September 5, 2025 • 49 mins
Joyce returns one month after the birth of her son Tycho to share the raw, beautiful reality of new motherhood. She and Han talk through the intensity of labor, the support of doulas, and what it’s like to balance parenthood with running a small business. Joyce opens up about “mom brain,” the pressures of keeping Goodies alive, and the exciting but challenging road to opening a second location. They swap stories about community, negative energy, and the strange joys of food events. Plus, Tycho makes his first podcast cameo.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, Joyce. Hey, Han.
OK, finally back from a pregnancy outcome, I guess.
Tycho is here. Congratulations, Joyce.
I think we all survived the first month.
Yeah, it's been a month since Tycho's been born.
(00:20):
Yeah, which means it's been a little bit over a month since we
last had an episode. Yeah, I haven't seen you in over
a month. I purposely didn't want to be
one of the billions of people ofPortland messaging you, being
like, oh, what do you need, I'm here for you, blah, blah, blah.
You saw how quick I grabbed thatbaby.
(00:41):
Yeah. OK, so last we were here, you
were pregnant. And what was it like?
Like when you knew? Do you remember?
I mean like when you knew it wascoming, like water breaking?
I mean like, did you guys panic?Something fought the wall.
We had a scheduled labor becausehe didn't come the week that we
(01:01):
were expecting. Yeah, that never happened.
And then we went over maybe a week and five days or so.
And then the timing was just kind of impossible for us
because we had we had project paps coming up and Terrance had
to work it. And like, anyway, our schedule
was not going to work out. And so our doctors were already
pressing us to induce. So we ended up choosing a date
(01:23):
and I ended up actually pushing the date to that date because
they wanted me to induce me a week early, which I was not
ready for. So anyway, Long story short,
yeah, we didn't have like a natural labor in that sense,
like what I fantasized, but my body was already getting close
by the time we got into the hospital.
And they they pump you with synthetic oxytocin to make you
(01:45):
contract and things like that. Wait, wait, wait.
So I'm assuming with Harlow everything just happened
naturally. Yeah, I know the water broke.
Like I had to like throw the baby bag in the car with the
gun. And then we were.
Like on the road it was snowing and shit, it was crazy.
Yeah, We were hoping for that experience, but it just kept
delaying. And, you know, by that time, we
(02:06):
just had to go for it. The medical system's crazy.
They have this thing going wherethey want to intervene and make
it all happen really quickly. So, well, I consented to, yeah,
let's get that oxytocin going eventually.
They were like, OK, well, we're going to want to pop your water
soon. And it looks like a knitting
needle that they use. And I'm like, I kind of just
(02:27):
want to wait for my water to break.
Yeah, yeah. So I had to advocate for that.
It eventually did. I think it was like 5 hours in
Terrance and I were stretching together and then bam happened
and things started moving along pretty quickly.
But yeah, I Remember Remember the whole experience.
It's the craziest experience we've ever had together.
God, I hope so. And in a very positive way too.
(02:49):
Very beautiful, very intense. Nothing quite like it.
I keep still bringing it up because it's such a trip that
all of that happened within sucha short period of time.
And now we have this little guy.Yeah, Tycho's super cute.
Thanks. Yeah, how Korean, how Terrance?
You know what I mean? Yeah, it is.
He he definitely looks like a Korean Terrance.
(03:10):
Yeah, he's adorable. I think that whole experience is
so intense and crazy. I remember there, like I
remember the decision that Dana made with Harlow's.
Like, OK, I think we're gonna, I'm gonna try to go as long as I
can. No epidural to like.
OK, We're gonna name her Epidural.
Give me two. Give one to Han, please.
(03:31):
Oh my God. Yeah, it was crazy, but I know
like those intense experiences are, man, they are.
It is. It's wild.
It's a wild ride, so. Yeah, 100%.
We kind of compare it to like a psychedelic trip, one of the
craziest trips we've ever had. And we were really lucky.
We had two amazing doulas with us in the room.
And to me, they felt like guidesthrough the whole process of
(03:53):
that trip. And it was beautiful.
Like, they really eased me into everything, like, massaged me,
talked me through everything, kept me focused on my breath
when I was about to lose it. Because you have that pain is
like no other. For sure.
And yeah, I had, like, chosen not to get an epidural.
And towards the end I was just in my mind, I was like, is it
(04:14):
too late to even ask? We ended up not getting the
epidural and I'm actually reallyglad we didn't.
But I don't blame anyone for choosing that option because
it's insane. Man, because if you all right,
like on a guy, on a male level, you know, I'd be like, First
off, all of it, we'll clean up the baby later, you know, Man,
(04:36):
that's so intense, all right? Does it make you want to have
another one? Does it make you want to like
never do it again? Well, immediately after,
definitely thought never want todo that again.
But then like the next day or maybe two days later, I was just
maybe this is just kind of my personality too, but I was just
(04:56):
like thinking how I could have done that better next time.
And I was like, I feel like I could do that better next time.
And Terrence started laughing atme.
But something sweet that Terrence said, like after all
that, he was just, you know, he was very present during the
whole process and he was definitely like an active
partner in that he looked at me and was like, because this guy
wants like a lot of kids and I'mlike 1-2 Max.
(05:19):
He's like, after seeing you go through all of that, he's like,
I don't think I could ask you todo it again.
Yeah, it changes you. It's like on the male
perspective, and I don't think it's very talked about at all,
is that it is traumatizing. I think in a different way,
because I was the same way. I was like, dude, I want hella
kids. And then after Harlow, I was
like, man, she better be smart and all together.
(05:40):
I'm not doing that again. However, I don't ever rule it
out. Yeah, yeah.
But I think the expectation versus reality versus delivery
is insane. It's such a journey.
Yeah. And to watch you go through that
with, like, so much grace, like,please give yourself, like, a
hat on the back. Thank you.
(06:00):
It's not a contest. No, it's not.
I think I can do better. You dig?
No, I know, I know. I'm to myself.
I'm like, oh, I wish I knew these things before, but yeah,
that's just how I work I guess. Yeah, it's so funny.
What I realized is like so many people were giving me like books
and like website recommendationsand oh, you should follow this
person and this and that. And in the end I was like, First
(06:23):
off, I ain't reading any of thatshit to.
Every baby truly is different and it's amazing.
I cannot express to you like howcute your baby.
Is yeah yeah we think he's pretty cute too I'll.
Close to selfie later with me and Tycho, my new homie, best
friend, partner in crime. I mean, we're kind of winging
(06:45):
it. I honestly I think I've only
changed like one or two diapers before this guy.
I have like almost 0 experience with like infants.
I'm definitely learning a lot along the way.
Yeah, you'll, you'll get it down.
I was actually kind of amazed athow I really jumped into that
role. And to be fair, though, I was
(07:06):
drinking a lot at the time. It was a little different than
just being completely sober. I think because like, like
drinking with a baby, you know, when it's by yourself was like
real easy for me. I think that's when like, I
think that's when a lot of my addictions really got on top of
me. You know, it's just be me and
Harlow, but she's a baby. I'm like, what are you going to
(07:27):
ask for a sip? You'd be fine.
And then I just got automated. But again, everybody does a
different, you know, I don't think there's a right or wrong
way, but I think all the ways are beautiful.
This is we all look like podcasts with Joyce Chung and
Han Lee Huang from Goody Snack Shop and Kim Jong Grillin.
You can easily support us by patronizing our businesses or
coming to get some food. We are independently funded and
(07:49):
we do this all on our own time. And we thank you so much for
listening. Please like, share, subscribe
until all your friends and we'regoing to jump right back into
this episode. OK, so let's flip back to your
other kid goodies. How's goodies going?
Goodies is going good. I've still been kind of in, in
(08:11):
like behind the scenes a little bit really prioritizing the baby
and Terrance has been holding itdown.
And also our two new team members, which I guess they're
not so new anymore, but it's kind of been doing its thing.
We're nearing our three-year anniversary in September.
Yeah, that flew by pretty quickly and now it's like coming
up so quickly. I'm like, I got to get on top of
(08:33):
all of that, but things are good.
But honestly, business has been really tough.
The neighborhood's tough. Yeah, still, foot traffic is
still such a big challenge. And not being an active, huge
participant in the business right now currently gives me a
lot of anxiety. Yeah.
Just trying to do the best I canfrom where I'm at.
(08:55):
But yeah, I mean, it's things are tough.
It's been a tough year. It's been a tough couple months.
I feel pretty absent, like my brain, like what they call baby
brain or mommy brain, is so real.
And being the Type A personalitythat I am, it's been really hard
to feel this way 'cause I just can't focus on anything except
for this little guy, which I want to only focus on him.
(09:16):
But it's crazy when you're also a small business owner and you
don't have unlimited resources. I don't know what that would be
like. Yeah, I can't even imagine what
that looks like, but I obviouslydefinitely want to get there one
day. But yeah, I have the sense of
guilt that I'm not really 100% here present in the business,
but there's a lot going on. Business is doing its thing.
(09:38):
We're nearing the Year 3 and actively behind the scenes too.
We've been working on getting this second location open, which
we're not in it yet, but we've been negotiating a lease for the
better part of a year now. It's taken a long time for many
reasons, but yeah, we've been working on and negotiating on a
(09:58):
new lease in a exciting part of town that we're really looking
forward to, and it's taken a lotlonger than we hoped.
The goodies #2A little bit smaller, but complete opposite
of where we're at now. Like super high visibility, a
lot of foot traffic, and in the city, which is like a big deal
for us. We still really love being in
(10:20):
downtown. So yeah, we've been keeping an
eye on this and working on a lease, and we finally are at a
place where we're like, OK, I think we're ready to seal the
deal and keep moving forward. We were hoping to be open by
this time, but yeah, the timing's been just a little
nuts. If we're lucky, maybe by the end
of fall we'll be open, but we'llsee.
(10:42):
I don't want to really hold myself to a crazy deadline
'cause I know how that goes. Yeah man, not feeling bad about
neglecting your business cut foryour child is so real.
Yeah. Yeah, I think having to split,
because I've done this multiple times and something's got to
give or something's got to give when you open up #2 and #3 or #1
(11:09):
is running so airtight and so profitable that you can split
your time, right? And that's what's really hard.
Good for you for wanting to staydowntown.
Like for me, being downtown, that definitely did not happen.
I opened up Happy Valley so I could hopefully pad my downtown
until downtown got better. And then it didn't happen
(11:29):
because I just found myself having both challenges, both of
the same problems that turned toa bigger problem.
But it always reveals itself. You know, sometimes I just have
to look at the whole thing like it is a Nintendo game that you
can't save on. You just have to hit the reset
button and just say fuck it and start over.
But starting over isn't always abad thing.
Like me moving from downtown to the highest now.
(11:52):
I've been there for three monthsnow and.
Wow, it's only been three months.
Yeah, it's only been three months.
I've only been there since May, June, July.
Yeah, three solid months at the highest open five days a week
was better than my whole 2024 downtown, which is insane.
