Wendy Lieu
Wendy Lieu is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, born in a refugee camp after her family left Vietnam in 1982. It took about five attempts to leave Vietnam, and by the beginning of their journey, her mother was pregnant with her. It wasn’t until they arrived at a refugee camp in Malaysia that Wendy was born. After a year in the camp, they eventually came to America. They settled in Emeryville, CA, before going to Albany and, finally, Santa Rosa, where Wendy and her siblings grew up. Her family’s past is a true testament to the hardships that refugee families face coming to a new country. Her success is an inspiring story for all Vietnamese Americans, women, and entrepreneurs. Influenced and inspired by her Vietnamese culture, she has become the Co-founder and CEO of Socoloa Chocolatiers, the name being a nod to the Vietnamese word for chocolate, an award-winning chocolate company based in San Francisco.
In a recent open discussion with ICAN for Black April and Vietnamese American History Month, Wendy shared her experiences growing up, her life growing up in America with her family navigating the unfamiliar country, her career, and how her family history and culture shaped her life and especially how it permeates into all that Socola does. She discussed the challenges and triumphs of what it was like starting a company in a male and European-dominated industry and the lessons and memories she has created along the way. Wendy’s story is a powerful reminder to follow your dreams and explore new adventures.
Upbringing & Influences on Career
Wendy's story is not just about a successful business venture but about the American dream coming to life. She grew up in a refugee family, meaning her family had to leave their home country where their lives were and where her two older brothers had already been born. They started anew in a foreign land, and Wendy talks of her parents working tirelessly doing various jobs to get money for their family and how she saw firsthand the struggles and challenges they faced as refugees.
Despite these hardships, Wendy's family persevered, working hard day in and day out to build a better life, from working as seamstresses to newspaper distributors before eventually opening their own nail salons. Wendy saw the hard work and determination her parents put into their business and noted how she got to see how her parents treated their employees and interacted with them and how she and her siblings had grown up seeing their parents be entrepreneurs, especially since Wendy, from the age of 8, and her siblings would always work in their parents' nail salon.
Living in Santa Rosa, where her family was a part of the few Vietnamese families, Wendy found herself in an environment filled with different food and people. In an area where hamburgers and lasagna were the norms, she wanted to learn how to make those foods, so she took a culinary program in high school. What started as a way to connect more with her peers became a fun way for Wendy to experiment with food. Once she started working at Sanrio Surprises, a Hello Kitty store in the local mall, at the age of 15, Wendy talked about how she would walk past See's Candies every day and always try to eat the delectable sweets. Influenced by her frequent trips to get free candy, she decided to try to make her chocolate by herself, thus starting a lifelong passion for chocolate creations.
“And so I went down that rabbit hole of looking up chocolate recipes in gourmet magazines and this was in 1999 or 2000. I learned how to make a chocolate truffle and then I was like, whoa, this is crazy, but it didn't look like the See’s Candy one, so I wanted to learn how to make it look like that. So I saved all my money from working at, Sanrio Surprises, to start buying equipment and tools to make more chocolate.”
After some experimenting, Wendy and her sister started selling chocolates in front of their parent’s nail salon in Santa Rosa. Luckily, the nail salon was right on the main street where farmer’s markets would entice customers to their chocolates. They were young and inexperienced, but their neighbor, who always gave Wendy's chocolates to friends, saw something in them and wanted to invite them onto a local radio to promote their new chocolate-making business. With some initial shock, Wendy and her sister decided to go with it, saying:
“What the heck, we're bored!”
Soon enough, with her neighbor’s encouragement and some family support, they went to Office Depot to print some business cards from the templates they offered, got some decals, and officially registered as a business before going onto the radio show to talk about Socola. Unknowingly, the two young girls had given Socola Chocolatiers its first big break.
The Extent of Socola
Wendy Lieu's company has garnered positive attention from various media outlets, such as The Chronicle or The Press Democrat, the local newspaper in Santa Rosa where she grew up. During the interview, Wendy Lieu also mentioned that Socola was featured in a Vietnamese national newspaper, which was a big surprise to her and her cousins in Vietnam. They were thrilled to see the company's name on the front page and were amazed by the recognition. It was a surreal experience for Wendy because she never thought her company would be featured in such a prominent publication. The fact that her company is getting recognition in Vietnam, a country with a special place in her heart, is a source of pride and joy for her.
