Today we’d like to introduce you to Eunice Park.
Hi Eunice, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My dad worked in the Korean rice cake industry for over 15 years. About ten years ago, my dad took ownership of our current Korean rice cake store called Lucky Rice Cake (also known as Bok Duk Bong in Korean). I was exposed to the Korean rice cake world in my early teenage years. I started out by shadowing my dad and helping him at the store on busy weekends when needed on top of my career as a clothing designer. About five years ago, my dad suffered from an ischemic stroke impairing his right side of his body. He was hospitalized for about a week and could not use his right hand. I quit my career and stayed beside him everyday throughout his hospitalization and at our rice cake store.
During this time at the store, I started to get creative and modernize our Korean rice cakes. We combined my dad’s and my ideas together to formulate beautiful hand-piped bean paste floral rice cakes, cupcakes, and other unique rice cakes. We started to cover all aspects of Korean rice cakes from traditional to modern. My dad and I took this hard time as an opportunity grow together. About a half a year later, my dad was able to re-learn about 75% of his function of his right hand. Then, I started my career again starting part-time and easing back into full-time hours while helping my dad run the store. I worked two jobs (my career and the store) for five years. It was tiring and hard yet fulfilling as I was able to spend time with my dad and was able to create beautiful things together for our customers. We didn’t just create rice cakes but lasting memories.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was not always a smooth road as we faced many obstacles physical, emotional, and financial hardships throughout running our small business. We had to learn how to make difficult decisions and set boundaries for our livelihood. My dad and I spent late nights together (sometimes all-nighters) during high-peak seasons. He would wait for me to end work on Friday nights so we can prep together for the weekend. As Korean rice cakes are made fresh and steamed every morning with shelf life of only 24 hours, all the prep happens 24-48 hours prior and we only have the same morning to be able to fulfill all our orders. We cannot make it a day or two before and sell it the next day. That is one of the hard parts yet beautiful nature of our Korean rice cakes and makes it so much more special and appreciative when eating it. Overall, running a small business is not easy in many ways. However, with the help from my family especially my mom, friends, vendors, and clients we were able to overcome these obstacles together (and still is overcoming).
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Lucky Rice Cake is a family-owned local small business that specializes in Korean rice cakes known as “Dduk” in Korean. We offer event Korean rice cakes, favors, kimbab (Korean rice roll) catering, single-take outs, and shikhye slush (Korean rice punch slush). We are best known for providing variety of Korean rice cakes from traditional to modern for events such as “Dohl” (Korean 1st birthday), “Baek-il” (100 days), Weddings, Birthdays, Funerals, to any special and casual day. We make our rice cakes from scratch starting from the actual rice that we grain it to flour ourselves in our very own kitchen. We do not take any short-cuts and have a long experience making heart-warming rice cakes. We take pre-orders for event inquiries 1-8 weeks prior via our website (www.luckyricecake.com) upon availability. All orders and invoices are conveniently designed to be inquired and paid online by email so that you can safely stay at home while planning your special event.
Currently, we are not taking walk-in consultations due to COVID. Since Korean rice cakes are made fresh and steamed every morning, we prioritize our rice cakes for pre-orders. We do have some variety of rice cakes and kimbab available everyday at our store for purchase for our walk-in customers. However, it is a first come first serve basis as we do not make more after the rice cakes have been sold for the day. We are located in the heart of Koreatown, Los Angeles and our community and clients are like our family who are very supportive. We have clients coming from all over the city from both near and far. It’s encouraging to see my client’s family grow throughout the years. I get to witness client’s wedding, baby shower, baby’s 100 days, 1st birthday celebrations. When clients come back to celebrate their 2nd baby and so on, it’s really fulfilling. I would get toddlers walking into our store to visit me with their parents and it’s so amazing that I was able to be a part of their special days when they were just 100 days and one year old. When parents send me their pictures of how their special event went, it’s the best feeling ever.
What’s next?
We have launched our website for online pre-ordering system early last year to manage COVID times. We are striving to make improvements and upgrade every chance we get. We hope to make immediate pick-ups and deliveries happen sometime in the near future with new items. My dad passed away from a heart attack on 12/15/2020 after a long battle for recovery in the hospital since 11/8/2020. It definitely has not been not the easiest journey personally but my dad still lives with me in my heart and he’s watching over me from above. I have decided to continue his legacy and make him proud. Our store is not just any business but it has a very deep meaning for me and many people over the long years we have been in business. We have a very strong support system including clients, vendors, neighbors, friends, and families. We will not be here without them right now. Influenced from my dad’s long years of experience, love, and guidance, I will continue to serve the best Korean rice cakes to our customers for all special occasions. My dad and my goal was and is still is to reach all diverse communities and generations continuing to raise awareness through the common love of Korean Rice Cakes.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.luckyricecake.com
- Instagram: @designbyeunice & @luckyricecake
- Yelp: Lucky Rice Cake
Image Credits
@woongleee @elainechangphotography @shinkfieldstudio @laniohye @elo_mama
