We recently connected with Winnie Wong and have shared our conversation below.

Winnie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I founded Reclamation Street, a marketplace that celebrates the Asian-American experience, after participating in an accelerator program that supports marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs in CT.

Reclamation Street is the name of a street that runs through the Mongkok district of Kowloon, Hong Kong, where I lived during my earliest years, and where all of my earliest memories were made. It’s a place I think about a lot, as the hub of our family’s existence in Hong Kong, and as the starting point for my third culture journey. I named my marketplace Reclamation Street because I believe that each of the brands we feature started their own journey at their version of Reclamation Street.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a first-generation Hong Kong-American filmmaker and producer a vision for curating lifestyle goods that equally inspire and educate. After working in film and brand media as a producer for the last decade and being a bit burnt out, I decided to take some time off earlier this year to explore “ikigai” – a Japanese concept that combines the terms iki, meaning “alive” or “life,” and gai, meaning “benefit” or “worth;” when combined, this means “that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose.”

As someone who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of four, it’s been a lifelong journey for me to reconnect with my roots, to get back in touch with who I am and where I come from. Reclamation Street is a bridge for so many of us “third culture kids” who, during formative years, have almost lost ourselves in the process of trying to blend in and survive. In some ways, I’m part of a larger community that is still seeking a sense of home – a place and feeling where we can feel like we can be ourselves and experience belonging.

At Reclamation Street, we curate home and pantry goods and self-care gems – some you may recognize and some you’ve never heard of or tried – all from brands founded by Asian-Americans. We are a one-stop-shop for you to discover and support the diverse spectrum of Asian-American communities and the next generation of entrepreneurs year-round.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I set up Reclamation Street on Shopify because I felt that it’s a platform that I can manage as a solo-preneur. Because I haven’t pursued fundraising or outside investment, and because I’m a one-person team (with the exception of my partner who helps me immensely on a day-to-day level) – I didn’t want to spend too much of my personal funds on outsourcing the website design until I tested the market to better understand the demands and needs of my customers. I also took advantage of the fact that Shopify offered a great deal for the first few months so I could test the UX and get a sense of whether it was platform I could easily navigate on my own.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Some of the resources that have been so helpful for me this year are: Collab New Haven, SCORE (various chapters in CT), University of Hartford Entrepreneurial & Women’s Business Center, and CT Women’s Business Development Council. I’ve attended so many online webinars and in-person meet ups and benefited from these free trainings. It’s been eye-opening what is available to me in Connecticut as an Asian-American woman entrepreneur.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reclamationstreet.co
• Instagram: @reclamation_st
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnie-wong-543b831/

Image Credits
Alyssa Cruz, ZNA Visuals