We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Davy Khy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Davy below.

Davy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Growing up in the United States as a first-generation American girl, torn between a mixture of cultures—American and Cambodian-Chinese—I did not always understand the importance of a homemade Asian meal. As a child, I just wanted to blend in with everyone else.

One of my earliest food memories was when I was a second grader on a school field trip and had to bring my own lunch. I don’t remember where we were going on the trip, but I distinctly remember the feeling of embarrassment at lunch time. My classmates’ lunches consisted of peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches, flavored Squeeze-Its or Capri Sun juices, and chips all neatly packed in their My Little Pony or She-Ra Princess of Power lunch boxes. All I had was a plastic grocery store bag with rice and Chinese sausage with soy sauce wrapped up in aluminum foil.

I was so embarrassed that my lunch looked different than the other kids’ that I did not eat at the picnic table with everyone else. I held onto my lunch until we got back onto the school bus and tried to sneak in some bites then, only to get caught by one of the teachers and scolded for eating on the bus. My lunch was then quickly taken away from me and thrown into the garbage. When I got home, my mother yelled at me for not remembering to bring back my spoon. What a waste, she said in Khmer (the official language of Cambodia). I was too scared to tell her that the teacher threw out my entire lunch bag, which included the spoon. Not only did I miss lunch and come home hungry that day, but I was also reprimanded twice.

When I became an adult and moved away from home, I missed my mother’s home cooking. It was then that I started to learn how to cook and truly began appreciating the beauty of that part of my culture along with the rich history that accompanies it. My mother survived the genocide in Cambodia, and I was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines before coming to America as an infant. She raised the three of us girls as a single mother in a foreign country on her own. Yet, she still made the time to cook us delicious homemade Cambodian meals from scratch. Food and cooking are an expression of my mother’s love. And now, mine as well. It is important to me that her recipes don’t get lost with my generation. I am writing a memoir cookbook so that I can share a little bit about my mother’s story of survival along with the vibrant flavors of the underrepresented Cambodian cuisine that have comforted my heart, soul, and belly all these years.

Davy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I started working on my memoir cookbook, I had to learn food photography and food styling. While my original intention was to share my passion project and love of food, restaurants and brands began noticing me on Instagram and reached out for partnerships. I love experimenting and learning how to make all types of cuisine. It has been fun to partner with brands to create new recipes and work with restaurants to produce content. I hope to inspire others to cook, try new cuisines, and explore new restaurants.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The process of writing my memoir cookbook has been quite a long journey. It originally started with me quitting my day job in the fashion industry and deciding to consult so that I would have the flexibility to pursue my passion project. This was not an easy decision to make. I was scared. I cried actually! After a couple years dedicated to cooking consistently, recipe developing, and writing my stories, I landed a book publishing deal with an indie publisher. But after consulting some professionals, I declined the offer because the contract didn’t feel right for me. Shortly afterwards, I secured a contract with a literary agent. She represented me in pitching my work to top publishers. While they loved my pitch, the common response was that my platform was not big enough. After dedicating so much time and work to my cookbook, this was the most discouraging feedback to hear! Then last year, my mother had a very serious medical emergency and I was confronted with the most challenging year of my life. I didn’t want to waste another few years trying to grow my platform in the hopes of achieving a following that publishers might find acceptable with no guarantee that it would even be enough. My memoir cookbook means so much to me, especially after almost losing my mother. Time is limited. Life is short. I had to pivot. I decided I’m going to self-publish because it is important to me to share this beautiful part of my Cambodian heritage, and for me, that is enough. It wasn’t what I originally planned, but there is not one right path to achieving a goal.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

My day job in the fashion industry is focused on numbers, analysis, budgets, and Excel. There is not much room for creativity. The memoir cookbook has brought out the creative side of me that had been suppressed for so long. I love cooking, recipe developing, food styling, and writing. Creativity allows me to be messy and unstructured in ways that my day job does not. It’s therapeutic. I mean, sometimes creating a beautiful Excel spreadsheet does it for me too, but not many people can relate to that! Knowing how to make food from your culture and being able to share that is like sharing a piece of your story and who you are, and that is liberating.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loveinmybelly.com/blog
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/loveinmybelly
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davykhy/