We were lucky to catch up with Sherry Kong recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sherry , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I’m the daughter of immigrant parents, who survived the Cambodian “Killing Fields”. It’s a story not many people know about and a story under represented in the food scene. In 2016, after pushing the reset button on life, we trained under the tutelage of my mom, who taught me how to cook Cambodian food. Our mission is to share a Cambodian mom’s story of survival, resilience and love through food.
Sherry , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I used to be a preschool teacher and Brandon used to be in advertising. We always said we wanted to be our own bosses one day and it turned out that day (year) was 2016. We weren’t sure how to make the transition into the food world, until serendipitously we saw that Kitty Cohen’s (a bar on the east side) had opportunities for food pop-ups. We spent the next few years feeding people while educating them on Cambodian food, and spent way more time explaining to friends/family/strangers what a “pop-up” was. Mind you, this was 2016. Since then, we’ve met folks (turned friends) who share stories of living in Cambodia, eaters who say our food reminds them of their grandma’s and friends who come time and time again because we’re the only ones making this cuisine on the regular.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
There are a number of combinations and factors when it comes to building a following on social media. Luckily, Brandon had a lot of experience when he worked in advertising that he could transfer some of that knowledge into building our pages. I think having a clear vision of what story you want told helps your brand significantly. Pretty photos are great, but they can be enhanced with background history or tied to a memory. We‘ve had a pretty gradual and organic social media build since we started, either word of mouth or meeting folks in person who immediately follow us.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In early March of 2020, we were actively looking at food trucks for Mama Kong. A few weeks later, the pandemic lockdown happened and we felt like we dodged a bullet. We decided we still wanted people to have access to our food, especially for folks who were getting furloughed or couldn’t afford to eat. That’s where the idea of the SpeakEATsy happened. We created a link for people to order food online, choose a day and time and donate what they could for a contactless pickup.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mamakongcambodian.com/about-us
- Instagram: mamakongcambodian
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamakongcambodian