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Best Friends are Hard to Come By

This blog has been silent for the past couple weeks. I just couldn’t get myself to write anything. I’ve been thinking about why, and I think it’s been because every time I write something it seems to make things concrete, more real. Maybe I just wasn’t ready to face the fact that this is now our reality. See 2 weeks ago, I lost my best friend.

Missed my boy

Best friends are so hard to come by. My friend shared with me a metaphor for friendship that has really stuck with me, “Would you have 100 pennies or 4 quarters?” Personally, I want 4 quarters. I’m the type that loves people. I have this want, this passion for connecting with others. I treat my friends like I do my family, something that my mom instilled in me at a young age. As an only child, my friends growing up were like sisters to me. My high school and college friends became family. In 2004, Charlie adopted our first dog Baxter and instantly became part of our family. 

Charlie adopted this cutie from the local shelter. I never visited the shelter he was from but Charlie told me that he was the dog that would hide and shiver in the back corner when he saw people walking by. Baxter actually had a brother in the same kennel as him, and you can tell his brother was the alpha dog. This boy needed a home, a home that would love him. So the day after Christmas in 2004, we brought him home.

Baxter wasn’t the friendliest dog when it came to people. He was extremely territorial and protective. But when he knew you weren’t a threat, he was your best friend for life. He loved you with all his heart and would cry for a good 5 minutes whenever you’d come home. He was a healthy dog and aside from his yearly shots we never had to take him to the vet. He loved the finer things in life like a good steak or salmon. He loved a good treat or toy and would cry as he was walking around with it because he loved it so much and didn’t know what to do with it.

He was my best friend. He would comfort me and kiss my tears when he saw me crying. I would talk to him about all kinds of things, as if he could understand the complexities of life. He would keep me company when Charlie wasn’t home. He would lay next to me while I work, watch TV, eat, pretty much as long as I’m home we were inseparable.

Look at these cute pups relaxing in the sun!

At the ripe old age of 15, we had to put him to sleep. I can’t believe it has been 2 weeks since we had to say goodbye. Poor Evee, I feel like she’s been struggling with it the most. She loved Baxter, absolutely adored him. Our family of 4 (Charlie, me, Baxter, and Evee) is now a family of 3 and we’re continuing to adjust as we try to move forward. We’re trying to find what the new daily routine will now be like.

Every day has been a struggle for the past 2 weeks, but every day it gets a little less hard. I can’t really say better, the hurt continues but we try to take it day by day.

I miss you, Baby Boy! You changed our lives for the better, and we had 15 wonderful years with you. I’m glad we were able to give you a home, a family that loved you. I hope we enriched your life as much as you did ours.

xoxo,

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Entrepreneur Diaries – Apple Keynote Reactions

Yesterday, Apple hosted their annual event at the Steve Jobs Theatre and announced some new upgrades to their iPhone and Apple Watch. While I live Tweeted some of the event and the things I’m personally excited for, what I was really hoping for an iPad upgrade. But, I digress. Let’s talk about the new things coming to the iPhone and Apple Watch that I personally think are worth talking about.

The Apple Watch Series 4 comes with a hardware upgrade inside and out, allowing us to have more screen and more power on our wrist. We all kinda watch these Keynotes to see how much updated hardware they can fit into our devices right? So a hardware upgrade is to be expected. Quite honestly, I do love my Apple Watch I admittedly don’t use it enough. I used to use it all the time cuz I was more active. I used to walk 3 miles a day, work out 4 times a week, but not so much since we opened the new location. While I’m not rushing to the store to buy a series 4, my hope is more compatibility and apps available for the Apple Watch. I’d love to see ways we can make our watches part of our productivity workflow!

Ok, now let’s get to the meat and potatoes – the iPhone XS.

First, let’s talk about the name. IDK what’s wrong with me but to say “iPhone ten x-max” is a tongue twister! I even misspelled it while typing just now lol!! Just me?!

So as expected, this puppy gets a new hardware upgrade. Biggest upgrade – 2 sizes. A 5.8″ and 6.5″ Super Retina OLED Display to choose from. I won’t bog you down with the tiny details, you can go to the Apple website for that.

