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Zibby Owens
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Vicki Nguyen
Hi, this is Zibbee Owens and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest best selling, buzziest or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think.
Zibby Owens
Is worth your time.
Vicki Nguyen
As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to stay in the know. Get insider insights and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information, go to zibbedia.com and follow me on Instagram ibyoans Vicky Nguyen is the author of a memoir. Vicki is an NBC News Senior Consumer Investigative correspondent and anchor of NBC News Daily. She she reports for the Today Show, Nightly News with Lester Holt, and NBC News Now. She graduated as valedictorian from the University of San Francisco. Vicki lives in New York with her husband and three daughters. Her parents are always nearby.
Zibby Owens
Hi Vicki thank you so much for coming on Totally Booked with Zibby to talk about Boat Baby, your amazing memoir. Congratulations.
Vicki Nguyen
Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be with you.
Zibby Owens
First of all, let me just say I love how you wrote it. Your voice is approachable and easy, like you just want to be your friend reading this book and it's like you're sitting down and telling us the story and it's just great. Like you just don't want to stop having the conversation. So thank you for that.
Vicki Nguyen
Thank you for that. Because I don't know how to write in any other way than to try to be conversational. And I am so glad that that came across and that you feel like you know me and hopefully that you could relate to some of the things that I experienced. And some of the early feedback I'm getting is, you know, one of the most meaningful pieces of feedback I got is someone who is 10 years older than me, a colleague of mine here at NBC News that I only know via email. I literally. We just kind of have to have to email back and forth about things. And she read the book and said, as a 57 year old black woman who grew up in New York, I could relate to so many of the things you wrote about. Number one, I didn't know she was black. Number two, I didn't know she was like a native New Yorker from the East Coast. And here she is saying that she can relate to all these things that I went through as a little Vietnamese refugee girl living on the West Coast. So that really warmed my heart because that's what I'm looking for in this book. And I think that's what we look for when we read memoirs is some sort of connection, a reminder of our shared humanity.
Zibby Owens
Totally. I totally agree. Well, it's true, because you span everything from how to navigate marriage and kids today and careers and like, how do you make decisions with a partner and how do you balance, like, your own personal goals and longings with the quality of life and all of that that you had. But then of course, you take us through all of the things with your family were amazing in their own right and sometimes devastating your uncle, that whole thing. Can you talk about that? I don't want to, like, give things away, so to speak. But in the book you write about everybody coming together and your mom having such responsibility for her brothers and one of them getting like tragically murdered at a party and then you found his murderer, like, was your waiter. I mean, this is crazy. You can't make this up, you can't make it up.
Vicki Nguyen
And I think it really speaks to one of the themes in the book, which is a way that my parents have showed me to live life, not so much the words, but through their actions, which is you control the things that you can control. You, you know, you can control your reaction, you can control the amount of work you put into something, how you bounce back from things, how you are resilient, how you see the world. You can't control the things that will happen to you, you know, so don't spend your energy worrying and fretting about all the what ifs. Work on what you can. Focus on what you can control. And so the chapter and the incident that you're referring to. My mom brought her two younger brothers here when our whole family escaped from Vietnam. And it was the 80s. We were living in Eugene, Oregon where some really generous people sponsored our family. And my uncle was a really good looking guy in his early 20s and he really assimilated pretty quickly to life in America in the 80s and people were very welcoming. And he happened to be in a party where things got out of control and he got into an argument with someone and that person stabbed him to death. And so my parents were devastated. Obviously that led them to leave Eugene, Oregon, but it would be years later and my mom would hear from her friends in Oregon that the murderer, who had only served a couple of years for manslaughter in the murder of my uncle, had gone on to kill his ex wife in front of their two children. It was such a high profile case that John Walsh from America's Most Wanted featured that murder. And he was a fugitive on the run. My mom was just horrified that this person was out of prison and had gone on to kill someone else. She was thinking, what can I do? How can I help? Maybe I can put up a reward to try to catch this person. Before she could even discuss that with my dad, they were in San Jose with me. We were sitting at a restaurant. The name was Freedom. That's the name of the restaurant. And they're about to order. They look up and it's unmistakable. It is the killer. Immediately they look at each other. My dad leaves the restaurant to call 911 on a payphone because this is like the 90s. And he flags down some police cars that are driving by and he's like, I have just seen a man who is wanted for murder. He's a fugitive. Please come to this restaurant. Please come inside and help me. And it turned out it was him. And there was such a series of fateful events because my parents could have picked any restaurant to be in in San Jose on that day. They could have, you know, and that guy was hired, like, very recently. He'd only been on the job for, like, maybe a couple of weeks. He was supposed to be in the back, you know, washing dishes. He was not a server, but the server had called in sick that day. So that's the only reason he was in the dining room taking orders. He didn't remember my parents, but my parents would never forget his face. So that resulted in his capture. America's Most Wanted came back. I didn't write about this in the book, but they came back and interviewed my parents and did a whole follow up on the capture of this fugitive. So my mom just felt like fate had a hand in that, that my uncle somehow, you know, helped guide her so that she could capture this guy who had gone on to kill his ex wife, the mother of his two children. And so, like, my parents have always believed in fate and destiny and just focusing on the things that you can control and just doing the best that you can. And that is just one example, I think, of how you can't explain how some of these circumstances in life will work out. You can only connect the dots later on. But I was really, really grateful that my parents had a hand in putting him behind bars.
