In tonight's special editio of studio 12, we're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

First, we're taking you t Denver's Little Saigon district.

As we explore the history behind Trung and Gifts.

It's a story of courage, culture, and tradition.

Then a single mom turns her dreams into a thriving boba tea business built on love, sacrifice and resilience.

We're also celebrating South Asian artist making history here in Colorado.

From a groundbreaking group exhibit to the Hanna inspired work of award winning artist Bala and chef and entrepreneur Mary Nguyen shares her journey from Wall Street to building one of Denver' most beloved restaurant brands.

Don't go away.

It all starts right now here on studio 12 from the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Ryan Harrer, and welcome to this special edition of studio 12 as we celebrate Asian America Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Tonight's Humanize short documentary takes us inside Trung N gifts to explore the story of a family, a community, and a cultural legacy rooted in Denver's Little Saigon district.

From generations who fled war in Vietnam in search of a new beginning, this story highlights resilience, entrepreneurship cultural pride, and a family's love in the pursuit of the American Dream.

The whole plaza itself plays a huge part in my role of who I am today.

Sometimes we want to get together, to have a friend sit down, have a cup of coffee, or have the bowl of, You have to.

Some people want to eat, food at the restaurant.

That's why we found this area.

And we start to open this one on 1987.

We want our community group.

And everybody can come in in and to us.

Yet what they need, and they can see it all together.

So day one 418 like them being really homesick.

The name when I see the name, I think that's a good name in Chinese in Vietnam.

It means peace and harmony.

Yeah, but I didn't think about ingress.

They had to spelling and they had to pronounce Chung on.

This name.

Follow me.

44 year now.

My name is a fan.

My shop is a Chung on K, right of center.

1975.

We escape our from South Vietnam three days before.

I have no choice.

I don't know anything.

They collapse from north to south.

They slowly, slowly going south.

And we know, if we not step out, we got really big trouble because usually come in a government they don't like Olathe high education, which are they think higher education cannot.

They cannot control.

I like to be, teach.

So I get it in and get in on the math teachers degree.

Everybody know it.

And not a good time to join in is not Vietnam communist.

So we.

Try to right now.

No.

Just a little bit.

Okay.

I came was 1975, and my wife, she came 1979.

I think I need to go back 47 years.

When I came to the United State, I really say I don't know nothing.

When we just coming to unite, I say we don't know nothing.

We don't have come for them.

We.

They scare.

And that time now change places are nothing.

And when we escape, I have t take one dictionary about that.

They look at the handbook.

With that I need.

Every night I found a dictionary.

My wife.

You have the older brother, Eagle.

Same school with my cousin.

So he.

I don't know how they connected.

They bring whole family to Denver and they stay in my cousin house.

So the next day, I. Just came to visit them.

And when I ring the bell and I go out, I open the door.

The person come out to open the door is my wife.

I see my husband.

And when I saw her, I say, oh, that.

That's my person.

I don't know what they say, but like a big shock.

So I follow her and I say, what's your name?

And he say, I'm Tom.

And I look at him, I say, I think you, you you older than me.

How about I call you Tom brother?

I see him that time.

He say, how about we marry now?

We been married about 45 years.

Look back.

It's a long, long, long time.

He never let me pay.

House bill, electric bill.

Now he take care of everything.

He never tell you?

He straight about, we beh the financial, everything.

Now.

Okay.

That's why I really love him.

I got the job.

Is a busboy at the top of the Rocky.

At downtown Denver chain from.

Did you become a busboy?

You get that?

The good freedoms.

And we came to USA.

We found the freedom we can, what we want.

We can speak what we want and we can think what we want.

And after that, I found another job in King Soopers.

I saw in King Soopers, they got American food and most of the Vietnamese people, they eat rice and some Vietnamese food.

And over there they have this really small back.

They call Uncle Ben Rice.

We must eat the long grain gray.

And we don't have like a fish as we don't have like, any Asian food.

Even I want to be in crowd.

We have to go to being at home and the Ramona.

Oh my gosh, such a large selection.

Wow.

I haven't even seen all these flavors.

So we decided, say, why don't we just open the grocery?

Grocery?

Well, how do you get to be Vietnamese community close.

So we opened the grocery store, a small one, really small.

That time, my husband, he already have the business.

Is that a small, cursory Asian grocery they call type in my supermarket.

I try to come here to California to get the shots and something like that.

Come bac when I come out to the fish net.

I don't have anything.

I don't have money in my pocket.

