“I am now happy with my choice despite many ups and downs,” said Phan Quy Anh, 31, in Lam Dong Province, who is the co-founder of Self Hiil, a startup providing psychological coaching courses helping both kids and adults live a happier life. 

Anh, who graduated from Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh City, had a very good job.

But she then realized that she did not really feel happy.

Psychological scars from childhood were still on her mind. 

When she was an elementary school student, her parents sometimes forgot to take her home from school.

As mobile phones were not as popular as now, Anh could not contact her parents. Her teacher or her relatives took her home instead. 

“My family sometimes reminds me of the story like it’s normal,” she shared. 

She took part in a course on inner intelligence by chance and realized her issues.

When practicing listening to her own feelings during the course, she remembered the bad memory and found her psychological scars.

It turned out that such little things are the childhood trauma affecting her mental health. 

Her inner child felt that she did not deserve to be loved as her parents even forgot that she existed. 

Anh said if she had shared her feelings to her parents, she would not have been hurt like that.

Thus, Anh established Self Hiil, where kids’ feelings are listened to and respected. 

The company she worked for at that time let her rethink her decision for a month before quitting her job.

But finally, she chose Self Hiil. 

It’s not a rosy path 

COVID-19 and other life problems made everyone more careful about their mental health.

Therefore, Self Hiil finds it easy to explain its services to customers. It provides online courses that help the customers save up to 80 percent on course fees. 

Self Hiil entered the final round of She Disrupts, which is a startup competition and pre-acceleration program for women entrepreneurs co-hosted by Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurs and Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian government. 

The project appeared in a reality TV show for startups, drawing public attention. Self Hiil also won Tuoi Tre Golf Tournament for Start-Up 2022. 

Self Hiil’s latest non-profit campaign Truong Nha Hanh Phuc (Happy School Home) is sponsored by a prestigious education organization.

The campaign will be offered to 100 teachers and education workers in Dong Thap Province. 

Although Self Hiil achieved early success, a startup is not a rosy path, said Anh. 

It takes an education startup quite a long time to achieve success, compared to those in other sectors. 

Anh wanted to give up at times, but the children’s future kept her going.

“For me, happiness is not peace of mind, but self-control, optimism, and a life full of love even in adversity,” she added.

Vo Minh Quan, CEO of IMP Marketing and a friend of Anh's, said it surprises him that she co-founded a startup for kids’ mental health.

This is a hard job because of a lack of human resources and financial instability.

Moreover, there must be courses that are interesting enough to lure enrollees and help them understand the messages.

Anh and her partners must try their best to gain the current success, said Quan.

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