I'm still paying off all the debts that I had from downtown
(12:15):
because I took on so much debt and on top of that, still taking
care of my bills and everything else and rent, payroll,
everything is still done on timeto the point we're now cleaning
up my old books and stuff like that.
So that's how crazy different itis to have a good location was a
bad one, but even worse. Like even after that though,
(12:39):
like I will say this is that sometimes, like whether you're
forced to do it or whether you do it yourself, I don't know if
it was better, but hitting that reset button will will allow you
the space and like the grace to do something like that.
You know for sure to get into a better position, but you can
only do it so many times. Yeah, I hear that.
Our mindset earlier on in the year was that the second
(12:59):
location will definitely give usthe opportunity to hold on to
this location longer till it canget to a place where it's more
stable. But it's funny how time kind of
bring some reality to the picture as well, because we're
also now starting to think that other location might be so much
(13:20):
better for the business that it might bring us back to reality
and be like, what are you doing?You don't have to be a martyr to
try to make something happen in a neighborhood that ultimately
is not going to get better just because you want.
It to. And as much as we want to be
here and we're so in love with this neighborhood, despite all
(13:40):
the challenges, even though the challenges daily sometimes
compiled to the point where likewhy are we doing this to
ourselves and our business? Why are we killing ourselves to
try to represent down here? So there's so many pros and
cons, but at the end of the day,what's the point of it all?
It's doing more harm than good. Yeah, I actually just went to LA
(14:02):
to go visit the Soul Sausage Homies.
Yeah. And they recently closed their
window, right, Which was a kitchen, but they were able to
retail sell out of it. But they were also still working
on all their products. I was like, what was the final
decision? I mean, you guys been doing this
like 12 years, right? And they're like everything that
we made on the wholesale side isbeing eaten up by this window.
Now, do I chop off this limb andthen hold on to all this money
(14:25):
or whatever? But that'll wait for their
wholesale to get to a point where it could replace that,
where they could live off of it.And I was like, Dang, man, you
guys have been doing this 12 years to get to this point.
Obviously there were a lot of pivots with COVID, losing a chef
and everything. But yeah, I think that's been
the discussion. Like when you have a multi
faceted business or when you have a business that has a
couple locations, like you do have to make those hard
(14:47):
decisions of like just cut it. And honestly, I don't think
there's a wrong decision. I don't think.
I think when you feel bad about something, that's just what it
is. You.
Do have to be pragmatic. Like for me, when I was making
money with Happy Valley, I was just like, maybe I'll just push
Kim Jong Un into the river and then say somebody stole it.
(15:07):
And then I can claim the insurance money and then I can
get a salary at Happy Valley. And it's so funny because the
second I thought of that, like everything fell apart at Happy
Valley and all I had was the cart, you know, like for in my
personal experience, it always comes back down to that fucking
cart. I'm like, how many times have I
have repainted you? How many times can I move you?
(15:29):
And I always come back to the same thing.
I'm just like, fuck, are are we just stuck together?
Like I couldn't push it in the river if I tried.
That's insane and it's right, but you also know it's pretty
bad when you start fantasizing weird shit like that.
Is it like, how many of the 11 years that I've been around have
I been thinking like this? But I know at the end of the
(15:50):
day, I'm like, well, it's still mine.
I still retain this. I still have this.
And you have to constantly move that bar of where you want to
be. I could see a different version
of Goodies, but I think you should do it.
I think it's going to be fuckingrad.
Yeah. I mean, there's a new version of
it that we've have dreams of andlike different elements that we
want to add on to it that we weren't able to execute here.
(16:10):
We're really excited. It's also scary.
Like there's just a lot of transitions happening in our
lives right now and like trying to open the second business,
trying to keep this one going. Got a life to support and you
have a place to live. Oh my God, you.
Have so much. Yeah, shit's crazy, but you
know, this is life and I could spiral and go into a dark place,
(16:34):
but I've been trying to stay really positive and.
Doing great. Yeah, yeah.
Doing great, that's all I. It's amazing how much power a
child in your life has. Like it's all of a sudden
everything's more urgent or all of a sudden everything stops.
That's pretty insane. It's insane.
Are the transitions are real? I'm still going through them.
Like I'm still getting used to being at a place that's busier.
(16:56):
I'm still trying to wrap up a lot of old stuff too with my
business, which I I caught a glimpse of in hindsight.
I know that you had a good thinggoing.
I think a healthy business is always constantly moving and
that's just a theory of mine. I know when there was nothing
going on and I was just wasting my time.
Are those were the good days or Oh my God, I have like so many
(17:16):
events and so many of this and so much of this stacked up.
But I have 0 money. But I was so busy.
I was going for longevity. The one thing I realized was
like that was really fucking hard for me was like, think
about being downtown made a big stink about coming down here and
we did it. And then my popularity was at
like level 10, but my bank account and my funds and
(17:40):
everything was like at -1 And it's not fair to be so seen but
yet not get compensated A. 100%.It just sucks everybody,
everything suffers and like, I don't know, it's a shout out to
every business out there that isfaking it till you make it cuz
man, I know exactly what that feels like.
And yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy.
(18:00):
And like this past summer has been nothing since the end of
June, just been nothing but events, pop ups, events, crying
events, pop ups. And now I'm in wedding.
Now I'm like executing on all myweddings, which I'm never doing
again. That's.
What you always? I know, but this is different.
This is different. I promise it's different.
Good, good. And like I've realized like man,
(18:22):
pop ups are crazy because like Iapproached them so differently
than when I had them before. Like before I was just saying
yes to everything and like events and pop ups to me,
especially pop ups, like going to different restaurants and
popping up was I was like shooting it like a mixtape.
Like I was an exclusive rapper on a mixtape.
Like different mixtapes for different restaurants.
And I would just make features at different places to get my
(18:44):
name out there to now where it'slike now I'm a place where if
somebody was to pop up at my place, you know, they're
automatically getting my hype and everything else.
And I've realized something is that the things that make me say
yes or no to collaborations and stuff like that is the favor
element. And I realized that's something
that's so neglected with pop upsand events that like even the
(19:06):
biggest ones, right? Like even like Project Pops,
it's like if they were looking for something that was like so
unique of an experience, they can't go anywhere else for it.
You can ask for the world. Yeah.
I'm putting up goodies. Bodega at PVR Fest.
Who else are you going to get for that?
How are you going to get all this like Wujamaya choice with
like Portland flavour? You just can't get it.
And so aside from me being like,oh, I'd be so stoked to work
(19:31):
with this chef, yeah, that's usually how I decide like the
pop up collaboration factor. And if it makes sense, it's
like, I'm not going to stretch. And I don't think anybody should
stretch just because they have abig name or big following to do
that. Ultimately, you should be
excited about it yourself too. Yeah, 'cause then I've done
enough pop ups where like there's a couple pop ups.
(19:51):
I've, there's been a couple pop ups I've done where people are
just like the host will look at me like, why didn't anybody show
up? I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, my, my,
my folks showed up, but where did your folks go?
Oh, you didn't have any to beginwith.
But yeah. And it's, that's, that's the
real thing though. And like, I don't know, like,
but but the pop ups I do for fun, like Reliver for me is like
(20:11):
hell of fun. It's like fun playing with foods
that's like so spicy at St. Disco, shout out St.
Disco. It's like a kitchen stage
almost. You know, it's fun to flex and
stuff like that, but. Yeah, I'm happy that event
season is over. I'm so ready to nest.
Yeah, I got to say, I think whenTycho, our son was born, it was
(20:33):
kind of in the height of all of that.
We had such a crazy stack schedule that first week after
he was born. It was so hard because Terrence
was immediately back in the field managing a lot of these
events that we were part of, mainly that, Yeah, Paps, project
PAPS. We had that bodega and it was
definitely a success. People really loved the
(20:54):
experience and True West was great.
They were super supportive of us.
But it was soul crushing to be separated from Terrence.
He'd be working like 16 plus hour days over the weekend and
then he had so many events coming up that it was really
hard to be separated with a newborn, which ultimately
brought me back to like hanging out at the shop because we
didn't want to be separated. They're so gross.
(21:16):
We're disgusting. But no, it's been really nice
because that piece is invaluableto have a partner and be able to
split the responsibilities and get some breathing room too.
Because like, yeah, a baby is all.
What do you call it? It takes up so much of
everyone's energy in a positive way, but it's a lot.
(21:37):
All your resources and stuff. Yes, I too can say I'm relieved
that event season, crazy event season has come to a close for
the most part. God I hope so.
I'm just glad the hot summer events are.
Yeah, are over. Over more.
Relaxed business and stuff. I think it's funny, like a lot
of the shoot fairs and stuff like that, like they have their
(21:59):
own identity and it's like you have to somehow still be on
brand but also placate to those people.
Because honestly, I think of Hawthorne, I think of woke white
folks. They're just like, oh, do you
guys have those crunchy little rice snacks?
No 100%. And then they're just like, oh,
you can drink yogurt. No, you're right.
It's like hard to maintain your identity because like everywhere
I go with, especially with like the Kim Jong Un brand, I'm just
(22:22):
like, not only is he going to befucking Korean, it's also going
to be like insanely fucking American too.
You know, I have to like shove it down people's fucking throats
that it's not. It's because, you know, it's you
never want to be pigeonholed. However, it's also sometimes an
uphill struggle because you're. Like, oh, it is you.
Tie dye hippie wearing, non hairbrushing motherfuckers like how
(22:46):
dare you ask me what this is? Why don't you know this?
100% When we do events that are way more on brand for us and
cater to Asian Americans, I don't have to think about it.
Literally everything's so easy for me to figure out what to
curate for the event, what to bring, what's going to be
exciting. But when we do something that's
kind of outside of our wheelhouse, I question myself.
(23:09):
I'm like, do I take the Dijon mustard flavored Mayo with me?
Which, by the way, it actually did better than the rest of the
black sesame spread that always does well, did not do well at
all. I hate having to think that hard
about it, I guess because it's just a challenge.
It's like finding out that your algorithm is that of a loser or
(23:30):
something. Like.
I'm like, what do you mean? Everybody knows what this flavor
is, and then nobody knows. Recently I was doing burgers.
You know, it's like got a kimchicompo, housemates house,
whatever. It's super good, super good.
And I was like, damn, why didn'tthis sell at the heist?
Because it was permanently on mymenu.
(23:51):
And then I was like, oh wait, isit the audience?
And then I was talking like at this last event I did, you know,
people are just like, yeah, yeah, I want the burger, but I
want the kimchi. And I'm like, so look, it really
kind of ties the whole thing together.
No substitutions. But it's not like the kimchi
that you think. It's actually cooked down, and
it's more like a jam. And they're like, OK, I guess I
(24:15):
was just like, listen, stop. Just have it the way that I
said. And then once they had it, they
were just like, oh, explosion intheir brain.
Just like, it was so good. You were so right.