I asked my husband because he come in United States in 1975.

I asked him, he say I only 5000.

I cannot help you more.

I say okay, 5000 enough I take I use that 5000.

I go to Vietnam.

I ask the business, it's a 40,000.

I go deal with him.

I say I pay you payment for a year.

Okay.

I'll court.

They take my interest every month.

I need paid 3000.

I paid 3300 something for him for a year, a payment.

I only make 30,000.

How I survive.

He said not easy, but I go to low.

I need to make the shop.

I can make more money.

I say I want open the shop.

That shop is retail.

It's only 700ft.

The name is a car.

Chong is growing up in this store.

It started off as a blockbuster.

Like an Asian blockbuster.

It was a VHS, movie rental.

And it was all like, from movies to dramas to like all that for the Asian community.

So, like, our store was the hub for the Asian community on the weekends when they came after work or whatever, they can relax by watching movies with VHS.

So it was like renting different movies and drama.

So for me, those are like memories of mine, of like, every aisle is like it' like an archive of our history and culture and everything because every aisle with like, gifts or every thing that was in the store was a story.

This shopping plaza is actually, our home for my cousins and siblings because all my aunties and uncles woul have their store in this plaza that we would have, like a restaurant, a supermarket, our gift shop.

So it was kind of like where we grew up.

We would be kids just running around store to store.

We're hungry We'll just go to the restaurant.

If we wanted a snack, we'll go to the supermarket.

If we wanted to like do ou homework, we go to the our once, you know, office, you know, stuff like that.

It was just, like, this is where I grew up, so I grew up in it, so honestly, I it wasn't lik I was getting paid to work here.

It was like child labor.

You know, you work for your parents.

So it wasn't always like my dream job.

Honestly, when she's young, her dream is a model.

Modeling.

Yeah, okay.

And, she won catwalk.

She won my photo on the screen, and she won everything.

I let her go.

Try uni hat pass happy.

And your dream.

Okay, 23 at that time, I say, honey, I think, now is at that time.

If you wanna continue your job, uni, follow that business.

I let you think your choice are you want go back to school?

You know the school panda.

This was last year.

This is this year.

So every year, this year, I knew I us she taking about one week.

She say mom I think I pick business I say okay if you pick business you need clear.

The pass your modeling everything.

You're 23.

You already a whole you pass.

Okay.

You need the rule and the time to learning something.

And she says you pick business.

I say, okay, for me, I just want to share our culture, traditions and heritage and roots.

And it can be anything from like traditional, like jade bangles, you know, that has different nostalgic meanings behind it to like the new pop culture stuff like from trinkets and collectibles like it could be from all sorts of different, genres in the stores, right?

Different areas in the store, but it hits somebody dee in their heart where it could be that that's kind of how I fee like everything is sentimental.

Oh my God we need a picture of that, too.

Everything has, a story behind it.

So if somebody is buying something for someone, there's a story behind wh they're gifting that to someone.

So I feel like our store can give that to others.

You see, I have a lot.

A lot of customer a lot.

Okay?

When they come and they get up and say hi, I special for you.

For me.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

I have specials.

You're welcome.

Okay.

You and I say.

You don't need anything.

You just coming.

You say hi.

I'm happy because we have friend I know I need support.

You.

Luckily, Mimi's parents had done such a good job of building this business.

We don't have La Coconut, but we got a lot of ginger.

It's been an interesting balance, for sure.

It's something that we want to keep around.

We don't want to just be the trendy store.

We want to keep our traditions alive.

Obviously Mimi is a big believer in that, all the community work she does is in order to keep traditions and, educate future generations on, what we used to do or what our parents used to do, kind of balancing the past versu the present versus the future, because obviously our store has a lot going on.

It's not just the store but the shopping center as well.

We have, you know, Mim puts on these community events, and she mostly does it for kids.

Almost all the events are geared towards kids.

Lunar New Year.

We have, like, a kids fashion show.

The kids come out to see the lions, Mid-Autumn Festival as a kids.

It's for kids.

I say it's a lantern festival.

Obviously there are times when I wake up and I say, you know, I wish I could have half the store for all the products that I want.

But then there are days where when I wake up and, you know, there's I'll have like, like a 18, 19 year old kid come in and ask about a really traditional product.

And we're like, yeah, we do have that.

And or someone else will come in and ask about something that we don't have that I have no idea where to point you, because I can't think of a single place that would sell something like tha if it's not us, I have no idea.

