The Vortex Origin Story

Most people wait until it's too late to change their life.
My dad didn’t...

He read one story that wrecked his comfort and rewired his entire future.

Before that, he’d already done three tours in Vietnam. He knew what risk looked like. He just hadn’t realized that courage would call on him again in a different way.

My dad used to say he picked his career by throwing a dart at a board of respectable professions.
It landed on dentistry.

He went to dental school, built a practice, and by all external measures...had made it.
Except for one small problem.
He hated it.

He didn’t like looking in people’s mouths all day.
But what bothered him more was that most people dreaded going to the dentist in the first place.
So, he filled a closet with toys for kids to make it less scary.
Even then, the laughter in that office never matched the joy he wanted in his life.

Then one day, he read something that would shift the course of our family forever.

It was about the “boat people” - families fleeing the North Vietnamese in small wooden boats, crossing open ocean to escape, reaching America with nothing...not even the language.
And somehow, they made it.

Years later, he told me, “Here I am...educated, safe, healthy, with every advantage. If they can do it, so can I.”

And what he decided to do next would become the first spark in the story of Vortex...