Oh, my gosh, I didn't really, you know, And in those
instances, I think you kind of have to blow people's minds to
get them to pull them in. True, true.
(24:38):
And then other times you're justlike, your mind is so small and
narrow, go the fuck away. And it's so hard to choose like
when those moments are. I know sometimes I just don't
have the energy to try. When you have something
exceptional, that has to speak for itself.
Absolutely. Hey, hey, hey, Taiko.
(24:58):
Cameo. I hate that he even steals.
Like he even sounds good on likebetter than you know.
I forgot to tell you, but my dadactually visited me from Texas
with my brother last week, and we had a little staycation.
We got an Airbnb and got to spend time with his grandson,
and my dad was so proud. He heard him cry, and he said he
even cries like he's Korean. Yeah, yeah.
(25:19):
That's pretty funny. How is your dad taking you being
a mom? Oh, my gosh, I never imagined my
dad being a grandpa, but never really fantasized about a lot of
that and kind of never imagined it at all.
But he's blowing my mind by how.Well, I mean, like, he he's
fully embraced it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I think he's secretly reallywanted a grandchild, but never
(25:41):
wanted to, like, bug me about itbecause I told him a while back
it's never going to happen to Ed.
Don't don't get your hopes up. So he basically like all of his
buddies who have grandchildren, he would be like when they share
stories, he's like, I, I don't have a grandchild.
I don't want to hear it. But now like.
That's where you get it from. But now my dad's like OK I take
(26:03):
it back I want to talk about my grandkid but it was crazy.
It was mind bending to see my dad like hold a baby and love on
him. It just looked so natural and he
was just. So happy.
And it was also really nice 'cause my dad was totally
momming me up when he came. He's like cooking up a storm
every morning. He's just already making all
(26:24):
sorts of meals and holding the baby and watching him while we
went to the grocery store, whichfelt crazy 'cause that was the
first time we left him since he was born.
But my dad's super proud. And yeah, it's a trip.
Well, you got to think it's probably the first time he's
held a baby, you know? I know definitely.
I think one of the best when my mom first met Harlow and I was
(26:47):
like, hey, do you wanna hold a baby?
And I handed it to her and she held it like like a puppy, you
know, like with just the hands under the armpit, just like out,
like, oh, oh, man, that's reallya baby.
And they just handed it right back to me.
But I, I think for any, I hate sounding like this, but anybody
that's Asian right now that struggles with their parents,
(27:08):
the Asian kryptonite, the Asian mom, Asian dad kryptonite is
having a child. Yeah, it is.
And like I see, because I see itin my mom, like my at one point
my mom, because I'm, I'm an exceptional father and I'll go
fuck what anybody says. Not that anybody ever contested
people know people that have metHarlow.
They're like, damn, you're a good dad.
But I remember one point like, and this brought me to tears as
(27:32):
my mom was like, she watched me being a dad.
I think Harlow was like 4-3 or four and she was like, you're
like good at being a dad. And I was like, I've, I've won,
I've won Instagram, I've won. She admitted it.
And they never said, which is like her.
Like that should have been her last words, 'cause now I'm just
insufferable to my parents. You know, 'cause think about it,
(27:55):
right? Like anytime Tycho has like,
'cause they will, 'cause he willsurpasses your, the Asian issues
that you ever had with your parents.
You can throw it right back intoyour dad's face.
You absolutely can just be like,Oh yeah, look at that.
It's crazy cause you know, Harlow's mom is always around.
(28:17):
Harlow's dad's always around. I mean, yeah, I, I feel like my
dad, even though he, you know, we had it where things growing
up that I wish he could have done better.
But he's become such a good dad to me in my like, recent years
that I feel like I can't even doany of that shit to him anymore.
(28:39):
And I already gave him so much hell growing up.
But yeah, I mean, my dad also kind of just like blows my mind
a lot too, because he, I mean, he said something the nicest
things he said while he was visiting too, He was just like,
I know you guys are brand new atthis being parents, but you're
approaching it so cool. Like you guys are so calm and
(29:00):
cool and doing it so well. I'm proud of you guys.
And then after he left, I was heartbroken because I already
missed them and he messaged me and he said it was so nice
spending time with you and your family.
Oh my God, that almost made me cry.
He. Called it my family and yeah, it
gave me chills because like, never thought of it that way.
(29:22):
And then also like my dad sayingthat it just, yeah.
But sounds like your father's supportive of you.
Oh yeah, He's kind of like, I was really lucky because even
growing up, like my dad was never the stereotypical Asian
dad or Korean dad. He was very affectionate.
He was as president as possible,especially like when he was
around and yeah, like, he's justbeen a really loving father
(29:45):
through a lot of it. I think that's, man, that's so
important to like be able to carry that on, you know?
Yeah, I feel lucky. Yeah, no, it's cool.
I don't always hear the greatestexamples of Korean dads, you
know, being dad, being good dads.
So like I've always, I always feel like negligent, silent, you
know what have you? I think like, you look at a lot
(30:05):
of like Asian dad's actions versus words, then it's like a
different thing. You know, they're all the bark
is always worse than the bite. That's very nuanced.
It's very nuanced. I look at there's a lot of times
with Harlem and I because we palaround so much.
I'm like, it's pretty cute, but I have to check myself
sometimes. I'm like, am I more of a dad or
more of a homie too? And she's like, oh, totally a
dad. I'm like, OK, thank God.
(30:28):
I was like, that's cool, man. And like, I think a lot of times
with the Parent Trap is these days now is that the parents
don't want to be like their parents.
And within that they lose the discipline of being a parent.
And then they just end up wanting to be a friend,
overcompensating and like havinga friend.
And then that just usually creates monsters, you know,
(30:48):
they. Don't want that.
Yeah, I, I see a lot of examplesof that, especially in boxing
and stuff like that. I work with a lot of kids.
I hate seeing that, you know, just like, oh man, this kid's
boxing because you couldn't stoptorturing this kid or whatever.
So Speaking of kids and futures,what do you see now?
How is your outlook now with having Tycho Terrence Goodies
(31:14):
Goodies 2 on the way? Like does that change your view
on business now? I guess in some ways we've been
living pretty true to our valuesand things like that.
Things are still pretty consistent, but priorities wise,
I mean, we knew this was going to change certain things.
Nothing else really matters except for this guy and his
(31:34):
well-being. And that also means our health
and well-being and all the otherthings, right?
So we definitely want to be in aplace where we can spend as much
quality time with this guy before he's all grown up.
So we're definitely working on making that a reality.
But yeah, prioritizing family time.
I do want him to also see us andour lives and how we've operated
(31:59):
since like, he was a baby because like, I think it is
really invaluable. I saw my parents working really
hard, but like, this is a different kind of experience
too. Like he's a part of what we're
doing and a big driver for all the things that we do.
Yeah, it's amazing how flexible your business really is now that
you have a Tycho here. Yeah, yeah.
I feel like in a lot of ways we're really privileged to be
(32:22):
able to do this and hang out with him at the back of the
shop. But I think it's also been
really beautiful to see what a new life can do to a community
and to a neighborhood. Because when he was being born,
we just closed the shop for two days and we never do that.
We're even open during most ice storms.
So we're closed 2 days and immediately the whole
(32:42):
neighborhood, all the people whowork in which it's not a lot of
office workers, but the 20 office workers that work nearby,
they all knew what that meant. And so immediately when we were
back, people were coming and celebrating and congratulating
us. That's.
So awesome. I've also never felt so
supported by our community, likein all the ways something that
(33:04):
blew me away and honestly kept me sane.
And I don't think I would be in such a good mental state right
now if it weren't for all the people who showed up and sent us
meals or gift cards to get DoorDash or just reached out and
made sure that we were doing OK.When we first got pregnant with
him, as excited as we both were,I was also really scared that it
(33:25):
would feel like a really lonely,scary journey.
Never once have I felt really alone.
And especially when he was born,like everyone showed up And for
the first two weeks when I was like recovering, I didn't have
to think about meals or any of that, which was like one of the
biggest things that mattered because I was ravenous like
(33:46):
every single day and super tired.
And luckily I was able to nourish myself and also Terence
and in turn our baby. And like, it just showed me what
this little beacon of hope can do to a community.
And like, what ultimately drivesus in like being small business
owners too, is because like we want to show what's possible and
(34:09):
like things that we care about and put it out into the world.
And like, sometimes it's hard toremember, but this is like a
little refresher in remembering why we do all of this stuff and
what we're aiming for. But the way that people showed
up for us, a lot of our customers and all of that too,
like it just blew my mind. And I feel really grateful.
And it's just a great reminder of why we do what we do and
(34:32):
like, why we care about buildingsomething in our local, in our
city and like just showing up. I mean, yeah, it was a big deal
for you to have TECO. I think everybody in the
community was just like, hell yeah.
I mean, that give me the most sense.
But also just like, yeah, new life will bring that energy.
(34:52):
And he brings. I mean, I'm actually to be
honest, I'm kind of shocked. Like I can feel like that energy
that he brings, you know? I mean, it feels crazy because
yeah, the state of the world is insane.
Fuck the world. The timing of all of it.
Our lives are insane right now, but I mean, adding this little
bit of expert chaos hasn't been as crazy as I thought, but it's
(35:15):
still a lot. But I think it is a lot.
And in the end, you, you, it's gonna be hard for you to see it
any other way. And I think that is like one of
the most beautiful things. I've like the transformative
process of this. Like it's, I do this a lot.
Like I think about like right now, like if I didn't have my
(35:37):
brand right now, like what wouldI be doing?
And I'm like oh man, this be a plumber or something.
Which probably isn't true either.
But I don't know but. You know I know.
I know what you. Mean and it's hard to see, but
also just like for you, like nowthe Tyco's here it's like.
Yeah, this is the future. So hard for you to see anything
else. Yeah.
Like Harlow would tell me, like she's like, yeah, I want to go
(36:00):
to school for this so I can takecare of you and mom.
And I was like, you are a fucking Angel.
I will never expect that. But I believe her, you know,
like, I believe her. I'm like, OK, cool, like, sick.
Just keep slaying cream barbecue.
And then hopefully, you know, get to where I need to go.
Do you guys get busier or slowerduring the colder seasons?
(36:23):
Definitely slower, but we get a spike during holiday season.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I.
Would imagine that got a lot of gifty things and we do end up
like really curating a lot more stuff that's gift able in the
store. So we have a hard push towards
November, December. We do a lot of holiday like
events as well. So yeah, there is like a busier
(36:45):
period and then January, February is kind of like deathly
silent. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to
that. Which I gotta say like this
January, February wasn't so bad.February was actually pretty
decent. Randomly I still have anxieties
about the colder months. Definitely it's I'm already
depressed with the days getting shorter and things like that
(37:06):
even though I love fall. I just noticed it the other day.
I was like, wait a second, was it dark already 30?
Shift is happening. Is happening for sure.
Which is beautiful and scary allat once.
I think like what is it like to have a business go like have no
slow season? Oh, I have no idea.
Yeah, What was that, people? Must be nice.
