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Today is January 10th, 2021. My name is Ann Shi. I'm with the Houston Asian American Archive. Today we have Mr.

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Washington Binh Ho to join us for this oral history interview about his life. Thank you so much, Mr. Ho! Hi Ann! How are you? Yeah, I'm good!

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Thank you so much for having me. Yes! Thank you for having me. Thank you. To start, can you tell us when and where were you born? I was born in Houston, Texas.

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1981. My birthday is August 15. I'm a Leo. The year of the Rooster. Great, amazing. Can you describe the neighborhood you grew up in?

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Yes, I grew up in the northside of Houston, Inwood. I grew up near Acres Homes. I grew up in a lower income area. My parents came here from Vietnam.

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And so we— when I was growing up, we lived in a 1700 square foot home. And that's where I grew up. Amazing.

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And can you tell us a little bit about the demographics in that neighborhood? The demographics when I was growing up, I believe, you know, were a little bit different than what we have today. Today with, you know, they built

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45 Little York, and it connected to Antoine. So, you know, it was a very diverse neighborhood. I went to public school up to the age of 11.

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And you know, we have our African Americans, we have our Hispanics, we have lots of Caucasian when I was growing up. But today, you see mostly minorities, and you know, a

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lot of the Caucasians have left. Thank you. Can you also share with us some of your childhood memories? Like, who were your

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childhood friends? And what are some of the games you play together? And what kind of childhood food that you remember having?

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Sure, growing up kickball was one of my favorite sports. I have an older sister Judy, who is now an attorney and a younger brother Reagan. And so my parents worked a lot.

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And you know, what we did was we played around the neighborhood and kickball was one of our favorite sports. We played tennis with each other. We, you know, played football in the streets.

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And you know, some of my favorite foods growing up is what my mom cooked. I love Vietnamese food. And one of my favorite dishes from my

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mom was pork belly and egg. Very comfort food. And we love it for Chinese Lunar New Year too. Yeah, that was amazing.

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Growing up with Vietnamese food, did you learn a few recipes? Sure, I learned a lot of recipes for Vietnamese food. When we were growing up, if my mom was out working, we would have to learn how to cook for ourselves.

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And also, when I went off to college, you know, I missed my mom's food. It gave me comfort. And so you know, I would call my mom and say,

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"How do you cook the pork belly and eggs? How do you, you know, cook, you know, the– the fish soup? How do you cook...?" And so, you know, I cook a lot of Vietnamese food, and I really enjoy it. That's

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great. And moving on, can you share with us some of the stories that your parents told you about their immigrant experiences back then? Sure. My father, who was in the Vietnam War,

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he actually came to America in 1968 and 1971, to train in the Air Force. And you know, my mother, she grew up in Long Xuyen, Vietnam, which is about three hours from the capital— Ho Chi Minh City today, but it

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was Saigon back then, where my father was from. And you know, on their journey to America, my father didn't get to leave right away because he had to go get my mother.

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And so that was three days after the War. They got rescued by a ship, and the ship went to Singapore; from Singapore, they went to the Philippines, and they stayed in the refugee camp

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over there, until America could sponsor them to America. Once they got to America, they lived— went to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where a lot of Vietnamese refugees lived. And I think about six months later,

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they got sponsored to Kerrville, Texas. And that it was their first time in Texas, my father's first job was pumping gas at the Exxon there, in Kerrville, and my mother, she learned English at Schreiner College.

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And so that was their journey. And they, they, you know, it was a tough time for them. But my father was very grateful that he was going to end up in a country where any one of his– his dreams could come true.

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He felt because he was in the land of opportunity. And that was his— that was his attitude when he came to America. Did they share any part of their "American Dream" story, like their

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perspective, like back then how they wanted their life to be in America? Sure. Yeah, you know, for my mom, she came from a small town in Vietnam. So her– her idea was,

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you know, she had food and water in the home, she'd be fine. For my father, who came from a family of successful business entrepreneurs, he, he had a big dream. And he knew that if he came to America,

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anything he– he accomplished would be credited to him. And so when he came here, he also had 10 brothers and sisters. He had his two parents, he was the oldest son; he had three cousins and my mom

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to feed. And so he didn't really have a choice to have any small dreams; he had to figure out how to feed 14 people. And so as he was pumping gas, he learned the business.

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And my mom learning English, she helped him grow the business. And they moved to Houston, Texas, in 1977. They moved here because my

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grandmother loved the climate, she thought it was very similar to Vietnam. My father could, you know, look for a real job. And, you know, he started selling life insurance for a company called

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Washington National Life Insurance. And that's where he envisioned to name his son Washington. And my mother, she started working for UtoteM, which owns Circle K.

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She started off sweeping floors, and she became the supervisor. Once she became the supervisor, my father called his brothers and sisters, and got them to start working there.

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So my mom trained all of our family. Once they trained the family, there was a real estate crash in 1981, I believe. And my father and mother bought their first convenience

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store in the Fifth Ward. And, you know, grocery supply, finance the inventory. And about five years later, they bought, sold, and developed almost 100 of them.

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And so that's where the real estate, the real estate career began for my family as well. So my father's dream was to open a bank, he felt like there were a lot of Vietnamese refugees who weren't

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as educated as him, and he wanted to share the knowledge of the American financial system. And so, you know, once he created the bank, he felt like that was his legacy to help other Vietnamese or minorities

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learn about finance, learn how to borrow money, so that they could build and scale their businesses. And my mom, she was the controller, the CFO of the company. You know, she paid attention to the money,

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she paid attention to human resources. And myself, since the age of four, about four years old, where I learned a lot of math was that we had to count, you know, food stamps, we had count

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money, we had count coupons. And so we learned about supply chain at a very young age. And, you know, we helped out

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where we could, and my parents were focused on, you know, building, building a legacy. That's amazing to hear that your parents— like that history of really devoting themselves to building

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the dream for the family. And I'm wondering, what kind of family values or qualities do you see that you kind of got passed on from your parents?

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Well, my, my parents are, they've always put, you know, there's their faith number one, and their family number two. And what I see from my father's leadership, him being a

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big brother, he always made sure that his family was taken care of— not just with food and water, but to put his family in the best position to succeed.

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Before he invested in any businesses, he always wanted to invest in his family first. And that means time. And my mom, you know, with her proud, Asian culture and heritage, she was

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actually the oldest daughter in her family. So she has eight brothers and sisters. And so she's very used to taking care of a lot of siblings.

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And I feel like my parents, you know, wanted their kids to be proud. And they wanted their kids to always think about legacy. So my sister, Judy— Judy is the name of the lady that taught my mother English when she came from Vietnam.

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And so that's why they named her Judy; she was the first. And then my name Washington, is because, you know, Washington, is, you know, the greatest leader in America.

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And my father always wanted to remind me that, in America, just because you're Asian, doesn't mean you can't be the president of America. “You're born here, your name is

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Washington, and that's why I named you that.” My brother, younger brother, who's two years younger, was named after Ronald Reagan. My father loved the country western movies. My brother was born in

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1983. And Reagan was a president at the time. And my dad, you know, is a guy that has big vision, and he thinks about legacy.

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And so your name is everything. And he wanted us to be grateful and be proud that we're in a country where anything's possible. And my mom, you know, she was more of a disciplinary.

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And I think my dad was more of a friendly type; he's your best friend, you can confide in him. We like to, you know, hunt and fish. But one thing that I respected a lot about my parents is that—

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they always put time first; they never put money first. It... They understood that businesses would always go up and down, and there was always going to be, you know, issues or problems with business.

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But to them, it was better to hire someone to deal with that, and hang out with their kids after school or on the weekends, than to go in there and try to save as many nickels as possible.

