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December 13, 2023

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Gong Grocer by Thai Kee is a family-owned and operated Asian grocery business with a legacy spanning over 30 years. In this article, Brian Nguyen, one of the co-founders and a Director of Gong Grocer, shares insights with Asian Hustle Network.

Brian’s family is well-known in the Sydney community for their Thai Kee roots. Their journey originated with their grandfather, Thai Trinh, the esteemed namesake of the family’s original supermarket, Thai Kee. Gong Grocer represents the family’s evolutionary step, a mission to revitalize and modernize the Asian grocery shopping experience.

Brian acknowledges the shifting expectations of customers in physical in-store retail settings, and it’s their goal to meet these expectations in their new stores. As the Co-Founder and Director, Brian brings a unique blend of family tradition, personal journey, and a commitment to delivering an exceptional Asian grocery shopping experience.

A FAMILY OF IMMIGRANTS

Brian’s parents, uncles, and aunties were immigrants who fled Vietnam during wartime. Striving for a new life, they left behind everything in pursuit of opportunities in Australia.

Australia’s policy of multiculturalism provided a unique chance for Brian’s family and immigrants alike. The open embrace of diversity allowed families like theirs to openly celebrate their culture, thrive, and share their rich heritage with the broader community.

The origin of the name Thai Kee comes from their grandfather Thai Trinh, who they lovingly referred to as their “Ah Gong” (阿公), meaning grandfather in their dialect. He was the patriarch, and the original entrepreneur of the family. He sold Chinese donuts to supermarkets, waking up at 2 am each morning to bake them, then walking and hand delivering these donuts to supermarkets by 9 am each and every day.

THE FIRST THAI KEE SUPERMARKET

Despite limited means, Thai Trinh invested $5,000 in the first Thai Kee Supermarket in Cabramatta, providing a foundation for his children. But aside from money and most importantly, he passed onto his children a profound sense of hard work, dedication, and a deep commitment to one another, in their culture, and their community.

These values, instilled by their Ah Gong, form the cornerstone of their family’s identity. Known as “Thai” from Thai Kee to customers, to the family, he’s always been Ah Gong. 

To honor the spirit of their beloved Ah Gong, Brian and his family launched Gong Grocer by Thai Kee, or 阿公超市, paying homage to the heritage and principles instilled by their grandfather. 

FULL-TIME LAWYER TURNED ENTREPRENEUR

As Brian got older and heard more about his family’s stories, he felt a strong desire to carry on their traditions. He saw it as his mission to come up with new and interesting ways to share their culture with the diverse Chinese, Asian, and Australian communities.

Formerly a full-time lawyer, Brian Nguyen took the leap into entrepreneurship, co-founding Gong Grocer alongside his wife Wendy Lin, who herself manages her own successful business, Lioness Fashion.

Brian draws inspiration from his family’s entrepreneurial legacy, rooted in hard work, service, and dedication. The values instilled by his grandfather, Thai Trinh, continue to guide Brian in his pursuit of business excellence and cultural celebration.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

In his career and business journey, Brian Nguyen faced significant challenges, notably in time management. Gong Grocer started as a passion project for him. The transition from law to full-time business, alongside his wife Wendy Lin in Lioness Fashion, posed a wild adjustment.

Shifting from a lawyer to a business owner brought its own set of challenges. Balancing the demands of Lioness Fashion, an internationally recognized brand with immediate growth needs, and Gong Grocer, a venture built from scratch, proved to be extremely difficult. The latter involved design, planning, construction, and eventual launch and operations.

To overcome these challenges and achieve success, Brian drew inspiration from his family’s values. He doubled down on hard work and commitment, using them as guiding principles. Recognizing the need for a strong team, he leaned on his family and those around him to build a purpose-driven team that shared his vision. Together, they navigated the complexities, turning Gong Grocer into a thriving reality.

CELEBRATING GONG GROCER’S FLAGSHIP STORE

One of Brian Nguyen’s proudest achievements in this journey is the flagship supermarket store.

“Seeing the tangible transformation coming to life and physical form, from cutting out a giant hole in a concrete floor to creating a whole new level in a shopping centre, and doing this with my family no less, was incredibly rewarding,” Brian shared.

The grand opening events further highlighted the significance of the brand and its story. Brian was genuinely pleased by the support received from the community and the broader public. This positive response reflects the hard work of Brian and his family as entrepreneurs, their active role in the community, and the strong connections they have forged within the industry.

