi M. Pascual
Maiyoua K. Thao is a 30-year old Hmong woman entrepreneur who considers herself "someone who
translates a thought into action." With this guiding principle, Thao, together with her husband, started
Universal Translation & Staffing, Inc. in Appleton, Wis. Their aim is to help Hmong refugees — like them —
understand the workings of the American society and adjust to the Western culture or blend it with their own.
She understands first-hand how difficult it is for the Hmong community to start over in a foreign land,
knowing that they have nowhere else to go to. This first-hand knowledge has given Thao the determination
to make it a little bit easier and more comfortable for others — especially the older generation of the
Hmong — to live in their new homeland.
In recognition of her and her husband's work, their business received the 2007 Wisconsin Minority
Business award for "Outstanding Business (Small Company)" during the Marketplace Conference on
October 11. Despite her accomplishments, Thao has not forgotten how far she has come.
"I was two years old when my family and I became refugees in Thailand," Thao recalled in an interview
with Asian Wisconzine. "I was 13 when we moved to the U.S., and we settled in St. Paul, Minn." The family
moved down to Wisconsin a year later to be close to their relatives who had convinced her dad that
Wisconsin had a "better education for the kids."
"So we moved to Neekoosa, a very small town with only three Hmong families at the time," Thao said,
adding that they felt left out. "We were very discriminated against. It was very hard to live in that town." The
family decided to move to Wisconsin Rapids and Thao considered the experience living there "OK."
"In 1995, I got married with my husband whom I met in Stevens Point at a Hmong festival when I was 16,
and we moved to Appleton with his family," she reflected. "We attended UW-Oshkosh, lived there for a
couple of years, and then we moved back to Appleton and started our business."
Thao earned a bachelor's degree in human services, and set a goal to eventually help the Hmong
community. At present, she's pursuing a master's degree in counseling, with the same thought in mind.
Starting the business
Thao credited her husband for coming up with the idea. "At first, we were doing the work for free for
families," Thao recalled. "They would ask us to go interpret at a clinic or social services, or social security
office. When my husband graduated in 1999 — he was then working for the Hmong Association up in
Appleton — he came up with the idea, 'Oh, let's turn that into a business,' so we started charging people to
do interpreting." Thao clarified that if someone called them who needed to go to a hospital, say for a lab
test, she or her husband would call the hospital, asking "'Well, we have this person coming in for a lab test,
and we'll come in to interpret. Will you pay for our service?" The answer usually was, 'Yes, we will pay for
you to come in and interpret.'"
That's how the business began in 2002. "My husband became its president," Thao said with a smile. "And
of course, I'm the vice president!"
Starting a business and keeping it alive are major challenges that the Thao couple faced. "We don't
have financial and management skills," Thao admitted. "We have no business skills at all; no business
experience. Our business experience is just talking to people to 'buy our product.' You know, you have to
be very good at talking and selling your 'product.' But when we started the business, we needed money to
pay our employees, we needed to have skills to market to the mainstream, and that's what we lacked. It was
very hard. We met with CEOs and presidents of medical clinics. If you don't know how to present your
product or service — to make it fit — so that they would like us, that's the hardest part."
The couple strengthened their relationship with their bank and became successful in getting a loan after
several meetings. That solved their financial problem. "We became good friends with the bank," Thao said,
"but we also have good credit with them."
To build their clientele, Thao also learned to personally market themselves. "We go to different agencies
to get business," Thao said. "And we also do a lot of advertising that says 'Send documentation that you
need to be translated to the language that you need.'"
Thao said they charge $35 per hour for medical and social services; and $50 per hour for law firms and
other private-practice professionals.
Nowadays, Thao's business gets calls from other companies for orientation and training of their
employees. In five years, this minority business has taken off.
"We bought a new building and we just moved in last July," Thao said proudly. "We have five staff in the
office and four staff on call. We also have other freelance interpreters from all over the U.S., and from
European countries for other languages."
The scope of the business has also expanded beyond mere translation. "We do interpreting; we also go to
meetings, workshops, and all that, in addition to document translation," Thao said.
Looking back to what she and her husband have done so far, Thao offers this advice to other minority
business owners: "If you have a dream and you have a thought, you can turn that thought and dream into a
business," she said. "Keep going for what you think is right. Never be afraid to try anything new."
If Thao has gone this far after only five years in business, there's no question that bigger things are yet to
come.
