Owner/Chef, Typhoon!, Portland, OR

Bo Kline was born Bongoj Lohasawat in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of a prominent engineer. She attended the exclusive "Queen's School," and is a graduate of Chulalongkorn, Thailand's most prestigious university. She came to the United States in 1981 to continue her higher education, and on her return to Thailand got a job in the hotel industry, where she soon rose to a position in charge of sales, marketing and public relations for Amanpuri, one of Asia's premier series of five-star resorts.

As happy as life was in Thailand, however, Bo has always admired the United States and cherished the American dream. Her own dream took hold: that of one day becoming a citizen of America as well as Thailand. She returned to the United States and in 1995, after much hard work, was able to open her first restaurant. It was named Typhoon!, but shortly after it opened, she wondered if the name was in fact an omen.

In its first two months Typhoon! had to be shut down five times because of rain storms, snow and ice storms and flooding. Mornings often found her crawling on her hands and knees leading her cooks across the frozen parking lot to open the restaurant. The money poured out faster than it was coming in, and Bo wondered if her dreams would be blown away by the storms.

But Bo hung in, and her hard work and persistence paid off: Typhoon! soon took off and became a booming success. That's when she faced her greatest challenge. As the growing company advertised for new staff, Bo realized her success was riding on her ability to recruit qualified cooks from Thailand.

There was only one way to do that. If Bo gave up her permanent residency — and her right to become a citizen of the United States — she could qualify as a foreign investor, and receive a special visa that would allow her to hire staff from Thailand.

With great sadness Bo set aside her own dream and turned in her green card. And with that sacrifice she enabled her company to grow and become a new door of opportunity to a steady stream of staff and their children who have put themselves through college, gone on to new careers, started their own businesses — and themselves been able to realize the American dream.