Ha Tran is one of our Relocation Consultants at Foreigners Brno meaning that she helps expats to find their place to live in the city. Her highly professional and human features such as diligence, optimism and great self-organization have helped her to gain trust among all of her clients and moved her to the senior position in the company career path.
First of all, how do you feel about becoming Senior Relocation Consultant at Foreigners?
I was a bit surprised, because I was not focusing on it at all. I remember a few months ago when I was really focused on achieving this position and it was really hard. So, I just kept working and then, it happened. I feel happy, of course.
Could you tell our readers how and when you started your career at Foreigners and how do you enjoy it so far?
So I started in summer 2017 and it was actually my dream job (read more in the previous interview with Ha – editor’s note). I still like doing what I do, but not every day is like unicorns and rainbows, if you know what I mean.
It is kinda surprising to hear that because your clients always describe you as a very positive, kind and open minded person. What is your secret of always being in a good mood and share your sunny vibes?
I think I was born this way, but I am not happy all the time. When I am not, I am always trying to do what I like because it keeps me positive: for example, I attend yoga and tabata classes, I enjoy foam baths at home, spending time with my cats or cat sitting for friends and clients as well. I just recently started coloring and I was really surprised how calming it actually was. I also love longboarding and snowboarding.
As far as I know, you started snowboarding last winter. How hard it was for you and how many times you fell? 🙂
It was my dream for a long time to learn snowboarding and finally I made it happen on my birthday in January. It is funny you are mentioning the falling, of course I fell a lot. It actually reminded me that you must fail before you succeed. It is just about never giving up. You can use it in any aspect of your life.
Have you ever gotten any gifts from your clients? If it’s not a secret, what was it? Why do you think you got it from them?
In general, I have received a lot of traditional sweets from my international clients. As I can remember now, the clients were from Russia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Indonesia, and Poland.
I think they just wanted to thank me for the work I have done for them.
Some clients have also invited me for their homemade dinner. So sweet of them!
Talking about your work, what is your personal strategy of building a good and well-trusted relationship with your clients? Maybe you have some statistics about how many clients you have already had?
It is actually simple, you just need to be there for them and give them 100% of your attention, I always try to make my clients feel important.
In the beginning of my career, I had a problem with drawing a line between work and personal life and it kind of stressed me out. Now I know how to deal with it and everybody is happy – me and my clients as well.
I don’t remember how many clients I have met during the whole time but I can tell you that I have helped exactly 256 clients with finding their perfect accommodation so far (I keep track of all the closed deals) and I keep on going!
As far as I know you love cats☺ Could you tell us about your cats at home?
I live with two cats, Arya and Jamie (yes, they are named after Game Of Thrones characters). I have adopted them from the cat cafe Pelíšek. It is an amazing project where you can enjoy their delicious cakes, coffee and you can also save some lives by adopting cats.
I love cats because I feel totally relaxed when I am with them. I really admire their independent personalities. I have been reading the book How to think like a cat by Stephanie Garnier, it is a book about personal growth inspired by cats. I totally recommend this book to all cat lovers.
Digging a little bit deeper in your personal life, it is not a secret for our team members that you are getting married this summer? Could you tell us a little bit more about it?
I am getting married this summer with my high school sweetheart and I cannot imagine a better match for myself. For example, I consider myself a dreamer while he is realistic and he keeps me on the ground exactly when I need it.
Our wedding will not be big nor small, around 60 people, just family and close friends.
The planning was smooth the whole time. We have almost everything ready for the wedding and right now, I am just dealing with the decorations.
Wow! Great news ☺ Do you have some expectations or maybe you think your life will change somehow after that day?
I don’t think there will be a big change for us, after 10 years we quite know each other, so I am not expecting any big surprises. But I am really looking forward to getting his surname.
How do you like living in Brno? Is there a place in the world that you love the most? Or maybe a place you are dreaming of visiting?
I have been living in Brno for eight years now, I came to Brno to study economics in Mendel University.
I love living in Brno. I think it has a perfect size – not too small, not too big, you have everything here and there are not so many tourists like in Prague.
I always like to visit Vietnam, where my family is from. It is like a different world compared to the Czech Republic, you know, totally different culture, climate and so on.
There is one place I would like to visit one day. It is the Harry Potter tour in London.
Wow, I hope your dream will come true soon, then! To finish our interview, is there something you would like to recommend to expats who are moving to the Czech Republic ?
I would like to tell them more about Czech people. They usually don’t smile that much but they are very friendly once you get to know them. I can assure you that if you ask somebody for help, they will definitely help you.
Thank you a lot for your time and sharing, I wish you to keep growing in both professional and personal ways and make the best memories from your wedding.
Are you looking for accommodation in Brno? Ha Tran and other consultants are here to help you!. Just write us an email on brno@foreigners.cz or check our website.
