Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Dorsey and Chih Lin.
Hi Mike and Chih, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our story began with why. We both were working in oil & gas with fancy titles, stable income, and window offices. . However, we were miserable. We were both working in environments where we felt we couldn’t be ourselves. We were trying so hard to fit into organizations that we didn’t feel we belong to. At the end of Chih’s career, he was the Director of Marketing and Mike, was a Sr. Chemical Process Engineer.
We wanted something more out of life, and to have the freedom to celebrate our creativity and passion. One day Chih asked me, “Mike if I would be willing to give up all that salary, prestige, security, and take the leap with him and become Experience Makers.”
Of Course, I Said YAAAAAAAS!!!
So why Dumplings? Well, the first time I met Chih’s friends, and he met mine, we had dumpling-making parties. There is a sense of comradery in the activity of making food together. This togetherness and community are what we wanted to create for others. We want to create experiences that bring people joy and to cherish that moment with others.
So, April 1, 2019, Dumpling Dudez was born!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing about the last two years has been a smooth road. However, we have grown so much overcoming the obstacles together. They say “What doesn’t kill you, make you stronger”. Well, that is 100% true.
At the beginning of 2020, we were finally approaching a profitable month. We had also been invited to be spotlighted at multiple major events. Then Covid hit! When Rodeo Houston was shut down, we knew the rest of Houston was next. We remember sitting outside our commercial kitchen after excusing our employees, and wondering to ourselves if this is the end of Dumpling Dudez.
We had to pivot our business model overnight from Dumpling Making Experience to Dumpling Eating Experience. We engineered the first-ever Ready-To-Bake dumplings in the market. This new concept allows our customers to bake our frozen dumplings as easily as baking a frozen pizza.
We reached out to our followers on social media, and what happened next made us proud to be Houstonians. We sold 60 dozen that first week. And in all of 2020, we sold over 50,000 dumplings with over 25 fun and unique flavors from Turkeylishies, Chocolate lava cheesecake, Chorizo mac and cheese, Korean bacon cheeseburgers, and more…
At the end of 2020, we launched our Virtual Dumpling-Making Experience. Through the use of Zoom, we helped families and businesses celebrate their successes and special occasions virtually while making Baby Yoda (Grogu) dumplings.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dumpling Dudez?
We are a Pop & Pop start-up, and for us, that means we are experience makers, party planners, and storytellers. We set out to create the most fun and unique dumpling experience with memorable stories.
Over the last 2 years, we had created many in-person/virtual team-building events, holiday parties, dumpling & drink pairings, birthday parties, surprise engagement parties, and AAPI/Pride events. Each event is unique, and we curated each experience to create a beautiful stage with many heartwarming stories.
We are most proud of how people “feel” after completing one of our experiences. While our dumplings taste delicious, that happy and joyful feeling from our experience turns into memorable stories that people will cherish, always.
Every dumpling tells a story, and each story is an experience worth sharing with someone you love! Let us create a one-of-a-kind experience for you.
Let’s create your story!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Since we are both engineers, we consider ourselves calculated risk-takers. While we don’t have the resources as some of the major brands, we took advantage of our strength of being small, mobile, and being able to pivot quickly. Each pivot is a risk, but we will never grow without taking risks.
Little do people know that Dumpling Dudez marketing strategies were based on a series of rejected ideas thought to be too risky in our past lives. The basis is simple, storytelling first, business second. We believe that this creates lasting relationships, through vulnerability.
We are a brand that not only shares our success but has also shared our struggles and how we continue working to overcome life’s challenges. We never hid who we are as a Pop-and-Pop startup, and that risk/decision has prevented us from opportunities. No matter who we are we all lose opportunities for a number of reasons. Whatever your reason just always know, “Where one door closes, another opens. And even with some of those haters, we were able to grow our brand from 200 followers to 6,000 followers in 2 years., and we have made some wonderful friends and family along the way.
Pricing:
- Virtual Dumpling Experience (Starting at $50 per person)
- In-Person Dumpling Experience (Starting at $69.99 per person)
- Min Purchase of $800 (Friday and Saturday)
- Min Purchase of $600 (Off Peak)
Contact Info:
- Email: info@dumplingdudez.com
- Website: www.dumplingdudez.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dumplingdudez/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dumplingdudez
Image Credits
Dumpling Dudez
