Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Liu.
Thomas, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started selling boba at a swapmeet in West Covina, CA. I started this just right out of high in 2012 with my girlfriend at the time. I had $70 in my pocket at the time, and I used my entire life savings in my bank to purchase supplies to start making drinks. I purchased a canopy, a table, and a small cooler. We were making boba & tea out of our house at like 4am in the morning every weekend, then taking everything down there to set-up & sell. We kind of fell in love with the process. It was a lot of work but the smiles you get to see when you serve someone our drinks is worth it. The swap meet we were selling were predominantly Filipinos, Latinos, & Hispanic. So our drinks were somewhat culturally unique to them. The best part of it was getting to educate and share a piece of my culture to people with different backgrounds. Sort of like using food & drinks to bring people together & build understanding between cultures. On the weekdays, I started delivering boba drinks. I would make them at home then deliver them all over the San Gabriel Valley.
I eventually opened my first store in West Covina called BYOB A Boba Company while in college full-time & raising two beautiful children. It was very tough running a store at the age of 21 while being married, being parents, and attending college full-time. It was definitely a recipe for disaster. My wife & I went through our lowest points during this whole journey. Being young, I wanted to party, drink, and do drugs. I was addicted to drugs & drinking for two years when all this was happening with my first store. Because of all the stress and my bad habits, I pushed my relationship with my partner to the brink. I was scared to lose my family, my kids, & my future of wanting to be a great leader. I decided to cut myself off from many of my friends. It was hell, but I got through it. I shifted my concentration on building myself up, started to read more books, & focused on building a better Boba Company.
In 2018 my wife and I were approaching my college graduation. With a less weight off our shoulders, we felt we can pursue this dream of ours. We decided that we wanted to change our concept. Something different that challenges the current boba industry. I pulled a lot of inspiration from Specialty Coffee Shops & The 3rd wave coffee industry. The artistic and carefully crafted cups of coffee with premium milk really influenced how I put my menu & concept together. That’s when we came up with Loose Leaf Boba Company. Using only the best ingredients inspired from cultures around the world & premium tea leaves. Never using artificial powders or syrups while only using the best quality milks in the market. I wanted to use this store as a way to bring people together & bridge cultures. The idea of bridging cultures started in 2012 with BYOB A Boba Co. I came to a realization that it doesn’t matter what culture or ethnic background you are from or the differences we have; We as humans all have one thing in common…Food & Drinks. So I wanted to use Boba and culturally inspired drinks to help bridge this disconnection of cultures together by sharing culture.
I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since I was in elementary school. I was the only kid in school that had a computer back in the day. So I would sell bootleg music CD’s to kids where I charged $1 a song until I got caught. I always looked up to my father. My father was an immigrant from Vietnam who escaped communism and came here with nothing. He sold illegal fireworks in high school to make ends meet. He was the only person in the family to graduate high school and attend a vocational school for automotive repair, and he has been hustling all his life. My parents were young parents raising two kids. At night they would drive around collecting cardboard boxes and newspapers to recycle. In the day, my dad would work as a mechanic until he saved up to open his first repair shop which flopped. He went on to open two more, which failed as well. But he never gave up. He finally took another leap of faith and opened up another one. It was a success at the age of 29. Seeing the similarities in the story of my parents and mine really drove me to keep grinding & hustling. It takes grit and persistence.
I want to add that I could not have done any of this without my wife who is the co-founder. She stuck with me through the darkest times.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With my first store, I had many obstacles and challenges. Being a young parent at 20 was very tough. It was definitely hard on my wife as well. We had to juggle everything. From school, to work, & to family. At the same time, I had no actual business experience with my first store. I didn’t know how to manage employees, I was late on payroll all the time, I just did not have the experience to be a business owner. At the same time, I was hooked on drugs and drinking everyday. Certainly, I was not a good leader.
With my second store, it was a very new concept. I had to do a lot of educating with my guests. Our drinks aren’t the typical Mango Slush or Strawberry Smoothie with Boba. So we had to get people accustomed to our concept. When people first came in, they were super confused or they didn’t like our drinks. But once we got them to come in a second time, they were on the hook. There was some sort of a learning/adapting curve. Natural/Real Ingredients taste a lot different from artificial syrups and powders. Over time my guests started to catch on to what we were trying to do. Change the perception of what boba is and bring light to a whole new concept.
