Joy Tran

 is a contestant from Survivor: Trinidad.

Profile
Name (Age): Joy Tran (43)

Current Residence: Anapolis, MD

Occupation: Financial Strategist

Claim to Fame: I’m all about my career, so the success I’ve had as a financial strategist ranks all the way up there. (shrugs) I just have the dedication and the passion, really, that a lot of people in corporate jobs just don’t have. I mean, I get it, it can feel soulless, but I’ve learned to embrace my career, and look where I am now! I make a solid six figures, easy. (laughs)

Inspiration in Life: My beautiful daughters, Jenny and Jillian. (laughs) Yes, my husband and I went with a ‘J’ theme, deal with it! (cracks up) They’ve both been through way more than any young teens should, and yet, they’re the biggest fighters I know. Jillian was diagnosed with cancer at the age of six, but seven years later and she’s completely cancer free; not that it was easy for her, of course, but she fought like nobody’s ever fought before! And Jenny, bless her heart, she was bullied terribly in school, mostly because she’s on the spectrum and has dyslexia, which went undiagnosed for twelve years. Certainly not as bad as cancer, but she had her own struggles, and has since overcome or learned to deal with and even embrace them.

Hobbies: I’m a busy woman, when I’m not at work, I’m taking care of my kids, so I don’t have a ton of time for hobbies. On the weekends, I do love to watch shows like The Bachelor & Bachelorette, Survivor, Big Brother, and that new Love Island thing, too. (shrugs; giggles) Beyond trashy TV, I love listening to music. Some say I’m quite “hip” with my music taste! (laughs) That girl, uh, Charlie XXX or whatever, she’s my favorite. (singing) I don’t care! I love it! (cackles)

Pet Peeves: Debbie Downers, Negative Nancys, Pessimistic Patricias, whatever you want to call them, they really annoy me! People say that I live up to my name, and I agree. I just have a lot of positive energy most of the time, even when I’m exhausted from work. I just can’t deal with negative energy. It’s like oil and water to me.

3 Words to Describe You: Cheerful, driven, and focused

If you could bring 3 things on the island with you, what would you bring and why?: The idea of being away from my job for so long literally stresses me out so much, I think I should bring my laptop just so I can call in and make sure my department isn’t burning down while I’m gone! (laughs) I’d say the other two things would be my two daughters, I know they don’t count as “things”, but I’m going to easily miss them the most out here.

SURVIVOR Contestant you are most like: I think I’m like Stacy from Survivor: Anambas. Like, I’m self-aware, I know that how talkative I am can annoy certain people, and she was definitely the same way, but she was still able to play the game and do a pretty good job. I’m hoping that I can channel that same older talkative woman energy that lets me fly under the radar. (smiles)

Reason for Being on SURVIVOR: It’s one of my favorite shows! I’ll be a honest, a show would have to be pretty great for me to be away from family and work for over a month, but I do think Survivor is good enough. I’ve been curious if my skills as a financial strategist could transfer over into the strategy in a game like this, and the idea of being on TV at all is really exciting. (smiles)

Why you will be the Sole Survivor: I’m hoping that they’ll all underestimate me at the start, since I am in my forties, far from a physical powerhouse, yada yada. I’m a really outgoing person by nature, so it won’t be hard for me to gain some friends and allies, but nobody’s going to look at the hapless corporate lady as anything but a fish out of water. (winks) That’ll be their mistake, ‘cause I’m here to win, and I’m not afraid to stab even my closest friends in the back if it helps me get the million at the end.