When I met Rosi, I wasn't sure what to expect. A friend, TK, had told me about her, and upon doing some research I found she ran several organisations in the city such as Social ChangeMakers and The Happievent. Perhaps I was a little nervous, perhaps a little excited, but as I waited in a cafe in Thảo Điền, I had the unmistakable gut sense that the person I was about to meet was someone you’d be lucky to talk to, someone who had a lot worth hearing so all you really had to do was listen. Outside, afternoon traffic blocked Xuân Thủy street while rain continued to fall in short, heavy bursts. Double checking the notes on my laptop, I had another sip of the overpriced lemongrass infused orange juice I’d bought, sat back, looked around. Though we’d never met, the moment Rosi walked in, I knew it was her. In her pictures she always wore a colourful áo dài and that afternoon was no different—a bright yellow garment that served as the only sun in the gloomy day, and when she got closer I noticed the embroidery of a peacock on the front. Any nerves I might’ve felt faded with her open, welcoming smile. I knew, at that point, how fun this would be.
Her name is Rosi H. Trang Nguyen, and she was born in Hanoi. She had a tough childhood, staying in the capital until her parents split when she was six. She moved to Saigon with her mum, and it’s here she developed the independent, high-achieving nature that’s stuck with her to this day. Her ambition and curiosity for the world outside of Vietnam led her to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, where she studied “Germanistics” - German linguistics & literature. Throughout our conversation, Rosi mentioned her belief in the fact that the course of your life is often presented to you, rather than being an unknown path you have to seek out. Her university experience was one such example of this. The German market was booming at the time, though there was a lack of Vietnamese who could speak the language. This meant a demand for German speakers, and after being singled out as the top student by the head of the university’s German department, Rosi landed a job at a travel company.
With her job began a period of non-stop motion in Rosi’s life. She was young, believed herself to be invincible, and so she juggled her studies with her job. Upon graduating, she was offered a full-time contract in the company, as well as a position as lecturer at her alma mater. Adding on top of this the tri-weekly German lessons she taught at the Goethe-Institut, her post-graduation weekly schedule left little room to breathe. Still, she kept it up for four years and even got promoted to Executive Manager at the travel company. However, as they say, the body keeps the score. One morning Rosi woke up coughing blood. Heeding that very real wake-up call, she stopped working as lecturer and teacher, instead focusing on tourism for another two years. Though she recounted the incident with smiles and laughs, I imagine it must’ve been freaky when it happened. I’m sure the younger Rosi knew that what she really needed was a complete change.
The change came in the form of an exchange MBA program in Europe. She studied International Business Management with a focus in Business Ethics for two years, spending six months each in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, and London. Rosi wrote her thesis in Corporate Social Responsibility in Vietnam, linking her newly gained knowledge back to her motherland. Upon completing her studies she took a gap year around Europe. All in all, she remembers this time fondly. She’d spent her post-university years hunkering down and working, leading to burnout. Finally making it to Europe satisfied a lifelong desire to see the world. Naturally, it couldn’t last forever. With experience gained from her MBA, she wanted to start gaining international work experience. Her heart was divided between Berlin and London, but when a friend suggested she come to Oceania if her intention was to see more of the world, she jumped at the opportunity. After three months couchsurfing around Australia, she relocated to Melbourne. She loved the city, found it similar to London and Berlin, not to mention the milder weather and the fact that it was closer to Vietnam. She worked a number of different jobs, her largest being an in-house marketing role at the Wyndham Hotels where she also helped with guest service. It wasn’t long before she’d started organising events for VIP guests and freelancing for InterNations, the world’s largest expat community. It’s then she really understood how much she enjoyed hosting and meeting people. The Happievent was born.
In Australia, Rosi curated events based on her hobbies. A lover of dancing, she put on numerous latin and swing dance events, from her latin dancing boat cruise to a Great Gatsby themed swing dancing night. She enjoyed every bit of it, though she’d yet to put an emphasis on helping others and embody the altruism she’s known for today. As it happened, it wouldn’t be long before she discovered that side of herself, owing to a return to Vietnam in 2020, and what that year meant for the world.
