I Know Exactly What You’re Feeling Right Now
You’ve probably been researching for weeks. Maybe months. You’ve seen the before-and-after photos, compared prices between Australia and overseas, read horror stories that made you close your laptop, then opened it again because the dream of transformation is there. I understand. Because I’ve been exactly where you are.
Before I founded Glamjet.com.au, before I helped hundreds of Australians and international clients navigate their beauty and medical journeys across Asia, I was a nervous patient sitting in a Korean clinic, hoping I’d made the right choice. Let me tell you how I got there and why that journey shapes everything we do for you today.
It Started With A Dictionary And A Dream
I'm Sarah Hien Tran founder and CEO of glamjet.com.au. I was thirteen years old. My family had just moved from a small village 7 hours drive from Hoi An to Hanoi. I desperately wanted to learn English to see the world one day. Tutoring was expensive. My parents’ combined salary was $500 AUD per month. We couldn’t afford lessons.
So I got creative.
I signed up on travel forums and offered free tours to foreign travellers in exchange for language practice. In the beginning, I carried a dictionary everywhere. We communicated through hand signals, broken phrases, and lots of patience.
Those travellers would ask me for recommendations. How do I get to Laos? Which bus company is reliable? Where should I stay in Thailand? I’d spend hours calling travel companies, reading reviews, finding them the best deals. I didn’t charge anything. I just loved helping people navigate unfamiliar territory. Then I convinced my father to let backpackers stay in our spare bedroom. For two years, we hosted over fifty travellers for free showing them Vietnamese hospitality, home-cooked meals, and genuine connection.
Anyone with a toothache? I’d take them to my aunt, a well-known dentist in Hanoi.
I didn’t realise it then, but I was already building glamjet.com.au
Becoming “The Teeth Person”
After high school, I won a scholarship to study International Business in the Netherlands. One of my close friends there chipped her front tooth after a bike accident. She got it fixed at a local dentist for €700. It broke again weeks later. “Come to Vietnam with me. I’m going anyway. My aunt can fix for you for much less” I told her. We had a lovely holiday together, and my aunt fixed her tooth properly for €180. My friend couldn’t believe the quality and the savings.
Word spread. Throughout university, I became “the teeth person.” Friends with dental problems would come to me, and I’d arrange everything: appointments, translations, travel tips. I never charged anyone. I simply enjoyed connecting people with solutions.
The Failure That Changed Everything
After completing my Masters in Accounting in Australia, I thought I’d go into consulting. Instead, I mustered the courage to start my own business right away. It was a swimwear brand made from recycled fishing nets and ocean plastic. A noble idea. Beautiful products. It nearly wiped out my entire savings.
While I was beating myself up over this failure, I came across a diagram that changed my perspective. It was Andrés Zuzunaga’s purpose diagram what many now call the Western interpretation of ikigai. The concept is simple: your purpose lies at the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. I reflected honestly on my life. Travel and beauty were things I could do every single day without getting bored. I was genuinely good at researching, planning, and helping people navigate complex decisions. The world needed accessible, trustworthy guidance for medical procedures abroad. And people were willing to pay for that peace of mind.
Everything pointed in one direction.
The Experience That Became Our Blueprint
In 2019, I went to South Korea to study beauty, with dreams of eventually creating a medical spa focused on wellness and community. While there, I decided to get laser eye surgery. Before leaving Australia, I’d visited one of Melbourne’s most famous eye clinics. They quoted me $10,000 AUD for both eyes and told me they couldn’t fix my astigmatism. In South Korea, the same procedure cost $2,500 AUD with VIP service.
The director at the beauty school with 30+ years of experiences in aesthetic and beauty industry recommended the doctor for me. But here’s the thing: I don’t take anything at face value. I knew that clinics heavily marketing to foreigners were often tourist traps. So I paid my Korean translator to read through local reviews. The ones Korean patients left for Korean patients. After confirming my chosen clinic had an excellent reputation among locals, I booked my consultation.
The eye test alone took four hours. Sixty different tests. Machines I had never seen in any Australian clinic. They even had a room that simulated night driving conditions to test my vision comprehensively. The surgery itself? Less than ten seconds. The next day, I could see clearly. By day three, I had 20/20 vision.