We have sections of like, I can order everything in the store, but my mom gets all the, like, traditional stuff, and then Michael and I get pop culture and all that, and then I add on, like the beauty and the scenarios and all the cute stuff.

Michae has all the Pokemon and anime, so we all have a little sectio that really brings us joy, you know?

And for me, I feel like if I was supposed to like, choose 1 or 2 things that, resonates with me.

I love my beauty section.

I want to be forever 25.

We have all these different like, skin and beauty products that we bring in from Korea and Japan and, you know, different mascaras.

So I, I don't know, I like all of this stuff.

But yeah, like the like the traditional stuff that's like mom section, you know, things that mom same lik this one is a more traditional.

Like I said, that for the lucky cat, okay, I like the traditional but a lot they bring the custom.

I feel like they've been called Asia.

I won' oh my God, here look like Asia.

Okay, that's the important.

Like these are the traditional cats right?

But then now we're bringing in like the new kind, like the cute stuff.

So like, I'm looking always for, like the new or, cats, but they're all with has a traditional feel, bu it's like a more modern twist.

So where we have both people that want the more traditional ones or the more new cute.

These are my style.

New style.

Now, this kind is a new style.

Okay.

And it's a powder and went that time I found some powder.

And bring in.

You see this?

A statue?

I tell you sometime you don't have that feeling.

I. I have a feeling.

Are they, have feeling okay?

You believe, you feel it.

Everything here I touch, in your mind.

Oh, this is just a thing.

You know, they are happy feeling.

Also staying up to date on, you know, pop culture and trends obviously helps.

It's not just a matter of me looking at a sheet and figuring out what's available.

Sometimes if it was available yesterday, it's not available today.

So there's risks involved as well.

Obviously, because it could be limited and then tomorrow there could be tons of inventory.

So now it's not as limited anymore.

I think experience gives you a lot of insight as to what could and may, may or may not be popular.

There's a fair bit of luck involved as well.

I think.

That's the hard part, right, is to figure out what kind of gift or items to bring in and how to get it and what if it will sell here.

There's like fails or stuff, sit and collect dust, or there's things that are flying off the shelf where we can't even like, you know we just have to keep restocking.

Right?

In Asia, ther a little bit ahead of the game.

Asia is very fashion forward.

Their pop culture moves very quickly, and I think we get some insight into what we could be seeing here.

But it's not necessarily always the case.

But it does give you a bit of insight.

So I mean, I guess as a research tool, it kind of works.

We always know about six months ahead what's going to be hot.

And if the American culture, like community and culture can accept that kind of new trend.

So like, example like when blues were popular, it was already popular in Asia, like way ahead of time, like maybe like a year before.

And then America started like getting in the trend and then the whole world.

I believe in pop mart and labels and stuff like that, long befor most people knew what they were.

I'm a collectible kind of person.

Oh, you can collect them.

It's like a blind box.

I think that's where our enemies section kind of started off.

A lot of our customers know, like they're know for the store, for the pokemons.

They're known for the store for certain real items.

Like it's because we try to always get those items before they hit the American market.

I don't have as much time now, so I kind of rely on my kids at this point.

I'm the Pokemon guy in the in the store they usually ask me about, like what Pokemon say is hot right no and what's to hit in the sets.

I've been helping around during since.

So since I was started in middle school, it's very it's very nice and very fun watching people open, open blind boxes.

And it's it's like responsibility and it teaches me maturity.

I'm a collector.

I like I like collecting a lot of different things.

Obviously we like having, you know, trendy pop culture products.

But I've always said that, I don't ever want to lose the the traditional aspect of the store, such as, like, products for like, memorials, and stuff like that, that we don't know if the future generation is going to use, but it's something that we keep around, not just in case, but, you know, there are different people, that use them.

And there are people that maybe, they came over from another country.

So they're still, you know, using those traditions and stuff like that.

So, it's it's bee an interesting balance for sure.

It's something that we want to keep around.

We don't want to just be the trendy store.

We want to keep our traditions alive.

Obviously we got the, you know, the product or we change everything or we change.

We got the different thinking and what they are thinking.

Sometime it's not easy to ge change, to go with this new way that they do a really, really good job.

There's a question of if this future generation wants to take over businesses from the previous generation, and a lot of them are interested.

Right.

So you have kind of this cultural hub that needs to be continued, but who's going to pick up that torch and, so making sure we kind of stay grounded in the fact that we keep those traditional products is it's important to us, at least what I am and who I am today as an entrepreneur and a businesswoman is I learned it all from my mo and dad and my aunts and uncles.

