We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Like many, I too lost my job during COVID-19 and my husband, Sebastian, luckily was still employed; however, he went from working a full-time job to working 1-2 days a week depending on business needs. That early summer I remember I was starting to panic since our funds in the bank were low and we still had bills to pay while caring for our daughter. If we didn’t think of a solution soon, we would need to dip into our retirement savings. I needed to quickly find ways to support my family during this time of need.
After seeing a few small businesses start on Instagram, I instantly knew I could offer baked goods, but I wanted to offer something unique. I remember having a discussion with my husband to see if this could be something he could see me do and as a supportive husband as he is Sebastian supported my idea. Soon after I started brainstorming which baked goods I can potentially sell. My passion for baking started at a young age influenced by my cousins (shout to to Sylvia Nguyen and Theresa Pham); which had led me to where I am today with Mochimas. I would never have thought of turning my hobby into a business it is today. In the past years I’ve made various baked goods such as fortune cookies, canelés, biscotti, pandan honeycomb, cakes, butter mochi and much more all from scratch. After my initial conversation with Sebastian, I felt uncertain and frustrated with myself mainly because I couldn’t determine what I wanted to bake. I was so aspired to offer something different where it’s an experience for customers. A year before COVID-19, my family and I took a family trip to San Francisco and was able to visit a bakery where they specialized in mochi muffins as we all love food plus trying new items. I remember trying their custard mochi muffins and it was one of the best pastries I have ever had. Trying to replicate this item based on flavor and textures was very challenging and to our dismay I didn’t succeed. The muffin did not rise at all let alone look like a muffin; nonetheless, it was the best failure in my baking. I accidently created what I call it, mochi tarts! Our mochi tarts are perfectly golden, crispy, slightly custardy and has a thin layer of mochi on the bottom with notes of vanilla and coconut. I knew I have created something very special. Instantly, I realized I wanted to incorporate mochi into my baked goods by adding mochi textures in the products itself verses stuffing products with mochi.
Within a short span, my closest friends and family were able to try my creation and loved it. Ernesto, my brother-in-law, a graphic designer helped me with our business logo and name. Ernesto created numerous deigns for me to choose from, although they were all wonderful, I decided on the name “Mochimas”. One late evening, I still debating whether or not I should give this venture a try. Sebastian gave me some words of encouragements and I remember telling myself if I do not give this a shot, I would never know the outcome. What is there to really loose? If all fails, I know I gave it my best. Should the business succeed then how great would that be! If it’s meant to be it’ll be. I started an Instagram handle that night. Mochimas was founded on August 13, 2020 in midst the chaos and uncertainty and here we are today – 3 years later doing pop-ups throughout Los Angeles and Orange County with a weekly farmers market in Tustin, CA.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a self-taught Vietnamese American baker, an Aquarius born and raised in Southern California who lived in San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire, and now resides in Orange County. I am the eldest child of 4 siblings. As a teen, I’ve gotten into a bit of trouble giving my parents countless headaches and high blood pressure. Soon after, I miraculously got my act together, attended University of California, Riverside as a biological science major, but left after my second quarter knowing it wasn’t the path for me. Then I decided to attend a community college right after majoring in human resources, but to my dismay I dropped out because I couldn’t pass business calculus – twice! You could only imagine the disappointment my parents had. I couldn’t fulfill that American dream they wanted for me.
Over the years, I have gained 10 years of experiences in the food and hospitability industry with front of house positions (FOH) and for 8.5 years I worked for a huge cooperation. Along with a few years of handling legal paperwork for an insurance company. Fast forward to today, I have applied my knowledge, life lessons, and connections towards my business – it really shaped me into the person I am now. My husband has over 20+ years of hospitability management experiences and has taught me a lot about the industry. Without his guidance, I wouldn’t be able to grow Mochimas to where it is today. I definitely am not a one woman does all. I have many hands on deck from my family that are always assisting me from babysitting my girls to helping me fold boxes.
Mochimas is a Hawaiian butter mochi inspired baked mochi that offers gluten-free and nut free products with select vegan options all while avoiding any food coloring, powder or preservatives. Our products are definitely one of a kind. We offer baked mochi products that has an American classic with a few flavors that are inspired by our heritages – Vietnamese and Filipino. Flavors include black sesame, coconut, jasmine tea, turon and much more. As the founder and business owner of Mochimas, I don’t want to just be another bakery. I would like Mochimas to be part of the community. To be the place where we continue to offer our baked goods that gives you joy, par take in special moments shared with loved ones, or help raise funds for your organizations such as church events to school events. Mochimas is a space not only where we sell baked goods, but we also pride in our customer service. I’d like to create a space where customers always feel welcomed and connected whether they’re passing by, making a purchase or leaving a comment on social media. Without the continued love and support from the community and other small businesses over the years Mochimas wouldn’t still operate.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Since I was unemployed and started my small business during the pandemic as a source to support my family, I didn’t have a capital to begin with. I used some funds from my checking account to purchase ingredients then once I made profit that money goes into the business. After continuously doing this, I saved enough funds to purchase new baking pans, essentials for pop-ups, business cards and an acrylic sign as our pop-up display. After about 2 years, I was able to brand our business by purchasing a stamp with our name, hired a lawyer to help me with the LLC process and registered our business in the state of California, purchase insurance, obtain health permits and all the necessities to start a food business. As time went on, some of the profit made allowed Mochimas to participate in more local pop-ups as fess and special permits can be costly. It also allows me to do research and development on new flavors to add to our menu.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The simplicity of our display and name at the booth always attracts customers. More often than not, they’d complement our set-up or reads our signs with awe then stops by for samples. This is when they fall in love with our products. In addition, Mochimas offers a variety spread of baked mochi that does not contain gluten or nuts with select vegan options. Knowing that nut and gluten are one of the leading allergens, we got you covered! We do have many customers that are also allergic to dairy who would purchase our vegan mochi blondies – we have something for everyone. Overall, our baked mochi aren’t too sweet purposely for those of any age to enjoy a bit more freely at any time of day. I truly believe the scrumptious flavors and uniqueness of our products speaks for themselves.
We are so fortunate to have such great customers share their love for Mochimas with friends, family and co-workers. From visiting our booth weekly to sharing many special moments at their weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays to traveling with our products as far as Vietnam and Philippines – it’s been surreal. Thank you for coming along our journey.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mochimas
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mochimas-lake-forest?osq=mochimas
- Other: email: [email protected]