AAPI Founders Create Businesses to Inform and Showcase Heritage
The COVID pandemic impacted everyone. In a previous blog post “Embracing Culture and Choosing to Educate Despite Discrimination,” we spoke with Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) women founders about their experiences during the global crises.
Some AAPI entrepreneurs faced intense discrimination and were targets of race-driven acts. According to a Forbes article, the number of active AAPI business owners fell by 20% from February through December 2020, compared to just 3% of Black and Hispanic businesses.
Hopefully, with the worst of the pandemic behind us, AAPI founded businesses are on the rise. According to Hello Alice data, AAPI businesses are concentrated in specific industries, being more than twice as likely to operate in the food and beverage sector.
We provided a platform to some of those AAPI food and beverage entrepreneurs to share how they want to be viewed. Here are their responses.
Stephanie Ka-Man Chan, Mojave Mallows
“We love our Chinese roots and are heartened by efforts to center AAPI voices this month. It's unfortunate that many minority-owned brands and products are pigeon-holed as "ethnic" products, a label that "others" use while limiting shelf space opportunities.”
Wynn Austin, Wynn’s Kitchen
“Life as an Asian American Pacific Islander entrepreneur is my American dream come true. I immigrated to the US from Vietnam with my family when I was 3 years old and watched how hard my family worked. Wynn's Kitchen is my second business that I started, and it never gets easier, but through the ups and downs, the process and massive growth is what ignites my fire. I'm hoping to bring awareness to Asian food products and health. So many people are consuming Asian sauces and condiments but don't realize the amount of sodium, sugar, and artificial preservatives, and flavors. I'm on a mission to create a line of natural Asian food products that tastes authentic and are healthy!”
Marilyn Yang, Popadelics
“For me as for many AAPI founders, their companies are deeply connected to their heritage, whether implicitly or explicitly. While it's empowering to now see the growing acceptance of Asian cuisines and culture, for a lot of members of the AAPI community, food is somewhat of a touchy subject, given that many of us may have been made fun of for the type of foods we brought to school growing up. The founding of Popadelics is a full circle moment for me. It personifies the celebration of my Chinese heritage (so - shiitake mushrooms) blended with my favorite “Western” flavors (or the three culinary-inspired flavors of Popadelics). Growing up Asian American forced me to really solidify my personal identity as a unique mix of my Chinese heritage and American culture, which culminated in the creation of Popadelics! I have always seen food as a key aspect of my Chinese heritage, and have come a long way from being embarrassed to bring "strange" food to my elementary school cafeteria to now being the proud founder of an Asian-inspired snack product.”
Ashley Xie and Hedy Yu, Rooted Fare
“We are second generation Chinese Americans. As we got older, we began to reconnect with our heritage, especially through food, and embrace the messiness of our identity. Our company, Rooted Fare, makes fun, modern Chinese American spreads and we share nostalgic Chinese flavors we’ve loved since childhood and add our own twist to create truly novel products. Our brand has become our platform to celebrate our culture. We hope pushing the boundaries of what is defined as Chinese American food empowers our community to dig into their roots to find their creativity and most authentic selves. The best way to support us is to follow us on Instagram (@rooted.fare), share our brand to your friends, purchase our Chinese American spreads and learn more about our mission on our website.”
Lei Nichols, Founder, Wise Mouth Tea
“I was born and grew up in China but have been living in the USA for over 28 years. It’s challenging competing with other entrepreneurs. They dress well and speak perfect English. I am soft spoken with an accent. I don't have much money, but I believe that my life has a purpose and mission. I want to change the world with my business and the products I sell. Additionally, I want to show my daughters and others how to respect different cultures.”
Kalpana Kethineedi, Kay’s Curries
“Being an immigrant adds an extra challenge to being an AAPI Founder. There's no family support that you can count primarily because they are back home. My father, mother, and brother would put their heart and soul to help me out with my business if they lived in the US. Second challenge is with funding, there's no ‘friends and family’ round I can raise. So you have to do everything yourself and work another job to fund your business.”
Pauline Ang and Olivia Chen, Twrl Milk Tea
“We founded Twrl Milk Tea on our nostalgia and love for the Asian boba milk tea we drank growing up. We are proud to draw inspiration from our cultural heritage. As Chinese and Taiwanese founders, we are continually working to create an Asian American heritage brand that is beloved for generations to come. But as an AAPI entrepreneur, we face challenges stemming from stereotypes, biases, and the model minority myth. All of this makes the tough road of building a business even tougher because we must work harder to access funding and to be seen in the marketplace. To help AAPI entrepreneurs, listen to our stories, amplify our voices, raise our visibility, and choose to support our businesses online and in stores.”
According to the 2023 State of Asian Americans in the United States (STAATUS) Index, nearly four out of five Asian Americans (78%) don’t feel like they belong or are fully accepted because of continuing prejudice and a lack of representation. Similarly, a new Pew study shares that nearly two in five Asian Americans aged 18-29 (and one in five overall) say they’ve hidden parts of their heritage from others to avoid embarrassment and discrimination. May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, but we need to show tolerance and respect towards our AAPI neighbors year-round whether it’s by guiding them to resources, providing a platform to share their stories, or learning about their culture.