Reflections
We created this website featuring interviews with Asian American immigrant entrepreneurs. Our goal was to provide firsthand narratives that highlight the intersection of immigration, entrepreneurship, and identity. Such a pursuit is essential for advancing a holistic perspective on Asian American studies.
In our class we have witnessed how history often offers generalized or monolithic portrayals of Asian Americans. By documenting individual stories, such a website and content captures a diversity of experiences and challenges. Moreover, entrepreneurship has historically been a key path for economic mobility among Asian immigrants, especially in response to barriers in mainstream employment. Specifically, poor English skills, discrimination, xenophobia, and yellow peril notions historically confined Asian immigrants to labor, such as farmwork, on railroads, and laundry. However, many Asian immigrants also turned to entrepreneurship as a means of survival and self-determination. By establishing small businesses – such as laundromats, restaurants, and grocery stores – they created economic opportunities not only for themselves but also for their communities. Beyond economic success, the stories we discovered in this project reveal the deeper significance of Asian American entrepreneurship in shaping identity and community.
I interviewed Richard Lou, a family friend of mine, who demonstrates impressive drive and ingenuity. As a second-generation immigrant, although he was not directly afflicted by some of the aforementioned difficulties behind Asian Americans immigrating, he witnessed first-hand his parents’ encounters with them. In particular, his parents struggled with language barriers, which ultimately hindered their ability to advance their entrepreneurial endeavors. Thus, Richard and his parents’ journey highlights how intergenerational business knowledge, coupled with lived experiences of navigating language and cultural barriers, can serve as both an advantage and a challenge in the entrepreneurial process. His experience of translating for his parents and gradually assuming a leadership role demonstrates the way immigrant children often become cultural and economic bridges for their families. This is common among second-generation Asian Americans, as acknowledged in “The Making of Asian America” by Erika Lee, in which she remarks, “Learning English was one way in which Chinese learned to navigate through American life.” Furthermore, the discussion of discrimination in the construction space and the evolving landscape of racial equity in business illustrates the ongoing struggles and progress within immigrant entrepreneurship. Richard’s narrative ultimately demonstrates how Asian American entrepreneurs blend familial duty, cultural heritage, and business acumen to forge their own paths in the U.S.
Next, I interviewed two of my family members (names omitted for anonymity) who immigrated from Taiwan and sought to open a restaurant. This interview highlighted the perseverance and adaptability of immigrants, particularly in the face of language barriers and financial constraints. Moreover, their decision to transition from working as employees to owning their own business reflects a common immigrant experience – starting in low-wage jobs with limited mobility before finding ways to take control of their future. Their journey also emphasizes the importance of community connections, as the opportunity to work in a restaurant initially came from a friend. Additionally, the discussion of legal requirements reveals how navigating regulations, permits, and contracts can be challenging, yet manageable, even for those with limited English proficiency.
Their emphasis on customer service as a key contributor to success underscores how both a strong work ethic and amiable approach can help overcome cultural, linguistic, and even (on some occasions in their experience) xenophobic challenges. Their resilient story adds to our understanding of Asian American immigrant business owners by showing how economic necessity, cultural values, and determination also shape paths.
Ultimately, our website serves as a platform for amplifying voices to promote a nuanced understanding of Asian American experiences. By capturing these narratives, we contribute to a more comprehensive study of Asian American history, identity, and resilience. Asian Americans have long struggled with visibility, but the beauty of platforms like this is that they offer more than recognition—they offer connection, relation, and inspiration. Sharing our stories and to each others’ struggles give us power. And with that power, our stories will never end.
Alex Wang
The Power of Entrepreneurship: Final Reflection
AAPI communities often tend to be neglected or restricted when it comes to achieving goals because of the society restrictions that are placed upon them. The word expectations often triggers a sense of fear or frustration among Asian-American people because it carries the weight of both family and social pressures. They often feel like they are not good enough as if they owe something to the world. Expectations for Asian-Americans often include succeeding academically, developing a high income status that shows they took advantage of family sacrifices, keeping cultural roots, and pursuing a career of prestige. Most traditional Asian families believe in the idea that prestigious careers are those with high reliability and connection to academic success. Careers such as Engineering and Medicine are both popular among Asian families because of how heavily connected they are to someone being book-smart, their average income is fairly high, and most people would label them as stable and reliable careers.
However, careers such as Entrepreneurship are often being critiqued because of how unreliable they are according to traditional Asian families. When I first brought up the idea of pursuing entrepreneurship to my grandfather- an immigrant from China, he immediately asked me if I wanted to be unemployed. He laughed at me because in his eyes being an Entrepreneur meant the same as being unemployed unless I found a big company such as Youtube, Spotifty, or Facebook. This core memory is what inspired me to create my final project based on Entrepreneurship as many Asian-Americans often lack the resources or reach when it comes to having connections in the entrepreneurial world. My project is a website that has interviews of Asian-American entrepreneurs and Immigrants. By using their narratives we could create a better understanding of the complexities behind immigration, entrepreneurship, and identity. We also used their stories to inspire and motivate more people into taking risks of pursuing something out of their comfort zone. In traditional Asian families they encourage the idea of playing things safe and not taking many risks in life which is why most Asians tend to work for other people rather than being their own boss. One of the influential leaders of AAPI Entrepreneurship that Interviewed for this project was Steve Chen, co-founder of Youtube and AVOS Systems. Chen is a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur who immigrated from Taiwan to the United States at the age of eight years old. Chen experienced the different barriers that most Immigrants experience when moving to the U.S, things such as cultural differences, language barriers, and academic pressure from his parents.
When asked about his Asian heritage in the interview, Chen stated, “I think being an Asian American is both a curse and a blessing in some ways.” He mentioned that having an Asian background came with challenges but also opportunities because he felt like the challenges were his main source of motivation when reaching for success. Throughout the interview he talked about how getting out of the comfort zone and breaking societal expectations allowed him to become the person that he is now. He dropped out of college before graduating to pursue his technology passion by working at paypal, and also pursued a work career that it’s not considered reliable in most Asian traditional families. Similarly, this idea of stepping out of the comfort zone and taking risks reminded me of one of the course materials, Manari. How the family decided to leave everything behind in Korea to take the risk of building a farm and pursue the American dream.
My Entrepreneurship project relates to the main theme of the course because it encourages AAPI communities to break societal expectations, get out of their comfort zone, and take higher risks in life. All of these things are contradictory in traditional Asian culture which explains why most of us are considered generic in our societies. We are often criticized because we always end up pursuing the same life careers, working for the same people, and being at a high comfort level all the time. In traditional Asian culture we are taught to follow generational patterns which is what holds us back from becoming successful. Asian role models that we look up to such as Jeremy Lin, Jackie Chang, Son Heung-min are well respected in our societies because they have the ability of breaking societal expectations and sacrificing their comfort for their success.
ROdrigo Chon Him