When Tien Ha’s family moved to Washington state, he was 13 years old. His father Chu had been a lieutenant in the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese army and then imprisoned as a P.O.W. for seven years. An agreement with the U.S. government granted Chu and his family the right to immigrate legally to the United States.

The family almost didn’t make the move. After being freed, Chu Ha resumed his life. He rose up through the ranks at a corporation in Vietnam that had construction holdings. He learned as much as he could, then went on to own his own thriving design-build firm in Vietnam. But, above all, Chu Ha was a realist. He knew that in a country like Vietnam, his kids wouldn’t have the opportunities he wanted for them. He wanted freedom—for himself, his wife and his brood of six. So with the money he had made in construction, he made the move to the U.S.

Throughout Tien’s childhood in Lynnwood, Washington, and all the way through high school, he and his siblings helped his parents make ends meet. His parents worked janitorial jobs, while his siblings toiled at McDonald’s, but everyone worked, even 13 year old Tien helped out. After years of scraping by, his father not only managed to buy a house for the family, but started a new business as a remodeler and handyman for small residential projects with Tien and his brother tagging along to learn the ropes. The die was cast: both brothers went on to attend WSU for construction management.

Right before graduating in 2004 on a visit home, Tien saw an apartment complex with a poorly executed siding job. The next thing he knew, he had talked the project manager into hiring him and his dad, under the auspices of a company they formed on the fly called HACT Construction (Ha, their last name and C and T for their first names Chu and Tien).