7 surgeries and the journey to find a "normal" job
Mr. Nguyen Quang Linh (28 years old), from Hung Yen, was born healthy. By the time he was 6 months old, he was diagnosed with a white blood vessel tumor. The tumor developed over time, deforming his face and leading to many upheavals in his life.
The first surgery was performed when he was only 10 months old. After that, the tumor continued to develop and he had to undergo a total of 7 surgeries. One surgery caused him to lose vision in his left eye. By his second year of university, the tumor spread, seriously affecting his tongue, forcing doctors to remove part of his tongue to save his life.
The surgery was successful, but then Mr. Linh lost his ability to eat and communicate normally. He had to spend about 4 months practicing swallowing each sip of water, and then persistently practicing pronunciation again from the beginning.
He completed his regular university program in Electronic Engineering at Thai Binh University with bright expectations. "After graduating from university, I thought I would have a job. But when I went to apply for a job, companies and factories did not accept because my face was different from normal people," Mr. Linh recalled.
Not finding a job that matched his expertise, he switched to freelance work, doing many different jobs. From heavy jobs, he continued to face accidents and even hesitation from customers.
At the end of 2023, a work accident occurred when he fell off the ladder. The injury caused him to lie in bed for 3 months and no longer be suitable for heavy work as before. During this time, through the community of people with disabilities, he learned about the Center for Living Willpower - a free vocational training place. He asked his family for permission to go to Hanoi and started learning Photoshop photo editing.
But Mr. Linh's vocational training journey continued through trials and failures. Due to the vision of one eye being affected, he could not meet the requirements of the job. After about 2 months, he switched to learning content building and video editing for a unit. But then, vision limitations continued to prevent him from pursuing this job.
Not giving up, he returned to the Center for Living Willpower and took a linked marketing course. This was a decision that opened a turning point. He began to learn how to create content and market products on e-commerce platforms and then switched to livestreaming. The job allows him to be more proactive in terms of time and can perform many stages himself.
However, to become a KOC, the first challenge comes from what seems to be the simplest thing: Products. In the early days, Mr. Linh did not have much money to buy sample products. He had to actively contact brands to ask for products. Not every request received feedback, finding products to film videos and livestreams therefore became a long process requiring perseverance.
Recalling the early days of doing KOC when he had almost nothing to start with, he shared: "Any product, I sell that product. At times, in about a month, I only focused on selling one product. At times, I did a lot of work at once, from preparing products, content to livestreaming. It was self-made in each step that helped me understand the whole process and know where to change.
Fortunately on his journey, Mr. Linh always has his family as a solid support. When livestream sessions started to have orders, the number of live broadcasts on the floor increased. Brands gradually proactively came, from small units to larger brands.
According to Mr. Linh, when there are more products and changes in operating methods, the next month's sales increase about 10 times compared to the previous month. To date, his TikTok channel has reached nearly 100,000 followers, with live broadcasts bringing certain efficiency and income.
Find a way, open more paths for others
Mr. Linh did not stop at developing personal channels. Having started with very little knowledge of marketing and linkage marketing, he understands the difficulties that people with disabilities may encounter when approaching this field. Therefore, when he gained experience, he returned to the Center for Living Willpower to share with students in similar circumstances.
He also participates in community activities, providing free linkage marketing skills for people with disabilities and visually impaired people. "I used to be the one who learned from the beginning and also did not know where to start. When I found a suitable way to do it, I wanted to share it so that you would have more choices about your career," Mr. Linh shared.
According to him, each person has a different strength. People who are able to communicate, speak well and have fewer pronunciation difficulties can be further trained in livestreaming skills. Others can take on tasks suitable to their abilities.
Currently, Mr. Linh continues to expand cooperation with brands on different e-commerce platforms. Further, he wants to build a team of people with disabilities to work together in linked marketing.
In a labor market that is increasingly expanding to digital space, Mr. Nguyen Quang Linh's story shows that for people with disabilities, accessing new skills and finding a suitable working environment can open up another path to self-reliance.
