Language barrier

From her childhood spent in Vietnam, she now realizes: "in this communist country,

you can be like a horse with blinders on. (...) I was asked to tell about my country,

my story, I realized that I didn't know everything." Arrived in Alsace at the age of

fifteen, she appreciates the presence of four very distinct seasons. However, nothing

is easy when you don’t speak a word of French. "I got in class two years late, it was

very complicated ", remembers Phuong. Opting for a path where the French

language will be less  of an obstacle, she obtains an S [sciences] section bac [High

School diploma] and is moving towards a bachelor's degree in mathematics and

computing, applied to science. She still remembers the welcoming words from his

professor: "Now, these are real math." Her average grade divided by two, she hangs

on: "Numbers were gone, these were very abstract mathematics, close to

philosophy."

Look out, binders falling!

From her years of training, Phuong also remembers the reaction of her internship

supervisor at the Mulhouse hospital. As she shows him her first computer program,

he does not even  glance at it but drops a huge binder on the computer keyboard!

It was to recreate the lack of space on desks in a hospital environment, which is the

cause of many documents  falling on computers... "If the program cannot protect

itself, it is that the computer  scientist did not integrate the environment, that he

did not anticipate the behavior of the user". She will remember the lesson for a long

time. When she later finds a job at a construction equipment company she thinks

it's only temporary. "Well, as it turned out there were real IT needs there.

I immediately worked in support for server management, IT equipment and

databases."

In the stars

Besides the open-mindedness in France, Phuong particularly enjoys its cuisine.

"I like to research the history of the recipe, its origins, the processes to be put in

place. My approach is a bit like that of a chemist." So it's only natural that she sends

requests for internships in famous restaurants. Her goal: to understand how the

work is  organized. Intrigued, two star-rated establishments respond to her.

She will experience two totally different atmospheres. In the first one, screams and

knives Flying all over. In the other, the three-star (now two) Auberge de l'Ill of Marc

Haeberlin,  Phuong describes: "There were twenty-five of us in the kitchen. Not a

single noise,  everything is calm, each one at their station, brigades performing

their scores like an  orchestra, to the millimeter, for ten dishes a minute that all

arrive together.” A work of art.

L'anti-routine

At FiveForty°, it is the art of moving forward together that is appealing to her:

"We are all  aware of it. In a human-scaled company, we are taken into

consideration, listened to. If a  person is in trouble, she can talk to associates or

a colleague who can help her." Phuong  hopes that despite the growth of the

company, this spirit will endure. She assures us:  "One can choose a big company

with the risks of routine, invisibility or being crushed by the  hierarchy. In a smaller

structure, of course, there is a lot of work, but that is what makes the discovery of

new things always possible." °