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And so I believe that really made you know, myself and my sister, my brother, very proud to have parents like that. Yeah, that's really heartwarming to hear that your family are so

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caretaking and so loving for each other. I'm just also wondering, how are your relationship with your brother and sister— you have one brother and one sister?

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Our relationships, you know, they, they have their ups and downs. But you know, we always love each other. Just as much as we did when we were kids, I look up to

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my sister, she is Jihye— she's the oldest daughter. She tutored, you know, me and my brother, when we were younger; she helped us with our homework. My younger brother, you know, we love each other in a

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different way. We're very competitive. We like to hunt and fish together. And you know, we're best friends. We play golf together.

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We live, we live in America, but we always celebrate our Asian culture. So we all live, you know, within a mile of each other.

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And we're very proud of that. Thank you. And I'm also wondering, given your parents came from humble beginnings when they first moved here, and did you kind of witness that,

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that kind of change in their wealth level impacted your lifestyle, growing up? It definitely did. I mean when we— growing up, you know, you know,

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going from, you know, this is our third home. I'm in my parents’ home today— very proud to live in this great neighborhood here in River Oaks.

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But growing up, you know, we really didn't know the difference. You know, all we knew was that people would come up to my father. And you know, people would always basically worship him or

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something. But I didn't know why I didn't know what he did that was so great. To me, he was just my dad. And we started going to private school when I was 11 years old.

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And that was a culture shock. So, you know, one day, I'm going to school with, you know, this, you know, as, as that area started getting, you know, you know, little "York got bill".

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And then it's just like, everybody was moving into that area, there were all different types of people. And then one day, I go to private school, and I'm the only— I might, me, I'm like, the only minority in there.

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And it was very, very awkward. My father didn't prepare me for that. I didn't know that I had been interviewing for private school, you know, for two years before

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that. But it was a, it was definitely a rude awakening. It... It was a culture shock. You know, suddenly, my friend from my neighborhood kind of started separating

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away from us, because they thought we were different now, because I was in private school. But the kids are in private school, they had probably never seen an Asian at that time, or many minorities that,

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you know... And so it was hard to build friendships. It was, it was a lonely time. But I have my sister, who was my best friend. And over time, I think the world

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changed. And I'm still friends with some kids from school today. But it definitely changed a lot of things. I think that's one reason why, Judy, myself, and Reagan are so close, is because we all have that

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experience. Did you all go to the same private school? Yes, we did. We all went to Second Baptist.

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You know, which was, you know, is a good school. And, you know, I went there, but for my senior year, I left to go to Lutheran North, another private school. My sister graduated from Second Baptist.

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And Lutheran North was, you know, it was, it was a different environment. It's a private school, but it was a lot more culturally diverse, I would say. I was a lot more comfortable there.

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And my brother went to Second Baptist, as well. Thank you for sharing. I'm wondering if you are willing to share some of the like, hopefully, the stereotypes that kids were put into back then in, in

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school? Well, at the time, you know, it was the stereotypes of being Asian and coming from my neighborhood was that, you know, you know, you know, the kids at school, would, you know with...

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I mean, this is hard to say on the record, but I guess, you know, they would assume that, you know, if you wore baggy pants, you're gang related; you know, you have , you're gang related.

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You know, it's tough when, you know, the other kids are growing up, and the school and the parents are involved. And, you know, you're expected to do maybe, you know, went...

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you have to do... To get closer to the top, as an Asian person, in that type of environment is very tough. But, you know, I always celebrated my

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difference. I always felt like, you know, I was grateful that I was different because it set me apart. I ran for student president, my eighth grade year at Second Baptist. My dad was proud of me; my sister

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thought I was crazy. She was like, "You don't even have any friends there." And I said, "Well, you know, like, I'm gonna try anyway." And I campaigned. And I remember my sister helped me write my speech.

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And it was pretty funny. The first thing, the first line was, I remember Judy wrote it, it was, "Hi, my name is Washington. Please vote for me.

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I'm named after the greatest president in America, and I'm going to do the same job for you." And, you know, I lost the election. But what that did for me was, it created a network. And I feel like a lot of times, we

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as Asian people, we live in America, we need to remember that, you know, it's up to us to go and introduce ourselves. I always use an example, as if, if I was living in Vietnam, and an American or White person moved to my neighborhood.

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Well, I'm going to be like, well, I'm not gonna, I might look at my neighbor and be like, "Who's that?" But like, I'm not gonna go over there and introduce myself.

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And another thing I did to assimilate into the culture and break down the stereotype was I played football. I play football for the school. And I love the challenge, and my dad, he really

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loved for me to play football, because he feels like it's a great representative of life— when you get knocked down, you got to get back up. But once I started playing football, I started making a lot more friends in my school. And so

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what that taught me was, you know, if you can come up, and, you know, shake someone's hand and introduce yourself, then you're giving them the opportunity to get to know you. And that's how, you

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know, I felt– I felt like, you know, I could lead. And if I lead, then other Asian people would understand what to do. Another thing I did to help myself not be as shy and uncomfortable in that environment, was I started

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working at an ice cream shop down the street. So my parents, since they worked, they worked a lot back then, after football practice, I would walk from school, Second Baptist, to this ice cream coffee shop.

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Because I saw that, you know, there was a busboy, you get to wear a white shirt, you to wear a tie, and I saw a lot of beautiful American girls. And at the time, I was like, "I'm gonna learn how to talk to people."

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So I started working there. And that opened up my mind as well. And so from that point on, I never got uncomfortable again, of being Asian in America.

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I felt like, you know, we're all human beings at the end of the day. It's just up to us to communicate effectively. And, you know, I'm always proud of being Vietnamese American.

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And I feel like, you know, there's a lot of Asian people that might be a little timid. And I hope that, you know, this, this project that I worked on, always, you know, open up people's eyes

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and inspire people. That's what I always wanted to do. Well, that's really inspiring to share through your— to share with us, thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. And just wondering how important is Vietnamese heritage

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in your childhood from, I guess, in your family background? You mentioned that, you have a lot of… like how and also how, like your Vietnamese, your middle name, like, do

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you kind of have a Vietnamese name as well as the English "Washington" name? Yes, my middle name is Binh like my father, B-I-N-H. Washington Binh Ho, Jr.

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And my son is Roosevelt Binh Ho, you know, the Second. And so we've followed that, that example. And, you know, for me, I speak Vietnamese.

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I grew up reading and writing Vietnamese, you know. Vietnamese was our first language. We didn't speak anything else. I actually had to take ESL in elementary school

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for up until like, fourth grade, I believe. My sister, she picked it up quicker. But for my kids, you know, we have a

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Vietnamese nanny, and we speak a little bit of Vietnamese to him. But you know, to, to continue Vietnamese culture and tradition, it is important. But I think the world has evolved as well.

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I feel like there's great things about Eastern culture but also living in Western society, I see some things that I think they do better. But the one thing that you know, I think that is really super important in the Vietnamese culture is family.

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Over here, sometimes I see my, my American friends, you know, they're like, "Man, I wish my I wish my parents loved me that much. Does your parents really like calling you all the time and your friends?" I'm like, "Yeah, they do." And it's

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great. And there's pluses and minuses, but I think they're really checking up on me. And so, you know, I feel like in the Asian culture, we're a lot more... We respect our, our parents and our ancestors in

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a, in a very—it's very important to us. And I'll always continue to do that. And that's really important to me. Thank you for sharing that.

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I'm also wondering with the kind of heritage side, I remember seeing in the "House of Ho," your, your TV series like the family would wear the traditional Vietnamese "Ao Dai".

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And I, yeah, like, like, would you expect your children and your grandchildren to be carrying on, like, like, like, family heritage or cultural heritage, from costume to like language to like,

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any other, like, cultural traits, to carry on that part of the, yeah, heritage? Yeah, absolutely. I think that, you know, the Lunar New Year is a

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very big tradition and holiday for our culture. And I would be, I would, you know, hope that, you know, the show made it pretty cool to be Asian is what I kind of wanted.

