Second Life Podcast: Hannah Cheng
Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who’ve made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, cofounder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.
If you’re a foodie, you’ve likely waited in line at Mimi Cheng’s in New York. At the helm of the brand is cofounder Hannah Cheng, yet before she opened one of the most beloved—and delicious—dumpling restaurants in the city and started her frozen-food brand, Cheng was actually working at J.P. Morgan on the rates derivatives sales desk.
While working in finance, Cheng frequently brought her mother’s homemade dumplings into her office, and her coworkers begged her to share those dumplings. Realizing the demand for Taiwanese comfort food that her mother’s dumplings had created among her colleagues, Cheng and her sister decided to open a Taiwanese restaurant in 2014. They chose a location in the East Village and named the restaurant Mimi Cheng’s as an ode to their mom.
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The sisters went on to open four more restaurants in New York City, and after establishing those additional locations, they expanded into the frozen-food space, which was actually their intention from the beginning.
The founders recently made the decision to close the restaurant side of the business to focus fully on selling their frozen dumplings. Today, Mimi Cheng’s is available nationwide in major retailers such as Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, and many others.
Listen to the latest episode of Second Life to hear Cheng explain how closing the renowned restaurants actually helped the brand.
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