We were lucky to catch up with Cindy Her recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cindy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

Back in 2018, I was tuned into watching a lot of Youtube cooking channels. I was impressed by the array of channels that were showcasing Thai, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Filipino, and so many more cuisines. I noticed there weren’t a lot of channels showcasing Hmong & Lao food. So I had this desire to start my own Youtube channel to show people all the food I grew up eating. Not only that, I wanted to preserve my family’s recipes so the next generation can be able to learn and pass it on as well. Being able to start a blog and actually write recipes that people can follow and be proud that they can actually cook it is truly special. I knew deep down this was going to be a lot of work but it’s all going to be worth it because if someone hasn’t or isn’t doing it, someone has to and I was all in for it. I was and still am super excited about this work. For the past 7+ years, I feel a sense of success when I get to hear from my fans that they rely on my recipes to be able to cook a certain dish they have forgotten about or didn’t know how to make for their loved ones. It’s great to see and hear when they have successfully made a dish. I also get messages from people that aren’t Hmong thanking me for showing them recipes that they never knew existed. It’s also been great to build a network amongst other Chefs that are also doing the same thing. So it’s been a great passion of mine that I’m super proud of so far.

Cindy, 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’ve been in the food industry for more than 10+ years. I went to college to get my Business Management degree and then after I graduated, I went to get my Pastry Arts Associates. I’ve always been passionate about food. I love being in the kitchen recipe testing, tasting food, working with ingredients and so much more. Since I grew up in a family that cooks a lot, food was something I was always surrounded by and just truly enjoyed. Food brings people together and that’s probably one main reason why I do what I do. My goal is to open up my own business someday and have people from all over the world come try my food. Being able to make video content and preserve my family’s recipes through my blog has been a great blessing. Putting that aside, I think being able to start my own cafe or bakery would be a big goal of mine so I can be able to share (hands on) my cooking to my community.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Besides wanting to start my own cafe one day, I really want to write my own Hmong cookbook. While my parents and grandparents are still here with me, being able to have them contribute their knowledge into the book and actually physically get to feel and see the book would be a dream. There’s so much history when it comes to the Hmong people. We have so many dreams we want to achieve and accomplish. I feel like being able to write a Hmong cookbook would not only be my dream, but a dream for my ancestors, family, and community. So being able to write my recipes and make videos for the world to see online has really given me a drive to make a Hmong cookbook happen. A lot of my fans have been asking me when I’ll ever release a cookbook and I’m looking forward to when I can officially say it’s happening.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had more of a network to work with early on. In college, they tell you to build your network so you can build a community and have people help you in different aspects of your career but it’s honestly pretty hard. It’s also hard especially if you’re an introvert (or at least for me). It’s taken me a longer time to build the confidence to talk to people, to open up about my ideas and to actually connect with others so we can help each other out. So I wish before I started all this, I had more connections to people who could have helped me make my video editing better, write my blog post better, finance better, and so much more. The world of technology is also changing so being able to get the right resources to help financially make my work more stable or make it worth more than it is now would also be nice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chawjcreations.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.hercreations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/c.hercreation/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CHerCreations

Image Credits

Children of Refugees t shirt was given to me by We Are Chimmi: A women owned business to celebrate the immigrant hustle.