Seeing them work so hard for everything that they do to give us a better future, right?

We are teaching you and we want training you out.

I, I did go to like college for like fashion design institutions, skin care, all of that extra stuff.

But I'm not doing any of that because I realized like, this is my home.

I actually had three Asian gif shops in the mall at one point when I was in my 20s.

After I had kids, I realized how important it is to continue the culture and tradition and heritage and sharing the roots of what my mom and dad and my grandma, grandpa and stuff shared with me.

I thought I was going to be a soccer player in the future.

Unfortunately, I was derailed by injuries.

I've had three ACL surgeries and Achilles surgery, and, and I was going to school at the University of Denver at the time.

And, this is right around right around when I met Mami, but, I went to school for business and accounting in, in the future, I'd like to own a business as well.

So I wanted to go that route with it.

And so, she asked me to come out to the store and help with inventory to see if I could, just because of my background and stuff like that.

And it took me an entire summer to, to get some inventory done at the store.

Not every couple can work together and be together 24 seven, but me, me and I I guess we have a knack for it.

And so we enjoy being together, and, I enjoy what I do out here.

So it just kind of worked out.

So yo have to one believe in yourself, have that confidence and then try it and you're going to fail a few times.

But you have to believe in yourself and believe that you can make whatever your dream or goal or whatever you want happen.

Try to tell my kids, you know sometimes even homework is hard or just things at school is hard.

They want to give up.

You have to get past that little hump and you'll realize there's more to that than just the speck.

And you know, so you're going t always have people around you.

So surround yourself around inspiring people.

There's ups and downs, bu those are things that I always tell my kid is you can't give up on yourself and don't let others drag you down and just keep going.

We over here, we saw Mimi and Michael took the job and they do good, so we really proud.

We are awesome.

I retired so I can go anywhere I want.

I can do every time I want.

We can take off a week, a month and they still can handle it when they laid.

I know a thing have to be okay, but today I really say I'm so proud.

Mimi.

Proud about her.

But I didn't tell her.

Honey, I'm so proud of how you.

You took a job, everything.

No.

Okay.

I just look and I se she can handle everything now.

I let her go.

So that is why, like, for me now, this is my job.

I come to work, like, extra happy to work and like a place where I can sell items, but.

And trinkets and stuff that brings people happiness and joy, you know like they come excited to shop and for instance, like, buy like a trinket, like La Booboo or whatever.

And then they leave extra happy.

Like, those are the joy that makes the store what it is, you know?

And that's the same of how I saw my mom and dad working back in the da to their movies brought people joy and happiness.

They're gift items, small things here and there.

People come to buy to gift to other and that brings other people joy.

Thank you very much.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

We'll see you later.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

So those are things that I see that why these mom and pop shops are like very important, you know, and it's important to share the stories behind behind it.

Trung and gifts is just one of the many businesses helping keep Vietnamese culture and community alive.

In Denver's Little Saigon district.

The Far East Center on South Federal is home to generations of family owned businesses, restaurants and shops.

It was also added to the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties in 2024, recognizing its cultural and historical significance to our state.

To learn more, you can follow Trung on Gifts on Facebook and Instagram.

Another great story comin from the Little Saigon district.

Just a few shops down from Trung and Gifts is a single mom who made a long held dream come true while raising three kids on her own.

After years of setbacks, career changes and starting over, she never gave up.

She did it.

PBS Twelve's Erica McLarty introduces us to Kat Dewan, the woman behind the boba and tea shop called Tee Hee in Denver's Little Saigon district.

Take a look.

In a small tea shop tucked in to the Little Saigon district.

Okay, let me read it out for you.

There's something more than boba beans served.

I'm here at Tee Hee, where everything is handcrafted and a piece of art.

But what makes this place really special is the story behind it.

For one single mom of three.

This place is years in the making.

So we're in my little spac called Teeny Little Tea House.

She calls it her little space.

But getting here took decades.

The year 2000 I started my own boba shop and, wanted to introduce it to everyone in Denver.

I think it did it work just cause it was too new of a concept?

But I did feel, you know, like a little frustration.

Kind of like why are we so behind on trends?

Because Boba back the had already been around for 20 something years.

So, after a couple years, yeah, I decided to call it quits.

So she walked away, tried new careers, raised a family.

I pretty much did like different jobs, got married, had kids, and at that, you know, I'm still a full time mom.

And doing everything else and just not happy.

Then life changed.

My ex and I separated.

