Leaping to Entrepreneurship with Lan Ho, Founder of Vietnamese Coffee Producer Fat Miilk
Lan Ho, who has been crowned recently as Miss Asian Global 1st Princess, made the leap from pharmacist to start-up beverage entrepreneur. As co-founder of Fat Miilk, Lan hopes to use her startup companies as a way to inspire women in entrepreneurship and encourage others to disrupt the status quo. Lan’s mission is to advocate for more minority representation in mass media, executive positions, and leadership. Lan Ho graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 2018.
To learn more about Lan Ho:
- Instagram: @sheisthiis
- Facebook: Lan Ho
Learn more about Fat Miilk:
- Instagram: @fatmiilk
- Facebook: Fat Miilk
- For more information about Fat Miilk and to order its products online, visit FatMiilk.com
Introducing the Co-Founder of Fat Milk, Lan Ho
Francis Kong: Welcome to Imagine Talks podcast: Achieving success, social impact, and overcoming obstacles. I am Francis Kong.
Steven Chan: And I’m Steven Chan.
Tammy Tran: And I’m Tammy Tran. For today’s episode, we will be introducing Lan Ho, who has been crowned recently at Miss Asian Global as First Princess. Lan’s mission is to advocate for more minority representation in mass media, executive positions, and leadership.
Michelle Sahai: And I’m Michelle Sahai. Lan Ho is working on her newest startup — Fat Miilk.
Michelle Sahai: Lan hopes to use her startup companies as a way to inspire women and entrepreneurship and encourage others to disrupt the status quo. Now, without delay let’s welcome, Lan Ho.
Lan Ho: Hello. Hi, thank you for having me.
Tammy Tran: Thank you for being here on our podcast. We’re so excited to have you here and talk to you about your business, as well as your interest and mission in the Asian minority representation.
Lan Ho: Yeah. Yeah. I’m happy to talk about it.
Discovering a Different Kind of Passion
Tammy Tran: Great! Thank you. My first question is you received your Doctors in Pharmacy and stepped away from pharmacy to start your own business. Something we admire about you a lot is about you taking the leap into entrepreneurship. Can you tell us what has that been like for you? What has been your experience?
Lan Ho: Yeah. Absolutely! I have been in higher education for 10 years of my life. After graduating with my Doctor’s in Pharmacy, I ended up going the traditional pharmacy route and worked as a community pharmacist for two and a half years, and it was something that I didn’t necessarily enjoy. I felt like I wasn’t really challenged the way that I kind of envisioned my career to take off. But it was a really great experience and I learned so much in that process like just being a community pharmacist.
You know, at first, when I got the job, I knew this wasn’t something that I was going to do long term, but I knew I was going to gain so much out of it. I definitely went into it knowing that I’m going to learn this corporate structure, I’m going to learn how to multitask, I’m going to learn how to like customer service, how to keep my cool, like all of these things, right?
Lan Ho’s Business Endeavor — Coffee
Lan Ho: And so, I knew I was going to get what I wanted out of it. But I knew, ultimately, working for a big corporation and being a traditional pharmacist was just not my dream. I think the biggest indicator of that was I just really didn’t like the person that I was when I was a community pharmacist, and I think, looking back on that, I always wonder what was that one point that made me want to jump into something else. And for me, it wasn’t really one specific point.
I just did not like who I was and I felt like I was in this routine and this ritual of going to work, going home, and then just doing it all over again. I didn’t feel the collaboration and the excitement that I needed in my life. While I was in pharmacy school and beyond that, I was always just super curious and always wondering what am I going to do, who am I going to be.
And so I’ve always like dreamed of all of these million different things that I wanted to do and one endeavor that always stuck was coffee.
Tammy Tran: Interesting.
Lan Ho’s Vietnamese Heritage and Her Love for Coffee
Lan Ho: I know, right? Because I think when you’re in higher education, you’re just consumed with coffee — like it’s literally my blood and I don’t think it ever left. Being Vietnamese, for that matter, I’m very proud of my Vietnamese heritage and I always felt incredibly blessed to be where I am based on my family sacrifices and where the struggles and the trials and tribulations that they had to go through to really give me this opportunity to even be a pharmacist and go to school, and to have a choice, right?
And so, combining my love for coffee and wanting to do something creatively challenged, wanting to be my own boss, and then also wanting to represent my culture in the best light, Fat Miilk is something that I came up with and actually incorporated in 2019. In my first year of being a pharmacist, I incorporated Fat Miilk. I thought of the name, I was going to do it but I was just like slowly planting seeds until I was ready to really go full-blown into this.
