The story of a female vice president who left her coffin and quit her job to… sell tea

Editor's note: Streamlining the organizational structure along with streamlining the payroll and restructuring the staff is becoming a hot keyword of interest.

This is considered a "revolution" that will develop the country in the era of rising up. It is expected that about 100,000 workers will leave the state sector. Many of the downsized personnel in their 30s and 50s are inevitably confused and worried.

Finding a job or starting a business at this age is a challenge for many people. However, you are not alone, because in fact, many individuals have gone through the same stages as you.

From a female vice president familiar with administrative work, receiving a regular monthly salary; from a principal, a lecturer familiar with the rhythm of teaching from morning to night in each lecture hall... they became typical million-dollar business owners, building their own careers at the age of 30-50, even helping many people.

Dan Tri launched the series "Breaking out of the comfort zone" with the aim of spreading positive energy, which is a suggestion to help many people have more motivation and a new direction for themselves.

On her first day off from work at the People's Committee of Song Cau town, Dong Hy, Thai Nguyen, Ms. Vu Thi Thuong Huyen posted on her personal Facebook page a photo with the caption: "Against the sun".

Leaving the position that many people dream of, Ms. Huyen admits that she will have to walk on a path where the first steps are not easy, like someone walking against the sun may not even be able to see clearly ahead.

But then, the woman born in 1974 decided to step out of her comfort zone...

Enthusiastic, dedicated, and devoted to movement activities, Ms. Huyen gradually matured from local union work, was selected to be a source of cadres and participated in training courses in Hanoi.

From 2000 to 2021, she held many local positions such as Secretary of the Youth Union of Song Cau town, Vice Chairman of the People's Council, Vice Chairman of the Town People's Committee in charge of economics, culture, social security...

For more than 20 years of working, the petite woman has always completed her tasks well and excellently, even bringing to light some negative incidents in the locality. In 2021, Ms. Huyen decided to quit her job and devote herself to tea plants.

Ms. Huyen's decision to leave the state agency at a time when the Covid-19 epidemic was tense made her family and many people worried.

"Everyone says, if others can't get in, I'll have to get out. Social distancing, production and trade are stagnant, state officials are the most stable, somehow they will get paid at the end of the month. If I quit now, what will I do when I don't know how the epidemic situation will develop?", Ms. Huyen recalled the dissuasion.

Thinking about the regular salary of 8 million VND per month - not too much money but enough to take care of 2 children (born in 2007 and 2009) for education and family expenses, thinking about her husband who is a driver whose job is affected by the epidemic... the town vice chairman could not help but feel bewildered.

Furthermore, having a stable job in one place for too long also makes this woman have many fears: "I realize that my creativity and ability to approach new things are fading. At the age of nearly 50, what can I do?"

But then, under the influence of many factors and above all the desire to live a different life, to prove her ability and knowledge, Ms. Huyen decided to close the door of her office at the People's Committee of Song Cau town and open another door for herself.

After quitting her job at a state agency, Ms. Huyen received nearly 200 million VND in support, but it was only enough to pay off the loan to study for a master's degree in Hanoi.

At that time, she had almost no capital. Having been attached to tea plants since childhood, this woman decided to choose the path of making clean tea with the experience and techniques she had cultivated during her working life.

Song Cau town, where Ms. Huyen was born, is a famous tea growing area of Thai Nguyen. The tea hills here are the embodiment of a heroic historical period, both resistance and production.

Song Cau Tea Factory had a proud time when, together with the Tea Corporation, it brought Vietnamese tea to many countries around the world before having to operate at a standstill and then close down. With a vast raw material area without an outlet, farmers struggled to find all kinds of fertilization techniques as the Song Cau Tea branch gradually "shrank".

Ms. Huyen is still haunted by the smell of herbicide every time she walked among the Song Cau tea hills more than ten years ago or the unpleasant smell of pesticides that hit her nose every time she opened a bag of pre-processed tea.

In 2014-2016, seeing the raw material area still sprouting every day but with no outlet, farmers had to bring tea to the market to sell at a cheap price of only 30,000 VND while not far away, people in Tan Cuong tea area sold their products at a price 10 times higher, many other tea areas were changing... the woman bitterly realized that her farmers were "losing right at home".

While still working, Ms. Huyen had the idea of establishing a cooperative to revive the tea growing area and find an outlet for the legendary local product.

In 2016, Ms. Huyen discussed with her sister Vu Thi Thanh Hao - a kindergarten teacher who quit her government job because of low salary - to establish Thinh An Tea Cooperative to realize her passion: Making clean tea and developing tourism.

In the early years of the cooperative’s establishment, Ms. Huyen took farmers to learn tea care techniques, tea processing, and building tea growing processes according to safety, VietGAP, and organic standards. To gain more business knowledge, every weekend, this woman rode her motorbike back to Hanoi to study for a master’s degree in business administration at Thang Long University.

"I planned to quit my government job in 2025 to prove that I have enough knowledge to do other jobs, by then my children will be older. But after some events, I decided to break out earlier," said Ms. Huyen.