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And, you know, for my daughter to wear Ao Dai, and my niece to wear Ao Dai. I think it's beautiful. I think, you know, after the show, hearing from the fans, is that they thought

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the dresses were beautiful. They sent messages of "Where can I get that?" And, you know, it's, it was amazing that we, you know, grown up all of our lives, celebrating the dragon dancing, and the culture.

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And for my neighbors who are well traveled around the world, it was the first time they've ever seen that. They've never even seen that on– on TV, or in movies, or anything. And, you know, these are well

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educated people. So I was very proud to show the world in my neighborhood, that you know, our culture is beautiful. I feel like, sometimes in our culture, we're trained to be quiet and be timid and keep to

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ourselves... and, you know, just study, study, study, without the social aspects of life, until you get ready to marry. But how can you, you know, create a partnership, a life partnership with someone, if you don't

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learn how to socialize at a young, young age. And one of my, my goals, to do the show was to open up people's eyes and make it cool to be yourself. I feel like the expectations put upon the Asian

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people from society today is that we're supposed to be the model minority. But I feel like there's a glass ceiling into every type of dreams that we have over here. And for me, I wanted to shatter that glass ceiling.

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And that's why I did the show. So that we can, we remember that anything's possible. And, you know, it, it was time. I think it was the right time to do it.

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Yeah, absolutely. I guess, going back to a little bit about your school experience, what were some of your favorite subjects at school?

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What, my, my favorite subjects of school? I was, I was good at math. I won a few math competitions at a young age.

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I enjoyed philosophy. Philosophy was– was great, I loved you know, everything that it helped me, helped me to think, helped me to analyze, helped me to have logic.

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But I think the best school in the world is experience. I think the books where I went to school at SMU, with the books at Harvard, you know, they all teach the same thing.

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But of course, you know, there's a different network at different schools, but you have to know how to use that. And being Asian, you know, I feel like sometimes we're always trained to go read the book back and

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forth, and get 100 on our grade. But the time that we should be using to socialize, we don't take advantage of that. I was more of a social person, as you can tell.

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I enjoy meeting people, I enjoyed going to the gym, I enjoyed going, you know, to the student association meetings, and, you know, building Asian people's confidence. That's where I enjoyed

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it. But my favorite subject. I would have to say… I don't think "partying" is a subject, right? Yeah. For me, I don't think I had a

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favorite subject. I had favorite teachers, but I was more of a social person. That's what I enjoyed... the classes with the pretty girls, I'll say that.

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I'm a little bit different. That's cool to hear. Thank you. And I'm also wondering, given kind of your family background,

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being very wealthy, and you kind of going to... starting your first job as a waiter and a busboy at the coffee shop and ice cream shop. Kind of your family— what did your family say about starting at,

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like, humble jobs like that? You know, my father was very proud. When I came home, I said, "Dad, I got a job." He was like, "What are you talking about?" I was like, "Look, I made $12 today." It was

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like, I counted all the nickels and dimes. So every time people's money would fall out, I would be like, so happy, you know, 'cause I have to sweep the floors I’m like, there's a nickel, there's a penny.

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But after three months, my mom came to pick me up one time, and she saw how hard I was working, I had to stack the chairs. And you know, I was– I was only 14 years old. And I remember, you know, she was like, "Why are you doing this?

00:32:05.790 - 00:32:19.400

You know, you need to need to study school, you need, you need to focus more in school, you don't need to do this. It's not what you're going to do for the rest of your life." And my, my dad told my mom, "Don't say that to him." You know, I remember this.

00:32:19.630 - 00:32:31.340

But my mom was proud that I was working. But I think, you know, she was more concerned about my safety. And I think that's an Asian thing.

00:32:31.340 - 00:32:49.580

Sometimes we shelter our kids. And, you know, I, you know, my mom, you know, she came from a different town in Vietnam; but my father came from a big city and, you know, he, he would always tell my

00:32:49.580 - 00:33:07.210

mom, "Don't worry, we're in America, you know, we'll be fine." But overall, my parents were pretty happy that I was working at the time. Yeah, that's great to hear. And could you tell us a little bit about your college experience at the

00:33:07.210 - 00:33:18.860

Southern Methodist University? Like, what clubs were you part of? What subject did you study? Well, that, you know, going to college was a, was a,

00:33:19.100 - 00:33:27.990

was an experience for me. I, you know, yeah, I went to SMU. I was very proud.

00:33:28.740 - 00:33:41.750

My major was real estate and finance. I was on a scholarship for academics, I remember. And I made the Dean's List my first year. But at the time, all my

00:33:41.750 - 00:33:54.790

life, I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur. So at that time, in 1999, the technology boom was happening. And I took my monthly allowance for two months and opened a trading account with

00:33:54.790 - 00:34:09.070

Ameritrade. And I also started a club promotion business at the time. So I was always looking at ways to make money while going to school. And I think after my first year

00:34:11.000 - 00:34:27.040

of doing business, I made a very good amount of money. I was living large, as they say, and I called my dad and I'll say, "Hey, Dad, you know, why do I need to go to school?" I said, you know, "I think the average salary right now

00:34:27.040 - 00:34:38.080

for someone graduating here, you know, I think it was 45 grand at the time." I said, "I can make that in a week. I mean, this is you know, I think I need to focus on that." And my dad was like, "No, you don't understand, Son.

00:34:39.420 - 00:34:52.390

You know, you need to study school. I'm proud of you for doing business." But, during that time, I was in the Vietnamese Student Association. I, you know, was in the business club.

00:34:52.630 - 00:35:07.230

I, you know, was studying real estate to get my license as well. I invested in some restaurants, what— somewhere close. But there's one that's still open, CRU wine bar.

00:35:07.540 - 00:35:15.980

There's one down the street from me here in River Oaks and one in The Woodlands. And I made a lot of friends at the time. But I feel like,

00:35:16.520 - 00:35:31.490

again, it was tough going to a southern private school college. I was, again, you know, it wasn't a very diverse school; it was hard to make friends.

00:35:31.940 - 00:35:46.440

I didn't want to join the fraternity, I felt like I was, I felt like, if I joined the fraternity, I would have to try to be someone I'm not. And to me, I don't, I don't enjoy that.

00:35:47.820 - 00:35:59.590

But SMU is a great experience. I made great friends, especially the ones that were from Houston, and we're still friends to this day. A lot of my friends at SMU, they are very successful.

00:36:00.710 - 00:36:10.660

They come from a lot of diverse backgrounds. But some of the best friends I made there, were kids that were from Vietnam, that

00:36:11.050 - 00:36:22.720

you know, really needed my help. And what I would do is I would help them write their English papers. And they would help me with like my chemistry homework or like, my calculus III stuff, where, in

00:36:22.810 - 00:36:31.870

physics, where would go over my head, but it was so easy for them. But for their English, it was hard for them to be articulate. So it was like a trade.

00:36:31.870 - 00:36:42.610

They would help me with physics and all that stuff, and I would help them with their English paper. And I had a great time in college. It's amazing to hear.

00:36:42.610 - 00:36:55.880

And so the friends, are they, were they from Vietnam? Yes. I had friend from Vietnam, I actually, one of them had me invest in their companies.

00:36:56.510 - 00:37:07.520

We, we had an office in Ho Chi Minh City in 2008. He was in the engineering school. So we used to export oil and gas machinery and parts to Asia.

00:37:07.520 - 00:37:17.850

And we did really well. But I couldn't be as involved after, you know, five years. And for me, it was taking a toll traveling there.

