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Meet the 12-year-old behind 360 Clinic’s COVID-19 graphic design

Lana Nguyen, 12, of Garden Grove,
Lana Nguyen, 12, of Garden Grove, shows volunteer Doug McKay, right, director of engagement strategy for Orange County United Way, how to assemble a COVID-19 testing kit on Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center.
(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)
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It’s been all hands on deck on multiple levels when it comes to responding to the coronavirus pandemic, including the marketing behind some of Orange County’s testing sites.

Linda Nguyen is a healthcare and food business consultant. Although she works in the food industry, healthcare organizations are her main project. When she was hired on as 360 Clinic’s consultant earlier in the summer and had to launch their first testing site within two weeks, she also hired Lana, her 12-year-old daughter, as a graphic designer.

“The reason why Lana came on board so quickly was because we didn’t have time to hire a graphic artist. We had to put on an overnight website,” Linda said.

Linda Nguyen
Linda Nguyen, of Garden Grove, collects assembled COVID-19 testing kits from volunteers on Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center.
(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)
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Lana was used to helping her mother run a now-defunct brick-and-mortar business, the Renewed Co.. Since many school campuses have shut down, Lana tends to finish her online schoolwork early and has had more time on her hands.

“She just had that natural talent, and I continue to try to foster that,” Linda said. “I would give her projects, not knowing whether she can complete it or not. But I gave her the freedom to be creative and see if she can execute it. There are days where she lands it really well, and there are days where I have to give her a little bit of guidance.”

Lana said she started learning graphic design by playing around with apps for fun and later on took an online class.

“It got me more into graphic designing and gave me the idea to actually use my ability to make money out of it,” Lana said.

Linda pointed out business owners can hire and pay their children up to $12,000 per year tax-free. Although it took an attorney and certified public accountant to set it up, Lana has been earning her own spending money for a couple of years.

Linda handles the marketing portion of the work while Lana works with visuals. She designed 360 Clinic’s flyers, banners, social media posts, a website, kiosks and mobile van visuals.

Lana Nguyen created the graphics for 360 Clinic's kiosks, where COVID-19 testing is administered.
Lana Nguyen created the graphics for 360 Clinic’s kiosks, where COVID-19 testing is administered.
(Courtesy of Lana Nguyen)

“We work in partnership with the county and Orange County Health Care Agency ... The marketing behind it has to ensure that the at-risk population knows that these testing sites are available to them at no cost,” Linda said.

Linda added that part of the marketing strategy was to run a lot of Facebook ads promoting their free drive-through clinic sites located in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Orange and Westminster as well as the clinic’s mobile testing vans which go to smaller at-risk neighborhoods.

“What we often hear is COVID testing is very hard to come by,” Linda said. “In our super sites, we test over 4,000 a day.”

The two have a knack for volunteering too, particularly for Operation Be Kind and OC Drive. Keeping in line with that tradition, Linda and Lana volunteered in the Anaheim Convention Center to assemble COVID-19 testing kits for the clinic on Wednesday.

For more information about 360 Clinic testing, visit 360clinic.md.

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Volunteer Donna Burkland, Engagement Coordinator for Orange County United Way
Volunteer Donna Burkland, Engagement Coordinator for Orange County United Way, assembles COVID-19 testing kits for Clinic 360 on Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center.
(Kevin Chang/Times OC)
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