I talked about this story all the time — how I got my start — because, although I started it back in 2019 (conceptualized, to be honest, in college), the way it happened, the timing that it happened — I’m a believer — so, I always say God orchestrated this entire season of my life and I actually ended up getting furloughed at my two-year mark.
Tammy Tran: Oh. Wow.
The Silver-Lining of Getting Furloughed
Lan Ho: Yeah, being a community pharmacist. It’s so funny because — well it’s not funny, but I know how it feels to be furloughed — it’s like the scariest thing, it’s like one minute — you have a job, the next second — you don’t. So, I completely sympathize of feel for people who have experienced that, especially during the pandemic. But when I personally got furloughed, it was like a blessing. I was jumping for joy. I was like I can’t believe this decision was essentially made for me.
And up until that point, like a few months up until that point, I was really actively trying to get Fat Miilk up and going because everything had kind of slowed down and I had the time to really dabble in it. And so yeah, I got furloughed, and within two months they asked me to come back. But within those two months, I launched Fat Miilk and it’s been a neverending experience and journey since.
So, we just reached our six-month birthday last week.
Tammy Tran: Oh. Congratulations!
Getting Halfway Through Business Start-up
Lan Ho: Thank you! And so, we’re just super excited. I know we’re halfway through the one-year startup curse, right? So…
Tammy Tran: Yeah.
Lan Ho: Well, I’m excited for another six months and beyond.
Tammy Tran: That’s really awesome, Lan. I mean that journey into PharmD., going into work, and then having to get furloughed. I can’t imagine having to be furloughed, I haven’t been but there’s always that looming like monster coming over. I don’t know when I’m going to get furloughed too because I actually work in education, and there are always those talks going on about being furloughed.
Lan Ho: Yeah.
Tammy Tran: But I’m amazed that you took that time to actually kickstart your business — Fat Miilk. It’s incredible you were able to do those things in two months.
“Think More, Do Less.”
Lan Ho: You know, there’s this thing when you start anything branding and marketing related, they always say, ‘‘Think More, Do less.’’ During those two months, I actually met my business partner.
We have already been conceptualizing this for so long. And within those two months, we just had to do — we knew exactly what it was going to be like, do, how we’re going to launch, what it was going to look like. We already thought about it for years. And so, it’s just a matter of putting it into action. When we met, we were just so mentally ready to make this happen, and so that’s kind of how we launched two months later. And it’s been insane.
Tammy Tran: That’s just fascinating to me for you to have everything done within these two months. Were there any moments in which you felt like you wanted to give up or go back?
Adversities on Business Start-up
Lan Ho: Yeah. Um. No.
No, I mean don’t get me wrong, there are definitely moments where I have no idea what I’m doing. To be completely honest, there are tons of moments — and I still have those moments — where I am just like, “How do I spend my time? Where do I put my time and effort where it actually converts to the bottom line?” You really have to think about those things.
When you are just one person and you don’t have the budget to hire a team of people — so it’s you and your partner — you guys need to be cognizant of your mental health, in addition to being pulled in a million different directions. And so, there are moments where I just feel really overwhelmed and almost paralyzed by the amount of work and ideas and the pressure that you put on yourself.
So, there are moments, where I definitely am like, ‘‘what did I get myself into?’’ But it’s so worth it. I feel like I felt like this when I was a pharmacist and I didn’t enjoy it. But this is actually something that I own — it’s mine. It just makes it that much more worth it. I don’t think taking a risk and going into entrepreneurship…if you go into it thinking it’s going to be smooth sailing, then I think you’re completely fooled and you clearly have not done your research or you’re just unrealistic about how this approach is. So, I definitely don’t see myself going back.
Bringing Coffee Culture to Chicago
Lan Ho: The reception of Fat Miilk and Vietnamese coffee in the Chicagoland area has just been tremendous. That really gives us momentum to keep going, and there’s just so much untapped potential that we haven’t even optimized yet. So, I’m excited about that.
Tammy Tran: That sounds actually really exciting that you get to be in this industry and it hasn’t been tapped yet. So, I’m very, very excited for you and interested to see how your future is going to be like.
There is one question I do have for you in terms of the two months that you started Fat Miilk. Were there any major obstacles that you had to overcome in those two months, and like, what motivated you to keep trying despite those obstacles?
