We recently connected with Mao Vang and have shared our conversation below.

Mao, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

You know, I have been wanting to open a bubble tea shop for the longest time ever since we made the move to Rexburg, Idaho. Two years passed, comes three, and comes six I thought, you know what, it’s time to gather courage and open one. For those few years, I have been sitting and thinking about naming my own boba shop if we did ever open one. I came up with a few in my notebook and often go back to revisit it. One of the very first name I came up with was I heart boba, but I thought that was too simple and cliche. It didn’t stand out to me, and I couldn’t picture seeing that as a brand I would identify with or see it all over buildings.

Since boba tea was a huge part of my childhood and it’s always been my favorite go to drink whenever hanging out with friends, families, shopping, and running errands I wanted to make sure that I come up with a name that is modern, catchy, sharp, simple, and means I love boba. So then, my husband and I came up with the name Boba Luv. We’re all about anything and everything boba but with so much love in our recipes and everything we do.

Mao, 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 grew up in Fresno, California. Lived there for most of my life until I got married and moved away for school. When I started college, I worked three part time jobs. I worked as an instructional aide at Martin Luther King Elementary School, at Taco Bell, and at one of my most favorite job ever, Lollicup as a bobarista. I was the oldest in my family and being the oldest comes with lots of responsibilities and being a good role model.

Growing up, I’ve always seen my mother and father worked. They would work all day and sometimes they would work all night. My mother at the time, was also in nursing school. I’ve always seen how much and how hard they both worked to put food on the table and to pay the bills. If it weren’t my mom home watching us, it would be my dad. They would take turn watching us so they could work, and when I was old enough it would be me watching my younger siblings and they’d go to work. When they’ve returned, they would still cook, study, and clean no matter how tired they were. Seeing how their examples were, taught me to study hard in school and to work hard for the things I want in my life. My dad always says, “Nothing is free but earned so don’t ever give up,” and my mom would always say, “Never expect anyone to give you what you want. Work hard and go get it yourself.” They’ve instilled in me to always dream big, to never give up, and to always work hard no matter what kind of situation I find myself in. My parents have never dictate us once whether to pursue a doctor degree, become a nurse, be a teacher, or be a lawyer. Instead, they have always been understanding and supportive in everything we do. If we choose to do anything, they would always say, “Whatever you do, put your heart into it and do it well.”

Through my parents’ examples, it helped pushed me through anything. I know they have worked hard and have sacrificed so much for me and my siblings to have a better life. I am forever grateful to my mom and dad for their loving examples, discipline, and teachings in this life to help me and my family get to where we are today.

As I have mentioned before, I worked a part time job as a barista at a boba shop. When I started this job, I was 19. It was so hard for me to learn everything because I wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the industry and products. It was different from being with kids all day and conversing with customers all night. It was different from drinking it growing up and having to prepare it. It was my first time ever preparing and mixing a drink. Truthfully, I was a mess. It took me a very long time to adjust and become immersed with boba products, recipes, and drinks. I’ve only remembered drinking milk teas and smoothies growing up but, in this industry, there is more to offer than that. As I became better at my job, I enjoyed and loved preparing drinks for my customers. It was fun, creative, therapeutic, and it allowed me to show my artistic and creative side when I only knew how to draw clouds, flowers, houses, and stick figures. I don’t even know how I won most artistic in sixth grade. Nonetheless, working there every day I got to meet and speak to so many different people and I enjoy that so much because I love learning and getting to know people. I love that people come there to hang out, to meet and catch up with long lost friends, to play games, to drink boba, and to just simply be in a relax and sociable environment.

Living in Rexburg in a “college town” I just couldn’t imagine this place without a boba shop. The absence of it is one of the reasons why my husband and I decided to open a boba shop and because I did missed it so much.

I am most proud of our story and how we got here today: my husband and my children. We have worked so hard every day to grow our business. It took so much learning from ground zero, to having patience with each other and the process, to find motivation, to have grit, and to just show up every day with our kids. There was so much growth in all these past 5 years since Boba Luv was established and we will continue to grow it and show up every day even when we’re tired.

We want people to know that Boba Luv isn’t just another boba spot. It is a safe space. It is a place where anyone and everyone can come to hang out whether you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community, whether you are different based on your race, whether you have a disability or not, or whether you’re just different. Everyone is unique, and at Boba Luv we respect you for being you; for being human.

Boba Luv is a culmination of a lot of love and hard work. It is passed through our grandparents to our parents, from our heritage and culture to us and now to our children. You can taste the love we have when you drink our boba drinks and whenever you walk into one of our shops.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My cofounder or business partner is my husband. His name is Tousue Xiong. We have been married for almost a decade now. I met my husband after high school at church. We have been friends for a couple of years, and he left the states to serve a mission for our church. When he got back, we started casually dating and had a long distant relationship. He was living in Wisconsin, and I was in California. Then he moved to California, and we got married a few months after. He has been the best spouse and business partner. Everything we do, we do it together. It’s so great having your spouse as your business partner. You already know the ways you complement each other. You know how to resolve conflicts. You share the same values and goals. You have someone to pick up the slack you don’t want to.

I feel so happy to know and grateful that he is always by my side and always supporting us. If I work hard, he works hard too.

Any advice for managing a team?

Running a business is hard. We thought running one store was hard but now it has multiply and it’s even harder to manage when you have more than 15 employees. You must learn how to work with others and learning to work with others, you must learn, understand, and know who you are first. I thank myself for having work previously in so many different jobs from teaching, assisting in health education, to talking to people at the window, to being manager before this and that has taught me a lot. We have learned a lot by leading and failing.

Making sure that everyone is happy is hard to balance. You lead by example so whenever we do get the chance to work with our staffs, we always make sure we learn about them; what they like and dislike, and we listen to them. We try to understand what is meaningful to them and go beyond. We let them know we’re always here if they need to talk and we always do our best to help and identify any problems that might stand in the way. We give power to our staffs to control any situation to their best ability and we teach them to trust and encourage each other. We’re mindful of each other and we show up for each other.

At Boba Luv, we enjoy and have a lot of fun. We give out lots of incentives, we do team bonding events, we give them opportunities to rise and take leadership roles, we reward when we notice hard work, we provide boba education and training monthly, and we get together at the end of the year to celebrate our employees.

Our greatest advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale in the workplace is to create a culture and safe space for not only your customers but your staffs as well. They are your work family. Treat them like they are your family. Show up for them and they will show up for you and for themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bobaluv.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobaluvofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobaluvofficial

Image Credits
Kachia Vang