I was ready to create something worthy of the business acumen I had developed over the years, and that matched the potential I knew I had, i wanted to reach a greater audience than I could through a traditional retail setting. Monica Phromsavanh More Quotes by Monica Phromsavanh More Quotes From Monica Phromsavanh We lived a life of poverty that only a refugee could know, hundreds of families lived in a warehouse without electricity or running water. Work was sporadic and often impossible to find. We didn’t speak Spanish and the Laotian people were subject to harassment and treated with little respect. Monica Phromsavanh us Two weeks later, I was on an airplane for the first time in my life and landed at JFK without knowing a word of English. Monica Phromsavanh us I took every shift that was available to me, and I never refused any task. I wanted to outwork all of my coworkers, and when I did I was promoted to manager. Monica Phromsavanh us