Chasing the American Dream: The Story of Immigrant Businesswoman Dolkar Jamingtsang
BY ANGELIKA GARRETT
Business owner Dolkar Jamingtsang. Larry Bachata
In 1992, a twelve-year old Dolkar Jamingtsang left her country, and with it, her family and everything she knew. She chased the intangible but distinctive hope of a better future.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, immigrants made up 18% of business owners with employees and 23% of business owners without employees in 2022. Many immigrants come to the U.S. chasing the American Dream, the idea that anyone can achieve anything in America as long as they work hard. It is usually seen as a positive ideal. However, Jamingtsang has a different story to tell, one that reveals the duality of the American Dream as something of both great success and hardship.
Jamingtsang is the founder and owner of Tibet Sky Emporium, a small business that sells handcrafted clothing and accessories made mostly in Nepal by Tibetan refugees. She was once like the people who now make her products. She was born and raised in Tibet. After she left, she attended boarding school in India before moving to Nepal. There, she lived as an undocumented refugee while working various jobs for mostly low wages. Although she considered her life in Nepal to be simpler than it is in the U.S., she was also in more danger. Being an undocumented refugee meant having no protection or rights. If law enforcement discovered her, she could have been arrested and jailed. Eventually, the danger became too great, so she immigrated to the U.S. in 2005.
Her first job in the U.S. was as a cashier for a cruel boss. She quit in less than a week. The experience made her hesitant to work for anyone else, so she decided that she would employ herself. Using the sales management skills she’d picked up while working at an antiques store in Nepal, she started her own business. It’s been a difficult journey, but Tibet Sky Emporium has been successful, and she feels that she has achieved the American Dream. That has not been entirely a good thing, however.
For immigrants, the American dream means many things. “The first time I heard [‘the American dream’] was when I went to high school,” says Yanina Quiliano, an immigrant from Peru, small business owner, and friend of Jamingtsang. People told her, “‘In the United States you can do anything, you can become anyone you want…. You become a millionaire if you work hard.’” Jamingtsang recalls hearing similar stories before coming here. She believed that all Americans were wealthy. Although she is more financially well-off in the U.S., it has not come easily. She earns much more than she did in Nepal, but she has to work hard for it, and in turn, she has to pay “endless bills,” debt, and mortgages. All of these have had a large effect on her mental health.
“You can do so much better here, but at the same time, life is more stressful,” she says. Unlike many who work nine-to-five jobs, she does not have paid time off. It’s difficult to go on vacation or take a break for long, because she’ll have no income during that time. “[It’s] a big pressure for me,” she says, explaining why she feels the need to be almost constantly working.
Dolkar Jamingtsang at the Body Mind Spirit Expo. Devon Mead
The high costs aren’t the only reason her mental health is worse in the U.S. Although her quality of life has improved since moving to America, she misses Tibet. “Your soul is more settled, or more happier, in your country,” she says, hinting at how isolating it can be to live in land far from where you grew up. In Tibet, “we didn’t have much, but we [were] happier,” she admits. “As an immigrant…you’re always longing in your heart [to] be [in] your motherland.”
Despite missing her country of birth, Jamingtsang appreciates what she’s been able to do in the U.S. “I think I achieved quite a lot,” she says. She’s glad to be able to say that she has her own house, her own car, and that she’s getting by. “I’m mostly happy. Mostly proud of myself. I came a long way. I have been through a lot worse.” Other than financial success, she’s also proud of the privileges she gains from being a U.S. citizen. “When I travel, like, abroad… I’m not scared anymore, you know. I’m proud that I have a U.S. passport,” she says. “I feel like nobody can bully me, which I used to face when I was [in] Nepal.” Having no identification in Nepal meant she had no protection, but now that she’s an American citizen, she feels safe: “I’m grateful to be here [as] an American citizen.”
“[When] you’re new here, you don’t have nobody, you don’t have no connections.…You don’t know how to, but you just have to make it. That’s it. It wasn’t all pretty, it wasn’t all flowers,” Quiliano admits. The mindset and grit she describes are also possessed by Jamingtsang. It takes strength to survive, and even more to flourish, in an unfamiliar country.
Jamingtsang has been able to not only survive, but also run a successful business. She pays it forward by buying products made by Tibetan refugees in Nepal and other women artists from the Himalayan area. Her support of their small businesses allows them to take care of their families and provide their children with educations.
Jamingtsang and Quiliano believe in the importance of being prepared in advance. For young women looking to start their own businesses, Jamingtsang suggests “[doing] a lot of research yourself.” Quiliano adds that social media can be a great tool for advertising and marketing, and she believes all aspiring entrepreneurs could benefit from familiarizing themselves with different platforms. Jamingtsang warns that part of being prepared means being ready to face the challenges involved with running a business: “the hard work, the compromise, you know, the weather, or whatever physical or mental challenge.” In the end, the biggest thing is effort. “If you do it with all your mind and heart … put 100 percent, you’ll definitely achieve something.”