CONNECT WITH GONG GROCER / BRIAN 

Website: www.gonggrocer.com.au

Instagram: @gonggrocer

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brian-nguyen-09a067125/

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Her Father Ignored Her For 8 Months When She No Longer Wanted To Be A Doctor

This may have happened to you (maybe not the musical writing part), or you may know someone from an Asian background who is currently struggling as their parents had strongly expected or already had chosen a job for them.

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Read through as Joy shares how she has discovered her passion for comedy, and her journey to healing and acceptance through her musical.

MY WHOLE LIFE, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE A DOCTOR JUST LIKE MY PARENTS

My parents were born and raised in the Philippines. My dad grew up very poor in one of the provinces, but after scoring in the top percentage of all students across the country on an exam, he got a scholarship to a prestigious science high school in Manila that was all expenses paid. My parents met in medical school, and soon after graduating, they came to the US by way of New York. Eventually, they made their way across the country to Eagle Rock in LA and then Orange County, where I grew up. 

My whole life, I thought I was going to be a doctor just like my parents. I tried my best to be the perfect daughter. I got straight A’s and took piano lessons since I was 3 and violin lessons starting at 8. (Well, actually, I got one B+ in AP/IB Physics, but we don’t talk about that B+) I studied math outside of school at Kumon and played educational computer games because it was a productive use of my time. I read medical books my parents had lying around the house and had subscriptions to science magazines in high school, for fun.

But as I grew older, there was a part of me that was starting to love writing and making people laugh. For 7th-grade vocabulary exercises, I cared more about making my sentences funny than using the word right. My favorite part about English and Spanish group projects was writing the scripts and acting in them. I wrote bad high school poetry. But I didn’t think that was an acceptable thing to want to do with my life, so I shoved that part down, deep inside me. I did write for the school newspaper and compete in speech contests and debate teams, but that was about the extent of my (public) creative life. 

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I LOVED FEELING LIKE I COULD MAKE THE AUDIENCE LAUGH AND CRY JUST BY TELLING AN HONEST STORY

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WHITE PARENTS: A MUSICAL INSPIRED BY MY LIFE

I wrote the book and the lyrics to a comedy musical called “Supportive White Parents” about an Asian girl who tells her parents she doesn’t want to be a doctor anymore, and when they’re disappointed, she wishes on a shooting star for supportive white parents. Eventually, she learns to love her Filipino parents for who they are. My friends Sam Johnides and Tony Gonzalez wrote the music.

The musical was inspired by my life. When I told my parents I didn’t want to be a doctor like them and take over my dad’s clinic, my dad yelled at me, called me selfish, and didn’t talk to me for 8 months. I was absolutely devastated, even though I knew that making people laugh and cry was what I had been put on this earth to do. 

I felt so jealous of my white theater classmates with their seemingly endlessly supportive white parents. And funny enough, they were jealous of me because I had something called “discipline”, played multiple instruments, and knew other languages. And thus, the seed of a musical was born.

Eventually, she learns to love her Filipino parents for who they are.

-Joy Regullano

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES CAN BE ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO HEAL

There aren’t many Asian American musicals, let alone comedy Asian American musicals. One of my teachers says that comedy is the back door to the truth. I think that laughing at ourselves can be one of the best ways to heal, as well as realizing that we are not alone. 

We as a generation are going through this together, and also, we, as well as our parents, are the products of society and intergenerational trauma. We are all imperfect people who are trying the best we can with the tools we have. 

ACCEPTANCE IS THE QUICKEST WAY TO SANITY AND PEACE

I love the serenity prayer. There are some things that we can change, and we should do what we can to change those things. There are some things we can’t change, and it’ll drive you crazy trying to. You can’t control other people. You can only control yourself. The sooner you can accept other people are how they are, the sooner you’ll stop giving your energy away. 

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If what I was asking from them was to love me for exactly who I am, with all my imperfections, isn’t that what I should be giving them too?

-Joy Regullano

It’s a daily practice. But try it! After reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”, I tried to imagine that I only had one f– to give a day. How much energy would I be saving by only getting bent out of shape over the most important things!? I’m not really good at giving only one f– a day. But I’ll keep trying.

One more thing – some people need to be angry before they move to acceptance. I know I did, and I still feel angry sometimes. Accepting yourself and your feelings is part of the process too. Wherever you are in your journey is okay.

CONNECT WITH JOY

Instagram: @supportivewhiteparents @joyregullano

Twitter: @swpmusical @joyregullano

Website: www.supportivewhiteparents.com

Be on the lookout for the upcoming Supportive White Parent concept album, to be released in January 2023, with singles leading up to it! 

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