Maiyoua K. Thao is a 30-year old Hmong woman entrepreneur who considers herself "someone who
translates a thought into action." With this guiding principle, Thao, together with her husband, started
Universal Translation & Staffing, Inc. in Appleton, Wis. Their aim is to help Hmong refugees — like them —
understand the workings of the American society and adjust to the Western culture or blend it with their own.
She understands first-hand how difficult it is for the Hmong community to start over in a foreign land,
knowing that they have nowhere else to go to. This first-hand knowledge has given Thao the determination
to make it a little bit easier and more comfortable for others — especially the older generation of the
Hmong — to live in their new homeland.
In recognition of her and her husband's work, their business received the 2007 Wisconsin Minority
Business award for "Outstanding Business (Small Company)" during the Marketplace Conference on
October 11. Despite her accomplishments, Thao has not forgotten how far she has come.
"I was two years old when my family and I became refugees in Thailand," Thao recalled in an interview
with Asian Wisconzine. "I was 13 when we moved to the U.S., and we settled in St. Paul, Minn." The family
moved down to Wisconsin a year later to be close to their relatives who had convinced her dad that
Wisconsin had a "better education for the kids."
"So we moved to Neekoosa, a very small town with only three Hmong families at the time," Thao said,
adding that they felt left out. "We were very discriminated against. It was very hard to live in that town." The
family decided to move to Wisconsin Rapids and Thao considered the experience living there "OK."
"In 1995, I got married with my husband whom I met in Stevens Point at a Hmong festival when I was 16,
and we moved to Appleton with his family," she reflected. "We attended UW-Oshkosh, lived there for a
couple of years, and then we moved back to Appleton and started our business."
Thao earned a bachelor's degree in human services, and set a goal to eventually help the Hmong
community. At present, she's pursuing a master's degree in counseling, with the same thought in mind.
Starting the business
Thao credited her husband for coming up with the idea. "At first, we were doing the work for free for
families," Thao recalled. "They would ask us to go interpret at a clinic or social services, or social security
office. When my husband graduated in 1999 — he was then working for the Hmong Association up in
Appleton — he came up with the idea, 'Oh, let's turn that into a business,' so we started charging people to
do interpreting." Thao clarified that if someone called them who needed to go to a hospital, say for a lab
test, she or her husband would call the hospital, asking "'Well, we have this person coming in for a lab test,
and we'll come in to interpret. Will you pay for our service?" The answer usually was, 'Yes, we will pay for
you to come in and interpret.'"
That's how the business began in 2002. "My husband became its president," Thao said with a smile. "And
of course, I'm the vice president!"
Starting a business and keeping it alive are major challenges that the Thao couple faced. "We don't
have financial and management skills," Thao admitted. "We have no business skills at all; no business
experience. Our business experience is just talking to people to 'buy our product.' You know, you have to
be very good at talking and selling your 'product.' But when we started the business, we needed money to
pay our employees, we needed to have skills to market to the mainstream, and that's what we lacked. It was
very hard. We met with CEOs and presidents of medical clinics. If you don't know how to present your
product or service — to make it fit — so that they would like us, that's the hardest part."
The couple strengthened their relationship with their bank and became successful in getting a loan after
several meetings. That solved their financial problem. "We became good friends with the bank," Thao said,
"but we also have good credit with them."
To build their clientele, Thao also learned to personally market themselves. "We go to different agencies
to get business," Thao said. "And we also do a lot of advertising that says 'Send documentation that you
need to be translated to the language that you need.'"
Thao said they charge $35 per hour for medical and social services; and $50 per hour for law firms and
other private-practice professionals.
Nowadays, Thao's business gets calls from other companies for orientation and training of their
employees. In five years, this minority business has taken off.
"We bought a new building and we just moved in last July," Thao said proudly. "We have five staff in the
office and four staff on call. We also have other freelance interpreters from all over the U.S., and from
European countries for other languages."
The scope of the business has also expanded beyond mere translation. "We do interpreting; we also go to
meetings, workshops, and all that, in addition to document translation," Thao said.
Looking back to what she and her husband have done so far, Thao offers this advice to other minority
business owners: "If you have a dream and you have a thought, you can turn that thought and dream into a
business," she said. "Keep going for what you think is right. Never be afraid to try anything new."
If Thao has gone this far after only five years in business, there's no question that bigger things are yet to
come.
| Maiyoua Thao |