I would say before Covid hit a single mom, three daughters, and a lot of uncertainty.

I always in the back o my head was like, I'm not happy.

What would make me happy?

And I alway it always led back to the time, that I had the shop.

I mean, it was crying.

Okay.

Sorry.

During Covid, it's kind of when, t he started basically stuck in the house together.

So I was like, okay, well, we need to do something like to get our minds off of everything.

So we started an Etsy shop.

We started a craft, and it was soapmaking.

And you.

So like, the soap era was kind of I feel like it was throughout the first kind of a year or so of being just like with my mom only.

So she was like a single mother.

And then first time we were all in the house and she wanted to pick up a hobby.

So we all started making soap together in her basement.

Then something unexpected.

So all of a sudden I got lik this big giant order for soap.

First of all, I soap and it was a very unusually large order.

And so afte everything was done, I was like, let me, research this person.

Like, who are they?

I thought it was like maybe a teacher.

And I found out is like a Hollywood producer.

I don't know if I could do it.

I'll tell you, but, it's John Lando.

Yeah.

So I tell that story a little because from that money, Yeah.

So I got the seed money.

Now with the seed money, a second chance at the dream.

She never let go.

But it didn't happen overnight.

And then I moved to, like, a little horse trailer that I sell out of.

I looked for, like, maybe almost three years.

Like, I felt like I was looking at plate spaces and nothing's all right.

And until one day, the right place found her.

The space just felt righ and, like, very nostalgic to me.

So I was like, okay, I really like this feeling.

It was hard because doing everything like alone pretty much.

And it's kind of like, who I don't have anyone to, like, kind of lean on, like I didn't even tell my parents.

It's Olympic support.

No, but she wasn't really alone.

Her three daughters were.

Why?

I'm proud of my mom.

Because she's hardworking and she loves m and my sisters and her family.

And she's never gives up.

She opened this shop all by herself.

Sometimes I'm like, wow, how can she even do that?

Watching her be solo is a reall good role model for all of us.

At the end of the day, loving yourself and giving yourself grace isn't just for you.

It's for your kids.

When they see their mom happy, they realize that they can do anything they want in life, too.

I think it's very admirable what she did.

Like waiting to make sure we're all okay first before kind of starting her dream.

I think we got this, like, Nickelodeon thing, like just seeing her grow and the shop become everything she want it to be.

It's just been very inspiring.

It's the pantheon coconut cream, and it's the most popular drink here.

So, like, whenever something happens or she's struggling, she always just finds a wa to just push through it like a almost like a superhero.

She's very passionate.

She loves people.

She she's extremely hardworking.

She's here every day.

She's committed.

Thank you.

It's an incredible story.

And the drinks live up to it.

We call it the tiger salted cloud.

And it's more like a traditional boba tea.

That's the lychee berry shortcake.

Yeah.

Just being a full time parent, you don't really have that much time for yourself.

It's like that five minutes right there that you're just brewing the activities, brewing the tea itself.

Like, gave you my moment.

Oh, my gosh, that's so good.

Running a business and raising kids all at once can be challenging.

I honestly don't know.

I just had like, this is what I have to do pretty much all the time to just do it.

I think it was probably it's probabl one of the most difficult things in the world to rais children well, especially alone.

And she was able to do i with three girls, and we're all extremely close knit.

This is a very personal thing.

Like, I think when people come in like, you can feel that it' a very family centered business, like everything in here, every single drink, every single.

I guess choice in here was very personal thing for my mom.

Then we kind of together came up with the name Tiki.

So Tiki is like something cute, haha.

Like you know, when you're laughing.

And I think for me, I love everything cute because it comes it comforts me a place to share with your friends and laugh and with community.

Just like a light hearted, fun vibe, you can get boba and hang out and have a good time where we get really busy.

Like I will get emotional as well.

I'll step back there and them.

Yeah, it's just like seeing people in here and that makes me happy.

To learn more about tea here, you can go to Teco.

This heart of the West story takes us into a world where ancient tradition meets modern artistry.

Bala, an Indian immigrant and artist of nearly 25 years, bring henna inspired designs to life.

Her textured acrylic paintings and ceramics are rich with culture, color and the stories she's traveled with across continents.

Here's more with Bala.

So you.

So this is the same style as doing henna body art, and I'm doing thi process called sleep training, where I am piping liquid cla on clay to get textured lights.

Hi, I'm Bala PR graduate.

I am Muslim trained professional artist.