00:37:19.170 - 00:37:29.940

Entertaining clients in Asia is a whole other story. It's very tiring. And so I sold out my position. But I do have some Caucasian friends, a few,

00:37:31.110 - 00:37:43.040

that I still keep in contact with. I guess next, I'm very curious about how you develop your entrepreneurial sense. Like, did your

00:37:43.040 - 00:37:58.280

father kind of had this lecture or private tuition with you to develop that? No, he didn't. I just grew up, since everybody idolized my father, it

00:37:58.280 - 00:38:13.830

naturally happened to me that I wanted to be just like him. And, you know, he would always tell me as a young child, that in the Asian culture, you know, if you want to be rich, the only way is to

00:38:13.830 - 00:38:28.690

do business. So all my life, I just thought business, business, business. And I got inspired by, you know, a lot of the people that were around my father that I thought were cool, you know, other business people.

00:38:28.900 - 00:38:42.990

I thought, I liked their lifestyle. I like that, you know, you can create a business, which can create an avenue for other people to have great lives, but also create time for you and your family.

00:38:44.240 - 00:38:58.690

And that's what I loved about it the most. But once I started owning my own business, it was a whole ‘nother story. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't what I thought it would be. You know, there's ups and

00:38:58.690 - 00:39:12.730

downs to it. When I got into business, I feel like, I didn't get into it for the right reasons. I thought I just wanted to be rich and have money. And that can only take you so far.

00:39:14.340 - 00:39:25.910

And, you know, I had a lot of hard lessons in my life that a lot of people don't see. My father is a military guy. He's not the kind of guy that's gonna bail you out.

00:39:26.460 - 00:39:39.910

Now, if you listen to him, it's a different story. But, you know, I always felt like I could do things bigger and better. So anything my family wasn't involved in, like energy, I got into.

00:39:40.940 - 00:39:54.710

I was in healthcare for a little bit; my family wasn't in that. And then now I'm into, you know, the Hollywood business which my family didn't– didn't really... Only my dad supported me in the beginning.

00:39:55.740 - 00:40:01.060

He liked my vision. He liked my potential. My mom, she thought I was crazy.

00:40:01.950 - 00:40:12.800

But she didn't say no. 'Cause you know, she just knows that's the way I am. Like, I think I'm similar to my father and that way that I like to be a pioneer.

00:40:13.950 - 00:40:27.440

My brother thought I was totally crazy. He studied film at NYU and said, I don't know what I'm doing, "What are you doing?" My sister and my wife thought I was nuts.

00:40:28.900 - 00:40:47.020

You know, this was a project that took a long time, a lot of really networking. But my vision was that, you know, the world– the world needed something like this, my, I wanted my son and my daughter to feel proud that they're Asian.

00:40:47.490 - 00:41:03.260

I wanted also the rest of the world to understand Asian people from a different perspective. I felt like every narrative that you saw—from, from another, you know, another person looking

00:41:03.260 - 00:41:19.290

at Asian people, they always look the same to me on film, or on media. And I wanted to show another layer. And that's what I hope to do. And it, it was kind of like a

00:41:19.490 - 00:41:31.000

dream that became a passion. And that passion turned into an obligation, I feel, for a lot of Asian people that look up to me now. And it's been great.

00:41:32.020 - 00:41:46.000

Very grateful that HBO gave me the opportunity. Thank you. Can you kind of take us back a little bit to when the idea first became, like, ruminating

00:41:46.000 - 00:42:01.700

your head? And like, what, how long ago was that? And how did it develop? So, you know, I, when I was in my 20s, that's when T he Real World came out on MTV.

00:42:02.560 - 00:42:17.830

And a lot of different reality shows, and my American, my white friends, I guess, they would always say, "Man, Washington, you're interesting, you know, you should, you should be on this show, or that show or this show." And I was like, "You're crazy.

00:42:18.250 - 00:42:32.510

I don't need to be on the show. I'm too rich, like, it doesn't matter." And then when I got into my 30s, more unscripted reality shows were coming out. And I saw some

00:42:32.510 - 00:42:48.510

successful ones and some unsuccessful ones. And at the time, while I was building my own business, Volt Street Energy Advisors, I was spending a lot of money on marketing. So social media marketing, you

00:42:48.510 - 00:43:00.210

know, marketing, and advertisement and branding just cost so much money. I figured, I thought to myself after the third year, so how can I grow my business? But I don't have the money right now for marketing.

00:43:00.820 - 00:43:14.980

So I said, I said, "Okay, well, you know, what, why don't I try to go on some reality show, and then people will know me; once they know me, they'll find out like that I sell energy. And that, that can be a

00:43:15.300 - 00:43:28.090

great idea." And then I told myself, I said, "Well, how can I do that though? I don't really know many people in Hollywood. I'm from Houston, Texas." So naturally, I manifested

00:43:30.040 - 00:43:42.500

to myself that, you know, I was this Asian cowboy that was interesting. And I would fly into Los Angeles on my private jet. And, you

00:43:42.500 - 00:43:55.790

know, I would, I would be an interest, I would be myself. And I would go to where all the celebrities go. So you always look on the tabloids and magazines, everybody eats at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, "Spago".

00:43:57.160 - 00:44:10.840

So I said, "Okay, I'll pick some busy weekend, I'll just fly there by myself in my cowboy boots, and my cowboy hat and just sit at the bar by myself and eat lunch." And I know some agent sooner or later is going to come up to me and asked me, "What's your name?

00:44:10.840 - 00:44:23.210

Who are you?" And so that's exactly what happened. Because I'm a sales guy. And I said, "Well, you know, my name is Washington, my father's a banker.” And, you know, everybody's always looking for money.

00:44:23.920 - 00:44:38.160

And in 2017, you know, everybody's like, "Hey, you got to go to Asia to raise money; they got so much money." So I kind of used that story for myself. And I said, you know, well I, you know, "You have a project, and you want

00:44:38.160 - 00:44:54.100

me to finance it, I can talk to our bank and we can see if we can make things happen." So once the agents found out that there was a banker in town that might be able to finance some of their projects, I got to look at a

00:44:54.100 - 00:45:09.970

lot of different projects. However, after about a year and a half, "Crazy Rich Asians" came out. I know my sister read the book. But it didn't come out, the movie didn't come out till August in 2018.

00:45:10.560 - 00:45:26.280

When the movie came out and became successful, that's when I called a friend of mine, who is an actor, Anthony Anderson. I called him I said, "Hey, man, so Hollywood needs you right now." I said, "I

00:45:26.280 - 00:45:39.370

need you to help me have my own reality show." I go, "Do you think that can happen?" And so Anthony Anderson said, he goes, "Man, Ho, man, you're a crazy ho!

00:45:39.590 - 00:45:56.160

That's why I love you." He's like, "Let me tell you something, Wash, there's a, it's a lot easier for you to go buy a lottery ticket right now and win the lotto, than for you to go and create your own reality show in Hollywood, okay?" But, he goes, "If you can

00:45:56.210 - 00:46:11.700

do it, it's probably going to be really great. If you do it, you can open up doors for other Asians that want to be in mainstream, and I'll help you do it." And I said, "You said there's an easier chance

00:46:11.700 - 00:46:25.890

for me to win the lottery?!" He goes, "Yeah, because this is not going to happen, but I'll teach you how to do it." I said, "Okay, well, teach me." And I'm the kind of person that's very, like my father, you know, when he told people, he was going to

00:46:25.890 - 00:46:42.460

open a bank, they're like, “You're crazy." So okay, so I put my foot forward. I used LinkedIn and added people from different production companies and try to learn the business, made some relationships.

00:46:42.650 - 00:46:57.370

And the success of that movie propelled my plan, because at the time, I was the only Asian person that developed the plan, that was ready to go. And so one– so once the movie hit, all the production

00:46:57.840 - 00:47:11.690

companies called me, and they had already met me, they’ve already moved me along. I told my family about it. I said, "Hey, you're not gonna have to be on the show.