Once more, life had been presented to her. Returning to Vietnam for a short holiday in March of 2020, she ended up stuck as a result of the Covid pandemic. Witnessing the havoc the pandemic was causing, she decided to host charity events in order to help. This culminated in two groundbreaking events. The first was a Dance for Kindness Flash Mob in November 2020. Rosi had already done one in Melbourne, which featured 70 dancers in front of the iconic Fed Square landmark. She wanted to do something similar in Saigon to support flood victims in Central Vietnam, but found it impossible to get a permit for Nguyễn Huệ Walking Street. In the end, she got one for Landmark 81 Vinhomes Central Park. It was the perfect setting to host over 130 dancers, and was a massive success, with a lot of media and public attention. Following the flashmob, Rosi joined the Women Empowerment Club, an initiative funded by the US Consulate. Part of being a member meant pledging support for a community project and so Rosi chose Breast Cancer Awareness because her grandmother passed away from the disease. Working with her WEC team and her social event business, The Happievent, she organised a charity fundraiser called Pink Night in January of the following year. Taking place at the Hard Rock Cafe before it closed, Pink Night received more widespread attention and the feedback to Rosi was unanimous: if she put her mind to it, she could really start inciting positive change.
By the end of the month she founded Social ChangeMakers. It started with a conversation about social change. Among the numerous people who took part, four organisations joined. Two were non-governmental charity groups: Help Saigon Homeless and Viral Kindness Saigon. The other two were some of the biggest and oldest organisations in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh Child Welfare Association and Little Rose Shelter. The seed had been planted. From that point forward, Rosi and the Social ChangeMakers Network have hosted an impact networking event every month. Aimed at building a community dedicated to driving positive change and promoting social impact, events have ranged from their Sustainability Markets, which later led to CHANCE Charity Shop, as well as their Human Library Saigon project which takes inspiration from the original idea from Denmark. Focusing on CHANCE Charity Shop, Rosi decided to open up the space after her house became something of a warehouse filled with items they’d sell and those accumulated through donations. Renting a shop in Thảo Điền provided them with a community hub from which to run their charity, and during the first year, everything went well.
Through talking to Rosi and writing this profile, I’ve come to learn two things. First, Rosi is someone who has a tendency to put others before herself, often to the detriment of her health. One of the first instances of this was the fact that she took on the responsibility of numerous jobs post-university, ultimately leading to a morning spent coughing up blood. Another came when the unthinkable happened: an assault right in front of CHANCE Charity Shop at the hands of unruly, unfriendly neighbours. Tensions had been building ever since the shop opened, and it all came to a head one fateful evening. Having made sure the safety of her team members and her dog Poppi, Rosi was surrounded by five neighbours from the gangster family living across from the shop. The result? A night spent at the hospital emergency room. That brings me to the second lesson: Rosi believes in trusting the universe, and putting faith in the fact that the course of your life is often presented to you. Burning out from working too hard led to an MBA in Europe, a time she describes as being one of the happiest in her life. What followed the assault was, naturally, a period of grief during which Rosi stayed at home to recover. If that wasn’t bad enough, it also kickstarted a series of mishaps that ultimately led to the closure of CHANCE Charity Shop’s Thảo Điền outlet. Long story short, the landlord took advantage of the situation by keeping the deposit money and ending the lease, while the assault led to a loss of business. Despite the underlying moroseness of that period, it did alter Rosi in a positive way. She found during that time spent at home that she actually enjoyed the peace and quiet—it was something she hadn’t experienced in a while. This is why she believes it’s important to accept the path you’re put on. Sometimes losing one thing means gaining another, and in the case of the assault, it meant realising that it’s okay to take time for yourself—to put yourself first. Nowadays, she puts this into practice by doing more of what she loves, whether that be dancing, traveling with friends, or hanging out with her dog, Poppi.
The future’s looking bright. In June she’s heading to a Global ChangeMakers summit in Slovenia, where she’s been nominated and accepted to be a grantee. Once she’s back in Vietnam, she wants to continue focusing on building out a community through Social ChangeMakers with events like the Human Library and clothes swap pop-ups with CHANCE Charity Shop. There’s even more to be excited about next year. She plans to take the ethos of Social ChangeMakers international with an impact project she’s currently developing with several others. There’s still so much more to do, but she’s better equipped to do it all now than she ever has been. With that, our conversation ended. Outside, a blue sky and the pleasant smell of a neighbourhood after it’s been doused in rain. The sun had come out, perhaps Rosi had brought it with her.
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