9X female director and her efforts to overcome difficulties in her entrepreneurial journey

Fire tests gold, hardship tests strength

Through the introduction of General Pham Van Tra, we learned that Dinh Thi Loan is the daughter of war invalid Dinh Van Vu, who fought in the 330th Division, Military Region 9, which he commanded during the years of resistance against the US, to save the country, and to perform international missions in Cambodia. Veteran Dinh Van Vu was born in 1958, in Thuong Sung village, Ky Phu commune, Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province. He was wounded many times, lost half of his hand, and many pieces of shrapnel remained in his body and could not be removed. Due to his health not being able to serve in the Army, at the end of 1982, war invalid Dinh Van Vu was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown, married Nguyen Thi Tam and had 3 children. Due to difficult economic conditions and the burden of young children, veteran Dinh Van Vu had to do all kinds of jobs to support his family. In addition to the time he spent in the fields, during the off-season, Mr. Vu worked as a construction worker and hired out to construction contractors.

It was from his father's example that Loan and her siblings were all obedient and tried hard to grow up. Loan proudly said: "My father is a hard-working man, and loves his wife and children very much. He never hesitated to do anything, and tried to raise his children with his wife. My father built the house, brick by brick, and my mother was an assistant!"

However, tragedy struck Loan's family when she was in 11th grade. At that time, Loan's eldest brother went to the South to learn a trade and work part-time. Unfortunately, he had an accident and had to live in a vegetative state for two years. The economic burden weighed heavily on the shoulders of the old soldier couple. Feeling sorry for her parents, Loan had to put aside her dream of going to university and join the whole family in treating her brother. Fortunately, Loan's brother gradually recovered and was able to walk again, although he was not as healthy as before. When her brother settled down, Loan determined to study for the exam and was admitted to the College of Television. Thanks to her good looks and good acting ability, and the dedicated guidance and instruction of artists Minh Vuong and Quang Teo, Loan had the opportunity to take on a number of supporting roles in films and stage plays that were broadcast on national television.

9X Director Dinh Thi Loan (middle) and her family congratulated veterans of Regiment 1-U Minh on the meeting day, April 2025.

However, after graduating from the College of Television and pursuing acting for a while, realizing that this job was not really suitable, Loan decided to change direction. At that time, the beauty care service market was growing due to the increasing demand for beauty among people, especially women. Therefore, Loan went to famous salons in Hanoi to learn hairdressing, nail care and beauty care with the desire to develop herself and prepare her financial potential for future plans. “It is not easy to get a good worker to teach her the profession, partly because they want to keep their own secrets, partly because the job requires the learner to invest time, effort and truly love it. Many famous people in the profession told me that if I pursue this job, I will have to study for the rest of my life to continuously update advanced techniques and technologies to retain customers. Although I know for sure that there will be many difficulties ahead, I am still determined to do it,” Loan confided.

Until now, Loan still cannot forget that time when she started her business. Apprenticeship, vocational training, not being paid, even in some places, she had to pay high tuition fees to be accepted. While studying and working, there were busy days, Loan and her classmates could not rest. Many times, when she was too hungry to eat, she could only find something to eat quickly to satisfy her hunger and then continue working. To have money for school and to cover her living expenses without having to bother her parents in the countryside, Loan also took the opportunity to apply for a job as a dishwasher, a waiter or waitress at some restaurants. Thanks to her constant efforts, Loan gradually mastered the necessary techniques, became an assistant, then a main worker at the establishments where she studied, and was paid according to the labor she put in. From here, she started saving money to prepare for the plan to open her own store.

And then, Loan did it. In early 2018, the first hair salon of owner Dinh Thi Loan officially opened on Le Van Luong Street, Hanoi. Less than a year later, around March 2019, she opened a second shop in Bac Ninh city. Here, in addition to hair and nail care, she also expanded skin care, body care and health care services for women.

The business was developing smoothly when suddenly the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Fate once again challenged the young girl on her entrepreneurial journey, her shops were forced to stop operating for many months to carry out epidemic prevention work. Not opening to customers meant no source of income. While the landlord did not agree to support, she was forced to pay the full rent according to the signed contract. On the other hand, although she did not have to pay a fixed salary to her employees, she was still responsible for ensuring the living expenses of nearly 10 main workers. Therefore, she was forced to use her accumulated budget. When the pandemic was under control and the shops reopened, Dinh Thi Loan tried to revive her business. But in the end, "she was powerless". Although the number of regular customers still came regularly, the revenue was not enough to ensure the minimum maintenance costs. Therefore, she was forced to stop the operation of both stores in early 2023. Confiding in us, Loan regretfully said: “The sudden pandemic has swept away all my sweat, effort and dedication. The money I had left from transferring the store and selling all the equipment and machinery after paying off the loan from the bank and friends was not worth much. Even sadder, at this time, my father passed away, causing me to lose my invaluable spiritual support.”

