Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Nguyen
Hi Jennifer , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hi, my name is Jennifer Nguyen founder and owner of Mochimas. My business was started during the summer of 2020 as a source of income to support my little family. I always had a sweet tooth, hence, the love for baking. For as long as I could remember, I would search for new recipes on online to try, I’d go to bookstores to look at cookbooks, I’d buy myself cookbooks – I just love to eat and bake!
My husband was working a full-time position to 1-2 days per week depending on company’s business needs during covid. Like many, I was unemployed and we started using our savings to pay our bills. I knew I had to think of something quick to support my family then I noticed there was a popularity of sold baked goods on social media such as cookies and cakes. Instantly, I knew I can do the same; brainstorming what to bake was a challenge. I wanted to offer some sort of baked goods that is not commonly seen, yet familiar and will spark an interest for customers to come back for more.
Starting a business is so foreign to me, but I had to try for my family. I remember recipe testing, testing production time and what would make sense for me – this is when my recipe “accident” became my business success. Trying to recurrent a mochi dessert that I had in the Bay a couple years prior to covid with no insights of ingredients or bake time, I created what I call a mochi tart. Which is nothing like what I was trying to recreate. Friends and family loved our mochi tarts. We started selling them and soon after I knew I wanted bake mochi so I decided to specialize in Hawaiian butter mochi. Which I already made in the past for office potlucks and family gatherings. What wasn’t seen yet is Hawaiian butter mochi in different flavors or forms – blondies, brownies, cakes. As I did more research, most if not all baked or fried mochi products at the time contained wheat. This is when I made the decision to keep my products gluten-free and nut free.
We’ve been so blessed to collaborate with brands like Sapporo Beer for a special launch with tattoo artist Tokyo Hiro. A 3-year collaboration with Matcha Bloom Tea, a special vegan matcha mochi blondie using no refined sugar for their farmers market every Saturday. Celebrated BOPOMOFO’s 5th anniversary at their first location in SVG. It’s so humbling to have met well known chefs, successful entrepreneurs in the industry through varies events and to see other small businesses grow. The friendships I’ve made through this journey has been incredible. Like any job, I also have great days and not so pleasant days. I believed in myself, my products, the quality of love and labor that goes into each baked goods and I kept pushing myself to do better each year – I never gave up.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Owning and running your own business definitely has its challenges, which I’ve struggled with throughout my business journey. Some I had no control over while other times were based on my decisions. I learned and asked questions with those who were willing to help me along the way. As we gained more exposure, I knew I needed to get properly licensed and permitted to expand my small business. I did some research on how to obtain state licenses and health permits, but didn’t know where to start applying. One challenge led to another, I decided to hire an attorney to help take care of the legal aspect of the business and it was one of the best decisions. It gave me peace of mind knowing I’ve obtained all the proper documents to start my business.
In addition, a constant struggle is spending quality time with my family of four. As a business that solely does pop-ups and markets on the weekends, it’s difficult to spend quality time with my daughters on the days they are off from school. I sacrificed countless hours of family time for work because I want to build my brand, create a name for myself and knowing that I have amazing baked goods I want people to know what we have to offer in hopes that one day this will pay off. I’m beyond thankful for my mom for the love and care as she gives my daughters when I’m not able on a weekly basis.
The list of challenges can go on, but my biggest struggle yet is when my husband sustained a knee injury earlier this year and hasn’t full covered yet (as of now). All the weight fell on my shoulders from being his care giver around the clock, taking him to multiple doctor visits within the week (sometimes a couple doctor appointments within the day), caring for two young children and house chores – all while trying run my business. The early stages of his injuries was physically, mentally and emotionally a lot for me to bare. It also became a financial issue for us because I couldn’t take on as many events as I normally would. I’ve cried a few times (alone) to release these emotions I kept inside for months and it felt great. With the encouragement of the community, friends and family I took one day at a time. As a small business owner with no staff, I couldn’t call in “sick” or use paid vacation. Due to my husband’s injury, I quickly realized how much work I take on with limited family time so I reevaluated my goals for the upcoming year. I set goals each year for my business and have met each goal except one in 2023, which was move into a bigger kitchen space. I try to save as much on overhead as I possibly can. Going into 2025, I am ready to expand my business further. I have set bigger goals for my business and I’m excited to see where this journey continues to take us.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Mochimas?
Mochimas specializes in Hawaiian butter mochi inspired baked goods that’s gluten-free and nut free with select vegan options. You can find us at pop-up events in LA and Orange County as well as The District Farmers Market in Tustin, CA on Sundays. Mochimas offers catering services for any occasion – birthdays, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, graduations or just because. We try to make all our components from scratch while avoiding food dyes and artificial flavors. Our flavors are influenced by our upbringings, travels, heritages (I’m Vietnamese and my husband is Filipino) and local food businesses in the industry. Some familiar flavors we offer includes cinnamon mochi banana bread, dark chocolate mochi brownie, peach crumble mochi (seasonal) to strawberry buttermilk mochi muffin (seasonal). A few unique items on our menu are mochi cornbread, turon mochi muffin, black sesame mochi bar (topped with black sesame caramel), tangerine kumquat mochi muffin and the purple mochi muffin with haupia – to name a few. As mentioned, I am known for my mochi tarts. The mochi tart is an explosion of textures and flavors. It’s slightly crispy, custardy with a thin layer of mochi all baked together with notes of vanilla and coconut. Our mochi tart is delicate and is loved by so many. On rotation, we also offer them in various flavors such as earl grey, jasmine tea, black sesame, matcha, elderflower, and rosewater. Not only we have great products, but I also believe our excellent customer service is what sets us apart.
I’m so proud of every item on our menu because so much thought goes into each product and the love we pour into it. I’m proud of my resilience. All the lessons, the wins, the immense support from our community and the people we’ve met along the way has gotten us where we are today. We care deeply for our AAPI community and youth so throughout the years we’ve participated in several fundraisers and have donated our baked goods to various charities as a way to give back.
Thank you for reading this far. Thank you to those who have supported us through the years whether you’ve purchased from us, follow us on Instagram, liked our posts/stories or stopped by to say hi. Thank you to my amazing customers for your continued support; our relationship have blossomed into friendships and I cherish each one of you. Thank you to those who traveled from San Diego, the Bay and even other states to try our baked mochi. Please know I’m always grateful for you!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the diversity in LA and OC where you can find amazing food anywhere you go. You can find elevated Vietnamese food in West Hollywood or discover delicious foods from mom-and-pop restaurants. There are always opportunities for upcoming small businesses to thrive. The food and beverage industry here offers so much authentic and fusion foods they each make it their own. There’s endless tea/boba shops, amazing and inventive ice cream stores, premium chocolate, different styles of pizzas and burgers – the lists goes on. The dilemma is what to choose to eat.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mochias/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mochimas-lake-forest?osq=Desserts
- Other: https://linktr.ee/mochimas
