Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Kim and Sam Hong.
Hi Josh and Sam, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hey! We’re Sam and Josh, and we’re the founders of Softies Burger.
Softies started about a year ago with one phone call – “Hey, do you want to make burgers together?”
Although we both work full-time tech jobs, we’re hospitality guys at our core. Sam worked in coffee for roughly nine years, opening up cafes in Los Angeles and San Diego. Josh also worked in coffee and operated a Korean meal kit service called sonmat with his mom.
Our jobs pay the bills, but they weren’t scratching our itch to serve others and work with our hands. We started Softies as a way to be able to connect with our community through our first love – food and hospitality.
Our vision for Softies is to create burgers that are familiar but unique; classic but new. Ultimately, something that is memorable and craveable.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not, but when is life ever a smooth road?
There are of course, the “starter-pack” challenges of starting a business – figuring out business licenses, LLC formation, etc. – but our biggest obstacle is mainly ourselves. We are never satisfied, constantly thinking of ways to improve efficiency and wait times for our guests while keeping the quality of our burgers top of mind.
The hardest part about running Softies is balancing our full-time jobs with the week-of planning for an event. We shop for ingredients, food prep, coordinate staffing and make sure we market the event well on IG – all after a full day’s work (ok… maybe during work sometimes, but don’t tell our bosses!). It’s taxing on the body and mind, but the moment service starts and we start meeting and serving our guests, it really is all worth it.
To be honest, this industry and Softies specifically is a bit masochistic. It hurts… but we enjoy it so much.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Smash burgers are having a “moment,” so we thought that it would be fun to apply our own twist to a universally loved food. How do you make a burger better? It’s perfect already.
The foundation of our burger is inspired by the Oklahoma-style smashed burger, with sauces, textures, and flavors that taste familiar yet unique.
As for our name… “Softies” came from Stephen, a friend of ours, after weeks of workshopping some (pretty bad) names. He said that at the end of the day, we’re just a couple of mama’s boys – aka softies. (If you know either of us, you’ll know that this is so… so true.)
The name also made sense since the Oklahoma-style smash burger is typically known for its super soft potato rolls. We fell in love with the idea of naming our pop-up after our emotional state – how silly is that? It’s a fun and catchy name, and we love that the word “softies” has been said so many times within our community. It’s okay to be a softie sometimes.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
(Josh) A story I hold onto is when my dad took me to In-N-Out because I won an award in elementary school, but our family was so poor that he couldn’t afford to get me a meal. Obviously, I wasn’t aware of this at the time, I was just happy to have a burger. I think starting Softies is full circle in that sense.
(Sam) In junior high, my best friend and I would look forward to going home after school to make ourselves an early dinner snack. One of our favorite things to make was a breakfast sandwich made with Texas-style garlic toast, fried egg, and crispy fried Spam topped with a melted slice of Kraft yellow American cheese (the best), with a bottle of Tabasco on the side. Maybe this is the Softie origin story!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.softiesburger.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softiesburger/
Image Credits
David Rho
