Hiii! :) I'm Kissa and welcome to our blog. I'm a die hard Friends fan, Apple enthusiast, biz start-up specialist, and wife. By passion and profession I'm a stationery lover, graphic designer, and iPhone & iPad case designer! This blog is our little piece of internet real estate and is about the company that my husband and I own and all the fun things in between. Hope you enjoy!
So let me lay the land for you a little bit, set the landscape of what it was like in Los Angeles 10 years ago. 2008 was quite the transitional time where the Information Age was really just beginning to be for everyone. The first iPhone was released a year before, cell phones started becoming more than just devices to call people with, and cell phone data plans were starting to become part of the norm. Friendster and Myspace were the talk of the town and Facebook was coming onto the scene as the next big thing.
Ninong’s in 2008
When Ninong’s first opened its doors in 2008 we didn’t know how much social media would effect our culture. Short version of the story – it did, big time. Back then when we talked about our marketing plan (which was very little) we always talked about “traditional” forms of advertising like print ads and word of mouth. Print advertising costed a fortune and word of mouth was working but not fast enough. We opened in a very scary time in our economy, we didn’t realize it at the time. We were panicking, running out of operating funds, and didn’t know what to do.
Out of sheer panic I decided to put Ninong’s online. We had a website, but we needed more. I put us on Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, Foursquare, Yelp, pretty much anywhere I could list our business for free. Almost immediately, we saw a slight spike in traffic. We were all amazed! People were using the internet to find our business and people outside of our friends circle were coming to our place. It was obvious that internet marketing was where we needed to be. It’s where all businesses needed to be. After all, internet marketing was free and “free” was more our language lol!
LA has changed a lot over the last 10 years
When I think about examples of how social media has effected the Los Angeles food scene I immediately think of Kogi truck. They were the first food truck of its kind, setting themselves apart from the trucks we were used to that sold breakfast burritos (not knocking on those trucks, they were good too!). They would utilize the power of Twitter and tell their audience where the truck would park next. People were eating it up, literally and figuratively! People were signing up for Twitter accounts just to find out where they would be next. When you got to their truck the line would be wrapping around blocks. The rest is LA Food Scene History!
Kogi’s success, our business’s success, and so many others is living proof of how social media has effected and changed the Los Angeles food culture. Without social media our business would not be where it is today. You don’t need a ballin’ budget to pay for advertising like you did back then (though it obviously doesn’t hurt). Being true to yourself, creating a brand, and cultivating your tribe is what holds true. Small businesses, us small time entrepreneurs, and passionate people have a chance to be seen now. The places we endearingly call “mom and pop shops” are the new thing. We have an opportunity to grow like never before.
In the 10 years my family has owned our restaurant we’ve noticed many trends with the large amounts of people we interact with on a daily basis. The number 1 thing I know is we are so blessed to meet and encounter wonderful people in our community every day. It’s a privilege and a blessing to be able to share our family recipes with others! We’re thankful for them beyond measure. But on the other side of it I noticed the entitlement and lack of manners in our society.
I’ve become almost numb to the way people treat me, my family, and my team as people that work laborious jobs. Almost. When I see people treat others disrespectfully it really bothers me. Being in various customer service and restaurant industries I’ve been talked to badly just because of my role or position they think I’m in. I’ve seen it at other places too, as a customer observing the employees being barked at by other customers. I’m honestly not sure what people are thinking when they see servers, cooks, janitors, sales people, etc. and automatically assume we are beneath them. There’s this sense of hierarchy that I guess I didn’t realize was there. People have snapped their fingers at me like I’m their maid (which should never be done to a cleaning person or anyone btw). People have ignored me completely because they think I’m not in a position that is worthy of attention. People have treated and talked to me differently just because I’m serving people food or bussing a table.
I mean even if I am a server, a cook, a cleaning lady, or a dishwasher, so what? My “status” is irrelevant. What makes me so different that people think they can talk to me rudely? Cuz they can’t, they shouldn’t. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. More importantly, don’t let anyone have that much power over you.
I realized that this issue transcends a lot of industries. It’s sad that out of 98% of the people that are kind and respectful the 2% have enough power to make someone’s day or life miserable. We can’t let them have this kind of control. I say enough is enough!
I’m saddened for our society and what I’ve noticed. I watch the news and see more disrespect and hate toward each other than ever before. I see it online and in social media. I see the comments on people’s feeds, posts, and videos that are racist, sexist, prejudiced. People can’t respectful disagree with each other. I see it in my restaurant too. I hear people talking about how they don’t want to speak to a relative or friend anymore because of differing lifestyles, beliefs, and political views. Where is the grace? Where are the manners? Where is the love for our neighbor? Do we really live in a time where there are people that take time out of their lives to be mean and spread hate in this world because it makes them feel better about themselves? It’s unfortunate. I vowed that I would never be that customer or that person.
If you’re that shining light in people’s lives then you can make someone’s day brighter. You can give them that little push they might need to get through the day. It’s not easy to always be positive or see the good. I know it’s probably easier to gossip, troll, or be mean. There are times that LAWD KNOWS I’ve wanted to go. off! They are so lucky I’ve learned to hold my tongue and just show people some grace. I don’t want to revolve my life around negativity and find gratification in putting someone else down. Who would want that? Who would want to be the person that no one wants to be around because they’re so negative? I’m a firm believer that 1 person can make a difference. Working on this side of customer service has taught me so much about gratitude, kindness, grace, and manners. You can be that 1 person it someone’s life and not even know it. You can make an impact in a good way. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I had dinner with one of my best friends a while back. While we were driving to our favorite sushi spot I asked her to grab my purse from the back seat. She reclined her seat and suddenly said, “WOW! What do you have in there?! Your purse is like 20 lbs!”
I’m admittedly one of those ladies that just has everything in her purse. I have the hardest time using small bags because I’m always worried I might need something while I’m out and not have it on me. I end up having everything under the sun in my purse lol!
I have a large bulky wallet with every active card I have. This is including my library card which I don’t even need on my person because I borrow library books online. I even have my Vegas rewards cards. WHY?!
I have a zipper pouch that has all my cosmetics which is pretty normal. But I also have a bottle of allergy medicine (yes a whole bottle), melatonin, and green tea pills. Like I’m going to need melatonin while I’m out LOL! I should really take that out of my purse.
I have my iPhone and iPad. When I was using a paper planner I had that in my bag too, but thankfully I’ve migrated my planner to my iPad.
I have a spare battery to charge my iPhone and iPad in case I’m out and about and am running low on battery. I rarely use this, TBH, unless I’m traveling. I should take this out of my purse too.
I also have a zipper pouch with charging cables in it – lightning cable, micro USB, and Apple Watch.
I’ve got other random but needed stuff hand sanitizer in there, sun glasses, hand lotion, wipes, business cards, receipts, keys, headphones, etc. I actually found cold medicine in there too. I can’t get myself to take it out haha!
Clearly I could do better about lightening up the load in my purse lol! Having to carry this much weight is actually pretty annoying. I just can’t help myself. I’m such a “what-if” person. I’m always scared that I’m going to be somewhere and I won’t have something I need.
Despite my purse hoarding issues there are things that I use every day that I definitely can’t live without (besides my phone and iPad). Here are 5 of my current every day essentials:
Tinted lip balm
Hand lotion
Wipes
Mirror
Allergy medicine
Maybe that should be one of my goals for next month, get a smaller purse and lighten up my load. What do you think?