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CONOVER, N.C. (AP) -- Multicolored lights danced around private party rooms as music pumped through the speakers at WE Karaoke in Conover. The business has been up and running for around four months.
The husband-and-wife team of Wilson Thao, 28, and Emily Thao, 26, began their business journey in 2020. Wilson said when he was laid off from his job for four months due to the pandemic, he decided it was time for a change. He said he felt like his career as an athletic trainer was not going the way he planned, and he always wanted to be an entrepreneur.
The couple opened WE Karaoke in June. Emily said she came up with the name by combining her first initial with her husband's. She said the "we" in WE Karaoke also signifies how the experience is about coming together and having fun.
Wilson and Emily are of Hmong descent, and their families came to America as refugees during the Vietnam War, they said. Their parents' struggles and hopes for a better life are what inspired Wilson and Emily to pursue the business.
"My parents came to the U.S. when they were in their mid-20s, not knowing much English at all," Wilson said. "However, they were able to put me through college all the way up to my master's degree. And here I am pursuing an American dream that very few get to experience."