Zibby Owens
Oh, my gosh, that story gave me goosebumps. Unbelievable. You know, there's another moment when they are escaping from Vietnam and they have this incident where they can't find the boat. They had gotten off the boat. They were going through the forest. The person who was leading them disappeared. And I feel like this is such a good symbolic thing that happens. They can't find their way. They start feeling afraid. They decide to wait until the next day when it's light out. As a team, they all kept watch. And then once the light came out, someone was able to shimmy up a tree, get a bigger view, and they could find their way. And I feel like that is something that the whole book is trying to do, that we're. We're just like elevating to get a better view. We're figuring out ways to get through situations that might feel impossible at the time. And yet with distance, a new perspective, you can conquer sort of everything.
Vicki Nguyen
Yes. That is beautiful, Zibby. I love that connection that you just made. Because sometimes in that moment, it can feel desperate and hopeless. But then the next day, the sun comes up, you wake up, you're still there, you're still breathing, you're still alive. And you get a new perspective and you get another crack at whatever the challenge is that you're trying to solve. And I love that you, like, mentioned that. I didn't think of it that way. That is just what happened. But you're right, that is a big theme in the book, too, is just the idea that don't give up. Because things were pretty bleak for them. They had just gotten a smuggler to get them almost to the final the boat that they were supposed to get on to cross the South China Sea to get to a refugee camp. But somewhere in the middle of the night in the jungle, the smuggler leaves them. And then, you know, at that point you're like, oh, my God, have we made the biggest mistake of our lives? Like, we don't know where we are and we could be arrested at any moment. And what we're doing is illegal. And it was. What we're going to do is what we can do right now. Wait for the sun to rise and then figure out the next steps. And thankfully, they did make it onto the boat just as it was about to leave.
Zibby Owens
Unbelievable. I mean, just amazing. Really amazing. You also take time in the book to talk about your own career, and you're sort of growing up and now you're American and dealing with, like, being part of that culture and the contrast between home and school and all of those sort of conflicts, if you will, and how through it all, you end up with this determination to do what you're doing now and go all over the place to build your own career. And how it's like a symbol for you, too, of yet another accomplishment that is sort of in homage to your parents.
Vicki Nguyen
And can I just say that it is like you look back and you're like, oh, wow. Well, you're a network correspondent now. You're at NBC News. You work at 30 Rock. But you don't know these things. When you are in high school, in college, when you're a struggling journalist making $26,000 a year carrying 30 pounds of equipment in the super humid weather of Orlando, you're not thinking, oh, but someday I'll be at the Today show. You're just thinking, man, this is really hard work. And, like, am I cut out for this? And there are a lot of times where doubt creeps in, where you think, maybe this was cool for me to do for a year, but now it's time to get a real job. Maybe I need to go into pr. Maybe I need to Go into, you know, some. Some part of. Go into another job where things are more stable and you're not working nights and weekends and mornings and all these crazy holidays. But I think just getting through the hard things and doing your best and showing up, that eventually clears the path for where you're supposed to go. And you. You can't look too far ahead. Well, I mean, in my. In. In my life, I've never been one of those people who's like, in five years this, in 10 years that I think it's great to have goals. But if it's not clear to you, if the path forward is not clear, then just focus on the literal next task at hand, and then the path will reveal itself. And I know that's, like, so crazy, but that's literally how we've always lived our lives. That's really what my parents had to do. As people who were refugees escaping, they couldn't have some grand plan. They needed to just go, okay, this is the thing we're going to try, and then, you know, we'll deal with the next thing as it comes up. But I think that's an okay philosophy for life because it doesn't make you too anxious and too stressed about the unknown. Life is full of changes. Life is full of unknown. Life is full of setbacks. So control the thing that you can, which is the next task, the next assignment, the next job that you need to do, and you do it to the best of your ability. And you're amazed at who's watching, who might notice, who might say, you know, that Vicki, she's always saying yes to, you know, the extra job or the extra little thing. So when this opportunity comes up, we're going to ask her if she wants to try it. And that really has opened a lot of doors for me.