At first, she had no capital, was inert because of "sitting in one place for too long" and had technological limitations, making Ms. Huyen feel overwhelmed by the market's rotation. At that time, social distancing was in place due to Covid-19, so the difficulties this woman encountered seemed to multiply.

"Most of the goods sent to the provinces were turned back. The shipping fee was still millions of dong per trip, but the goods could not be delivered. Tea was still collected every day to be processed, filling up the warehouse. Seeing the amount of goods stuck, I felt like I was sitting on a bed of fire," Ms. Huyen recalled.

At this time, Ms. Huyen could only encourage farmers in the cooperative to follow the procedures from fertilization to preliminary processing. The goods were temporarily stored in the warehouse and reserve capital was used to advance to some households that were really in difficulty.

As social distancing regulations gradually eased, Ms. Huyen returned to Hanoi to "stand guard" at the cooperative booth in the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center at 489 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi. During the week, she still shuttles back and forth between Hanoi and Thai Nguyen.

"I went home to discuss and handle work, then went home but only dared to stand outside the iron gate to look at my children. At that time, I was very worried, but thinking about the day when my family would have a stable life, thinking about the farmers working hard on the tea fields, I had the motivation," said the 51-year-old woman.

When the epidemic was under control, Ms. Huyen received a few customers at her 6m2 booth in the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center. The customer base was already thin due to lack of care and investment, and after the epidemic, it dropped even more. There were days when she sat all morning and could only sell 1-2 taels of tea.

However, those difficult days gradually passed when this woman realized the bottlenecks that needed to be removed.

In order not to waste space in the "golden land" of the Capital, Ms. Huyen wrote a project to report to Thai Nguyen province asking to build an exhibition area to experience Thai Nguyen's key OCOP products with the theme "The Windy Capital in the Heart of Hanoi" to introduce Thai Nguyen's tea and agricultural products to customers in the Capital.

With each guest who came to the booth, Ms. Huyen spent a lot of time sharing knowledge about tea and offering free tea.

Thanks to her knowledge as a tea artisan, Ms. Huyen gives her customers her own "attentive" care: "I want every customer to drink tea when they buy it, only buy it if they are satisfied, any tea package received when cut can be exchanged normally. I always put the interests of the customer first."

Ms. Thuong Huyen invited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to drink tea at the 2022 work summary conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Photo: Provided by the character).

Ms. Huyen also actively participates in the province's trade promotion programs to introduce products, coordinates with resorts and universities to organize sessions introducing Vietnamese tea and introducing the Song Cau tea brand.

"I asked people who go to pick tea and make tea to take pictures and simultaneously promote Song Cau tea's image on social media platforms," Ms. Huyen said about the first steps of bringing Song Cau tea to the "online market".

To solve the capital problem, Ms. Huyen rotated money sources and borrowed capital from Microfinance Organizations (financial organizations supporting economic development and poverty reduction in Vietnam).

The customer base has expanded each year, and many people have called to order from the phone number on the tea package sent by friends and partners.

"From counting each ounce of tea every day, the number of customers gradually increased. Song Cau tea not only serves domestic customers but also conquers many demanding markets such as Russia, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Japan or follows overseas Vietnamese to European countries.

"From selling tea for 30,000 VND a kilo in the past, I can now increase the value to sell it for 3-4 million VND. In just 7-8 days of the fair, our booth had revenue equal to a month before," Ms. Huyen said.

Thinh An Tea Cooperative, headed by Ms. Huyen, ensures the purchase of products for nearly 160 households, with a raw tea area of 50 hectares. By 2025, Thinh An Tea Cooperative, directed by Ms. Thuong Huyen, has 6 OCOP products achieving 4 stars, of which "Premium Thinh An Tea" (Dinh Tea) and Black Tea are potential 5-star products.

Thinh An Tea Cooperative also builds experiential tours and green tourism to tell the story of the legendary tea region of the midland.

Together with Thinh An Tea Cooperative, Ms. Huyen had the opportunity to attend many important events of the agricultural sector, attend the exhibition of Vietnam - Cambodia defense economic products, the 2024 Prime Minister's Dialogue with Farmers Conference, invite tea to counselors, ambassadors, and the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)...

Looking back on the past journey, the Director of Thinh An Cooperative tearfully said: "I will never know how strong I am if I do not take bold steps. Naturally, I can exploit values that I did not expect I could do so well."

Delegates from the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture visit the booth displaying tea and agricultural products of Thai Nguyen in 2023 (Photo: Provided by the character).

Starting her business at the age of U50, Ms. Huyen said she had nothing but the sole belief that if her products were standard and clean, there would definitely be a way forward.

"I work and learn at the same time. I do as much as I can, step by step, without skipping or comparing myself to others, which can put me under pressure or force me to rush or act without thinking. Just knowing that today is better than yesterday is enough," the female cooperative director confided.

Faced with the process of streamlining and restructuring the state apparatus, which will force 100,000 employees to leave the public sector, the female director expressed sympathy and shared: "There are crossroads that people are forced to choose.

If you are brave, you can change your life and maybe fulfill some of the dreams you had when you were young but could not fulfill. Government officials are all people with basic foundations and equipped with knowledge, so why can farmers do it and you can't? Think about it...dare to make your life better."