And even though Channel 7 newscaster Maureen Bunyan's voice is blaring from TVs in nearly every room of the house, McNeill sometimes gets lonely this time of day.
So she heads to the lower level, where an extensive entertainment system offers her favorite remedy: karaoke. She picks up a microphone and croons in her Vietnamese accent the Isley Brothers' "Unchained Melody's" or her favorite, "Only You." Do you have a request? If it's a love song, she's got it.
Most stories about TiTi McNeill begin with how she left for America on the last plane out of Saigon in 1975 with only $10 in her pocket and her 13-year-old sister Kim in tow.
And how the first thing she did when she got to the States was lose the $10. It's an unforgettable anecdote from a woman who's built a $28 million federal contracting company. But it's far from defining. This is a woman who doesn't wallow in the past; in fact, she barely has time for the present. She's a workaholic who can't get one number out of her head --50, which stands for $50 million, the revenue she plans to schedule to rack up by 2003.
"It's always good to set [goals] you cannot reach," she says. "That way, you work harder."
'NO WAY!'
TiTi McNeill has been working hard her entire life, and she's won accolades nearly every step of the way. At 10, the oldest of eight took on the role of chief babysitter, carting her siblings to school, doctor's appointments and singing them 1,001 lullabies while her parents worked. Her most recent reward was a trip to the podium at Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year awards in June.
TranTech bought two tables to accommodate all the firm's executives and their spouses. McNeill's category, Emerging Government Services, was scheduled to be presented second to last. She started to get worried when all the other winners delivered speeches about half the length of the one she had prepared.
When the big moment arrived, David Peterson, a senior VP at TranTech says it was, "Total pandemonium." When the announcer read McNeill's name, the brawny exec picked up his boss and swung her around.
McNeill writes in an e-mail: "When I heard my name called, for a split second, I said in my head, 'No way! I beat those super smart people in my category. No way!'"
"I screamed so loud and jumped up and down and ran over to my staff and shook hands with every single one.... I shook hands with my father. He was clearing his throat -- that's what he does when he is emotional. After that it was blurry."
McNeill's 71 year old father, Duoc Tran, has missed much of his eldest daughter's professional success: he only moved to America in 1998. But in a way, he's been a part of it all along. It's from Tran that McNeill gets her tremendous work ethic. "He's a great, great person." she says. Tran's timing couldn't have been better. McNeill describes 1998 as "A year of chaos."
DEVASTATING DIVORCE
Although no one knew it at the time, McNeill's 17 year marriage to Air Force Capt. Patrick McNeill was breaking up. He'd always been supportive of her career, but after nearly 20 years of seeing his wife only at dinner during the 11 o'clock news - he'd had enough.
"Looking back," she says, "I can't say I blame him."
McNeill and her ex husband, who's remarried, still talk, and she says they make good friends. She's been dating one man for more than two years but makes it clear that TranTech has to come first.
"You feel lonely sometimes." she says, "This is my life now."
McNeill kept busy in 1998 with her "four babies" her father, her youngest brother, his wife and their daughter, Tina who she brought over from Vietnam. Her life was consumed with things like helping them shop for groceries, find jobs and even translating the Virginia driver's manual into Vietnamese so her father could enjoy a little independence.
He flunked the test half a dozen times before finally passing, but now he works six days a week and even wanted to keep working when his employer cut out his overtime. Tran has come a long way in three years.
"Now he speaks in English." McNeill says. "...the result is gratifying."
THE SURROGATE DAUGHTER
But McNeill gets an even greater sense of accomplishment when she looks at her brother's daughter, Tina Tran - the fourth-grader who couldn't even read her own language when she enrolled at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School now identifies singers on the radio - "Christina Aguilera!" "Ricky Martin!" "Britney Spears!" - like she's some kind of game show contestant. She shops at the mall, watches music videos and uses American slang, albeit with a Vietnamese accent.
Tina is her aunt's biggest fan, and McNeill dotes on the 10-year-old: She pays for Tina's tutor and her clothes, and she even took her to Disney World. McNeill sees a lot of herself in Tina, says George Blacker, McNeill's beau, and she wants to help Tina have the life she didn't have. Although McNeill has another niece and a nephew in the States, she says Tina is a special case because "She needed help the most."
Through Tina, McNeill and TranTech (www.trantech-inc.com) have gotten involved in Sleepy Hollow as technology advisers. Education, as much as hard work, got McNeill to where she is today, and it's something she feels very strongly about.
"Once you have that," she says, "it's in your head. No one can take that away from you."
HAPPY ENDING?
Blacker likes to say McNeill is the embodiment of the American dream. He also knows this insomniac workaholic makes plenty of time to enjoy the fruits of her a labor. "There's 24 hours in a day," he says, "and she survives on a lot less sleep than the rest of us."
One of her favorite things to do is throw karaoke parties. When dinner is over, guests at McNeill's house know where to go. The karaoke machine is the centerpiece of McNeill's entertainment system, which sits on a hardwood floor that regularly turns into a dance floor when the disco ball comes out.
(The furniture even wheels out of the way.)
This is where McNeill is really in her element: at the center of a room with a microphone phone in her hand, surrounded by close friends. "I'm healthy, smart and successful," she says, "and I don't want to trade it for anything."
WE WERE WONDERING…
WHAT DO YOU DO DURING YOUR COMMUTE?
I check in with the office to see if there's any urgent matter to be taken care of. Otherwise, I listen to Latin music. My favorite song for the past few months has been "Salome" [by Spanish artist Chayenne]. I must have listened to it for over 100 times. I don't understand its lyrics, but the music is extremely upbeat, beautiful and universal.
WHAT ADVICE DID YOU GIVE YOUR FAMILY WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN AMERICA?
I told them the differences between the two countries, such as there are lots of rules and regulations to be strictly obeyed, IRS taxes must be paid, no negotiation in supermarkets, lots of jobs that they can do and work until you drop.
WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE?
I worked too hard, too much and lost a good husband. It was the toughest event in my life. I kept the entire personal trouble to myself and no one knew about it, including relatives, until after the divorce was over.
WHAT'S YOUR BEST BUSINESS DECISION?
I decided to go into business for myself and never looked back since. I started it from scratch. No inheritance. No investor. No partner. No family involvement. I want things with my own name on them.
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT YOUR FIRST WEEK IN AMERICA?
I just needed to get a job fast was the only thing that ran through my head.