Then the COVID-19 hit. Which hurt us really bad. We were on the path to expanding our locations & we had money tied up in certain places. We didn’t know how we were going to make payroll or rent. When the community found out they came in droves to support. They were buying gift cards, purchasing large amounts of drinks, and some even drove 2 hours to just show some love. I was very grateful. And because of the Pandemic, I realized that many people were out of jobs & kids were home. So I decided to help the community with free lunches everyday to anyone in need, no questions asked. My kids rely on the school system for breakfast and lunch and I can see that it must be really hard for many families and the community has always been there for us so we decided to make grab n go lunch bags. We gave out about 800 meals over the course of 2 months. Because of the community we were able to bounce back and we felt like we had an obligation to the community to help.
I had to pivot my business due to COVID-19. Many of our sales were coming through third party delivery apps like UBEREATS/Postmates where they take a 30% cut into every sale. As a boba shop that uses higher quality ingredients, it means our margins were already low from the start. So we had to find another way to substitute that 30% loss. I built an ecommerce business overnight with zero experience in packing, shipping , and logistics. I launched a DIY HOME BOBA KIT where people can purchase it from our online store and we ship it to them. We were one of the first 2 Boba Shops (Milk+T & Loose Leaf Boba Co.) in California to pursue this route during the Pandemic to help us sustain some sort of additional revenue stream since less people were going out. When we launched our pre-orders in late March we sold out. Over 300 boba kits in less than 48 hours. Again the community just came out to support us and so they can satisfy their boba cravings during the shutdown period. It was just amazing.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Loose Leaf Boba Company story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is all about culture and community. Culture is a very big thing to me. Learning & understanding different perspectives from people who don’t share the same background as me. There was a brief moment in my childhood where I went to a predominantly Latino & Hispanic school. I was one of the few skinny Asian kids there. Most of my friends were Mexican and their parents would always invite me over for dinner. Sharing is a big part of Mexican culture and in Latin culture. It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, yellow, or brown, if you are in their home they will feed you. They will share a piece of their culture through food. And this whole notion of sharing your culture through food with people who don’t look like you, talk like you, and dress like you isn’t so big in the Asian immigrant community. That’s what I wanted to change representing the Asian community. Every single culture in the world has one thing in common, it’s food & drinks. Go to any party or celebration and there is always food & drinks involved. Doesn’t matter where you go in the world. So I wanted to use my drinks to bring people from all backgrounds together to share, learn, & listen. That way, we can build tolerance & understanding between each other if we are different.
We sell artisan handcrafted boba drinks made with high-quality ingredients & premium sourced milk (Straus, Oatly, Califia). We make many of our bases in-house using a rice cooker, no fancy equipment. Our drinks are culturally inspired by countries around the world using unique ingredients found in certain regions. We pull inspirations from Latin America, Asia, and even American Culture. We are trying to change the perception of what boba means in American society. Boba culture has always been a big part of the Asian community since it arrived. It’s the Starbucks for many Asian Americans, the go-to spot to hang out, the third place. But Boba Culture does not have the same respect compared to Coffee Culture in America. And that’s what we aim to change. Like the 3rd wave coffee movement, we are the 3rd wave Boba Movement.
What sets us apart is our transparency in the ingredients we use with our guests & the quality of our service. We would never compromise the quality of our drinks just to make more money. Many places claim they use this or that, but when you ask them, they say it’s a secret ingredient that they can’t disclose. We want to change that and be different.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I am lucky to have a father who has instilled grit & persistence in me growing up. So I am lucky that my father is my father. I’m lucky to see him as a role model. But aside from that, I don’t believe in luck very much. We all make decisions where a consequence follows. I believe opportunities arise but if you are blind to see it then it goes away. I am a natural introvert. I’m very quiet, shy, and it takes a lot of energy for me to be around people. But what I learned through everything is I should not rely on luck but myself. I think I got to where I am now because I’m constantly putting myself out there. I’m very active on social media with my business, engaging with my followers, and doing interviews. All this makes me very uncomfortable as an introvert, but I know if I want to get somewhere I need to step out of my comfort zone. And recently in the last eight months, I’ve been constantly stepping out of my comfort zone for the sake of my business and my future. I had to rise up to the occasion and take control of the outcome that I want.
Contact Info:
- Address: Long Beach HQ:
315 The Promenade N, Long Beach CA 90802
Santa Ana – Store 2 – COMING SOON
201 E. 4th St, Santa Ana CA 92701 - Website: www.bobacompany.com
- Phone: 6263756613
- Email: [email protected]
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
