We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mayuka Yatomi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mayuka below.
Mayuka, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I worked as a sommerlier at Michael Mina Restaurant Group and built my experience as a buyer. Belong to one of the biggest restaurant companies in the US got me a lot of opportunity to learn. With the experience to be on the buyer side, I was confident to be good on the seller side. Working in the restaurant&wine industory, I made lots of connections and interacted with many companies so I knew who to purchase items from and who to sell our products to.
I really wanted to work with Wine, but there are too many conpetitors, so I decided to use myself as an advantage of being a Japanese person, and sell Japanese products such as Sake and Shochu. After started my business, I realized that we have so many opportunities to introduce not only our products but also our cultures that I enjoy so much.
Mayuka, 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?
I moved to the states without knowing the language when I was 20 years old. I struggled a lot not just to find a job but also to have a normal life because of the language barrier. I remember one of those days when I was trying to get a phone line and needed to call to set up an account, a sales rep over the phone got annoyed by my broken English and hang up on me,,, something like was happening all the time. So I had to leaern not only the language but also how to survive. I think this habbit of thiking has got me lead to a success of my business. I’ve learnt how to turn all the negativities such as nervousness and stress as energy. And I have become a big risk taker, I meant I’m not just taking risks without thinking but smartly. In this industry, you need to be one of the first ones to take an action. Introducing brand-new products to the states, developping new area for the sales, all of which require initial investments. How quickly you move is the key. And I think that’s something that I’m good at.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I worked hard and saved my money in years. Put all my saving into the business.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
All what I know and what I do is ,,, you need to be the mentor of your employees by working harder than anyone in your company. Harder you work, better team you make.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sakehanatx.com
- Instagram: sakehanatexas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sakehanatexas/
- Youtube: @mayuchannel231