However, what truly resonates with her are the personal stories shared by their customers. It warms her heart to hear how their loved ones reacted to receiving their chocolates as gifts. They were surprised and delighted to discover a Vietnamese chocolatier and were amazed by their unique flavors, such as Durian or Sriracha chocolate. It's incredible to Wendy that their chocolates have helped spark conversations among families, reconnecting them with their Vietnamese heritage and strengthening their relationships. She's heard these stories many times, and they never fail to make her feel special. It's fulfilling for her to see how her company can create meaningful connections and unforgettable moments for people.
“I think just hearing stories from our customers about their experiences sending gifts to their family and their reactions, like, ‘Oh, my God, I didn't know there was a Vietnamese chocolate. I never knew that you could make a durian chocolate or something like that’ and so being able to hear stories with people saying the chocolates helped open up conversations with their family to to talk about the past in Vietnam and their relationships, and kind of help open up conversation; it just feels really special to be a part of it. Like you never know what your company can do, and it's just creating all these connections and building these moments, that's the best thing.”
Skepticism Around Socola
As they started to sell their chocolates at the farmer's market, they faced skepticism and doubts from others in the industry. They were young, female, and didn't fit the mold of what a typical chocolatier should be. But they didn't let that stop them. They kept exploring their Vietnamese heritage and creating unique flavors that paid homage to their culture, like Sriracha and Vietnamese coffee.
“And so we're really sat on that for a long time, like a long time, meaning a number of years. We still made chocolate, but we were always trying to prove ourselves, you know, in an industry that's mostly male and European. And it was kind of like why? What business do you have doing this? And that I think I feel like that was an interesting challenge and I always felt like I had to work to get noticed. But my thing was always like you should try it first and then let me know what you think versus just judging me for what I look like on the outside versus my ability to make a flavor and make something interesting. So we eventually thought, hey, why don't we make Vietnamese inspired flavors like instead of mocha let's make Vietnamese coffee. Sriracha instead of chili like everyone does. So it really became like a transitionary period for us to really explore our heritage through chocolate, which has been really cool.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and they had to pivot to an online business, they knew they had to stand out from the crowd. That's when they came up with the Little Saigon box, a four-course chocolate meal that showcased their creativity and flavors. It was a risky move, but it paid off, and they became the first Chocolatier to specialize in Vietnamese flavors in the US after 22 years of hard work and dedication. Their journey was challenging, with a lot of learning experiences, but they never gave up. They faced obstacles and prejudices, but they used their unique flavors and creativity to make a name for themselves in the industry. They are an inspiration to young entrepreneurs everywhere, proving that anything is possible with determination and perseverance.
Childhood Memories on Food and Cooking
Wendy Lieu drew inspiration for the Little Saigon box from her fondest childhood memories of Sunday family gatherings. The Little Saigon box is more than just a product; it's a testament to the cherished memories of her Vietnamese culture and childhood. The inspiration for the package came from her fondest memories of Sunday family gatherings where cousins and family would come together to cook, eat, and bond. Those gatherings were filled with all-day cooking fests and extreme indulgence, where everyone would go all out to make something special for the family to eat and enjoy together. Even today, Wendy still spends a week with her siblings every December for a cooking competition. Though it's a competition, it's filled with happiness and cherished memories.
“Everyone coming together and staying at someone's house all day long and, cooking and eating and just hanging out all day. They're like some of my favorite memories, you know? It's just like everyone pulls out all the stops.”
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
“My advice is always just to start small and really test, test out what you like about it and keep enjoying it and then from there you can figure out if it's going to be something you want to do long term or if you just want to continue doing it for fun, but it's always don't wait for everything to fall into place before you do something, because then it just makes it really hard to start. It’s never going to all fall in the place at the right time so you kind of have to just work on parts of it until eventually the puzzle fits together.
Wendy's message is a powerful reminder for everyone to follow their passions, no matter how small, and take the first step toward their dreams. We shouldn't let fear hold us back from pursuing our passions and always take the first step toward our dreams, even if it means starting small and testing out what we enjoy. Her advice highlights the importance of perseverance and not waiting for the perfect time or opportunity to present itself. In our interview, she talked of how it takes time and patience to piece everything together, but her message is clear: keep working toward your long-term vision, and the puzzle pieces will slowly fall into place. Her experiences testify to the power of hard work and determination, inspiring us to believe in ourselves and our abilities. With Wendy's message in mind and her experiences as a reminder, today's entrepreneurs can remember that success is possible if we keep working toward a long-term goal.