Source: apple.com

The things I’m most excited for? In no particular order…

  1. Better water resistance. Up to 2 meters for 30 minutes.
  2. Better photo. Once again, I won’t bore you with the details.  Feel free to read those specs on the Apple website. I’m excited for better bokeh, better low light photos, and Smart HDR. I mean, we’ll have to see how much better it is, especially compared to the iPhone’s competitors but I’m sure it’ll be better than what I’ve got.
  3. But the thing I’m excited for the most? Better video quality. I use my iPhone as my main camera for both my blog and YouTube channel so this is a really important one for me. I’m trying to get better and dip my toe deeper into video. Since I don’t have the budget for a high quality camera, my phone’s going to have to upgrade. Big time.

So, the ultimate question. Which one am I getting – the XS, XS Max, or XR? I’m going to probably go with the XS. I can’t make any promises, but for me the determining factor was the size of the phone. Since I have such small hands I don’t need size, I need portability. Which one are you getting?

xoxo,

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Entrepreneur Panel Recap – Branding and Target Market

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in a panel of fellow entrepreneurs in the food industry. It was hosted by the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles and they hosted a great event! They had prepared so much valuable information ready for their guests.


I’ve been invited to more of these events recently and I really do love being part of them for 2 main reasons. One, because I believe in the idea of sharing. Sharing experiences and lessons to help others without any expectation of a return is something I’m extremely passionate about. Second, I learn so much from these events too. It’s easy to think that you know everything there is to know, but once you realize that as humans we should never stop learning these types of events become a great opportunity not just for your audience but for you as well.

There were a couple key things that I wanted to share that I observed and took away from that event. I actually touched on this in one of my podcast episodes. But before I do that let me lay the land a bit and set the scene for you. When I walked in I checked in and met the point of contact for the event, Lois. Everyone was very welcoming and it was being hosted at a meeting room in a Van Nuys civic building and there were seats for about 60ish people. My fellow panelists were around a similar age group and upbringing as me, and our audience was mostly older. I share this because it has significance in my observation, not to be an asshole lol! More on that in a second.

During the event, there was a lot of talk about how businesses should appeal to Millennials as they (we) are becoming the largest consumer group. A lot of the questions the audience were how businesses could appeal to that generation. I think all of us panelists were in agreement that what should be more important is that businesses should understand and know who their target market is, and communicate to them in a way that is genuine and adds value to their lives. But one thing that wasn’t said is something I think is important to point out:

If Millennials aren’t your target market, you don’t need to change it.

What should be the focus of any business should be to speak to their target market, whether that’s Millennials, Baby Boomers, or a segment thereof. Changing your target market because of majority will not do anything for your business. Identifying who can best use your product or service will drive the most results.

Ok, now that it’s out there another thing I wanted to bring up that was also discussed at the panel was branding. I think that branding and target market are directly related and it’s something that people have a hard time wrapping their head around.

I came from a marketing and graphic design background, and I’ve observed that in the time that I’ve learned what a “brand” was its definition and way to share it has changed. In the past, people have associated brands with big companies like Nike or Target. The way we thought about marketing has changed drastically in the last 15 years and because of this the idea of brands have changed. A small business can have a brand, an individual can have a brand. The way we communicate as a brand has now changed. What used to be for large corporations is now very applicable to anyone and everyone.

The thing that large corporations like Nike and Target got right was they knew who would be shopping and they focused on that. As small businesses trying to make a living for ourselves a common misconception is that everyone is a customer. This is completely false, and I can’t stress this more.

Now that social media has become a big part of our marketing plans, smaller businesses have more potential and reach than ever! I think this forced the idea of brands forming on a smaller scale, giving us little guys the potential for things that we might have never thought possible.

Which brings me back to the generational gap statement that I made earlier. I’ve observed that most people that ask me this question are more seasoned, older entrepreneurs. When my family first started our restaurant in 2008 there was a lot of transition happening. My family just wanted customers, they wanted sales but didn’t know how to get them. They tried to appeal to everyone and tried to do everything. But that was the biggest mistake.

When I came to Ninong’s full time I made a decision to rebrand and create our ideal customer. I know their age, where they shop, how much they make, where they work, where they spend their spare time, etc. When I did this, the puzzle pieces started falling into place and our business began to gain traction.

Once I saw that identifying my target audience was working I took it a step further. I envisioned what my customer would want to see and slowly but surely (because of budget restrictions) improve to create that experience that I know they would enjoy. To this day, I continue to strive to better that experience as I learn and grow.

This is something that I want entrepreneurs, old an young to know. I think the hardest thing for people to realize is that the more specific you are the more success you will start to see. The more your hone in the more customers you’ll get because you’re communicating to those in need. I know it’s almost illogical to think that way, but trust me! Focus on your target market, whoever that may be, and you’ll see the change.

xoxo,