Amy Nguyen

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

I'm Amy. I'm a Career Happiness Coach, an official member of the Forbes Coaches Council and a Brain-Based Coach trained by the NeuroLeadership Institute.

With unique experience taking charge of Happiness within myself, at home and at work, my mission is to help highly motivated and heart-centered women to, happily and practically, discover their Career Happiness Infinity Zone, map out the strategies as well as the next steps, and live it every day. I believe that we all deserve to be happy in our career and when we are happy and live our purpose, we will be successful.

I bring with me an extensive professional background of doing seven different jobs; the majority of which were in HR with MNCs across nine industries in three countries, namely Vietnam, Singapore and the United States. The central themes throughout my career are uplifting human potential and happiness with a focus on women. My most recent position before I decided to do coaching as a full-time job is the Head of Employee Happiness at the biggest e-commerce company in South East Asia, Lazada Group.

Tell us about your favorite Ellevate Network memory or success story. Why are you a member?

One of the events I loved so much is the very first mentoring meet-up where I joined as a mentor, where I was able to share tricks and tips that I had gathered throughout my career and as a Career Happiness Coach. The best moments were when the mentees told me that my advice was super helpful.

How would you define your professional mission?

My mission is to bring more happiness to our planet by helping its most deserving population of women to achieve their careers, and therefore life happiness. Typically, women come to me when they are in career transitions, at career crossroads or want a career pivot. I accomplish this mission through private coaching and workshops.

What qualities does it take for someone to be successful in your line of work?

First and foremost, great coaches ask great questions. In order to do so, the coach has to be a great listener who is intuitive, empathetic and unbiased. The other important qualities are inspiring, being positive and patient, and having an unwavering belief in human potential. My clients told me without these qualities from me, they would have given up on their journeys.

What is one of your most memorable career accomplishments?

Setting up a women's network with a range of programs and initiatives including establishing nursing rooms for mothers at my previous company. I am so proud of this as I was able to get it done in a company where leadership was occupied by young men around 30 years old who hardly knew about breastfeeding or related terminologies.

We’d love to hear more about your career path. What led you to where you are today?

When I was a high school student, I dreamed of being a writer to create novels that help enrich lives. Growing up, I was an English lecturer for a year before I did my masters degree in public policy with an aim to be an education policy maker. With a few internships and side hustles during the previous years, I graduated with an offer to join the HR department of a big MNC, and my career since then had a full swing in HR from recruitment and leadership development to employee happiness in different industries and cultures.

There have been twists and turns in my career but looking back, I found myself moving within my own Career Happiness Infinity Zone and now I am nearer to the center of it: I tap into all of my unique gifts and passion to uplift humans’ potential while living my values. And the best part? I can also live my childhood dream: I write for Forbes, Thrive Global, and am penning a children’s fiction.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

It is when one of my clients told me “I have found my life!”. It is when my client updated me that she had a promotion. It is when my client launched her creative business after zooming into her unique talent and having a career path. It is when my client told me she had just stepped into a new role with confidence. This can go on and on! Seeing the women who hire me as their coach happier in their careers and their lives is the most rewarding part of my job.

What is your morning ritual?

A morning ritual is super important for me as it helps me be centered, energized and happy. The first thing I do every morning is a five-minute guided meditation, as well as visualizing what I call my "Happiness Infinity Board," which features my vision, inspirational text and images. Then, I review and update my list of tasks based on their urgency and importance with a big three to achieve for the day. Yoga is also my another non-negotiable after sending my daughter off to school.

What would you say your personal superpower is?

One of the things my friends and clients say about me is that I have the ability to ignite in them the strong belief in themselves, realize their full potential and achieve what they before thought was impossible. It’s most likely because I myself have done things people told me were difficult to achieve with the motto “Every challenge is an opportunity”.

What is one piece of advice you’d offer working moms?

I suppose the biggest struggle of working moms is to grow ourselves at work and at the same time, to grow our kids at home. Having a strong support system to fall back on in both fronts is therefore critical. The system starts from a spouse who shares your housework and listens to your concerns, good friends who can pick up your kids in emergency situations, to trusted colleagues who share their advice on how they would deal with certain situations. Cultivate this system and it surely will help you cultivate your career and life.