https://www.facebook.com/admtsang/videos/10106799710113281/

Let me say a few quick words about Ray, the Puerto Rican barber here in Statesboro. I always like speaking to him. I’m also really busy a lot of the times, so one time I said “Ray, when’re you gonna give me a haircut? How early can you do it?” And this man literally cut my hair at like 6 in the morning. There’s no reason he had to do that. He owed me nothing. But to me, that is something so rare and valuable. When someone shows me that they grind for their values and work, I respect it a lot, and I strive to be respected for it too.

I sometimes get asked if putting in 110% all the time gets stressful or exhausting. I think perspective and state of mind is huge in preventing that. Self-confidence leads to better results which leads to more self-confidence. People talk about burnout, but I don’t believe in burnout. It’s a crazy fast-paced way to live that requires sacrifice, but so rewarding.

Back to the grind!

We were able to come up with a concept that won the whole thing! It was a great experience that showed how important self-confidence and effort is. And it had an impact. I still dance every day. It’s become a part of who I am. I talk a lot about self-expression. My staff will tell you I’m dancing all the time now, and it’s become part of how I express myself outside of music, business, food and such.

Check our our moves!

These are big shoes to fill. One thing that pushes me is that I don’t want to live in their shadow for the rest of my life, so part of why I work so hard is to prove to people that I had my part in the overall success of the world.

Check out my Food is Family video over on Facebook:

Mother grew up poor and she was bullied as a child, but the story I wanted to share was what happened when she got old enough to work. It’s extremely important to me because it taught me what is possible as far as achieving dreams. She started working at piano bars — she was interested in that kind of career. but she didn’t have a ton of money to start with. My mom practiced, and the way she practiced was crazy. She took newspapers and would draw piano keys onto the newspaper. Then she’d utilize that piano to practice the songs that were popular. I get chills and emotional when I think about it. I cannot imagine the grit and determination that it took.

My mom has taught me so much, but that story in of itself gives me so much inspiration and determination that I utilize in my day to day work. If I’m faced with problems, I just think back to the challenges my mom faced. She became the highest paid pianist in the piano bar within a year or two. That, to me, is extremely inspirational and a story I’ll carry with me my entire life.

The current chapter of my life began when I moved back to Statesboro to run a restaurant called the Saucy Shrimp. I made the decision to return to Statesboro because it was time to be back with my family and Statesboro seemed like an interesting place to invest my business and entrepreneurial ideas into. I was able to take the Saucy Shrimp from a not-very-strong concept to what it is today, probably one of the top 5 restaurants in Statesboro. People from up to 2 hours away come to dine with us, and I’m extremely grateful that that is the case. I’ve been over that operation for a period of time, but left a team I’m extremely impressed with to help keep it going day-to-day. About a year and a half ago, the opportunity game to open Soyumi Asian Kitchen.

After a somewhat rocky start in 2017, we’ve got great momentum these days — doing things for the Statesboro market that a lot of people woudn’t think we’d be able to do. A lot of what I’ve been doing is trying to bring metropolitan style events into the smaller market of Statesboro. For instance, we just did a joint event with Papa Bucks which is a huge smoke house out in Metter (check them out!) and held Statesboro’s largest-ever Super Smash Bros. tournament. We’re starting to see people come to Soyomi to celebrate their engagements, anniversaries, bridal showers, all sorts of things. I think it’s really cool that I can bring them here both from within and out of town.

I’m really proud of the teams I’ve been able to put together in my projects so far and grateful for the community response to my efforts. I’m as busy as I’ve ever been. The last several years have been formative and encouraging, and I hope to continue the trend and soar to even greater heights!

Peace!