About · Tom Pham
I am not a coach. I am a few steps ahead.
Hi. Tom here. I live in Toronto and work the night shift as an in-room dining supervisor at a five-star hotel. Everything on this site was built after those shifts. This page is what I would want to know before trusting a stranger on the internet — so here it all is, plainly.
Plainly
What I am, and what I am not.
Trust is easier when the edges are clear. So before anything else, here are mine.
I am
- An in-room dining supervisor at a five-star hotel in Toronto — still, today, by choice.
- The author of three books, written after my shifts.
- Someone who invests slowly, in a broad, low-cost index fund, and treats the job as a stream of income.
- A beginner again — learning Korean with a tutor, badly and happily.
- A few steps down a road you might be starting.
I am not
- A coach, a guru, or a financial advisor.
- Rich, retired, or financially free.
- Going to tell you to quit your job.
- Going to show income screenshots or promise you numbers — ever.
- Pretending to have it figured out. I write while still in the middle of it.
The road so far
No shortcut in this story.
Twelve years, told honestly. The slow parts are the point.
2014 · Fifteen years old
Vietnam to Canada.
A new country and slow English. The first year was mostly about settling in and finding my feet.
2015 · Volunteer first
Hospitality began without a paycheque.
As an international student I was not allowed to work yet, so I volunteered instead — many hours in a community centre kitchen, cooking and serving meals for homeless people.
The years after
My father’s hotel, then a restaurant, then a hotel in Toronto.
Paid work came step by step, and I have not really stopped since.
Along the way
Failed the IELTS three times.
Passed it on the fourth try. I keep this on the timeline because the failing was most of the work.
2019 · Twenty-one
First book.
Pursuit of Success in a Foreign Land — a memoir about leaving home and becoming someone here.
May 2026
Alive After Hours.
Seven years later: a book about working a full-time job and quietly building a life on the side of it. Written on the same night shifts it describes.
July 2026
Write the Book Instead.
The third book — the long answer I kept writing to coworkers who asked how to write theirs. Self-publishing your first book, with AI as the assistant, not the author.
Tonight
Still on the night shift.
Still grateful for it. Building games, learning Korean, and writing things down as I learn them — after hours.
Kept along the way
A few photos, for the record.
Not because they are impressive — because they are real.
“Tom doesn’t act like he has everything figured out. He talks about mistakes, setbacks, and periods where he felt bored or uncertain. That made the lessons feel more genuine.”
The quiet rules
How I try to earn your trust.
Five rules this site runs on. Hold me to them.
No income claims. Ever.
I will not show you screenshots, dashboards, or “results.” When money comes up, I share what I do — not numbers, and not what you should do.
The free things are actually free.
The games ask for nothing — no email, no score sent anywhere. The five questions cost one email, and leaving the list takes one click.
Affiliate links are always disclosed.
On deskpainfree.com and anywhere else, if I might earn a small commission, you will see it written plainly before you click.
I only recommend what I would hand my own brother.
If I have not used it or genuinely researched it, I do not point you to it. Commission rates never pick the recommendation.
No fake urgency.
No countdown timers, no “only 3 left,” no pressure. Everything here will still be here tomorrow, after your shift.
Built after hours
Where to go from here.
The games
Five small browser games about paycheques, hours, and quiet saving. Free, no email.
Play oneThe books
Three books — a memoir, a guide to building a life on the side of a job, and one about self-publishing your first.
See the booksKorean Quest
The game I built to practise Korean the way I actually use it. Twelve quests, free.
Start Quest OneThe writing
Essays on money, work, and building quietly — written between shifts.
Read the essaysNot on Amazon? Buy the ebooks directly — plain files that open on any e-reader, through Kit.
Say hello.
You can reach me through the contact page, or find me on Instagram. I read everything, even when I answer slowly — there is usually a shift in between.
Or start where most readers start
Five free questions by email. No spam, one list, through Kit. Easy to leave.
Thank you for being here. We can do this. — Tom