(37:28):
Must be nice. Yeah, I have so many people,
like, especially like, complain about the winter season.
I always get one asshole that's like, oh, we should save money
during the year. I'm like, dude, fuck you.
Like I like if I could save money you think I'd be slinging
Korean BBQ out of a fucking foodtruck bro?
Like like do you make you clearly make enough money to
(37:48):
save? I do not.
Oh. My gosh, that's insane.
Yeah. And it's like, why would you
take the venom out of the bite? Like that's that's the fun part.
Like low key, I think it's a funpart of the business now.
And just like, oh, can I survive?
You know how deep in this water can I?
Go. That's so sick.
Yeah, it's pretty disgusting. I think it's mental illness that
I've nurtured over this long. Period.
(38:09):
Yeah, I don't want it anymore. I don't want it.
I don't want it anymore either. I think like for for us, like
we're in year 11 now. I didn't even announce that it
was our birthday. Yeah, when was that?
August 11th I think. Oh wow.
OK. Very August 1st, like the
beginning of the second week of August.
Happy 11th that's. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you. It's weird now because I'm
(38:30):
finally looking at, I'm finally looking at like, like I know I
can't. I'm not going to ever have a
second Kim Jong Un. I know that I'm not going to
branch off and have all these fucking products like I thought
I would. Still Maybe might get a
skateboard deck. I'm not sure.
Maybe. But not to say that this is the
(38:52):
end all, be all of Kim Jong Un, but I don't see the expansion
anywhere soon. I do however, still want a
really good sandwich, and I still might finagle or find a
way to do a sandwich cart. Yes, please.
(39:13):
Like something that does like Italian sandwiches and then on
the other end, like really Asiansandwiches.
Yes. Like Tokyo Sando can't sorry
Itaki, you can't get all that monies like you got to share a
little, but no, it's not a call out.
But I mean, I would love to do, I would love to do Italian
sandwiches and like Asian inspired sandwiches because it's
(39:35):
something that's been on my mindfor like years now.
Yes, and also you could put a placard and say award-winning
club sandwich. Award-winning Club Sandwich.
Didn't you win? Oh, I did.
That's right. I humbled like all of you
restaurant fools with that sandwich.
We love sandwiches, so yes, yeah, keep us posted on that.
Dude, I will. I think I'm going to try to find
(39:56):
the money for it and try to do it, maybe release it this
summer. Of course I'm going to do
bulgogi cheese steak. You know, but I also want to do,
like, a really good Italian sandwiches.
I want to do, like, a chicken parm sandwich.
I want to do, like, a Japanese eggplant sandwich.
What? Yeah.
That's like panko Panko like eggplant, like is.
It warm. Yeah, like a hot sandwich, but
(40:18):
then you can dip it like it comes with the side of like a
Curry tomato type thing. You can dip the sandwiches.
I know I'm really pandering to white people because I've
noticed that they like 1/3. Component.
Like, like Koreans are just likepoint A to point B whatever fits
in that chopstick or spoon versus like I see like white
people like get real dainty whenthey like to dip things.
(40:40):
They're always compartmentalized, or it's like
the opposite. Oh, they don't want their food
touching they. Don't want their food touching
so then it's like point A to point B or they don't want
things too wet. I think that's something that's
been on my mind a lot. OK, you got to bring this to
life. Yeah, I think we're going to try
to bring that to life. OK, quick question that just
made me think of do you like wetburritos?
(41:01):
Why are you coming with these hard hitting questions like
first time it's back. If it was a chimichanga, it's a
wet situation. It's got to go wet crispy back
to wet. OK?
It can't just be regular tortilla dipped or like poured
sauce on. What about you?
I mean, I love eating a burrito with my hands, so like that part
(41:24):
kind of takes that out of the equation.
But I love sauce, so I love sauce and cheese, so that part's
fun. But yeah, I like that crunchy
component. That's something I didn't even
think about. Yeah, the wet to crunchy
component, like that's the only time where I'm not a dip person.
OK, 'cause like if you think about like tung suuk, you know,
like. Yeah, separate.
(41:45):
Yeah, separate, separate Dippersonly.
There's AI actually am part of aclub called Dippers only.
No, no, I'm part of that club. Too.
Oh yeah, you're part of that club too.
Shout out Crystal and Rose. It's important.
It's. Important.
Like even when I watch it and like when I see it in K dramas,
I'm like what are you doing? What?
Why? Why you?
Yes, I have to say I learned it from my mom.
Yeah. Think of the other option.
(42:05):
Like when I saw it sauced over once I was like that's how it
comes. But anyway.
Yeah, like when you see like the, like, old school Koreans
eat it, you're just like, what do you, what do you?
Why are you booming this out, dude?
Yeah, it's soggy. I'm not trying to have that
sogginess, you know? So Joyce, you've been in
business for three years now, you and Terrance and now Taiko.
(42:26):
How do you, do you ever, do you ever like just get fatigue from,
from naysayers and like negativepeople or have you been able to
tune it out or like what is thatprocess like for you?
Yeah, I mean, I think I've kind of always been like this.
I do mostly tune people out or just I try not to associate with
(42:48):
people who have negative vibes around anything that I I'm
sensitive. So I, I can definitely sense it
when people are a naysayer or have doubts or they're just
negative, you know, So I tend tojust pretend like those people
don't even exist. That's a good policy to have.
Maybe it's not the healthiest, but I I try to stay away because
(43:10):
I just can't. I think it's it's healthy.
Yeah. So, you know, like earlier this
summer, you know, I think I saidthis on the podcast, I'm like,
oh, I'm going to try to. I'm just trying to be like a lot
more social and like get out more because just because I it's
been it's always my brain is needs that independence slash
quiet a lot of times, But recently I've it's been on my
(43:36):
mind a lot. Is this like negative people or
just that negative energy? I hate to sound like a hippie
about it, but it's true. Like you feel it, you know?
You're such a hippie. I know, right.
But when you think of like, I think about that a lot, like
even times when people are in jest or like the sarcasm is too
thin, meaning like they're just like, oh, it's fine or oh, it'll
(44:00):
be OK. And I'm like, no, you're going
to bleed out and die. It's not OK.
It's OK to freak out or see things for what they are.
Like I've found that when peoplearen't supportive of your
business, especially starting out or especially in the first
few years, you know, like it's so easy to get distracted and
fall for that and just kind of never come back from it, you
(44:22):
know? Yeah, I mean the noise is
already there without them and your own self doubts and things
like that. So it's never helpful.
Yeah, like there's times, you know, like especially like you
now have two people on your teamworking for you at Goodies and
stuff like that. But sometimes when you have
somebody that it's, I've worked in enough kitchens where like
(44:46):
there's one person, right? One person is super negative or
just always, everything always sucks.
And that starts to eat away at the whole team.
Yeah, yeah. And that's where like I've kind
of seen this, like I've definitely worked with some
cooks. I'm just like, man, I don't ever
want to work with this guy. It's always a shitty attitude,
you know, like I've been that guy too, but I've never, I've,
(45:08):
I've come to realize like that is it's so draining as a
business owner, it's so drainingwhen somebody isn't.
Like it's one thing to be devil's advocate.
I've got one of those in my lifewhen I choke them out all the
time. And then there's other people
out there that it's just like, oh, if it's always like that,
they're always doubting, you know, so exhausting.
And like, I think it's spread tomy personal life too.
(45:28):
Yeah, exactly. You got to cut that shit out.
I think I've been pretty lucky to be able to avoid most of it.
The most unavoidable negativity that I experience at work is
like when we have a random customer that comes in and they
talk to me about the neighborhood.
Like I don't know what that feels like already like but I'm
(45:49):
not here everyday and they tell me things like it's just so
unsafe, be careful out there or you know, whatever.
That kind of stuff still does drive me nuts though.
Most of the time I find myself trying to explain my experience
and which you know some days I agree with them, some days I
(46:09):
feel so down about how negative this experience can feel.
Some days I do succumb to that negative mindset and I just
start to spiral and it's just not healthy.
Also the toxic like other side of being super positive I feel
like is maybe unhealthy too. So I'm trying to find I'm trying
(46:29):
to find like a middle ground in that and based in reality.
But. I just think, yeah, with
customers that are like, super, I don't like, dude, just fucking
leave. You just go somewhere else, man.
I'm gonna get your dollar one way or another, but just get the
fuck out of my face, you know? And I've noticed that like that
gap between that attitude I haveand my personal life is starting
(46:52):
to close pretty quickly. Oh my goodness, there's, there's
Times Now where I'm just like, oh, hey, man, like I'm seeing
you all like, oh, 'cause I don'tknow, man, you, I don't, I don't
know, I'm tired of hearing how much your life fucking sucks.
Keep it to yourself every once in a while.
Let's just enjoy this moment. Or like, you know, like that
happens a lot too. I mean, again, like it is good
(47:14):
for me to be social, but this isalso the other side of it for me
is like, God damn, dude, I can'tdo this.
I can't, you know, like I can't keep up.
Like it's like when somebody asks you for advice and then
you, they ignore it. They just ignore.
It's not that they ignore it. They don't put into action.
It's just that they don't want to hear it.
(47:36):
Like when I speak to people, like especially really tight
friends, I'm just like, hold on,do you need my advice or do you
need me to listen? Or is it a little of both?
I was like, all right, do you want it at the front end or the
back end? You want it at the end?
OK, cool. Go on.
So if you ever hear that from me, that is me at my utmost
best. That's great.
Where did you learn that? Learn that from my friend that I
(47:59):
grew up with. Oh, wow.
Remember when I was in? She's like, yo, I think I had
this conversation with her shoutout Allison.
I was like trying to solve theseproblems that I just couldn't
put my seat into, like my feet. And she's like, I just need to
complain about her. I'm like, oh, man, say less.
Go ahead. I'll just put myself on mute.
Go ahead. You know, like, yeah, you're
right. That is definitely how it's
done. That's.
(48:21):
Good communication. Yeah, good communication is
good. So if you made it this far,
everybody listening to this podcast, I just want to say
we're so fortunate to have Tychohere 'cause he's my new homie
and I can't wait to spoil him and influence him to the dark
side. Thank you so much, everybody,
(48:41):
for being patient. We got this last episode out.
Yes, we have definitely still been thinking about it and we're
excited because there are a couple episodes coming or
actually you might have already listened to them at this point.
This podcast is still a big priority for us and we're
excited to get back into the swing of things.
Huge. I'm so, I was so stoked when you
texted me last week. Like, do you have time next
(49:02):
week? I was like, of course I have
time, let's go. There's so much to talk about.
I know we've been itching. Yeah, so it's been as good for
us making the podcast as to listen to it.
I had a friend who hit me up andwas like, hey, are you guys
still dropping an episode soon? And that made me feel many
things. Guilty for one, but also it was
(49:24):
cool that somebody was actually checking in.
So so. About it.
I know so much shame, so much guilt.
See. But eventually it's gonna go to
just like. You'll get it when you get it.
