We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chih Lin & Michael Dorsey Dumpling Dudez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chih Lin & Michael Dorsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

To understand how we got started, we need to go back to 2018. We both were working as engineers for separate Oil & Gas Companies. On the outside, we were living the American dream with window offices, stable jobs and fancy titles. However, we were miserable on the inside. We weren’t feeling like we really fit into the culture at our companies, and we wanted to create one of our own. On April 1, 2019, we took the plunge and quit our jobs, and Dumpling Dudez was born.

People thought we would take a few months off to relax and re-group after working corporate jobs for 15 years. However, we hit the ground running, day 1. Before we quit our jobs, we did the responsible thing and took a look into our finances. We saved up 2-years of living costs based on a heavily reduced budget. In fact, in 2019, our wedding was only 11 people, including us. We put all our wedding fund into the business.

So why Dumplings? You may ask?

The short answer is – To create the most fun and unique experiences that bring people together!
I (Chih) grew up making dumplings with my grandmother. When I first met Mike, 15 years ago, I introduced him to my friends through dumpling-making. We had so much fun that dumpling-making parties became part of our own family tradition. We host multiple dumpling-making parties regularly; and even though the dumplings have long since been devoured, the joyful memory from those experiences will last forever.

People often think we are dumpling makers, but in reality, we considered ourselves as Experience Makers. Dumplings just so happened to be the vehicle. We took an engineering approach to elevate the experience of dumpling making. From our careful consideration for all-naturally died dough to folding techniques that are used in glass making, clay making, and candy making. We’ll teach you how to turn a basic dumpling into an edible art piece. Our concept was so unique that we are still the only edible, rainbow dumpling-making class in the world.

Did we think our concept would work? To be honest, we weren’t sure. We were scared, but we put our engineering hats back on and solved one problem at a time. We started to showcase our fun creations on our social media channels meanwhile telling our stories to build the brand. We worked on hundreds of experiments to test, verify, and test again to get the right formula. After all, if we couldn’t reproduce it time and time again then we wouldn’t be able to scale as a company. Eventually, our hard work started to pay off, and people started to notice us, and our story.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are experience makers! Our mission from day one has been to create the most fun and unique experience for our clients and to curate memorable and joyful moments that last a lifetime. Dumpling making just so happens to be our vehicle of choice as it’s part of our family tradition.
We have taught over a thousand students all over the US through our in-person and virtual experiences. Here is how it works, and what makes us unique.
1. Start with Why – Understanding the goals and objectives of our clients is how we codevelop the “why” with our clients. Believe it or not, it’s rarely about dumplings, there is usually a reason behind the celebration. From birthday parties, corporate team buildings, and holiday parties, to corporate diversity and inclusion events. Understanding the why is the first step to curating a one-of-a-kind experience.
2. Customize individual experiences through interactive/ collaborative storytelling – Once we have the “why” from our clients, we know which stories in our scrapbook of the mind to share. The experience can, and has, ranging from; just for fun; workshop (Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Branding, Diversity & Inclusion); fun thematic trivia; or creating works of art with a thematic storyline competition to encourage.
3. Celebrating Success – In addition to the sense of accomplishment of learning how to make a basic dumpling, to a rose, then a “Baby-Yoda” inspired edible art piece, our guests also feel a sense of community, joy, and love. Dumpling making is an activity to connect with one another. We strive to go beyond and ensure people leave with the most memorable experiences no matter the occasion they are celebrating.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We met on a dating site 15 years ago, and after we chatted for 6 months, we finally met in person at our favorite coffee house, the rest is history. However, even though we have been together for almost 16 years, it’s still a challenge to start a business together while working and living together 24/7! If you are thinking to start a business with someone you love, we do have 5 lessons learned we would like to share with you!
1. Start with why!
When in doubt, remind yourself of the “why” you decided to build a life together and work through the obstacles with laughter and common goals!
2. Have clear individual responsibilities…
Just because you own the business together, doesn’t mean you have to do everything together. Tap into your unique superpower to determine your roles. In our case, Mike is in charge of the finances, processes, and products; while Chih is in charge of marketing and business development.
3. Communication…
Communication is key! Even though you may be working on the same project, you cannot read each other’s minds. Each person’s vision will be different. Open communication will align and unify instead of working in two different directions.
4. Have a clear boundary between personal and business life.
This one is the hardest for us! It’s difficult not to be dumpling dudez 24/7 as we work all the time. However, we make an effort to have personal time away from the business to make sure that our relationships are not just built on business interactions.
5. Live, laugh, and dance along the way…
You are going to get into arguments, and there are moments you will hate each other! Celebrate all the little wins together, and hold each other up when either of you falls.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Throughout our careers, we have been trained to focus on ROI (Return on Investment). When we started Dumpling Dudez, we switched our focus to ROH (Return on Happiness), and continue to do so as we pivot throughout our business. It sounds easy, but it was one of the hardest things to do to put your happiness first after being trained to focus on ROI for over 15 years.

Don’t get us wrong, it is still important to be finically viable, but we set our goals in a way where we will enjoy the process during the growth. We spent decades defining success on title and money, We now define our own success on life experiences, inner peace, loving what you do, kindness, freedom, money, and title.

Life is too short not to have the courage to live, laugh, and make dumplings,

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dumplingdudez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dumplingdudez/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dumplingdudez/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dumplingdudez

Image Credits
All photos are by Dumpling Dudez