I came to the US as an immigrant from Chennai, India where I grew up to pursue a PhD at Kansas State University.

It confuses a lot of people because you don't hear a lot of artists who have a Ph.D.

in my background used wildlife, diseases.

Biology was the goal.

Any other middle class upbringing in an Indian household, you grow up with this idea of wanting to be a doctor, an engineer, you know something where you establish a career, right?

Art is not seen as worthless.

And actually, I didn't even know I could do art till I started painting.

I love painting paint.

The reason I started doing them is I grew up with this art that's called column in South India.

Millions of Tamil women do it every day around the world.

So my thought was wanting to do that on a canvas that I could hang by the entryway.

And that's kind o how I fell into the art world.

It felt like, oh, I could do more of this.

Taking a break from biology for a bit, it just took a life of own.

This is where my creativity is.

It's not been fixed and it's been 13 years.

It's all discovery along the way.

Honestly, like everything you see, I don't have a vision in my head when I paint, right?

It's not about the studies of my hands.

It's about how I can control my breathing.

It's like I start with a blank canvas and where it takes me, it's unknown.

So when I finish a painting, it's as new to me as it is to you.

Seeing it for the first time, my main technique is grounded i how I can bring in my culture.

So you see, when I've made paintings, it, it could be just henna.

Or if you know more about Indian stuff, it's Scholem.

Or when you see a portrait, it's like, oh, it's a dancer, or it's a braid.

And so there are all thes different points of connection that leads back to celebrating a culture.

When I was back in academia it's like, or you do lab work, you do field work, you do statistics.

You know, there' so many different things you do, but once you start doing, you know there's the business side of art and then there's the creative side.

But there's also this.

You have to constantl keep you all going and do more.

The masks in particular, I started doing them about the same time.

I started painting portraits and it's nice because it's two different mediums but they inform one another in how we create portraits, creates this mixed media series.

That's a new thing that I just started like an eight and a half ago, and it is my way of showing the power of everyday women, in a sense, in the, you know, I never added labels to my identity in the past, but now it feels like I do have to, you know, say, hey, I am an Indian immigrant.

Women doing this because it brings visibility not just to me, but to also other underrepresented artist in the community, whether it's, women artists or Bipoc artists.

Right.

It's it's addin that extra voice to what I do.

We can be anything we want.

I'm not labeled or boxed in by like, oh, I used to be in academia.

I was a scientist or I am just an artist, right?

We are all so much more, it's nice to be able to be part of that.

It's inspiring, especially for kids that they don't have to grow up with this idea of like, oh, I need to be a docto or an engineer or any of that, that they can do whatever they want.

One of the reasons I paint mandalas and not mountains is wanting to highlight my culture and doing what I know, of course, but also I want kids to grow up with more.

More than wha their parents grew up with, what their grandparents had as art in their homes, right?

We live in a global world, in a global culture, and I want kids to experience that.

And I seen my orgasms for so it's my identity.

It's every thing that I bring to the table of who I am.

It's not just my art, it's not just my language.

It's not just how I dress.

Right?

It's it just all comes together.

Art is the easiest way I can express it.

PBS 12 was honored to attend the 2026 CBC.ca Business Arts Awards, where our friend baller received the CBC.ca Cultural Leadership Award.

Congratulations, Paula, on this big honor.

We're very proud to have featured her unique artistry right here on studio 12 as part of our heart of the West series.

For more info on Bala, you can go to Art Bible.

Macomb, Colorado Startup Week celebrates the people who are turning big ideas and personal passions into thriving businesses.

Just like chef and entrepreneu Mary Nguyen of Olive and Finch, Mary left a career in finance to follow her heart into hospitality, building one of Denver's favorite restaurant brands.

Known for flavorful gourmet food that's made from scratch and affordable, to PBS Twelve's Randy Matthews, who sat down with Mary to talk about her journe from Wall Street to Main Street.

The influence of her family's immigrant roots, and the lesson she's learned all along the way.

Thank you for joining us today.

It's exciting to be here at Colorado Startup Week.

Tell us a little bit about your business.

I am a huge fan of Olive and Finch, but there's more.

I'm only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

There's a lot of depth under there, so tell me a little bit about it.

There is.

So, you know, we started our first location, all of invention 2013.

And I had other restaurants at the time, and they were, you know, fine dining and full service.

And so I decided to open up a restaurant next to my pick, my parallel 17 at the time.

So I had parallel 17 on 17th Avenue.

And I decided to open up all there.