Yeah, I I just don't care anymore.
Anyways, thank you everybody forlistening and yeah, we'll get
back on the schedule. Yeah, we have some fun things
planned. So, yeah, thank you.
(49:47):
Bye.
Hi, Joyce. Hey, Han.
OK, finally back from a pregnancy outcome, I guess.
Tycho is here. Congratulations, Joyce.
I think we all survived the first month.
Yeah, it's been a month since Tycho's been born.
(00:20):
Yeah, which means it's been a little bit over a month since we
last had an episode. Yeah, I haven't seen you in over
a month. I purposely didn't want to be
one of the billions of people ofPortland messaging you, being
like, oh, what do you need, I'm here for you, blah, blah, blah.
You saw how quick I grabbed thatbaby.
(00:41):
Yeah. OK, so last we were here, you
were pregnant. And what was it like?
Like when you knew? Do you remember?
I mean like when you knew it wascoming, like water breaking?
I mean like, did you guys panic?Something fought the wall.
We had a scheduled labor becausehe didn't come the week that we
(01:01):
were expecting. Yeah, that never happened.
And then we went over maybe a week and five days or so.
And then the timing was just kind of impossible for us
because we had we had project paps coming up and Terrance had
to work it. And like, anyway, our schedule
was not going to work out. And so our doctors were already
pressing us to induce. So we ended up choosing a date
(01:23):
and I ended up actually pushing the date to that date because
they wanted me to induce me a week early, which I was not
ready for. So anyway, Long story short,
yeah, we didn't have like a natural labor in that sense,
like what I fantasized, but my body was already getting close
by the time we got into the hospital.
And they they pump you with synthetic oxytocin to make you
(01:45):
contract and things like that. Wait, wait, wait.
So I'm assuming with Harlow everything just happened
naturally. Yeah, I know the water broke.
Like I had to like throw the baby bag in the car with the
gun. And then we were.
Like on the road it was snowing and shit, it was crazy.
Yeah, We were hoping for that experience, but it just kept
delaying. And, you know, by that time, we
(02:06):
just had to go for it. The medical system's crazy.
They have this thing going wherethey want to intervene and make
it all happen really quickly. So, well, I consented to, yeah,
let's get that oxytocin going eventually.
They were like, OK, well, we're going to want to pop your water
soon. And it looks like a knitting
needle that they use. And I'm like, I kind of just
(02:27):
want to wait for my water to break.
Yeah, yeah. So I had to advocate for that.
It eventually did. I think it was like 5 hours in
Terrance and I were stretching together and then bam happened
and things started moving along pretty quickly.
But yeah, I Remember Remember the whole experience.
It's the craziest experience we've ever had together.
God, I hope so. And in a very positive way too.
(02:49):
Very beautiful, very intense. Nothing quite like it.
I keep still bringing it up because it's such a trip that
all of that happened within sucha short period of time.
And now we have this little guy.Yeah, Tycho's super cute.
Thanks. Yeah, how Korean, how Terrance?
You know what I mean? Yeah, it is.
He he definitely looks like a Korean Terrance.
(03:10):
Yeah, he's adorable. I think that whole experience is
so intense and crazy. I remember there, like I
remember the decision that Dana made with Harlow's.
Like, OK, I think we're gonna, I'm gonna try to go as long as I
can. No epidural to like.
OK, We're gonna name her Epidural.
Give me two. Give one to Han, please.
(03:31):
Oh my God. Yeah, it was crazy, but I know
like those intense experiences are, man, they are.
It is. It's wild.
It's a wild ride, so. Yeah, 100%.
We kind of compare it to like a psychedelic trip, one of the
craziest trips we've ever had. And we were really lucky.
We had two amazing doulas with us in the room.
And to me, they felt like guidesthrough the whole process of
(03:53):
that trip. And it was beautiful.
Like, they really eased me into everything, like, massaged me,
talked me through everything, kept me focused on my breath
when I was about to lose it. Because you have that pain is
like no other. For sure.
And yeah, I had, like, chosen not to get an epidural.
And towards the end I was just in my mind, I was like, is it
(04:14):
too late to even ask? We ended up not getting the
epidural and I'm actually reallyglad we didn't.
But I don't blame anyone for choosing that option because
it's insane. Man, because if you all right,
like on a guy, on a male level, you know, I'd be like, First
off, all of it, we'll clean up the baby later, you know, Man,
(04:36):
that's so intense, all right? Does it make you want to have
another one? Does it make you want to like
never do it again? Well, immediately after,
definitely thought never want todo that again.
But then like the next day or maybe two days later, I was just
maybe this is just kind of my personality too, but I was just
(04:56):
like thinking how I could have done that better next time.
And I was like, I feel like I could do that better next time.
And Terrence started laughing atme.
But something sweet that Terrence said, like after all
that, he was just, you know, he was very present during the
whole process and he was definitely like an active
partner in that he looked at me and was like, because this guy
wants like a lot of kids and I'mlike 1-2 Max.
(05:19):
He's like, after seeing you go through all of that, he's like,
I don't think I could ask you todo it again.
Yeah, it changes you. It's like on the male
perspective, and I don't think it's very talked about at all,
is that it is traumatizing. I think in a different way,
because I was the same way. I was like, dude, I want hella
kids. And then after Harlow, I was
like, man, she better be smart and all together.
(05:40):
I'm not doing that again. However, I don't ever rule it
out. Yeah, yeah.
But I think the expectation versus reality versus delivery
is insane. It's such a journey.
Yeah. And to watch you go through that
with, like, so much grace, like,please give yourself, like, a
hat on the back. Thank you.
(06:00):
It's not a contest. No, it's not.
I think I can do better. You dig?
No, I know, I know. I'm to myself.
I'm like, oh, I wish I knew these things before, but yeah,
that's just how I work I guess. Yeah, it's so funny.
What I realized is like so many people were giving me like books
and like website recommendationsand oh, you should follow this
person and this and that. And in the end I was like, First
(06:23):
off, I ain't reading any of thatshit to.
Every baby truly is different and it's amazing.
I cannot express to you like howcute your baby.
Is yeah yeah we think he's pretty cute too I'll.
Close to selfie later with me and Tycho, my new homie, best
friend, partner in crime. I mean, we're kind of winging
(06:45):
it. I honestly I think I've only
changed like one or two diapers before this guy.
I have like almost 0 experience with like infants.
I'm definitely learning a lot along the way.
Yeah, you'll, you'll get it down.
I was actually kind of amazed athow I really jumped into that
role. And to be fair, though, I was
(07:06):
drinking a lot at the time. It was a little different than
just being completely sober. I think because like, like
drinking with a baby, you know, when it's by yourself was like
real easy for me. I think that's when like, I
think that's when a lot of my addictions really got on top of
me. You know, it's just be me and
Harlow, but she's a baby. I'm like, what are you going to
(07:27):
ask for a sip? You'd be fine.
And then I just got automated. But again, everybody does a
different, you know, I don't think there's a right or wrong
way, but I think all the ways are beautiful.
This is we all look like podcasts with Joyce Chung and
Han Lee Huang from Goody Snack Shop and Kim Jong Grillin.
You can easily support us by patronizing our businesses or
coming to get some food. We are independently funded and
(07:49):
we do this all on our own time. And we thank you so much for
listening. Please like, share, subscribe
until all your friends and we'regoing to jump right back into
this episode. OK, so let's flip back to your
other kid goodies. How's goodies going?
Goodies is going good. I've still been kind of in, in
(08:11):
like behind the scenes a little bit really prioritizing the baby
and Terrance has been holding itdown.
And also our two new team members, which I guess they're
not so new anymore, but it's kind of been doing its thing.
We're nearing our three-year anniversary in September.
Yeah, that flew by pretty quickly and now it's like coming
up so quickly. I'm like, I got to get on top of
(08:33):
all of that, but things are good.
But honestly, business has been really tough.
The neighborhood's tough. Yeah, still, foot traffic is
still such a big challenge. And not being an active, huge
participant in the business right now currently gives me a
lot of anxiety. Yeah.
Just trying to do the best I canfrom where I'm at.
(08:55):
But yeah, I mean, it's things are tough.
It's been a tough year. It's been a tough couple months.
I feel pretty absent, like my brain, like what they call baby
brain or mommy brain, is so real.
And being the Type A personalitythat I am, it's been really hard
to feel this way 'cause I just can't focus on anything except
for this little guy, which I want to only focus on him.
(09:16):
But it's crazy when you're also a small business owner and you
don't have unlimited resources. I don't know what that would be
like. Yeah, I can't even imagine what
that looks like, but I obviouslydefinitely want to get there one
day. But yeah, I have the sense of
guilt that I'm not really 100% here present in the business,
but there's a lot going on. Business is doing its thing.
(09:38):
We're nearing the Year 3 and actively behind the scenes too.
We've been working on getting this second location open, which
we're not in it yet, but we've been negotiating a lease for the
better part of a year now. It's taken a long time for many
reasons, but yeah, we've been working on and negotiating on a
(09:58):
new lease in a exciting part of town that we're really looking
forward to, and it's taken a lotlonger than we hoped.
The goodies #2A little bit smaller, but complete opposite
of where we're at now. Like super high visibility, a
lot of foot traffic, and in the city, which is like a big deal
for us. We still really love being in
(10:20):
downtown. So yeah, we've been keeping an
eye on this and working on a lease, and we finally are at a
place where we're like, OK, I think we're ready to seal the
deal and keep moving forward. We were hoping to be open by
this time, but yeah, the timing's been just a little
nuts. If we're lucky, maybe by the end
of fall we'll be open, but we'llsee.
(10:42):
I don't want to really hold myself to a crazy deadline
'cause I know how that goes. Yeah man, not feeling bad about
neglecting your business cut foryour child is so real.
Yeah. Yeah, I think having to split,
because I've done this multiple times and something's got to
give or something's got to give when you open up #2 and #3 or #1
(11:09):
is running so airtight and so profitable that you can split
your time, right? And that's what's really hard.
Good for you for wanting to staydowntown.
Like for me, being downtown, that definitely did not happen.
I opened up Happy Valley so I could hopefully pad my downtown
until downtown got better. And then it didn't happen
(11:29):
because I just found myself having both challenges, both of
the same problems that turned toa bigger problem.
But it always reveals itself. You know, sometimes I just have
to look at the whole thing like it is a Nintendo game that you
can't save on. You just have to hit the reset
button and just say fuck it and start over.
But starting over isn't always abad thing.
Like me moving from downtown to the highest now.
(11:52):
I've been there for three monthsnow and.
Wow, it's only been three months.
Yeah, it's only been three months.
I've only been there since May, June, July.
Yeah, three solid months at the highest open five days a week
was better than my whole 2024 downtown, which is insane.
I'm still paying off all the debts that I had from downtown
(12:15):
because I took on so much debt and on top of that, still taking
care of my bills and everything else and rent, payroll,
everything is still done on timeto the point we're now cleaning
up my old books and stuff like that.