Lan Ho: Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest obstacle that comes to mind, I would have to say, is really stepping into this role. I think institutionalized institutions has a really big play on you. I was in higher education for 10 years. I worked for a big corporation.
Stepping-up Mentally and Emotionally
Lan Ho: You’re valued and your life is structured based on an agenda, a syllabus, certain types of plans in your life, your job description, metrics, and all of these things. And then, now you’re an entrepreneur. You started your own business and the biggest obstacle is being able to mentally and emotionally have that register in your mind, and then realize that it really is up to you to push this forward.
So, if you’re having an off day, that’s a day that actually affects you personally and the progress and productivity of your business.
So, I think 1) I have to be easy on myself sometimes, but 2) it’s being able to step into that role and really own it, and really understand how you’re feeling throughout that process and act accordingly. If you’re so overwhelmed and you need a day off, allow yourself to have that.
If you’re just really, really, on top of it, be proud of yourself about that, like be proud that you were able to accomplish X, Y, Z, and really be cognizant of your mental health. I think that’s been the biggest obstacle.
Fat Miilk: Minority-owned But Woman-led
Lan Ho: What’s really helped me is support system is number one. I would say, I have some of the best people in my corner. For example, Fat Miilk. It’s minority-owned but woman-led.
I am one woman out of three men, who are helping and have my back in this. We’re all pushing it together but, essentially, they trust, believe, and support me to make these decisions and support me in whatever direction that I’m going. Obviously, you got to believe in yourself but just having that affirmation by people who’s been in the game, been in the industry for 10 plus years, helps.
They’re like go for it. They encourage you. They support you. If you have any questions, they try to help you out just as much.
Entrepreneurship: Don’t Try to Do it Alone
Lan Ho: I would encourage anyone who’s trying to step into the role of entrepreneurship: Don’t try to do it alone. There’s a reason why support groups exist. There’s a reason why there’s all these Women Founders Club. You need a team. You need someone to be your sounding board as well who just gets it.
Tammy Tran: No, I completely agree with you in that I think that’s instrumental in starting a business or doing a start-up at all, is to have a support system — to have mentors to help you and guide you into doing what you think and want your business to be. So, I’m so glad you have that support system.
Starting a Business During a Pandemic: Advice From a Successful Businesswoman to Women Entrepreneurs
Tammy Tran: There are many small businesses, especially Asian-owned businesses, that have taken a hit during COVID. Do you have any advice for other young Asians, especially women entrepreneurs who are hoping to enter this industry, especially since you started your business while we’re in COVID?
Lan Ho: Mm-hmm. I don’t know if I have any advice, specifically for this industry, besides, there’s room for everyone. If you have an angle and you truly believe in your angle and your message, I think there is room for anyone. But any person who’s trying to start a business during COVID, I think there are definitely opportunities. I think it’s just different, right?
There are opportunities for businesses after COVID; it just looks different. For example, Fat Miilk. Like yes, everyone’s at home. They’re not going to be able to come in and enjoy it in a coffee shop.
But how are we still able to like launch a business and communicate with our consumers, and be able to have them believe in the brand, understand the brand, and be able to have all of these sensory elements going on when they see our marketing videos or whatever? There are just so many different ways to be able to attract a customer besides your traditional way of doing it. You just have to recognize what that looks like and be able to execute in that manner. I wouldn’t be scared of a pandemic.
I wouldn’t be scared of COVID.
Adapt and Adjust Your Game Plan. Can a Pandemic Kick-start Your Business?
Lan Ho: If you want to do it, do it. But be aware of the current state of the world and the situation and be able to adapt and adjust your game plan accordingly. I wouldn’t hold off on it. Obviously, be smart about it.
There’s definitely room. The fact that we did launch during COVID, I feel like we were able to make a bigger splash, you know what I mean?
So, if you come out and you put a lot of thought into your message, your storytelling, the art that goes into it and you really focus on the direct-to-consumer message, I think it’s totally possible and I think the pandemic situation can help your business.
Bon Appétit Writing an Article About Fat Miilk
Lan Ho: We launched Fat Miilk and we’re all about culture, art, storytelling, and Vietnamese coffee. We do it through our execution with videos and emails, and whatever the case is. People are like, “Wait, what? Who? What?” And so, a couple of months after that, we had Bon Appétit write a highly-recommended article about us, and we sold out all of our holiday gift sets twice.