Zibby Owens
Wow. And you write about that, too, how you navigate all these different situations and find your way through with this sort of strong moral compass that you have as well. And you have a, like a mini. A me too moment, you know, in the book. And I was so impressed with your ability to just be like, this is not right. Stop what you're doing. You know, that was during a time when that was not always the way people were handling everything. Can you just talk about that?
Vicki Nguyen
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Vicki Nguyen
Zibby, first of all, I gotta take a moment to just compliment you because you got this book, I feel like 5 minutes ago I did. Somehow you know it better than I do. Like, I'm truly grateful for your amazing questions and insightful questions and the nuggets that you're pulling out because I know you didn't have a lot of time to read the book. And clearly you read it cover to cover. Okay, so to your point about the MeToo chapter, I mean, I also look back on that and go, what a weird out of body experience. It wasn't like something super dramatic, but it was a co worker who was very handsy, very touchy, always was in my personal space. And at some point I thought, well, let me just tell the chief photographer, hey, this is happening because I see that we're going to be scheduled to work together a lot, and I just want to get your take on what's the best way to handle it. He was like, thanks for making me aware. You know, just speak up, whatever. And so at one point, you know, this co worker gets too close. He's putting his hand on my lower back, leaning over me, and I just exploded. And I just was like, please don't ever touch me again. And his reaction for me was very telling. In that moment, instead of him being surprised or like, whoa, I don't know what you're talking about. Or like, sorry. Like, he was like, don't flatter yourself. And I just. Was. That just set me off because it was like, weird. Like, you're. I'm just over this. I'm not gonna. I'm not doing this anymore. So I just went and talked to the HR department, and because of my reporting as an investigative reporter, I sort of understood, and I think people should understand HR is there to protect the company. They want to resolve the issues for the employees, but ultimately their loyalty is to the company. So you have to realize that they have only so much power and they have maybe a different agenda than you would for yourself. So I went into HR and said, hey, listen, this is what happened. And I just want to let you know, I just don't want to work with this person anymore. And they were like, oh, we're really sorry this happened. And we totally understand where you're coming from. The holidays are coming, we're short staffed. We can't guarantee that you won't work with them. And for whatever reason, I was in like my mid-20s and I don't really truly know where this came, but it was just me kind of blurting out what was in my mind, which was, I totally understand that it's busy. I'm just letting you know I'm not going to work with him. And then that was that. And then they put out the schedules and they never scheduled me with him again. So I don't know why or where I kind of got that. I just think I was saying out loud what I felt, which was, look like, I'm just not going to work with this guy. Schedule the schedule, however you're going to do it. I'm just letting you know. And I, I'm glad I didn't get fired over it. I'm glad they, you know, didn't force me to work with him. But I kind of just in that moment was like, well, that's my line though, you know, Like, I get that you have a company to run, but for me, I'm just not going to put myself in a live truck and spend eight to 10 hours with somebody like this again. And I was lucky. I was lucky that that worked out. And like, that was an instance where I think just being blunt and saying how I felt and going with my gut really worked for me. And through my life, going with my gut more often than not has worked for me. And I know that, like, looking back, you're like, well, that's crazy. Not everyone can do that. Not everyone can be in a position to be like, well, I'm not going to work with so and so. But for whatever reason, in my mind, I had already made. Made up my mind that I just wasn't going to work with him. So either they were going to help me find a solution or I would find a solution.
Zibby Owens
I love that, but it's so good. You just made a line in the sand and you're just like, this is it, this is. No, I'm not willing to do this.
Vicki Nguyen
Yeah. And it's not. Listen, I was in a position, I guess, where I thought I could do that. I mean, no, I. I needed that salary, I needed that job.
Zibby Owens
Yeah.