And it was I wanted it to be a restaurant that served breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I didn't want anything on the menu to be more than $13 because I wanted it to be affordable, but I still wanted to be chef driven and scratch made.

And so everything in the back of house that we do, everything in the kitchen is made from scratch.

It was really important for m to be able to have accessible, healthy and affordable food, but in an environment that was accessible, right?

So you come in, you order from the counter or you order from a QR code, and then we bring the food out to you.

But everything in the back of house is made as if it was a fine dining restaurant.

So, you know, 2013 we opened Olive and Finch and nobody understood what we were trying to do.

They thought we were trying t open up a fast food restaurant because you order from the counter.

And back in 2013, all of it finished.

I mean, just the concept, the format was unheard of.

And so, you know, we opened up December 3rd, 2013 to a line out the door.

And the next year, 2014, we were awarded Best New Restaurant by 50 to 80, by the Westword and by Zagat.

And that was the first time that any casual counter restaurant had not just even won, but have been nominated, you know, since 2013.

Our early days, we've opened no for all of in Finch locations.

We've opened also a little Finch I like to call it all of them.

Finch's little sister.

It's our cafe all day, that focuses on pastries an breakfast items in the morning, but then cocktails at night.

But we also have a wholesale company, so it's a it's a company that serves institutional clients.

We make grab and go meals, pastries, cold pressed juices.

And we sell that hospitals, hotels, grocery stores.

And we have a lot of different accounts at the airport.

And that actually is the biggest part of our business.

It's 60% of our sales.

Is our wholesale business.

You know, in recent weeks I've had several conversations that have talked about short supply chains.

So I'm assumin that you also are buying local.

We are we're buying local.

And I think, you know, we're at a point now where we have we have economies of scale, as you mentioned.

So, you know, we have really great buying power.

And because of that, we are abl to buy at really great prices.

But because we have this wholesale company we also control the production and the distribution of our products.

And I think that that's a part of our secret sauce.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

So let's step back a bit, a little bit because you have not been restaurateur your entire career.

So you started out in finance and working in commodities and kind of in a corporate environment.

Very.

Yeah.

So what was this?

Was this a brewing passion of yours, and what was the tipping poin that made you say, I'm doing it?

Well, you know, I would say first, leaving finance was the scariest, thing I've ever done, but als the best thing I've ever done.

You know, my background's.

I'm a I'm a first generation Vietnamese-American.

My parents came here a refugees, at the fall of Saigon.

So they came here with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs.

And they had four kids, an my grandmother came with them.

And, you know, they came here to pretty much give us a better life, you know, and I think that is really something that's true.

That stuck with me, and it helps me work harder than I normally I think anybody would normally work, because of the sacrifices they've made.

But because of that, I thin that, you know, in my early days when I was working as an investment banker and then as a commodities trader, while it was really financially fulfilling, and it was something that my parents were really proud of, it I didn't find the connection.

And now in retrospect you know, 20 some years later, I think about like, okay, well, what has driven me to hospitality, you know and I think about those moments when I was young, you know and I would never see my parents becaus they were working all the time.

But when I did see them, you know, maybe it was a once a week and we would have dinner together as a family, all of us together.

And that connection and that those times where you're enjoying a meal like that really was something that stuck with me.

And so as I was going through my career in finance, it was like, well, this is really great, but I'm missing something.

And, you know, the funny thing is, like, I didn't even start cooking until I starte cooking for myself in college.

You cannot.

Yeah.

And, so I decided in 2001 to leave finance because I wanted to learn how to cook and wanted to open up a restaurant.

And so I did that.

All right.

So, when you if we look at, if, if you ran into somebody said, I want to start in the restaurant business, here's my concept.

Yeah.

What would you tell them?

What would your big piece of advice be about, jumping off on this?

Yeah, well, I'm.

Well, first, know your why and hold on to it, because it's not going to be easy.

Like this industry.

It's going to test you, in way that you really can't imagine.

I think that you have to really understand what you're walking into because the hours are long and the margins are really laser thin.

And I think that, you know, people see busy restaurants or they see, you know, shows on T or they you see a Top chef or, you know, this or that and, and it's very glorified, right in what we do because you'r just throwing a party every day, you know, like, you know it's like having a great party at your house, right?

It's like, well, why can't I do this?

You know, every single day.

But it's a lot harde than just cooking and hosting.

You know, I think that if you're.

Why is just.

I want to own a restaurant.