You’re able to make a huge, huge impact. You just have to be able to recognize what angle you want to go at and put more effort into that, as opposed to your traditional advertising or marketing efforts.
Tammy Tran: I think that was actually very good advice to give to other young Asians or just entrepreneurs who just want to enter the market, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the coffee market, right?
Just in general, I think that advice you gave was very, very important and essential for anyone who wants to start a business.
I love it. Oh and congratulations for selling out twice.
Lan Ho’s Perspective with Stop Asian Hate Movement
Tammy Tran: The other thing I wanted to talk about is, I mentioned that you have a mission in advocating for minority representation. We’re at this pivotal time in the Asian American collective experience. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with this Stop Asian Hate Movement?
Lan Ho: Yeah, absolutely. First and foremost, what we’re going through right now is historical and I think everything that’s been going on is incredibly disturbing. It’s depressing. It’s sad. It’s heartbreaking. Understanding that — especially me, as an Asian woman and a small business owner — we almost feel, in some way, pressure to amplify our voices. But we’re also granted that opportunity that a lot of people are not. And so, when all of this was going on, we had a lot of people reach out to my partner and I asking, “Are we doing anything? Are we rallying? Are we organizing anything?”
I was just like, “WOW! People would ask me that?” This is new to me.
Amplifying Asian Voices Through the Lens of Entrepreneurship
Lan Ho: Other creatives and community leaders are thinking, “You have a business in the Chicagoland area. Are you guys doing anything to amplify Asian voices?” And I’m thinking like, besides being an Asian-owned business, we’re amplifying voices, right? But sometimes it’s not enough. People expect you to do more. The great thing about that is that I want to. I want to do more and I also feel privileged to be in this position to have a platform and actually have people listen to what we have to say through the lens of entrepreneurship.
Launching an Initiative — “Not Us”
Lan Ho: And so, during that time, we met with a lot of community leaders and a lot of creatives, and we actually are launching an initiative this month. It’s called ‘‘Not Us.’’
Everyone’s talking about “what are we going to do?” There’s a lot of reactive responses to what’s going on that I think it’s kind of a short-term fix. For me, when I sat down and wrote this initiative, there are so many feelings; there was grief and rage, and just being emotional in general. I think everyone has that right now, right?
What Not Us is really about is, “Let’s get to the core root of what is going on in America.” Everyone wants to blame, you know, “oh, it’s Asian people. It’s their food. It’s the way that they look. It’s their culture. It’s their religion. It’s black people. It’s their rap music.” No, it’s not. It’s none of those things. It’s the ignorance and hate that runs rampant in American culture and history for centuries.
Not Us: Nurture, Organize, Teach, Unite and Serve
Lan Ho: So, Not Us, it’s really saying that it is not us. It’s the hate, the ignorance; it’s mental illness; it’s gun violence; it’s all of these things.
And so, Not Us is broken down into an acronym: the N is for Nurture, the O is for Organize, the T is for Teach, the U is for Unite, and the S is to Serve.
It’s this multi-faceted way of having leaders come in and taking being a champion for all of those departments. Then being able to push out the narrative of let’s focus on what’s really going on, as opposed to pointing the finger at minorities or Asians or Blacks or Browns or indigenous people.
Getting Interviewed by News Outlets — Chicago Tribune
Lan Ho: My experience long story short has just been life-changing — just being able to really openly discuss some of these things. We’ve been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune.
‘What if the next victim is me?’: For Asian American women, Atlanta massacre resurfaces painful memories of racism and misogyny | Chicago Tribune
Lan Ho: I was on a radio show. There are local news outlets reaching out to want to hear what our opinion is, but also exactly what we plan to push forward. I’m excited about that and that people are excited to see what we have going on and what we’re going to push forward. They really want to just be able to amplify Asian voices. I think, for those people who are comfortable doing it, I think we’re in a historical moment. Say what you need to say. Put your emotions out there. That’s the kind of approach that I’ve taken. And I’m taking advantage of it.
Tammy Tran: That’s amazing.
Not Us = Stop Asian Hate
Tammy Tran: I’m like…kind of speechless right now based on what you just said about Not Us. I love the fact that you’re pushing forward this initiative. As an Asian myself, as somebody who’s Chinese-Vietnamese, this whole Stop Asian Movement has been very personal. So, I respect the fact that you’re doing this.