Vicki Nguyen
Whatever reason I was like, but I'm just not gonna work with him. I'll do anything else you want me to do. And I have done all the other things. And I think that probably helped. I think when you work hard and you do have a good reputation and you treat people well, that if something comes up that you need to draw a line in the sand, people are going to want to help you. HR did help me. They did make it so that I didn't have to work with him. But I think I had earned some of that street cred with my company at that point. So it would have been different maybe if I had been, like, brand, brand new, right? If I was, like, a single parent working on one income, thinking, I can't chance this. I can at least report it. But, like, I'm gonna have to just suck it up and deal with it. But I just, you know, in that moment was like, I'm. I. This is how I feel. I said how I felt. And then it did work out for me in that instance.
Zibby Owens
And it obviously worked out because your career trajectory kept sort of going forward. And you take us through the interviews and debating whether or not to move to New York from California, and then once you get to New York, it's Covid, and you're in this, like, horrific reporting environment, and your husband, who's an anesthesiologist, has to start taking care of COVID patients, and you're like, oh, my gosh. I mean, you felt bad enough, like, having to move your family anyway, and then you're like, this is not what I signed up for in New York. So how. How was that? And how did you even get. How did you get through that time?
Vicki Nguyen
I think we were shell shocked, first of all, just moving from the west coast to the east coast, as amazing as New York City is and all of the things that it has to offer, we really did like living in Northern California. We had awesome neighbors. We had great schools. We were super. The weather was awesome. So we were very comfortable there. This was going to be an adventure. And for me, obviously, I was going to get to work at my dream job. Kind of felt like, I'm going to make this work no matter what. But when the pandemic hit, it was a very surreal time to be a New Yorker or living here. Central park was empty. Times Square was empty. Zibby, you live here. You know, it was like New York for New Yorkers. But we weren't getting on the subway and exploring all the places like we thought we were, because it was like, stay home. Stay in your pandemic pod. Do not go out unless it's necessary. So we kind of made the most of, you know, getting to roam around Central park and being outside as much as possible. The kids did what they could with remote school. We're really lucky that none of our kids were, like, having their senior year and missing prom or having their first year of college or some transitional moment. You know, they were just kind of in elementary and middle school. So remote school was not ideal. But all in all, we were very lucky that we were healthy, that we were safe. We tried to take as many precautions as we could, but that was an insane time to be in New York. And my husband was working at Lenox Hill. Like you said, that hospital, which was kind of ground zero. They did a Netflix show about it, actually, because of everything that was happening in the city with COVID and people getting very, very sick and people dying from the disease. So we were seeing a very up close and personal view of the pandemic that I think few people had, because I was also one of the only correspondents, really going into 30 Rock and sitting with Hoda. Savannah was broadcasting the news from her living room with a makeshift studio. Al Roker was doing forecasts from his kitchen on the Upper east side. So it was, for me, as a reporter, I was able to at least go and cover the issues that we were all dealing with at the same time. Like, how do you get masks? What is a face shield? Do we need to wipe down all our takeout containers and groceries before they come into the house? What do we do about our kids in school to make sure that they're actually still getting educated? So luckily for me, as a consumer investigative reporter, I was able to talk to doctors and epidemiologists and public health experts to try to answer the questions that America had, but also the questions we were having at home. So from a professional standpoint, I felt very much of service. I know that what my husband was doing was very much of service as an essential worker in the medical field. And I think we just took it day by day because it was just like, what's the next thing that's coming towards us? Do the best we can to stay healthy. Of course, during that time, my dad was going out to, like, Morton Williams grocery store three times a week. And we were like, do you really need to get those onions? He'd be like, well, I need this for my meal. So, you know, for him, Covid was an annoyance. For the rest of us, it was like this life threatening panic. I think. Yeah, looking back on that, it is really wild what everyone was going through, but we are just very lucky that we had our health and that nobody got seriously ill, you know, in our family. And we were able to just kind of like motor on through that.
Zibby Owens
Oh, my gosh. And then your dad, when he fell and broke, like, slashed his head on the side of the bed. I feel like you have been through so much. Like, everybody just keeps getting stitched back together in various ways throughout the book.