00:47:11.690 - 00:47:27.070

But I just need you to sign these papers." So they signed some holding agreements for the rights to their story. And we started working on the project. But I didn't know that I still had like a one-in-a-million chance

00:47:27.170 - 00:47:38.400

to get the show. But as they got to know our family, they felt like we shouldn't finance the project, that we should be in front of the camera. They said,

00:47:38.720 - 00:47:54.150

you know, "We interviewed 62 Asian families around the world. Some of them were too rich. Some of them were trying to be, trying to be someone they are not.

00:47:54.590 - 00:48:07.670

Some of them weren't open up, open up enough, and a lot of the stereotypes you will see about Asian people." But what they said about our family was that we were relatable. And I said, you know, "You guys are crazy.

00:48:07.670 - 00:48:20.630

I'm not doing this." And they said, "Well, Washington, you know, a lot of people, a lot of Asian people around the world, go to school, to study acting to, you know, make movies to get in this industry; and they

00:48:20.630 - 00:48:34.150

just haven't had the luck. And we're asking you right now. We're HBO, we need you to do this, so that you can open up the door for the Asians. And we know your family.

00:48:34.960 - 00:48:48.880

You know, your father's legacy was helping the Vietnamese community, learn how to finance our business. And you said, you always want to have your own legacy. And we feel like, we can build your legacy over five years."

00:48:49.020 - 00:49:04.070

And that's what I agreed to do the deal with HBO. It's because this is a legacy deal for them and for us. For them, it's a partnership with, you know, a group of Asians that they've never done, they've never done

00:49:04.070 - 00:49:19.490

any projects. And they were comfortable that with the way my family worked. And for us, it took a lot of trust. It was really hard. Because you know, when you put your stuff out there, and you have so much to

00:49:19.490 - 00:49:36.130

lose, it takes not just guts, but a lot of love for my family to help me and support. But I felt like I could

00:49:36.130 - 00:49:48.810

really inspire a lot of people to be better. But most of all, I can inspire myself and my family and my kids, for all of us to be better. And that's how the project happened.

00:49:48.810 - 00:50:00.470

I just got a little bit of luck here and there, some vision. And a lot of hard work. A lot of love and support from my family. And a lot of love and

00:50:00.470 - 00:50:10.910

support from HBO and the production people behind the staff; they, they understood my vision. So, again, communication is key.

00:50:11.710 - 00:50:28.340

When, you know, you go into a whole new industry, and I feel like my father putting me into that private school taught me how to communicate and make it happen. So. Yeah, thank you for

00:50:28.340 - 00:50:44.650

sharing that background story. And I'm just also wondering, what, how authentically, do you think the documentary or the reality show portrayed your— you and your family? I would say that

00:50:46.050 - 00:51:07.550

it's as authentic as it could be. What you understand as an untrained actor, is that, you know, when there's five cameras on you, at all times, from different angles, and, you know, it's

00:51:09.210 - 00:51:22.470

a network like HBO, that uses top of the line equipment that can hear different decibels in your voice, is that you have no choice but to be authentic. Now, that's only for the cameras.

00:51:22.580 - 00:51:37.400

But since we, as a family, sat down, before we filmed, and told each other that, "Look, for us to inspire, and to help other Asians understand us and for other races, to understand Asian people,

00:51:38.580 - 00:51:52.770

we're going to have to be authentic." And when we finish a project, at the end of it, we have to remind each other that, "Look, we're always going to love each other and be there for each other.

00:51:53.330 - 00:52:08.910

But for that moment of filming, we've got to be as real as possible for it to, for it to work." And so it was, it was pretty real. And I would say that, you know, we—if

00:52:10.100 - 00:52:26.180

they can't, I would s- something interesting is that, you know, that someone hasn't asked me that I want to say, is that: if the cameras weren't there, would the same things have happened in our lives? You know, like would Judy, would

00:52:26.180 - 00:52:39.560

Judy, really— if the cameras weren't there, and I wasn't pushing her to do that, at that moment— would she have, ever would we really sit down at dinner, and she opened up and, and announced and say, "Look,

00:52:39.690 - 00:52:55.330

dad, I'm not happy with what's going on?" Or if the cameras weren't there, would me and my wife really have that many issues to talk about? Right? Because in our culture, in the Asian culture, a lot of times we

00:52:55.330 - 00:53:10.200

sweep things under the rug. Especially when you have money, it's like, okay, let's talk about, you know, you know, about other people or something else,

00:53:10.950 - 00:53:22.500

or what's going on... You know, but it's never like, “Look, we have something to talk about.” And so, you know, for me, I think, being on camera,

00:53:23.780 - 00:53:39.770

made my family have to open up. And now we're closer than we've ever been. These are things that every family, I think can relate to the acceptance of, you know, your parents, whether you're

00:53:39.770 - 00:53:49.300

Asian, White, Black, or Hispanic, we understand that. Last year was such a tough year for everybody going through the pandemic. Whether you're a business

00:53:49.300 - 00:54:02.410

owner, or you're working for a company, I feel like we all have, we all understand each other. There was a lot of crazy things going on last year.

00:54:03.330 - 00:54:15.860

But at the end of the day, you know, as long as you're healthy, then I think you're able to improve and get better. And, you know, we should be grateful.

00:54:18.590 - 00:54:31.160

Yeah, thank you. And I was also reading about that the release date of the series initially was earlier on in the year, and then it got pushed back due to the pandemic as

00:54:32.950 - 00:54:48.380

well. Yeah, was that also part of your decision? Um, you know, you know, at that time, when the pandemic happened, we couldn't do our editing

00:54:48.380 - 00:55:02.940

and our pickups, and a lot of logistical things had to change. And actually, I was afraid that, you know, the project might have to be wrapped up. So, you know, fortunately, we

00:55:03.690 - 00:55:17.680

were working with a great network. And you know, after doing our due diligence and study, we felt like it was the wrong time to come out with the show, until the world had settled

00:55:18.110 - 00:55:38.850

down a little bit. And, you know, we also, I see your sign behind you— humanities. Something I learned during the show was how much work networks do to find, to know when to release any

00:55:38.850 - 00:55:52.700

show or movie. And due to the fact that our show was all Asian cast, they had never, they don't have any comparables to see when the right time to open was.

00:55:53.730 - 00:56:03.700

And there was a lot going on in the world as well with Black Lives Matter, and George Floyd in Houston, Texas. And our

00:56:03.700 - 00:56:20.790

family, we decided we wanted to give, not take the attention away from that. And so we wanted to, you know, delay it, if possible, and HBO was flexible.

00:56:22.180 - 00:56:36.700

They also provided us more funding to do more editing, to make sure that we weren't going to be tone deaf, to the current situation. And, you know, we're

00:56:36.700 - 00:56:54.810

happy that it came out when it did. Thank you for sharing that part of the story. And I guess, since we are touching on the Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd, if you wouldn't mind answering a few

00:56:54.810 - 00:57:05.590

questions that in our Racial Justice and Civic Engagement collection. Well, can– can I ask you, what is your relationship with the Black Lives Matter movement?

00:57:06.800 - 00:57:22.590

My relationship? You know, I've had Black friends all my life. And like I said, I grew up, you know, I grew up in an area where predominantly Black people.