So that's how crazy different itis to have a good location was a
bad one, but even worse. Like even after that though,
(12:39):
like I will say this is that sometimes, like whether you're
forced to do it or whether you do it yourself, I don't know if
it was better, but hitting that reset button will will allow you
the space and like the grace to do something like that.
You know for sure to get into a better position, but you can
only do it so many times. Yeah, I hear that.
Our mindset earlier on in the year was that the second
(12:59):
location will definitely give usthe opportunity to hold on to
this location longer till it canget to a place where it's more
stable. But it's funny how time kind of
bring some reality to the picture as well, because we're
also now starting to think that other location might be so much
(13:20):
better for the business that it might bring us back to reality
and be like, what are you doing?You don't have to be a martyr to
try to make something happen in a neighborhood that ultimately
is not going to get better just because you want.
It to. And as much as we want to be
here and we're so in love with this neighborhood, despite all
(13:40):
the challenges, even though the challenges daily sometimes
compiled to the point where likewhy are we doing this to
ourselves and our business? Why are we killing ourselves to
try to represent down here? So there's so many pros and
cons, but at the end of the day,what's the point of it all?
It's doing more harm than good. Yeah, I actually just went to LA
(14:02):
to go visit the Soul Sausage Homies.
Yeah. And they recently closed their
window, right, Which was a kitchen, but they were able to
retail sell out of it. But they were also still working
on all their products. I was like, what was the final
decision? I mean, you guys been doing this
like 12 years, right? And they're like everything that
we made on the wholesale side isbeing eaten up by this window.
Now, do I chop off this limb andthen hold on to all this money
(14:25):
or whatever? But that'll wait for their
wholesale to get to a point where it could replace that,
where they could live off of it.And I was like, Dang, man, you
guys have been doing this 12 years to get to this point.
Obviously there were a lot of pivots with COVID, losing a chef
and everything. But yeah, I think that's been
the discussion. Like when you have a multi
faceted business or when you have a business that has a
couple locations, like you do have to make those hard
(14:47):
decisions of like just cut it. And honestly, I don't think
there's a wrong decision. I don't think.
I think when you feel bad about something, that's just what it
is. You.
Do have to be pragmatic. Like for me, when I was making
money with Happy Valley, I was just like, maybe I'll just push
Kim Jong Un into the river and then say somebody stole it.
(15:07):
And then I can claim the insurance money and then I can
get a salary at Happy Valley. And it's so funny because the
second I thought of that, like everything fell apart at Happy
Valley and all I had was the cart, you know, like for in my
personal experience, it always comes back down to that fucking
cart. I'm like, how many times have I
have repainted you? How many times can I move you?
(15:29):
And I always come back to the same thing.
I'm just like, fuck, are are we just stuck together?
Like I couldn't push it in the river if I tried.
That's insane and it's right, but you also know it's pretty
bad when you start fantasizing weird shit like that.
Is it like, how many of the 11 years that I've been around have
I been thinking like this? But I know at the end of the
(15:50):
day, I'm like, well, it's still mine.
I still retain this. I still have this.
And you have to constantly move that bar of where you want to
be. I could see a different version
of Goodies, but I think you should do it.
I think it's going to be fuckingrad.
Yeah. I mean, there's a new version of
it that we've have dreams of andlike different elements that we
want to add on to it that we weren't able to execute here.
(16:10):
We're really excited. It's also scary.
Like there's just a lot of transitions happening in our
lives right now and like trying to open the second business,
trying to keep this one going. Got a life to support and you
have a place to live. Oh my God, you.
Have so much. Yeah, shit's crazy, but you
know, this is life and I could spiral and go into a dark place,
(16:34):
but I've been trying to stay really positive and.
Doing great. Yeah, yeah.
Doing great, that's all I. It's amazing how much power a
child in your life has. Like it's all of a sudden
everything's more urgent or all of a sudden everything stops.
That's pretty insane. It's insane.
Are the transitions are real? I'm still going through them.
Like I'm still getting used to being at a place that's busier.
(16:56):
I'm still trying to wrap up a lot of old stuff too with my
business, which I I caught a glimpse of in hindsight.
I know that you had a good thinggoing.
I think a healthy business is always constantly moving and
that's just a theory of mine. I know when there was nothing
going on and I was just wasting my time.
Are those were the good days or Oh my God, I have like so many
(17:16):
events and so many of this and so much of this stacked up.
But I have 0 money. But I was so busy.
I was going for longevity. The one thing I realized was
like that was really fucking hard for me was like, think
about being downtown made a big stink about coming down here and
we did it. And then my popularity was at
like level 10, but my bank account and my funds and
(17:40):
everything was like at -1 And it's not fair to be so seen but
yet not get compensated A. 100%.It just sucks everybody,
everything suffers and like, I don't know, it's a shout out to
every business out there that isfaking it till you make it cuz
man, I know exactly what that feels like.
And yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy.
(18:00):
And like this past summer has been nothing since the end of
June, just been nothing but events, pop ups, events, crying
events, pop ups. And now I'm in wedding.
Now I'm like executing on all myweddings, which I'm never doing
again. That's.
What you always? I know, but this is different.
This is different. I promise it's different.
Good, good. And like I've realized like man,
(18:22):
pop ups are crazy because like Iapproached them so differently
than when I had them before. Like before I was just saying
yes to everything and like events and pop ups to me,
especially pop ups, like going to different restaurants and
popping up was I was like shooting it like a mixtape.
Like I was an exclusive rapper on a mixtape.
Like different mixtapes for different restaurants.
And I would just make features at different places to get my
(18:44):
name out there to now where it'slike now I'm a place where if
somebody was to pop up at my place, you know, they're
automatically getting my hype and everything else.
And I've realized something is that the things that make me say
yes or no to collaborations and stuff like that is the favor
element. And I realized that's something
that's so neglected with pop upsand events that like even the
(19:06):
biggest ones, right? Like even like Project Pops,
it's like if they were looking for something that was like so
unique of an experience, they can't go anywhere else for it.
You can ask for the world. Yeah.
I'm putting up goodies. Bodega at PVR Fest.
Who else are you going to get for that?
How are you going to get all this like Wujamaya choice with
like Portland flavour? You just can't get it.
And so aside from me being like,oh, I'd be so stoked to work
(19:31):
with this chef, yeah, that's usually how I decide like the
pop up collaboration factor. And if it makes sense, it's
like, I'm not going to stretch. And I don't think anybody should
stretch just because they have abig name or big following to do
that. Ultimately, you should be
excited about it yourself too. Yeah, 'cause then I've done
enough pop ups where like there's a couple pop ups.
(19:51):
I've, there's been a couple pop ups I've done where people are
just like the host will look at me like, why didn't anybody show
up? I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, my, my,
my folks showed up, but where did your folks go?
Oh, you didn't have any to beginwith.
But yeah. And it's, that's, that's the
real thing though. And like, I don't know, like,
but but the pop ups I do for fun, like Reliver for me is like
(20:11):
hell of fun. It's like fun playing with foods
that's like so spicy at St. Disco, shout out St.
Disco. It's like a kitchen stage
almost. You know, it's fun to flex and
stuff like that, but. Yeah, I'm happy that event
season is over. I'm so ready to nest.
Yeah, I got to say, I think whenTycho, our son was born, it was
(20:33):
kind of in the height of all of that.
We had such a crazy stack schedule that first week after
he was born. It was so hard because Terrence
was immediately back in the field managing a lot of these
events that we were part of, mainly that, Yeah, Paps, project
PAPS. We had that bodega and it was
definitely a success. People really loved the
(20:54):
experience and True West was great.
They were super supportive of us.
But it was soul crushing to be separated from Terrence.
He'd be working like 16 plus hour days over the weekend and
then he had so many events coming up that it was really
hard to be separated with a newborn, which ultimately
brought me back to like hanging out at the shop because we
didn't want to be separated. They're so gross.
(21:16):
We're disgusting. But no, it's been really nice
because that piece is invaluableto have a partner and be able to
split the responsibilities and get some breathing room too.
Because like, yeah, a baby is all.
What do you call it? It takes up so much of
everyone's energy in a positive way, but it's a lot.
(21:37):
All your resources and stuff. Yes, I too can say I'm relieved
that event season, crazy event season has come to a close for
the most part. God I hope so.
I'm just glad the hot summer events are.
Yeah, are over. Over more.
Relaxed business and stuff. I think it's funny, like a lot
of the shoot fairs and stuff like that, like they have their
(21:59):
own identity and it's like you have to somehow still be on
brand but also placate to those people.
Because honestly, I think of Hawthorne, I think of woke white
folks. They're just like, oh, do you
guys have those crunchy little rice snacks?
No 100%. And then they're just like, oh,
you can drink yogurt. No, you're right.
It's like hard to maintain your identity because like everywhere
I go with, especially with like the Kim Jong Un brand, I'm just
(22:22):
like, not only is he going to befucking Korean, it's also going
to be like insanely fucking American too.
You know, I have to like shove it down people's fucking throats
that it's not. It's because, you know, it's you
never want to be pigeonholed. However, it's also sometimes an
uphill struggle because you're. Like, oh, it is you.
Tie dye hippie wearing, non hairbrushing motherfuckers like how
(22:46):
dare you ask me what this is? Why don't you know this?
100% When we do events that are way more on brand for us and
cater to Asian Americans, I don't have to think about it.
Literally everything's so easy for me to figure out what to
curate for the event, what to bring, what's going to be
exciting. But when we do something that's
kind of outside of our wheelhouse, I question myself.
(23:09):
I'm like, do I take the Dijon mustard flavored Mayo with me?
Which, by the way, it actually did better than the rest of the
black sesame spread that always does well, did not do well at
all. I hate having to think that hard
about it, I guess because it's just a challenge.
It's like finding out that your algorithm is that of a loser or
(23:30):
something. Like.
I'm like, what do you mean? Everybody knows what this flavor
is, and then nobody knows. Recently I was doing burgers.
You know, it's like got a kimchicompo, housemates house,
whatever. It's super good, super good.
And I was like, damn, why didn'tthis sell at the heist?
Because it was permanently on mymenu.
(23:51):
And then I was like, oh wait, isit the audience?
And then I was talking like at this last event I did, you know,
people are just like, yeah, yeah, I want the burger, but I
want the kimchi. And I'm like, so look, it really
kind of ties the whole thing together.
No substitutions. But it's not like the kimchi
that you think. It's actually cooked down, and
it's more like a jam. And they're like, OK, I guess I
(24:15):
was just like, listen, stop. Just have it the way that I
said. And then once they had it, they
were just like, oh, explosion intheir brain.
Just like, it was so good. You were so right.
Oh, my gosh, I didn't really, you know, And in those
instances, I think you kind of have to blow people's minds to
get them to pull them in. True, true.
(24:38):
And then other times you're justlike, your mind is so small and
narrow, go the fuck away. And it's so hard to choose like
when those moments are. I know sometimes I just don't
have the energy to try. When you have something
exceptional, that has to speak for itself.