Vicki Nguyen
That is true. And I think that, like, we could all relate to that. Like, life might sometimes look perfect. And I think in this era of social media where everyone only posts their greatest hits, you're looking at somebody's highlight reel, right? And comparing and despairing because you're like, well, my life. Oh, I'm not meeting so and so. I'm not going to this dinner. I'm not going on that vacation. But the reality is we're all doing the best that we can. We all have a lot of ups and downs. We all have, like, those internal family struggles, which I think I tried to let people understand and like, give a window into that. Because the same characteristics that, you know, had my dad taking a big risk to escape Vietnam are kind of the same characteristics that lend you to be a risk taker and might make you more prone to gambling or taking chances with your family's finances. So we go through all of that. And as I'm starting a career in a business that's super volatile, I don't know if I'm going to make it, if I'm going to be able to earn a salary that can support my growing family. But also my parents, you know, and a lot of people in Asian cultures and other cultures can relate because as the kid, you're like your parents 401k, right? They already did a lot. They already made all those sacrifices to get you here. Now it's payback time. That's not the relationship I have with my kids, right, like, who were born in America. And I'm raising them more like in a Vietnamese, American way, not in a Vietnamese way, the way I was raised. So it's really interesting to look at that and hopefully people can understand. Like, for me, at the end of the day, family and blood is thicker than water. And you're going to get through what you need to get through. And my dad and I will never go to therapy. We're never going to resolve some of the issues. That's just not gonna happen. But that's okay. I accept it. I accept our relationship for what it is. I'm grateful to him for all the things that he has taught me and done for me and continues to help me with today. But is it a perfect relationship? Am I like one of those people who's like, oh my daddy this and that? No, but that's okay. Like, these relationships come in so many different forms and fashions and I think we all have to realize our parents, for the most part, did the best that they could. That's what we're doing. We're doing the best that we can for our kids. And you kind of have to let go of some of the past hurts and the resentments and those things because they don't really serve you moving forward. It's not easy to do, but I definitely learned that compartmentalizing and keeping what serves you and letting go of what doesn't is the best way to sort of move forward and grow.
Zibby Owens
Wow. Well, not surprisingly, this has been so inspiring, similar to your book. Thank you so much. And yeah, your whole journey and the.
Vicki Nguyen
Way you write about it, it's just really great.
Zibby Owens
And thank you for sharing your story. You didn't have to do that and.
Vicki Nguyen
I really appreciate it.
Debbie, thank you so much for the interview. The amazing, insightful questions. This conversation has meant so much to me and for including me on your list of anticipated books for this year means the world to me. And thank you for encouraging everybody to read and to like, connect and share our stories. I'm so grateful to you.
Zibby Owens
Thank you. That's so nice. Thank you.
Vicki Nguyen
Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, follow me on Instagram ibbeowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the books.
Zibby Owens
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Podcast Summary: Totally Booked with Zibby – Episode Featuring Vicki Nguyen on "Boat Baby: A Memoir"
In this compelling episode of Totally Booked with Zibby, host Zibby Owens engages in a heartfelt and insightful conversation with Vicki Nguyen, an esteemed NBC News Senior Consumer Investigative Correspondent and author of the memoir Boat Baby. Released on April 10, 2025, this episode delves deep into Vicki's personal journey, exploring themes of resilience, family, career challenges, and cultural identity.
The episode begins with Zibby Owens warmly welcoming Vicki Nguyen and congratulating her on her memoir, Boat Baby. Zibby praises Vicki's approachable writing style, highlighting how it feels like a friendly conversation:
Zibby Owens [02:50]: "Your voice is approachable and easy, like you just want to be your friend reading this book and it's like you're sitting down and telling us the story."
Vicki expresses her gratitude for Zibby's kind words and emphasizes her intent to create relatable connections through her storytelling:
Vicki Nguyen [03:09]: "I hope that you could relate to some of the things that I experienced. ... that's what I'm looking for in this book. And I think that's what we look for when we read memoirs is some sort of connection, a reminder of our shared humanity."
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around a profound and tragic event detailed in Vicki's memoir—the murder of her uncle. Vicki recounts how her father's quick thinking led to the capture of her uncle's murderer, underscoring the family's resilience and belief in controlling what they can amidst uncontrollable circumstances.
Vicki Nguyen [04:59]: "One of the themes in the book is a way that my parents have showed me to live life, not so much the words, but through their actions, which is you control the things that you can control ... Focus on what you can control."
She narrates the harrowing experience of spotting the fugitive in a restaurant and her father's decisive action to capture him:
Vicki Nguyen [04:59]: "My dad leaves the restaurant to call 911 ... And it turned out it was him. ... that's what I'm looking for in this book."
Zibby responds with awe, highlighting the emotional weight of the story:
Zibby Owens [08:33]: "Oh, my gosh, that story gave me goosebumps. Unbelievable."
Vicki delves into her family's escape from Vietnam during the 1980s, detailing their journey through Oregon and the challenges they faced. She touches upon the uncertainty and fear they endured when their smuggler abandoned them in the jungle, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and adaptability.