00:57:23.660 - 00:57:40.480

And you know, all my life, you know, having really close friends that are Black, playing sports with Black people, I felt like, you know, it's been

00:57:40.480 - 00:57:56.130

tough for them in America. You know, growing up and seeing my parents own businesses in the Black neighborhoods, as well, I've, I've seen unfair treatment, I've

00:57:56.150 - 00:58:14.450

seen, you know, systems and governmental systems to assist; but also, sometimes I feel like, it's very marginal. And, you know, I'll never understand

00:58:14.450 - 00:58:30.810

what it's like to be Black. But whether you're, you know, Black, Asian, White, or human, I feel like, we need to treat each other the same and respect

00:58:31.690 - 00:58:44.500

each other the same. And at the end of the day, we're all trying to do the same thing, which is you know, do the right thing and take care of our family. And, you

00:58:44.500 - 00:58:59.970

know, I love all my, my Black brothers and sisters, and, you know, they've done a lot. My family would not be where we are without the Black people. And, you know,

00:59:03.000 - 00:59:17.940

there's still a lot going on in this world. I know it's going to take a lot of time to change. But, you know, my daughter, her name is Lincoln. I named her after Abraham Lincoln, who, you know, freed the slaves

00:59:18.390 - 00:59:30.190

for a reason because he was a great leader. And besides BLM, I feel like, you know, for my daughter, I wanted her to be a leader for gender discrimination and inequalities.

00:59:30.920 - 00:59:45.740

I've seen many qualified female candidates in different companies I’ve invested in not, you know, get the same treatment, get the same pay, get the same respect.

00:59:46.200 - 00:59:54.740

And so, once I had a daughter, I understood it more. Once I had my own company, I understood it more. But I feel like

00:59:55.180 - 01:00:10.800

you know, I'm so proud of my show because I empowered my wife and my sister to be able to lead, to be strong. And that's where the modern world is.

01:00:10.860 - 01:00:28.990

And I'm so proud that a lot of female fans have reached out to me and said, "Hey, you know, you've inspired my husband to be better. You've, you know, you've really, you've really helped us, you know, see

01:00:29.330 - 01:00:45.120

that, you know, our issues are things that we can fix.” And I'm very, very proud of that. Thank you for sharing that. And what are some of your thoughts following the most recent election

01:00:45.120 - 01:01:07.920

results, and we'll also be having our first South Asian American and African American MP— women of color, like women in the house— in the White House? Well, yeah, I think, you know, I think sooner—I

01:01:09.790 - 01:01:23.290

think the world kind of has changed a lot. I think the Internet has changed the world. And, you know, America is the land

01:01:23.290 - 01:01:38.050

of opportunity, the land of free speech, and, you know, to see a female Vice President, that's not Caucasian, to me, it just proves that.

01:01:38.360 - 01:01:53.460

And I know, it's, I think it's difficult for a lot of people that have lived there for centuries to see that. But it's, you know, to see that that's possible.

01:01:53.460 - 01:02:12.780

I think this should inspire a lot of, you know, females or males, or whoever it is, that anything's possible. And I'm definitely proud to be in a country where that's possible. And I think it's just taking some time for a lot of people

01:02:12.780 - 01:02:30.190

to get used to it. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And next, I guess, the next few questions will dress— address on your Asian American identity, like, and a little bit of

01:02:30.270 - 01:02:46.380

the kind of intergenerational differences of Asian American. The first one will be what is the first experience that you felt being a minority, different from the rest of the people around you?

01:02:47.810 - 01:03:10.330

The first time that… the first time that, you know, it was a very profound experience. It was my senior year in high school,

01:03:11.860 - 01:03:29.100

and, you know, I never had any problems with the school. You know, I, I brought a state championship, tennis— Doubles Tennis Championships with the school. And there

01:03:29.100 - 01:03:40.340

was some other Asian student that had issues with the school. And they expelled him. And because they said,

01:03:40.340 - 01:03:52.260

I'm associated with them, they expelled me. That was my senior year in high school. And I had, you know, early decision to schools in Boston at the time.

01:03:53.730 - 01:04:04.890

It was tough for me, because, you know, I was a top, you know, top student there. I'd been there for almost seven years. It was tough for my parents.

01:04:05.700 - 01:04:24.130

Because, you know, we didn't know what to do. And there were a lot of other kids, parents made a lot of big charitable contributions. They grew up in the society in the school, did a lot of crazy

01:04:24.130 - 01:04:41.460

things, but never got in any trouble. So, you know, I always remember my dad, he used to always, you know,

01:04:42.230 - 01:04:53.870

since the age of three, he would drive me around every weekend at school, or in the neighborhood and teach me business. And he always told me said, "Hey, you know, just never forget

01:04:55.000 - 01:05:04.520

the color of your skin. America is a great country. But they're always going to teach you it's not what you know, it's who you know." But he said, "Don't believe that.

01:05:04.700 - 01:05:17.990

It's, it's what you know, it's who you know, and it's who needs you. And because we're Asian, you got to be double as good. Or, you got to work twice as hard to get to where they, where the

01:05:17.990 - 01:05:34.890

Americans are." And so, over the course of my life, you know, I've seen you know, I've seen things where, you know, sometimes we pay a heavier price for things, and, than some of my other friends. And my friends will tell

01:05:34.890 - 01:05:54.350

me, "The truth is that, you know, I think it's—" I hope that, you know, it gets better when my kids grow up. But you know, that there's always that. I can't fully say that, you know, that, that doesn't

01:05:54.810 - 01:06:14.620

concern me. But that was my first time to know that, you know, that things were going to be different. Well, it's amazing to hear your father's not only a visionary businessman, but a very, very visionary, visionary and wise person.

01:06:15.440 - 01:06:29.470

That's very inspiring. Yeah. And just to clarify, so, when that happened, you were the only other Asian student in the school? That's why you got, also expelled?

01:06:29.720 - 01:06:41.370

Yeah, there was another, one other Asian student, and he got in a fight. And so, you know, I was—I wasn't even there. I was out of town.

01:06:41.370 - 01:06:55.730

And, you know, that was guilty by association. But this time, I felt like he was guilty by– by the color of your skin, you know. So. That's disheartening.

01:06:55.870 - 01:07:11.830

Yeah, it was it was, you know, I mean, we had our 20 year reunion last year. And they still invite me, and all the kids are like, "Man, Wash. Washington,” they’re like, “man that was, so…” they still tell

01:07:11.830 - 01:07:24.800

me like, my friends were like, "That was so wrong, what they did. You know, you know, we have Bible school every day. And they teach, you know, a lot of things and teach us not to be

01:07:25.350 - 01:07:39.840

hypocritical." And the, you know, the, the friends that I've made over there, I think, you know, because of that incident, they have expressed to me that they wouldn't send their kids there for school.

01:07:40.630 - 01:07:54.950

So, you know, it's... Yeah, it was, it was tough. I remember at the time, the law was that, if you had been expelled, you have to wait one year to go back

01:07:54.950 - 01:08:09.000

to school. So my mom and I went driving around, all over town, you know, and we didn't understand it. But you know, we’re like, “Hey, we– we'll rent an apartment here, so you go to school here.” But it was

01:08:09.000 - 01:08:24.560

like, "No, you have to wait a year." So luckily, my father, through some political connections, got to meet the Dean of Lutheran North, and they were happy to have me. And, you know, SMU, I had to explain to

01:08:24.560 - 01:08:43.730

them what happened. And I still got a scholarship because I was a top student and a good athlete. And... but, it was, it was not easy, though. And I guess, given the hardship, were

01:08:43.730 - 01:08:56.220

there any point in your upbringing that you would reject and later reconcile with your identity? Can you please repeat that?

01:08:56.220 - 01:09:10.690

Oh, sorry. Yeah, I meant, like, given the hardship, were there any point in your childhood or upbringing that you would reject your Asian American identity, but later reconcile with it?

01:09:10.780 - 01:09:29.100

No, I was always, you know, I never rejected my identity. You know, it was a part of me. But also, one thing that makes it different from me was, my name is Washington. And so— and I'm Asian— so

01:09:29.500 - 01:09:44.860

everybody knew I was Binh Ho's son, because they knew Binh Ho named his kids after presidents. And so that I couldn't really hide even if I wanted to. I tried a few times, but I was just, you know...