Absolutely. Hey, hey, hey, Taiko.
(24:58):
Cameo. I hate that he even steals.
Like he even sounds good on likebetter than you know.
I forgot to tell you, but my dadactually visited me from Texas
with my brother last week, and we had a little staycation.
We got an Airbnb and got to spend time with his grandson,
and my dad was so proud. He heard him cry, and he said he
even cries like he's Korean. Yeah, yeah.
(25:19):
That's pretty funny. How is your dad taking you being
a mom? Oh, my gosh, I never imagined my
dad being a grandpa, but never really fantasized about a lot of
that and kind of never imagined it at all.
But he's blowing my mind by how.Well, I mean, like, he he's
fully embraced it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I think he's secretly reallywanted a grandchild, but never
(25:41):
wanted to, like, bug me about itbecause I told him a while back
it's never going to happen to Ed.
Don't don't get your hopes up. So he basically like all of his
buddies who have grandchildren, he would be like when they share
stories, he's like, I, I don't have a grandchild.
I don't want to hear it. But now like.
That's where you get it from. But now my dad's like OK I take
(26:03):
it back I want to talk about my grandkid but it was crazy.
It was mind bending to see my dad like hold a baby and love on
him. It just looked so natural and he
was just. So happy.
And it was also really nice 'cause my dad was totally
momming me up when he came. He's like cooking up a storm
every morning. He's just already making all
(26:24):
sorts of meals and holding the baby and watching him while we
went to the grocery store, whichfelt crazy 'cause that was the
first time we left him since he was born.
But my dad's super proud. And yeah, it's a trip.
Well, you got to think it's probably the first time he's
held a baby, you know? I know definitely.
I think one of the best when my mom first met Harlow and I was
(26:47):
like, hey, do you wanna hold a baby?
And I handed it to her and she held it like like a puppy, you
know, like with just the hands under the armpit, just like out,
like, oh, oh, man, that's reallya baby.
And they just handed it right back to me.
But I, I think for any, I hate sounding like this, but anybody
that's Asian right now that struggles with their parents,
(27:08):
the Asian kryptonite, the Asian mom, Asian dad kryptonite is
having a child. Yeah, it is.
And like I see, because I see itin my mom, like my at one point
my mom, because I'm, I'm an exceptional father and I'll go
fuck what anybody says. Not that anybody ever contested
people know people that have metHarlow.
They're like, damn, you're a good dad.
But I remember one point like, and this brought me to tears as
(27:32):
my mom was like, she watched me being a dad.
I think Harlow was like 4-3 or four and she was like, you're
like good at being a dad. And I was like, I've, I've won,
I've won Instagram, I've won. She admitted it.
And they never said, which is like her.
Like that should have been her last words, 'cause now I'm just
insufferable to my parents. You know, 'cause think about it,
(27:55):
right? Like anytime Tycho has like,
'cause they will, 'cause he willsurpasses your, the Asian issues
that you ever had with your parents.
You can throw it right back intoyour dad's face.
You absolutely can just be like,Oh yeah, look at that.
It's crazy cause you know, Harlow's mom is always around.
(28:17):
Harlow's dad's always around. I mean, yeah, I, I feel like my
dad, even though he, you know, we had it where things growing
up that I wish he could have done better.
But he's become such a good dad to me in my like, recent years
that I feel like I can't even doany of that shit to him anymore.
(28:39):
And I already gave him so much hell growing up.
But yeah, I mean, my dad also kind of just like blows my mind
a lot too, because he, I mean, he said something the nicest
things he said while he was visiting too, He was just like,
I know you guys are brand new atthis being parents, but you're
approaching it so cool. Like you guys are so calm and
(29:00):
cool and doing it so well. I'm proud of you guys.
And then after he left, I was heartbroken because I already
missed them and he messaged me and he said it was so nice
spending time with you and your family.
Oh my God, that almost made me cry.
He. Called it my family and yeah, it
gave me chills because like, never thought of it that way.
(29:22):
And then also like my dad sayingthat it just, yeah.
But sounds like your father's supportive of you.
Oh yeah, He's kind of like, I was really lucky because even
growing up, like my dad was never the stereotypical Asian
dad or Korean dad. He was very affectionate.
He was as president as possible,especially like when he was
around and yeah, like, he's justbeen a really loving father
(29:45):
through a lot of it. I think that's, man, that's so
important to like be able to carry that on, you know?
Yeah, I feel lucky. Yeah, no, it's cool.
I don't always hear the greatestexamples of Korean dads, you
know, being dad, being good dads.
So like I've always, I always feel like negligent, silent, you
know what have you? I think like, you look at a lot
(30:05):
of like Asian dad's actions versus words, then it's like a
different thing. You know, they're all the bark
is always worse than the bite. That's very nuanced.
It's very nuanced. I look at there's a lot of times
with Harlem and I because we palaround so much.
I'm like, it's pretty cute, but I have to check myself
sometimes. I'm like, am I more of a dad or
more of a homie too? And she's like, oh, totally a
dad. I'm like, OK, thank God.
(30:28):
I was like, that's cool, man. And like, I think a lot of times
with the Parent Trap is these days now is that the parents
don't want to be like their parents.
And within that they lose the discipline of being a parent.
And then they just end up wanting to be a friend,
overcompensating and like havinga friend.
And then that just usually creates monsters, you know,
(30:48):
they. Don't want that.
Yeah, I, I see a lot of examplesof that, especially in boxing
and stuff like that. I work with a lot of kids.
I hate seeing that, you know, just like, oh man, this kid's
boxing because you couldn't stoptorturing this kid or whatever.
So Speaking of kids and futures,what do you see now?
How is your outlook now with having Tycho Terrence Goodies
(31:14):
Goodies 2 on the way? Like does that change your view
on business now? I guess in some ways we've been
living pretty true to our valuesand things like that.
Things are still pretty consistent, but priorities wise,
I mean, we knew this was going to change certain things.
Nothing else really matters except for this guy and his
(31:34):
well-being. And that also means our health
and well-being and all the otherthings, right?
So we definitely want to be in aplace where we can spend as much
quality time with this guy before he's all grown up.
So we're definitely working on making that a reality.
But yeah, prioritizing family time.
I do want him to also see us andour lives and how we've operated
(31:59):
since like, he was a baby because like, I think it is
really invaluable. I saw my parents working really
hard, but like, this is a different kind of experience
too. Like he's a part of what we're
doing and a big driver for all the things that we do.
Yeah, it's amazing how flexible your business really is now that
you have a Tycho here. Yeah, yeah.
I feel like in a lot of ways we're really privileged to be
(32:22):
able to do this and hang out with him at the back of the
shop. But I think it's also been
really beautiful to see what a new life can do to a community
and to a neighborhood. Because when he was being born,
we just closed the shop for two days and we never do that.
We're even open during most ice storms.
So we're closed 2 days and immediately the whole
(32:42):
neighborhood, all the people whowork in which it's not a lot of
office workers, but the 20 office workers that work nearby,
they all knew what that meant. And so immediately when we were
back, people were coming and celebrating and congratulating
us. That's.
So awesome. I've also never felt so
supported by our community, likein all the ways something that
(33:04):
blew me away and honestly kept me sane.
And I don't think I would be in such a good mental state right
now if it weren't for all the people who showed up and sent us
meals or gift cards to get DoorDash or just reached out and
made sure that we were doing OK.When we first got pregnant with
him, as excited as we both were,I was also really scared that it
(33:25):
would feel like a really lonely,scary journey.
Never once have I felt really alone.
And especially when he was born,like everyone showed up And for
the first two weeks when I was like recovering, I didn't have
to think about meals or any of that, which was like one of the
biggest things that mattered because I was ravenous like
(33:46):
every single day and super tired.
And luckily I was able to nourish myself and also Terence
and in turn our baby. And like, it just showed me what
this little beacon of hope can do to a community.
And like, what ultimately drivesus in like being small business
owners too, is because like we want to show what's possible and
(34:09):
like things that we care about and put it out into the world.
And like, sometimes it's hard toremember, but this is like a
little refresher in remembering why we do all of this stuff and
what we're aiming for. But the way that people showed
up for us, a lot of our customers and all of that too,
like it just blew my mind. And I feel really grateful.
And it's just a great reminder of why we do what we do and
(34:32):
like, why we care about buildingsomething in our local, in our
city and like just showing up. I mean, yeah, it was a big deal
for you to have TECO. I think everybody in the
community was just like, hell yeah.
I mean, that give me the most sense.
But also just like, yeah, new life will bring that energy.
(34:52):
And he brings. I mean, I'm actually to be
honest, I'm kind of shocked. Like I can feel like that energy
that he brings, you know? I mean, it feels crazy because
yeah, the state of the world is insane.
Fuck the world. The timing of all of it.
Our lives are insane right now, but I mean, adding this little
bit of expert chaos hasn't been as crazy as I thought, but it's
(35:15):
still a lot. But I think it is a lot.
And in the end, you, you, it's gonna be hard for you to see it
any other way. And I think that is like one of
the most beautiful things. I've like the transformative
process of this. Like it's, I do this a lot.
Like I think about like right now, like if I didn't have my
(35:37):
brand right now, like what wouldI be doing?
And I'm like oh man, this be a plumber or something.
Which probably isn't true either.
But I don't know but. You know I know.
I know what you. Mean and it's hard to see, but
also just like for you, like nowthe Tyco's here it's like.
Yeah, this is the future. So hard for you to see anything
else. Yeah.
Like Harlow would tell me, like she's like, yeah, I want to go
(36:00):
to school for this so I can takecare of you and mom.
And I was like, you are a fucking Angel.
I will never expect that. But I believe her, you know,
like, I believe her. I'm like, OK, cool, like, sick.
Just keep slaying cream barbecue.
And then hopefully, you know, get to where I need to go.
Do you guys get busier or slowerduring the colder seasons?
(36:23):
Definitely slower, but we get a spike during holiday season.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I.
Would imagine that got a lot of gifty things and we do end up
like really curating a lot more stuff that's gift able in the
store. So we have a hard push towards
November, December. We do a lot of holiday like
events as well. So yeah, there is like a busier
(36:45):
period and then January, February is kind of like deathly
silent. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to
that. Which I gotta say like this
January, February wasn't so bad.February was actually pretty
decent. Randomly I still have anxieties
about the colder months. Definitely it's I'm already
depressed with the days getting shorter and things like that
(37:06):
even though I love fall. I just noticed it the other day.
I was like, wait a second, was it dark already 30?
Shift is happening. Is happening for sure.
Which is beautiful and scary allat once.
I think like what is it like to have a business go like have no
slow season? Oh, I have no idea.
Yeah, What was that, people? Must be nice.
(37:28):
Must be nice. Yeah, I have so many people,
like, especially like, complain about the winter season.
I always get one asshole that's like, oh, we should save money
during the year. I'm like, dude, fuck you.
