After earning VND10 million a month in a city office, Ngo Thu Huyen quit her job and returned to Bac Ninh to revive her family’s nearly 200‑year‑old Do paper‑making craft. Her story shows how a traditional skill can become a modern business.

Huyen said Do paper‑making is physically demanding and that at first her workshop produced only a few hundred sheets a month, earning less than VND20 million, so income was uncertain. The hard work involved soaking bark, pounding pulp and shaping sheets by hand.

She explained that she expanded the product line to include mugwort‑patterned paper, naturally coloured sheets, handmade greeting cards, notebooks, paper bags and other gifts. This diversification gave the craft new uses and attracted different buyers.

According to Huyen, starting in 2019 she promoted her products on social media and e‑commerce platforms, posting videos of the making process and stories about the tradition to attract new customers. By actively reaching out to buyers, customizing paper thickness and selling online, her workshop now supplies thousands of sheets each month to customers across Vietnam and fulfills export orders to Japan and Europe.

Huyen’s experience demonstrates that a traditional, labor‑intensive craft can become a sustainable business when artisans innovate their products and use digital marketing to reach wider markets. The key lesson is that heritage and modern commerce can work together.