01:09:44.930 - 01:10:00.210

I used to go to my dad and said, "Dad, why you name me Washington?" I'm like, "I'm so tired of being known. Like, I don't, I don't need this right now." And my dad's like, "That's why. Because if you, you know, if

01:10:00.210 - 01:10:13.950

you do something great people will remember you; and if you don't do something great, then you know, why is his name Washington?" So I always learn from my father to, you know, be proud that I'm Asian.

01:10:14.210 - 01:10:31.070

But one thing that he was really good at, was how to turn that into, you know, a weapon in your arsenal, to give you a distinct, you know, advantage. You know, he always said, "Washington, you know, you get to learn from

01:10:31.070 - 01:10:44.140

two cultures, you know, a lot of people don't. When you walk into a room, immediately, you're going to be different. And so you can use it to your advantage." And so watching him

01:10:44.890 - 01:10:57.350

do that taught me a lot of different ways to do that, as well. And I think it's, it's helped me; I've been proud of that. Yeah, that was amazing.

01:10:58.490 - 01:11:14.060

And also, I'm wondering, have you ever grew up with different opinions with your parents? For example, the intergenerational gaps. Yeah, the mo- you know, the generational gap.

01:11:14.980 - 01:11:31.500

Definitely, you know, we, we have different opinions. You know, my parents came in a different time. But fortunately, my father who reads a lot

01:11:31.500 - 01:11:48.680

every day, always up to date on current events. He's an old school guy, but he's very open minded. My mother, she's not as open minded, but she respects, you know, my father.

01:11:48.820 - 01:12:05.940

But, you know, she's, like, any mother, I would say, not always satisfied. But, you know, I think she's learned to, she's learned that her kids are going to be the way they are.

01:12:09.040 - 01:12:26.280

You know, my, I would say, you know, Reagan, my younger brother is never afraid to voice his opinion in our family. And then my sister, she loves to please my parents, especially my father.

01:12:28.940 - 01:12:42.980

But as we've gotten older, we've been able to voice our opinions more. But when we were younger, I would say that that wasn't really a good thing to do.

01:12:47.310 - 01:13:02.530

Yeah, that's really interesting. And also, I guess, in your next generation, for your son and daughter, what are your, kind of, ways to tackle on the differences they might have, when they grew up?

01:13:04.420 - 01:13:21.390

You know, Leslie, my wife, my lovely wife, is a strict disciplinary. And so, you know, I leave a lot of the, the brain work to

01:13:21.390 - 01:13:37.540

her. I'm very friendly with my kids, I think I get it from my dad, but, you know, they're going to change, and they're going to be different. And, you know, I've spoken to friends, and I

01:13:37.540 - 01:13:51.700

think nothing can prepare me for that. But, you know, if my son comes home with, you know, purple hair, and says, "It's because I did it on the TV show, then it's all my fault." You know, and

01:13:51.750 - 01:14:08.650

I'm just gonna have to accept it. But I think that's, I think that's something that you know, is very, not Asian is to, you know,

01:14:08.940 - 01:14:24.170

to, to allow your child to pursue their passion, instead of—, I think, also, my generation were a lot more lucky, where it's not like all about survival.

01:14:26.120 - 01:14:42.150

So, I think it's gonna be easier for me to say, "Hey, son, if you want to be an actor, go to Hollywood. You want to do this, you know, go try it out." But when I told my dad, I wanted to go to USC, and film school after college, and my mom,

01:14:42.280 - 01:14:54.260

they didn't even go with me to the tour of the school and the interview; I had to go fly up there by myself. She was like, you know, "You want to go be an actor in Hollywood.

01:14:54.480 - 01:15:08.180

That's up to you. Like I'm not going." And, it hurt me at the time actually. But it was one of the things that I never forgot, is that you know if I was going to tell my kids to always search for your passion.

01:15:08.730 - 01:15:22.720

But I never tried to go to Hollywood, then I could never tell them that. So that was one of the reasons I did "House of Ho". So that I could tell my kids, no matter what age you are, you can always find something you'd love to do.

01:15:24.180 - 01:15:37.200

And the reason mom and dad work so hard is so that you can find what you love. And I would rather my kids make less money and do something they love and

01:15:37.200 - 01:15:51.450

makes them happy than to be super successful in a field that they weren't happy in and wonder all their life, if they should have tried something else.

01:15:52.170 - 01:16:09.560

And so. You know that, I don't know, don't know why, you know, this all happened to me. But when I try to find purpose and reason, it's that, you know, I always enjoyed

01:16:09.970 - 01:16:21.560

making the people around me better. I always enjoy being the first guy to, you know, run into the wall if I had to, but I always celebrated my Asian culture and heritage.

01:16:22.270 - 01:16:36.260

I was the president of the Vietnamese Student Association at SMU. I was the president of my Spanish club at Second Baptist. I was the leader of our tennis team. But I always enjoyed

01:16:37.170 - 01:16:57.940

being the person to be a pioneer. And I think my father naming me Washington had a lot to do with that. Because when you manifest your vision, and you live in your vision, and you live in, and you

01:16:58.210 - 01:17:15.520

feel it, and it goes through your body. Like the Asian culture says the positive energy will radiate positive energy around you. And, you know, at the end of the day, we're all human beings, and we all you know, have

01:17:17.360 - 01:17:31.690

to help each other. Yeah, that's absolutely true and so amazingly said. Next, I'm wondering, can you share with us how you met your wife, Leslie?

01:17:31.930 - 01:17:41.030

I guess we heard a lot of her side of the story from the TV. Maybe, if you wouldn't mind sharing from, from your angle? Sure.

01:17:41.030 - 01:17:54.750

I, you know, I, you know, it’s 2013. And, you know, I'm out networking for business. And I

01:17:54.750 - 01:18:05.000

meet a, you know, I was going out to meet a girl from Oklahoma. But it wasn't my wife. It was her best friend.

01:18:05.920 - 01:18:16.100

But she happened to have my wife with her. And I was with Reagan. And you know, I met her briefly. But a month later, I was—had to go to Las

01:18:16.100 - 01:18:28.110

Vegas for my boss's wedding. This was 2013 and I needed a date for his wedding. And I've never had, you know, a serious Asian

01:18:29.150 - 01:18:38.410

girlfriend. You know, I date a lot of, you know, different girls. I never had an Asian girlfriend. And so I called my brother

01:18:38.760 - 01:18:52.750

Reagan, and I asked him, I said, "Do you know any, like, normal girls in Las Vegas right now?" Like, he's like, "What do you mean ‘normal’?" I said, "Someone that, you know, would look good with me. I gotta go to my boss's wedding.

01:18:52.940 - 01:19:10.370

I need a promotion, and it can't be some trashy." And he's like, "Uh, oh, Leslie's up there." And I said, "Leslie, who's Leslie?" And he's like, "Leslie, the girl you met a month ago, we took her..." And I said, "What, what does she look like?" So he sent me a photo on

01:19:10.370 - 01:19:22.820

Facebook. And I was like, "Oh, okay, she's cute." I mean, "You think she remembers me?" And he's like, "I don't think she's gonna talk to you. But like, you can try." I said, "Okay." He goes, "She's there for her birthday." So I

01:19:22.840 - 01:19:32.290

sent her a message. "Hey Leslie, it's Washington. Happy birthday. Just, if you want to hang out in Las Vegas, let me know." And so she replied, like,

01:19:34.270 - 01:19:49.750

"Nah, I'm with my girlfriends," like, you know, "Have fun." The next day I sent another message. "Hey, Leslie. Hey, I'm going to go eat with my friends. If you want to hang out, let me know." The wedding was a day later.