I don't think that that's going to carry you through all the har and hard nights and, you know, I think that if you're wise about something bigger, maybe it's sharing flavors that you grew up with, or maybe it's creating places for people to feel seen and to be seen, or to be a part of a community or to, provide something for the community.

Then I think that that will, that will really carry you when you want to give up.

Mary, it was great to sit down and talk to you today.

I really appreciated that.

And one of the things that was kind of an that you said really early was that you really created a market.

We had a, we had a vision of a counter ordering to be coupled with fast food and not so healthy.

Right.

And you overcame that.

And I have been to three of your restaurants, the one do CPA, the one in Cherry Creek, and the one on 70.

Each has a unique feel.

But what is, is, so, much that's consistent i that I've always felt welcome.

So I want to thank you for that.

Thank you.

That means a lot.

Switching no to an exhibit here in Colorado, making history it's called The Roots and Roots, the very first South Asian visual artist group show in our state.

For these artists, this is more than an exhibit.

It's about representation, visibility and community for landscape inspired by the Colorado Plateau to arts tied to cultural traditions, these artists share their personal journeys through their work.

Take a look.

For me, light and shade and bright colors, beautiful colors are what inspired me.

So this is the colored cor that you do get here in the US.

These are part of, a stream of landscapes that I, have been doing.

I started a series of landscape paintin based on the Colorado Plateau.

My career was in abstract, so behind me is one of my traditional Native Dancer paintings.

It's, named after a goddess.

And in this, it's, And the idea is that women are constantly on the move, you know?

So.

But we move with grace because there's jus so many things to handle.

Right?

So that's what I'm trying to bring into this painting.

Hi, I am Paula.

Yeah, Gretchen, we are here for the opening night of Roots and Roots.

It's a Sout Asian visual artist group show, and this is the first time a group of us are getting together for an art show like this in Colorado.

You know?

So, Asians, we've been here for so long.

It's just that that artist wh are particularly visual artist and not performance artist have just been so disconnected.

It's nice to have a community to get together and come togethe and be able to tell the broader community who we are and what we do, she approached me during the Caro Creative Industry Summit, saying, I never see my community represented in spaces and this is a problem And I'm like, I agree with you.

This is a huge problem.

I myself essentially after the conversation, around what she was hoping to d in collaboration with the South Asian artist community that she was not seeing represented, she's I asked her, what does she need?

And she said she needs access t space and access to resources.

And I said, with, the space, I think I have you covered.

I really couldn't figure out where my community was.

And I lived in the suburbs.

I had two children.

And so for this to happen and to have the kind of artists that have come out seems from the woodwork, from the woodwork, it's unbelievable to me to see this energy, to see people starting out, see people who have been doing things in isolation for a long time.

This show is all about visibility, representation and community.

To me.

Representation is not just having four walls and somebod to put art on the wall, right?

It's when people actually engage with one another.

And art is a great means for that engagement, because I kept thinking, there must be a few other artists, because when I came here, there was nobody.

And I often thought to myself, I'm in a wilderness.

Because in 40 years ago, Colorado and Denver was a very different place.

This is the first time we've come together as a community of South Asian artists.

They're are all wonderful people as well.

So it's a lovely community that that's expanded suddenly fro just knowing 2 or 3 of them to, you know, more than 20.

It's about the artist journey, their identity and their experience, what they bring to Colorado and what they have been creating here.

You know, I was just so inspired to paint this because, the Thanksgiving festival here kind of mirrors the Thanksgiving festival that we have back in India.

We make offerings to, the gods for a great harvest, and for al the good things that we receive.

And I really found this, mirrors that culture, that tradition.

Personally, one of my collectors called my artwork.

And so soon after that, it brings me to people, and it brings people to me.

And this exhibit is like that, except it's bringing an entire community of southeastern artists to the broader Denver metro.

And it's the same thing we are hoping to get so many people to come in, look at the artwork and engage with it.

Hopefully it spark some curiosity and conversations and maybe lasting connections.

Although the exhibit is over, you can still go to Ko South Asian artists.com for more information and about upcoming events.

Tonight we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month through these stories, cultures and communitie that continue to shape Colorado through generations of sacrifice, entrepreneurship, and heart.

We're celebrating their special contributions to our state, from the family business of Denver's Little Saigon district to South Asian artist breaking new ground in Colorado to entrepreneurs turning personal journeys into purpose driven success, these stories remind us how much strength and beauty can be found in sharing wh we are and honoring our roots.

Thank you for spending this evening with us, for all of us here at PBS 12.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you next time on studio 12.

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