Lan Ho: Yeah. No, absolutely. I totally feel you. I think there’s nothing wrong with this Stop Asian Hate Movement. There’s nothing wrong with ‘Hate is a virus.’ I want to confront America. I want to be confrontational. Saying that it’s not us is forcing people to have an indirect reflection on their thought process.
Stop Asian Hate Movement
Lan Ho: It’s making them have a little bit of accountability instead of these passive initiatives, where it’s saying, “Oh it’s Stop Asian Hate. Okay, I’m not going to hate.” And then, you think that’s the problem and that’s like the solution. That’s not it.
How are we conditioned to think like this? Let’s tackle the education system. Let’s nurture. Let’s really get to the core root of it as to why you think this way and why this is going on. Saying that it’s not us, it’s like saying, “Okay, if you think that that’s okay, why?”
And if it’s because you learned it in school, then let’s go to school. Let’s try to figure out how to fix that. It’s just like having a more direct, but indirect way of telling people to really acknowledge the issue. Then, being able to take actionable steps to do something about it as supposed to just saying, “Stop this” or “Don’t do that”, because it’s just not enough. It’s not enough.
Tammy Tran: I love this movement you are starting. My last question to you, to wrap this all up because we’re coming up on time, is has this made you reflect on yourself a lot? And what has that done really for you as an Asian woman?
Lan Ho’s Reflection as an Asian Woman
Lan Ho: Yeah. Now, that’s a good question and, you know what, it kind of started with a pageant actually.
Prior to doing this pageant, prior to launching Fat Miilk, prior to this historical moment that we’re in, I would say that I was probably unrecognizable. I think Dr. Francis Kong can kind of talk a little bit about that. He met me before all of this happen. I was just a very, I think, mentally sheltered person. I didn’t necessarily think that anyone cared what I had to say. I didn’t think people actually valued my opinions — my perspective.
And so, with this whole pageant, it really forces you to have an opinion and be able to articulate and communicate your stance. From there, obviously now having launched Fat Miilk, you have to talk about your brand. People want to know how you start. You have to have a humanity aspect to anything that you put your name behind because that’s what sells. People want to know your ‘why’.
I’m talking about that. And then, with this Stop Asian Hate Movement, I’m talking about that and people actually want to hear what I have to say. It’s changed me in a way of feeling confident and in speaking up and just continuing to speak up and continuing to be an advocate for the things that I believe in. So, it’s changed me tremendously.
Inspiring Others and Fighting Against The Model Minority Myth
Tammy Tran: Well, I, for one, wanted to thank you very much, Lan. For coming on the show and telling us about your business — Fat Miilk — and also sharing with us your experience with Stop Asian Hate — Asian Hate in general. And then, your thoughts on the model minority and being a representation for us, which I love so, so very much.
Lan Ho: Appreciate that.
Michelle Sahai: Thank you so much, Lan. Also, as a young Asian woman, I think it’s been super inspirational, especially to hear about the Not Us Movement and the understanding that a lot of, I think, people in the Asian community, who have come here across many years many immigrant families, have viewed themselves as the problem, and not viewed systemic racism as the issue. That’s put us in a really vulnerable position, and I think that’s definitely come to light recently.
I love the ideas of empowerment that you’re really espousing. And I think even nurturing is a great word to use for the N. Teaching is also something that’s been super important in a lot of the social movements that we’ve seen this year. I’m really excited to see where that takes you and your journey with Fat Miilk as well.
Where to Find Lan Ho & Her Vietnamese Coffee Business — Fat Miilk
Michelle Sahai: Where can our listeners and viewers find out more about you and your businesses online?
Lan Ho: Yes, absolutely. Honestly, Instagram. You can find us at @FatMiilk — that’s with two I’s. F-A-T-M-I-I-L-K
Lan Ho: You can find us at FatMiilk.com. My personal IG is @SheIsThiis with two I’s. S-H-E-I-S-T-H-I-I-S. I have a thing for double “I’s.” I don’t know why. Don’t ask me why.
Michelle Sahai: I like it. I like the consistency.
Lan Ho: Yes.
Michelle Sahai: Thank you so much for joining us for this episode with Lan Ho. As you heard, you can learn more about Fat Miilk, that’s Fat — F-A-T — and two I’s in Miilk — M-I-I-L-K on FatMiillk.com and on Instagram. As Lan mentioned, you can also learn more on Twitter and Facebook and read about her in different news magazines that talked about her business and her success.
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