Meet Kaman Loi (KM), Founder and Owner of Milk Tea Lab
Hello, my name is KM. At age 9, my family bought me to a Milk Tea place when we were traveling in China.
It was one of the happiest moments of my childhood time, the experience of that day was unforgettable.
The first time tasting the Boba drink was such a fun and new experience for me.
Popping the straw into the cup was satisfactory and tasting the boba texture for the first time was amazing.
Later on, I moved to the USA from Macau, it was sad news for me because I have to separate from my family and boba drinks.
However, things changed at age 13, there was a Boba shop opened up nearby my high school.
I was super excited and went there every day after school with my friends.
The times at the Boba shop reminded me of all of my happy memories and moments with my family in China.
And there was a day, I told myself, I will have a Boba shop one day and let others be able to create their own memories at my shop.
And that’s how our slogan started “A place to make memories”
There were a lot of challenges and struggles along the way in opening my first shop, saving up for the first investments was not easy.
Fortunately, I have made enough money on my trading investment and different part-time jobs during my college times.
I purposely chose a different kinds of milk tea shops for my part-time jobs, I learned a lot of experience and ideas from my time working.
Then I started my first location in Pleasant Hill, California in 2016.
Unfortunately, The struggles did not stop here, because of my lack of experience, most of my savings were scammed by contractors.
I still remember the times I have to work from 9 am to 4 am and end up sleeping in my car for the first month because I did not have enough money to hire enough workers.
Because of non-stop hard work and new ideas, it did pay really well in the end. My shop became the most popular store in town, our business was phenomenal.
Because of the success of this first shop, a lot of great opportunities have popped up, I was offered to partner up with lots of great people.
Now, I can give back to my community and also create a lot of memories for others. My dream has been fulfilled, and I am ready to take the next step with you!! 🙂