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1066: Irene Li Co-Owner of Mei Mei Dumplings

Published 2 years, 5 months ago
Description

Irene Li is the co-owner of Mei Mei Dumplings in Boston, MA. Irene grew up in Boston in a Chinese-American family where food was always paramount. She realized her love for cooking while attending Cornell. She and her brother and sister opened Mei Mei Street Kitchen, a food truck, in 2012. In 2018, Irene bought out her co-owner siblings in order to take full control of the business and take it in a new direction, a direction dedicated to identifying and addressing food injustice. She soon realized that dumplings were the most popular item on the menu, and doubled down on that item. Today she sells dumplings wholesale and at farmer's markets, and holds cooking classes. She is also an advocate for policy change regarding restaurants and food injustice within Boston and the Commonwealth.

Favorite success quote/mantra:
  • "Generosity and the abundance mindset. We can share things because it's not pie."

In this episode we will discuss:

  • Food injustice
  • Food trucks
  • Creating educational cooking classes
  • NUMBERS!
  • Wholesale
  • Selling your product at farmer's markets
  • Open book management
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