
Kieu and Steve Banks on their wedding day in 2007.
As they deplaned in Charlotte, they were filled with trepidation and apprehension as to what they would find. They need not have worried. With one brief exception, what happened next and continuing for months afterwards, was Exhibit A of the U.S. at its finest and of an immigrant family determined to succeed.

The Luu’s residence in Gastonia, N.C., rented and furnished for them by a group of local churches. Submitted Photos

Ashley Junior High School, Gastonia, N.C. where Kieu became one of the top students in her class.

Kieu and Steve with Kieu’s daughters, Amber Green (20) and Amelea Lowery (19) on a trip to San Francisco (2009).

Kieu (second from left) with her siblings on their parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

The Banks’ modest home in Goodland today: Steve is towing one of their Dreamland Tours boats back from a fishing trip. Photo by Barry Gwinn
Almost immediately, Kieu and her school age siblings were enrolled in the Gastonia public school system. Kieu was placed in the 6th grade and was amazed at what she saw there. “I had never seen anything but Asians before coming here,” she said, “The school was filled with kids of all different races. It took some getting used to.” Kieu could only sit in class, without having any idea what was going on, but was able to participate in some math exercises on the blackboard. Other than that, only the pictures in the textbooks meant anything to her. An American tutor came to the house once a week to teach her some English and help with her assignments, but it took six months to gain even a rudimentary understanding of this strange new language. She believes her classmates treated her with kindness, “But I couldn’t understand what they were saying,” she added.
In September 1980, Kieu was promoted to the seventh grade at Ashley Junior High School, where she really started to blossom. Until June, Kieu never had a chance to practice her English, as only Chinese was permitted to be spoken at home. TV was similarly not allowed. When her parents finally gave in, Kieu started a crash course in English, aided mainly by TV programs. “You’d be amazed at what you can learn from TV,” Kieu said, “I began to pick up on what they were saying by recognizing the situations they were in.” She also began practicing her (cursive) writing in preparation for the coming school year. By November, she had produced two papers for her English class that would have done a National Honor Society member proud. The syntax, grammar, spelling and writing were all but flawless. The compositions, one about life in the U.S., the other about Vietnam, were perceptive and eminently readable. It was stunning to see what she had done after less than a year in the U.S.
Through high school, Kieu had no social life and was sometimes teased about her “slant eyes.” She had to help care for her siblings after school as well as work to bring in some income. She was not allowed to talk on the phone with boys, nor participate in school activities. Only at the end of the day, with chores complete and the young ones in bed did she have time to attend to her studies.
Kieu graduated from high school in 1986 with an unweighted GPA of 4.0, and got a scholarship at a nearby college. Her education was interrupted by a marriage to her high school sweetheart and the birth of her two daughters. After a transfer to San Francisco in 1994, the marriage ended in divorce, with Kieu awarded custody of her daughters, both of whom have college degrees.
2007 was a big year for Kieu. She received a BA in Business from Phoenix University, all while working a graveyard shift and raising her kids. And, she married Steve Banks, her newest best friend, and later business partner. In 2010, she and Steve moved from San Francisco to Naples, Florida to care for Steve’s ailing father. Steve got a job as executive chef and Kieu worked at a friend’s beach concession in Bonita Springs.
In 2011, upon the death of Steve’s father, they decided to go into business for themselves and started burning through their savings, buying and renting paddleboards and kayaks. They would store the vessels in their Naples yard and tow them to rental sites. “It was Steve’s childhood dream to own his own business,” said Kieu, “We called it Dreamlander, because Steve had landed on his dream.”
With Kieu’s business degree, and Steve’s work ethic, the business prospered. Moving to Goodland in 2015, Kieu managed the operations and handled the business end. Steve made sure the watercraft were ready and in top condition. By 2017, Dreamlander Tours was operating three boats, eight jet skis and two sightseeing vans for tours, dolphin cruises and fishing. Five licensed captains were under contract. The reviews on Trip Advisor were lavish in their praise for the operation. Bookings were through the roof. The business was taking most of their waking hours. “We were making people happy,” said Kieu, “and were proud of what we had created, [but it left time for little else].” They have recently sold the business to one of their longtime captains, Dakotah Gutierrez, who was born and raised in Marco Island. Kieu and Steve are now taking some well-deserved time to spend with their parents and grandchild.
Looking back, Kieu says that they were proud to “use the business as a tool to make a positive impact on many peoples’ lives.” They mentored ten local young adults and helped them to start their own business and are still sponsoring kids all over the world through Compassion International. “It’s these things that were most important for us and our inspiration for what we accomplished,” Kieu says, “No matter what the future holds for us, it will be these same inspirations that lead us there.”
Emma Lazarus had it about right when she penned the immortal lines inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. “Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” She could have added, “You will seldom regret it.”
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