Meet Beyah del Mundo of Milk+T / Bobawasted in Little Tokyo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Beyah del Mundo.

Beyah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Manila, Philippines and moved to LA when I was 12 years old. Growing up, my parents set an example of what real hard work looks like. Surrounded by my mom who ran our family restaurant in Manila and my dad who had his own dental practice, I was exposed to the entrepreneurial lifestyle since birth. I say ‘entrepreneurial’ because that’s what we say here in America. But in the Philippines, it’s called survival.

When I moved to LA in 2004 and up until I was 19 years old, our family lived the life of an illegal immigrant. Our first year here was… nothing like it. We lived in someone’s laundry room/back house. The place was so tiny, but the American dream wasn’t. We were stripped away from all the luxurious things we had back ‘home’. I remember getting food from the food bank every Wednesdays, taking furniture donations from church members, and even collecting cans on the street with my mom as we walk down the main street of La Crescenta. That’s in a nutshell.

In high school, I did the only thing I knew which is be the most badass chick in the block. I excelled in swimming, water polo, marching band, Latin jazz band, jazz big band, and art – that’s just naming a few. My accolades couldn’t be ignored. Had I been your child at that time, you knew I was going places.

Well, when senior year came, I auditioned as a drummer/percussionist at USC. Favored, I was accepted. My heart was light and then reality struck. Despite of all my accomplishments throughout the years, I technically didn’t even exist in this country. That meant not having access to my dream school.

My heart was broken and I felt betrayed by life. I couldn’t fathom it. I felt like the world owed me that. At 18 years old, I learned that life doesn’t owe you anything.

After high school, I had no choice but to go to a community college. In that time, it was somewhat socially looked down upon. We were molded to think that CC’s were for those who weren’t good enough.

I found myself in a position where I feel that most young adults find themselves in – a lot of floating around and hating every job I had.

At 24 years old, I met Stacey (my business partner). At that time, I was in the early stages of planning my own boba shop. I was so reluctant on meeting her just because everyone in LA has ‘a project they’re working on’. To my surprise, I read a business plan so well put together that I couldn’t ignore it. I had to say YES to MILK+T! (Fun fact: my decision on joining Stacey heavily relied on the name of the company. I wasn’t down for a cheesy name.LOL)

In 2015, we started as a pop up and then became the World’s First Self-Serve Boba Truck to hit the streets. It was insane and I could never forget that. In 2017, we opened our first store in Little Tokyo, CA. In 2018, we opened in Beaverton, OR. Just last year, we opened our 3rd store in Las Vegas, NV!

I used to be so ashamed of my past, such as being an illegal immigrant. I didn’t want to talk about it. But nowadays, that is the first thing I share because it’s important to embrace the roads you’ve been through. Also, it sets an example for the youth that’s going through this right now. I am SO grateful ‘I had it hard’. That really shaped me to be the person that I am today. That’s how I got here today – knowing that life doesn’t owe you anything. You just have to get up and get it.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road is never smooth and the destination is overrated. The journey, however, is incredible.

When I look back at photos and videos, I always find myself saying “I can’t believe that happened.” Til this day, I’m in awe of how far we’ve come.

Recently in my life, I learned how to overcome struggles by treating it for what it is. If ‘x’ isn’t working, then let’s try ‘y’. Before, I used to ‘camp out’ in seasons where we struggled. Nowadays, I feel more of a veteran.

The first two years were the most difficult. At least for me. A lot of ‘first time’ situations happening and it was my first time around the sun. Nowadays, I find that many challenging situations are one in the same. Where there is a problem, there is a solution. Where something fails to work, there is improvement that could be made.

In light of things, I actually struggled so hard in the beginning working and socializing with introverts. The first set of employees we had were mostly introverts and I could not, for the life of me, stand it. It’s not that I don’t like introverts, at that time, I just didn’t understand ‘them’. Throughout time, I was humbled and taught to embrace people who are not the same as I am. They might not say much, but their words have weight. Because of them, I learned to approach others differently which throughout the years prove to be one of the greatest lessons of my life.

Milk+T / Bobawasted – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
MILK+T is a self-serve boba bar that originated in Los Angeles, CA. We have three locations in CA, OR, and NV specializing in honest ingredients and pushing the culture of low waste living.

According to my business partner and most people, I am ‘the face of MILK+T’. Which I find kind of silly yet makes sense since I handle our social media. I am notoriously known for showing up looking out of place, to say that lease. I’m like the game of Roulette and I tend to be predictably unpredictable. But yeah, I am the clown of the company. And I thrive in that.

On a serious note, I am the culture coach of MILK+T. I handle the ‘people-side’ of things. I love people a lot. I love training people and watching them grow. Our company overemphasizes on leadership over management. I truly believe that my time is well spent teaching others values over policies.

What I am most proud of as a company is the safe space we have created. I am proud that customers and team members feel safe coming into MILK+T. Discrimination, even at 2020, still exists. And I’m proud that we can make this world slightly brighter for others!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
You’re the only one that can measure your own success.

For me, success is where I find myself happy and content even when it’s not perfect. It’s also when you start finding yourself doing things you want to!

Contact Info:

• Address: 310 E. 2nd Street LA, CA 90012
• Website: www.milkandt.com
• Phone: 3238841164
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: milkandt
• Facebook: officialmilkandt
• Twitter: milkandt

Image Credit:
@Stephyxxs, @bigboirun33

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