Like I like if I could save money you think I'd be slinging
Korean BBQ out of a fucking foodtruck bro?
Like like do you make you clearly make enough money to
(37:48):
save? I do not.
Oh. My gosh, that's insane.
Yeah. And it's like, why would you
take the venom out of the bite? Like that's that's the fun part.
Like low key, I think it's a funpart of the business now.
And just like, oh, can I survive?
You know how deep in this water can I?
Go. That's so sick.
Yeah, it's pretty disgusting. I think it's mental illness that
I've nurtured over this long. Period.
(38:09):
Yeah, I don't want it anymore. I don't want it.
I don't want it anymore either. I think like for for us, like
we're in year 11 now. I didn't even announce that it
was our birthday. Yeah, when was that?
August 11th I think. Oh wow.
OK. Very August 1st, like the
beginning of the second week of August.
Happy 11th that's. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you. It's weird now because I'm
(38:30):
finally looking at, I'm finally looking at like, like I know I
can't. I'm not going to ever have a
second Kim Jong Un. I know that I'm not going to
branch off and have all these fucking products like I thought
I would. Still Maybe might get a
skateboard deck. I'm not sure.
Maybe. But not to say that this is the
(38:52):
end all, be all of Kim Jong Un, but I don't see the expansion
anywhere soon. I do however, still want a
really good sandwich, and I still might finagle or find a
way to do a sandwich cart. Yes, please.
(39:13):
Like something that does like Italian sandwiches and then on
the other end, like really Asiansandwiches.
Yes. Like Tokyo Sando can't sorry
Itaki, you can't get all that monies like you got to share a
little, but no, it's not a call out.
But I mean, I would love to do, I would love to do Italian
sandwiches and like Asian inspired sandwiches because it's
(39:35):
something that's been on my mindfor like years now.
Yes, and also you could put a placard and say award-winning
club sandwich. Award-winning Club Sandwich.
Didn't you win? Oh, I did.
That's right. I humbled like all of you
restaurant fools with that sandwich.
We love sandwiches, so yes, yeah, keep us posted on that.
Dude, I will. I think I'm going to try to find
(39:56):
the money for it and try to do it, maybe release it this
summer. Of course I'm going to do
bulgogi cheese steak. You know, but I also want to do,
like, a really good Italian sandwiches.
I want to do, like, a chicken parm sandwich.
I want to do, like, a Japanese eggplant sandwich.
What? Yeah.
That's like panko Panko like eggplant, like is.
It warm. Yeah, like a hot sandwich, but
(40:18):
then you can dip it like it comes with the side of like a
Curry tomato type thing. You can dip the sandwiches.
I know I'm really pandering to white people because I've
noticed that they like 1/3. Component.
Like, like Koreans are just likepoint A to point B whatever fits
in that chopstick or spoon versus like I see like white
people like get real dainty whenthey like to dip things.
(40:40):
They're always compartmentalized, or it's like
the opposite. Oh, they don't want their food
touching they. Don't want their food touching
so then it's like point A to point B or they don't want
things too wet. I think that's something that's
been on my mind a lot. OK, you got to bring this to
life. Yeah, I think we're going to try
to bring that to life. OK, quick question that just
made me think of do you like wetburritos?
(41:01):
Why are you coming with these hard hitting questions like
first time it's back. If it was a chimichanga, it's a
wet situation. It's got to go wet crispy back
to wet. OK?
It can't just be regular tortilla dipped or like poured
sauce on. What about you?
I mean, I love eating a burrito with my hands, so like that part
(41:24):
kind of takes that out of the equation.
But I love sauce, so I love sauce and cheese, so that part's
fun. But yeah, I like that crunchy
component. That's something I didn't even
think about. Yeah, the wet to crunchy
component, like that's the only time where I'm not a dip person.
OK, 'cause like if you think about like tung suuk, you know,
like. Yeah, separate.
(41:45):
Yeah, separate, separate Dippersonly.
There's AI actually am part of aclub called Dippers only.
No, no, I'm part of that club. Too.
Oh yeah, you're part of that club too.
Shout out Crystal and Rose. It's important.
It's. Important.
Like even when I watch it and like when I see it in K dramas,
I'm like what are you doing? What?
Why? Why you?
Yes, I have to say I learned it from my mom.
Yeah. Think of the other option.
(42:05):
Like when I saw it sauced over once I was like that's how it
comes. But anyway.
Yeah, like when you see like the, like, old school Koreans
eat it, you're just like, what do you, what do you?
Why are you booming this out, dude?
Yeah, it's soggy. I'm not trying to have that
sogginess, you know? So Joyce, you've been in
business for three years now, you and Terrance and now Taiko.
(42:26):
How do you, do you ever, do you ever like just get fatigue from,
from naysayers and like negativepeople or have you been able to
tune it out or like what is thatprocess like for you?
Yeah, I mean, I think I've kind of always been like this.
I do mostly tune people out or just I try not to associate with
(42:48):
people who have negative vibes around anything that I I'm
sensitive. So I, I can definitely sense it
when people are a naysayer or have doubts or they're just
negative, you know, So I tend tojust pretend like those people
don't even exist. That's a good policy to have.
Maybe it's not the healthiest, but I I try to stay away because
(43:10):
I just can't. I think it's it's healthy.
Yeah. So, you know, like earlier this
summer, you know, I think I saidthis on the podcast, I'm like,
oh, I'm going to try to. I'm just trying to be like a lot
more social and like get out more because just because I it's
been it's always my brain is needs that independence slash
quiet a lot of times, But recently I've it's been on my
(43:36):
mind a lot. Is this like negative people or
just that negative energy? I hate to sound like a hippie
about it, but it's true. Like you feel it, you know?
You're such a hippie. I know, right.
But when you think of like, I think about that a lot, like
even times when people are in jest or like the sarcasm is too
thin, meaning like they're just like, oh, it's fine or oh, it'll
(44:00):
be OK. And I'm like, no, you're going
to bleed out and die. It's not OK.
It's OK to freak out or see things for what they are.
Like I've found that when peoplearen't supportive of your
business, especially starting out or especially in the first
few years, you know, like it's so easy to get distracted and
fall for that and just kind of never come back from it, you
(44:22):
know? Yeah, I mean the noise is
already there without them and your own self doubts and things
like that. So it's never helpful.
Yeah, like there's times, you know, like especially like you
now have two people on your teamworking for you at Goodies and
stuff like that. But sometimes when you have
somebody that it's, I've worked in enough kitchens where like
(44:46):
there's one person, right? One person is super negative or
just always, everything always sucks.
And that starts to eat away at the whole team.
Yeah, yeah. And that's where like I've kind
of seen this, like I've definitely worked with some
cooks. I'm just like, man, I don't ever
want to work with this guy. It's always a shitty attitude,
you know, like I've been that guy too, but I've never, I've,
(45:08):
I've come to realize like that is it's so draining as a
business owner, it's so drainingwhen somebody isn't.
Like it's one thing to be devil's advocate.
I've got one of those in my lifewhen I choke them out all the
time. And then there's other people
out there that it's just like, oh, if it's always like that,
they're always doubting, you know, so exhausting.
And like, I think it's spread tomy personal life too.
(45:28):
Yeah, exactly. You got to cut that shit out.
I think I've been pretty lucky to be able to avoid most of it.
The most unavoidable negativity that I experience at work is
like when we have a random customer that comes in and they
talk to me about the neighborhood.
Like I don't know what that feels like already like but I'm
(45:49):
not here everyday and they tell me things like it's just so
unsafe, be careful out there or you know, whatever.
That kind of stuff still does drive me nuts though.
Most of the time I find myself trying to explain my experience
and which you know some days I agree with them, some days I
(46:09):
feel so down about how negative this experience can feel.
Some days I do succumb to that negative mindset and I just
start to spiral and it's just not healthy.
Also the toxic like other side of being super positive I feel
like is maybe unhealthy too. So I'm trying to find I'm trying
(46:29):
to find like a middle ground in that and based in reality.
But. I just think, yeah, with
customers that are like, super, I don't like, dude, just fucking
leave. You just go somewhere else, man.
I'm gonna get your dollar one way or another, but just get the
fuck out of my face, you know? And I've noticed that like that
gap between that attitude I haveand my personal life is starting
(46:52):
to close pretty quickly. Oh my goodness, there's, there's
Times Now where I'm just like, oh, hey, man, like I'm seeing
you all like, oh, 'cause I don'tknow, man, you, I don't, I don't
know, I'm tired of hearing how much your life fucking sucks.
Keep it to yourself every once in a while.
Let's just enjoy this moment. Or like, you know, like that
happens a lot too. I mean, again, like it is good
(47:14):
for me to be social, but this isalso the other side of it for me
is like, God damn, dude, I can'tdo this.
I can't, you know, like I can't keep up.
Like it's like when somebody asks you for advice and then
you, they ignore it. They just ignore.
It's not that they ignore it. They don't put into action.
It's just that they don't want to hear it.
(47:36):
Like when I speak to people, like especially really tight
friends, I'm just like, hold on,do you need my advice or do you
need me to listen? Or is it a little of both?
I was like, all right, do you want it at the front end or the
back end? You want it at the end?
OK, cool. Go on.
So if you ever hear that from me, that is me at my utmost
best. That's great.
Where did you learn that? Learn that from my friend that I
(47:59):
grew up with. Oh, wow.
Remember when I was in? She's like, yo, I think I had
this conversation with her shoutout Allison.
I was like trying to solve theseproblems that I just couldn't
put my seat into, like my feet. And she's like, I just need to
complain about her. I'm like, oh, man, say less.
Go ahead. I'll just put myself on mute.
Go ahead. You know, like, yeah, you're
right. That is definitely how it's
done. That's.
(48:21):
Good communication. Yeah, good communication is
good. So if you made it this far,
everybody listening to this podcast, I just want to say
we're so fortunate to have Tychohere 'cause he's my new homie
and I can't wait to spoil him and influence him to the dark
side. Thank you so much, everybody,
(48:41):
for being patient. We got this last episode out.
Yes, we have definitely still been thinking about it and we're
excited because there are a couple episodes coming or
actually you might have already listened to them at this point.
This podcast is still a big priority for us and we're
excited to get back into the swing of things.
Huge. I'm so, I was so stoked when you
texted me last week. Like, do you have time next
(49:02):
week? I was like, of course I have
time, let's go. There's so much to talk about.
I know we've been itching. Yeah, so it's been as good for
us making the podcast as to listen to it.
I had a friend who hit me up andwas like, hey, are you guys
still dropping an episode soon? And that made me feel many
things. Guilty for one, but also it was
(49:24):
cool that somebody was actually checking in.
So so. About it.
I know so much shame, so much guilt.
See. But eventually it's gonna go to
just like. You'll get it when you get it.
Yeah, I I just don't care anymore.
Anyways, thank you everybody forlistening and yeah, we'll get
back on the schedule. Yeah, we have some fun things
planned. So, yeah, thank you.
(49:47):
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.