01:19:50.740 - 01:20:00.540

Finally, she replied and said, "Hey, let's hang out." So she– she couldn't get into a club. It's Encore Hotel. There's a big DJ.

01:20:00.670 - 01:20:09.020

Two lines around the block. I had the best table in the middle. So her and her girlfriends, it took them like—they waited in line for like, two three hours.

01:20:09.020 - 01:20:19.550

She finally called me like, "Hey, I want to go to this party. Do you know about it?" I go, "Yeah, I got a table, I can get you in right away." And she's like, "Really?" I was like, "Yeah, I'll come

01:20:19.550 - 01:20:29.930

get you." So I came and got her. We met; we hung out. And she was my date to the wedding. And I remember the cab driver.

01:20:30.050 - 01:20:43.530

She was like, "Y'all are so cute. It's gonna be so cute one day when y'all when you know, y'all are gonna be y'all are such a beautiful couple." And my boss, and all the energy

01:20:43.530 - 01:20:55.190

executives are like, "Man, Wash. How did you do that? Like, who is this?" I go, "Oh, no. You know, I'm, this is what I do, guys. Like, don't worry about it." And so I told her like, "Hey, just pretend you're my

01:20:55.190 - 01:21:09.430

girlfriend. Like, don't worry, I'm gonna take you and your friends at dinner, but just made me look good. So I can get a promotion." And she thought I was crazy. And so, you know, six months later, you know, I needed a date for New Year's Eve.

01:21:09.820 - 01:21:20.780

And, you know, she was living in Dallas. She lived in the same apartment complex I used— first lived in when I went to SMU. She lived on Washington Street.

01:21:21.190 - 01:21:32.380

Her first job in Houston was the CVS on Washington. So she thought it was a sign. And so she, you know, she moved to Houston, and the rest is history.

01:21:34.390 - 01:21:48.490

Wow, that was like one of the most adorable history— I mean, stories about, yeah, how like the love stories of Asian Americans. Yeah, go ahead.

01:21:48.490 - 01:22:07.600

Sorry. I always tell people, something my dad always taught me is this, he said, "You know, in business or in life, a lot of people, they're not successful, because they cannot, they cannot see, feel, and touch

01:22:07.720 - 01:22:20.670

momentum and opportunity or luck coming our way. So if you don't grab it right away, and it sat great, someone else will take it." So when I saw my wife, I had to kidnap her right away.

01:22:22.310 - 01:22:35.340

Because it's such a great person and girl, you don't grab it, some other guy’s just waiting, you know, they're gonna– they're gonna take her so, you know, apply a little bit of, you know, opportunity.

01:22:36.030 - 01:22:50.200

When I met my wife, I called my mom, and I said, "Mom," I said, "Mom, I just found my wife." But I was calling from Las Vegas. And my mom, the Asian mom.

01:22:50.260 - 01:23:00.150

So she's like, "Oh my god, Son, please. I don't need, I don't need more crazy girls in my life. Don’t, don’t. No, no, no..." I was like, "Mom, she says she's a pharmacist.

01:23:00.210 - 01:23:09.140

I think she has a real job. Okay?" My mom goes, "How do you know? She's in Las Vegas. Like, what is she doing there?" I go, "Mom, trust me.

01:23:09.720 - 01:23:22.560

She's Vietnamese." And my mom's like, "Is she Catholic? Is she...? What was she…" You know, and I'm like, "I don't know how to ask her." My mom didn't believe. But once I brought her home, you know, we weren't dating.

01:23:22.920 - 01:23:35.120

I just introduced her. My mom goes— just like you see in the show. She's like, "You're gonna marry this girl." And I'm like, of course, if you watch the show, you'll see what happens.

01:23:35.120 - 01:23:53.200

But, pretty authentic. And yeah, my, my, my mother-in-law. She wasn't... We went to go visit her for Thanksgiving every year. So we went to see her and I said, "Hey, Mom, what do you think?"

01:23:54.750 - 01:24:04.830

And she was like, "I don't like this. Is that true? What you said about you know, like your mom telling you to marry my daughter?" And I was like, “No, it's all acting.”

01:24:05.660 - 01:24:18.550

I hope she didn't see this interview! Well, she'll see it. But you know, my mother-in-law loves me now. She understands me better.

01:24:18.550 - 01:24:34.240

So I think it's that was one of the pluses actually doing the show is you know, a lot of the people that are close to me, but don't really understand me got to see another side of me. And it helped our relationship

01:24:34.420 - 01:24:51.050

actually. Yeah. And I'm also curious for your son and daughter in the future when they're bringing home like spouses... Do you– would you kind of give them the freedom to choose their own

01:24:51.290 - 01:25:09.900

spouse? Or like, I mean, with the kind of the Asian mom, also the other Asian parent like having like that Catholic, and kind of your own race or ethnicity type of expectation be part of it?

01:25:13.860 - 01:25:27.620

You know, it's... I mean, the divorce rate in America is really high. And, you know, you basically have like, one out of, like, you have like a one out of

01:25:28.230 - 01:25:41.230

two, like, you have a 50 or 50% chance, basically, of picking the right person. And, you know, for my parents, you know, my dad was always very cool, calm,

01:25:41.230 - 01:25:54.800

and collected. He only, you know, gives out advice when asked. But you know, I think, yeah, my kids who want to marry somebody, I mean—

01:25:58.940 - 01:26:12.080

I would hope that they would ask for my opinion, after all I've been through, now. But, you know, we're in America, and, you know, if my son's as crazy as me, he might

01:26:12.080 - 01:26:26.920

just drive to the courthouse and get married on paper. I don't know. But I think, you know, to be honest, my wife, Leslie, I think she's going to be on top of that. I think it's going to be hard for them to do

01:26:26.920 - 01:26:43.150

anything without mom like giving her-her opinion. But for me, you know, I believe that all people are good in different ways. I believe that, you know, just because you make a mistake, doesn't

01:26:43.150 - 01:26:54.870

mean you can't turn around and change and turn it into a positive. And I always believe in people. So for me, you know, it doesn't matter, you know, who they choose?

01:26:55.040 - 01:27:13.230

I just hope that the person that chooses the right person. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I guess as we're approaching the end of our interview, I would like to ask if you have anything else you would like to share, and if you have

01:27:13.230 - 01:27:27.980

some messages to leave for the archive? Sure, I would just like to say, you know, thank you so much, you know, for Chao Center for Asian Studies and Rice University.

01:27:28.650 - 01:27:42.860

It's a great university, which I attended for two summers in high school in the high school academic program. Thank you so much for having me. And for loving and supporting my

01:27:42.860 - 01:27:57.560

family and my vision, and being open minded to understanding, you know, Washington Ho, who I know is not a normal Asian person at all. And I look forward to doing more projects together.

01:27:58.460 - 01:28:09.200

And, you know, for all the students and people who get to watch this, I just want you to know that you should never be afraid to be yourself.

01:28:09.780 - 01:28:21.010

And that's the most important thing in life is to be authentic, be true to yourself. And that's the best way to inspire others. Well, thank you so much.

01:28:21.010 - 01:28:39.430

And I'm thrilled we have that connection at Rice University too. And I will also like to invite you to do a time capsule with us to leave a message for your future generations, like your son, your daughter, and your future grandchildren and so

01:28:39.430 - 01:28:51.490

on. Like, what would you like to say to them when they watch this interview? I'd like to say… I love you guys.

01:28:52.550 - 01:29:08.670

And this is a legacy project. And never be afraid to be proud of your heritage. And remember to always do the right thing.

01:29:09.770 - 01:29:24.090

And the right thing is not always the most profitable thing. But it's always going to be the best thing. Thank you so much, Mr. Ho. You're welcome.