I posted my journey on Facebook, sharing photos, costs, the whole experience.
My inbox exploded from friends, relatives, acquaintances. Everyone wanted to know how they could do the same thing.
The Moment Everything Clicked
I started booking surgeries for friends and family at the same clinic. I arranged translators, accompanied them to appointments, made sure they understood every detail of their procedures. After I sent three clients to the clinic, the clinic manager pulled me aside: “Do you have a medical tourism agency? You organise everything so professionally. The agencies we work with send patients but no support. Working with them is difficult. I want to work with you.” It was the first time I’d heard the term “medical tourism.”
And in that moment, seventeen years of seemingly random experiences suddenly made sense. The teenage tour guide with a dictionary. The backpacker host. The teeth person. Airbnb host. My experience planning trips through 30+ countries from my part-time jobs as research assistant and teaching assistant at university. My obsession with research and reviews. Every thread of my life had woven together to create this. I feel that I was meant to do this work. Hands on heart. I can do this for all my life.
Why I Built Glamjet the Way I Did
Growing up, I wasn’t considered pretty. I was bullied for my appearance. In high school, I started watching makeup tutorials and learning how to present myself differently. When I changed, people’s perception of me shifted too. Doors opened. Opportunities appeared.
I know the power of transformation. I know what it feels like to want something better for yourself. And I know the fear that comes with taking that step especially when it involves surgery in a foreign country. That’s why I designed Glamjet to be the service I wished I’d had. Every feature we offer addresses a fear I once felt or a problem I once solved the hard way.
Worried about communication barriers?
Our personal translators accompany you to every consultation, ensuring your desired outcomes and preferences are communicated perfectly to your surgeon. Especially different cultures have different expectations and perceptions of beauty. We match you with surgeons who has experience with ethnic surgeries so you can retain your unique features and be more glamorous version of yourself. Not a completely different person. Great surgeries should be harmonious with other features, natural, and undetectable.
Scared of choosing the wrong clinic?
We vet every surgeon in our network. We read the local reviews, not just the ones written for tourists. Many of our surgeons are key opinion leaders who present at international medical forums.
Nervous about being alone in a foreign hospital?
We can book caring helpers stay overnight with you providing support beyond what hospital nurses can offer.
Concerned about recovery in an unfamiliar place?
We can arrange local translator to visit you daily at your hotel. We deliver nutritious, recovery-friendly meals to your room. We’re a message away in your dedicated WhatsApp group.
Anxious about something going wrong?
Our 24/7 emergency support line means you’re never alone. Lost passport at 3am? Food poisoning? Unexpected complication? We’re here.
Unsure about how to afford it?
We’ve partnered with providers offering early superannuation access, flexible payment plans from $30/week, and cosmetic surgery loans designed for international patients.
Worried about the unexpected?
Our medical tourism insurance covers situations most travel insurance won’t, including return trips if medically required.
We’re Not for Everyone
I’ll be honest with you if you’re searching for the absolute cheapest surgery option, we’re probably not the right fit. This isn’t about finding the cheapest option. It’s about feeling completely supported through one of the most important decisions of your life. Our services are designed for people who value quality, safety, and genuine care. People who understand that the cheapest option and the best option are rarely the same thing. But if you want to feel supported every step of the way? If you want someone who’s walked this path before and designed every detail of the experience with your comfort in mind? If you want to transform your life without transforming it into a nightmare?
We’re here for you.
What Our Clients Experience
The most rewarding part of my job is watching the shift that happens in our clients.
They come to us nervous, sometimes terrified of scams, unsure if they’re making the right decision. By the end of their journey, they’re different people not just physically, but in confidence, in hope, in how they see their future. They don’t say “thank you and goodbye.” They say “I’m so motivated to make more money now so I can travel with you every year.” They promise to come back.
That’s what glamjet.com.au means to me. It’s not just a business. It’s the culmination of everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve experienced, everything I wished someone had done for me. Seventeen years in the making. Built for people exactly like you.
Interested in working with our team? Please fill in our consultation form here. Or message us on whatsapp +61402555579.