This Berkeley-Based Documentary Project Tells the Stories of California ‘Donut Kids’
By Cirrus Wood
Originally published in Berkeleyside.
In 2017, Phing Yamamoto left Apple to make donuts and couldn’t be happier for the change. Yamamoto is the manager of the Colonial Donuts at 3318 Lakeshore Ave. in Oakland. Her mother Ching Ung and father Phey Yam own the business. “I wanted to spend more time with my family,” she said.
Yamamoto describes her old life in Silicon Valley as a set of “golden handcuffs.” Her work in product marketing finance at Apple paid well, but never stopped. “I was getting on the shuttle at 7 o’clock in the morning, and then coming home at 7 o’clock at night, working really long days and I was like, ‘This isn’t what I imagined my life being.”
The breaking point was when she had to work during her son’s first birthday. She left Apple soon after.
Now while she sometimes has to go in on a day off or work late hours at Colonial — the shop is open 24 hours — it never feels like a sacrifice. The work feels meaningful, she has the immediate power to improve a customer’s day, she’s with family, in the family business, and she feels part of a community.
“I still get customers that know me from when I was little working at the shop, who come up to me and say ‘So you left Apple?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I traded Apples for donuts,’” she said. “And I’m happy.”
Yamamoto is a “donut kid,” one of thousands of second-generation Americans who have grown up in their families’ donut shop. One Berkeley-based documentary project aims to tell her story, and other California donut kids like her.
“We’re motivated by good stories, modern California history, and humanizing immigrants,” said Jaspal Sandhu, professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and a founder of Pink Box Stories, an ongoing documentary project that tells the story beneath the glaze.
Pink Box Stories is always seeking new connections and contributors. Contact them on Instagram at @pinkboxstories or by email at pinkboxstories@gmail.com.