Vicki Nguyen [09:25]: "They couldn’t find their way. ... someone was able to shimmy up a tree, get a bigger view, and they could find their way. ... with distance, a new perspective, you can conquer sort of everything."
This narrative underscores a central theme of her memoir: navigating through seemingly insurmountable obstacles by focusing on manageable steps and maintaining hope.
Transitioning to her professional life, Vicki discusses the complexities of building a career in journalism while managing family responsibilities. She reflects on the doubts and uncertainties she faced during her early career stages, emphasizing the value of persistence and the importance of not overextending oneself.
Vicki Nguyen [11:07]: "I think just getting through the hard things and doing your best and showing up, that eventually clears the path for where you're supposed to go."
She shares her philosophy of focusing on immediate tasks rather than long-term uncertainties, a mindset instilled by her parents' experiences as refugees.
A poignant moment in the interview addresses Vicki's experiences with workplace harassment and her proactive approach to resolving it. She recounts a specific incident where a coworker violated her personal boundaries and her subsequent actions to address the issue with HR.
Vicki Nguyen [13:38]: "I just exploded. And I just was like, please don't ever touch me again."
Despite facing initial resistance from HR, her candidness and established reputation facilitated a resolution that prevented further harassment:
Vicki Nguyen [20:37]: "I went into HR and said, hey, listen, this is what happened. ... And then that was that. And then they put out the schedules and they never scheduled me with him again."
Zibby commends Vicki's bravery in setting boundaries:
Zibby Owens [20:37]: "You just made a line in the sand and you're just like, this is it, this is. No, I'm not willing to do this."
Vicki attributes her successful navigation of the situation to her hard work and the respect she earned within her company:
Vicki Nguyen [20:53]: "I think I had earned some of that street cred with my company at that point."
The conversation shifts to Vicki's move from California to New York City coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She describes the surreal and challenging environment of New York during the pandemic, balancing her role as a journalist covering the crisis and managing the safety and well-being of her family.
Vicki Nguyen [22:10]: "It was a very surreal time to be a New Yorker or living here. ... Central Park was empty. Times Square was empty."
Vicki highlights her dedication to providing informative reporting during a tumultuous period:
Vicki Nguyen [22:10]: "As a consumer investigative reporter, I was able to talk to doctors and epidemiologists and public health experts to try to answer the questions that America had."
Her husband's role as an anesthesiologist further exemplifies the family's commitment to serving their community during the pandemic:
Vicki Nguyen [22:10]: "My husband was working at Lenox Hill ... what my husband was doing was very much of service as an essential worker in the medical field."
Towards the end of the interview, Vicki explores the nuanced relationships within her family and the balancing act between her Vietnamese heritage and American upbringing. She candidly discusses the complexities of familial bonds, the importance of acceptance, and the strength derived from shared struggles.
Vicki Nguyen [25:39]: "Family and blood is thicker than water. And you're going to get through what you need to get through."
Vicki emphasizes the necessity of compartmentalizing past hurts to foster personal growth and maintain healthy relationships:
Vicki Nguyen [25:39]: "I accept our relationship for what it is. ... We are doing the best that we can for our kids."
Zibby Owens wraps up the interview by expressing her deep appreciation for Vicki's openness and the inspirational nature of her memoir. Vicki reciprocates the gratitude, highlighting the significance of sharing personal stories to foster connection and understanding.
Zibby Owens [28:10]: "This has been so inspiring, similar to your book. Thank you so much."
Vicki Nguyen [28:19]: "This conversation has meant so much to me. ... I'm so grateful to you."
The episode concludes with Zibby encouraging listeners to engage with the show and support Vicki's work, reinforcing the theme of shared humanity and the power of storytelling.
Resilience in Adversity: Vicki's life story exemplifies overcoming significant challenges through resilience and focusing on controllable factors.
Importance of Boundaries: Her experience with workplace harassment underscores the necessity of setting clear boundaries and advocating for oneself.
Balancing Cultural Identity: Navigating between Vietnamese heritage and American culture highlights the complexities of maintaining cultural identity while embracing new beginnings.
Role of Shared Humanity: Both Vicki and Zibby emphasize the importance of finding common ground and connections through personal stories and shared experiences.
This episode of Totally Booked with Zibby offers listeners a profound glimpse into Vicki Nguyen's life, her memoir, and the universal themes of struggle, perseverance, and the unbreakable bonds of family. Through candid conversation and poignant storytelling, the interview serves as an inspiring testament to the human spirit's capacity to endure and thrive amidst adversity.