Born in Vietnam, she moved to the U.S. with her family at age two. Seven years later, she began work in her family's Vietnamese bakery/café and eventually grew up to manage the business.
Graduated from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in political science and international relations and earned her law degree from the University of the Pacific.
Before passing the bar exam, she clerked for both a congressman and a former mayor of Los Angeles, as well as the district attorney's office in Orange County.