Return to the homeland

The hardships in life and work made the young girl want to give up her dream of starting a business. With the little money she had saved, Loan returned to her hometown to find support from her family and relatives. Her mother and siblings encouraged her to "lose this game, try another", the whole family was ready to accompany her. "Failure is an indispensable part of the process of starting a business. Keep your spirit up, persevere in nurturing your dream", her mother's encouragement during her saddest days gave her the motivation to start over" - Loan confided. And it was also during those days of "staying at home" that the young girl found a new direction for herself, not far away but right on the land that her family owned.

Many years ago, thanks to hard work, her parents saved up enough money to buy a 2,500m2 agricultural land located about 3km from Cuc Phuong forest to grow crops, raise livestock, and develop the family economy. On this land, there is a freshwater cave that is always full. As her parents and the elders in the area said, when there was no water plant, this was the main source of water for the whole area. Until now, many families still keep the habit of coming to get water from the cave for use, no one has had any health problems. Loan confided: "Actually, the thought of building a factory to produce pure water, both taking advantage of the natural resources of my hometown and creating jobs first for my relatives, then for the people in the surrounding area, I have cherished it for a long time. But for many reasons, mainly because I am not mature enough and have not had enough economic conditions, I have not started to realize the idea."

So after a week of locking herself in her room, outlining her plan in detail, Loan asked for permission to hold a family meeting and present her idea. Surprisingly, no one in the family objected. Her mother agreed to hand over the red book certifying the ownership of the valuable family land for her to mortgage to the bank to borrow money. Each of her siblings, no matter how small or large, contributed capital to support her in starting her work: building a factory, recruiting staff, buying imported machinery and equipment from Europe for assembly and testing... "With the support of my family and colleagues, especially my brother-in-law who has 15 years of experience working at Cuc Phuong Mineral Water Joint Stock Company, the first stages have been completed" - Loan said.

After receiving permission from the authorities to establish Thuong Sung Production and Trade Cooperative on December 17, 2024, the first thing the Director of the Cooperative, Dinh Thi Loan, did was to invite technicians to take water samples in the cave and bring them to the Testing Center of the University of Public Health to test the mineral content of the water. After receiving the results from the center, she continued to carry out legal procedures in accordance with regulations. On March 3, 2025, the drinking water product produced by Thuong Sung Production and Trade Cooperative was granted a certificate of food safety eligibility according to regulations on the production of bottled drinking water by the Ninh Binh Department of Health. From here, the product was officially available on the market. At the meeting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day of the Traditional Liaison Committee of Regiment 1-U Minh (Division 330, Military Region 9) in the Northern region on May 13, 2025, Director Dinh Thi Loan sponsored hundreds of bottles of Thuong Sung-Cuc Phuong bottled water to give to veterans. The first time enjoying the refreshing taste of this new product, the veterans all expressed their satisfaction.

On June 6, 2025, the inauguration ceremony of the Thuong Sung-Cuc Phuong Natural Spring Water Factory was solemnly held in Ky Phu commune. The 9X female director said that the factory currently has 10 workers, working regularly with an average income of 7 million VND/month. Every day, the factory consumes about 1,000 cartons of bottled water (24 bottles/carton) with volumes from 250ml to 500ml and a certain amount of 50l water bottles according to orders. Thuong Sung-Cuc Phuong natural spring water is available at most stores throughout Ninh Binh province. Many people after using the product have come to order regularly.

Returning to her hometown to start a business and achieving initial success today, Dinh Thi Loan never forgets the chaotic moments she experienced, not knowing where to go when she went bankrupt and had to return to the starting point. Sharing with us, Loan confided: “I am luckier than many people because when I encounter difficulties, even failures, I always have a strong support system, which is my family, who trusts and tolerates me, helping me overcome. My goal in the future is to target the markets of the northern provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh... I don't know what the future will be like, but for now, I am growing up from the land that gave birth to me and raised me. I want to contribute a small part to bring jobs to my brothers, friends, and neighbors, and that is happiness!”

BAO LINH - THANH TU

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-16/nu-giam-doc-9x-va-no-luc-vuot-kho-trong-hanh-trinh-khoi-nghiep-836446