Omsom Founders Are Redefining American Dining

For a lot of Americans, running to the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner is a task often taken for granted—there is comfort in knowing where to find most of your key ingredients. But for first-generation Vietnamese Americans like Kim and Vanessa Pham, it can be difficult to feel seen in mainstream grocery stores—even in the "ethnic" aisles. The entrepreneurial sisters—who were on Adweek's 2021 Young Influentials list—went on to create Omsom, a DTC food brand that offers Asian flavors by way of subscription services. With Vanessa owning all things strategy and Kim running marketing and creative, the challenger brand successfully sold out of their hero product within the first 72 hours of launch. Warned of the challenging market in the global pandemic, the Pham sisters instead found consumers were excited to bring bold Asian flavors into their meals, especially while trying to be creative in the kitchen while on lockdown. Kim and Vanessa Pham Are on a Mission to Bring Asian Cuisine to Every Kitchen ADWEEK: How did you get to where you are today? KIM: As first-generation Vietnamese Americans and daughters of refugees, food is not just a love language for us—it’s a way for us to re-engage with our identities as WOC (women of color) and “third culture.” We have long wanted to start a business together as sisters and best friends. Omsom was born from years of hard work Vanessa and I have individually invested—from Vanessa’s years as a CPG + ecommerce consultant at Bain, to my lifelong work in venture capital and early-stage startups. It was this mission to reclaim and celebrate proud, loud Asian flavors that caused us to quit our jobs and throw our weight behind Omsom. Can you share a situation in which you've been unfairly characterized in the workplace, due to conscious or unconscious bias? How should women address these microaggressions and slights when they occur? KIM: Throughout our early fundraising journey, we were told time and time again that 1) an Asian American brand like ours is “niche” and not worth investing in and 2) our audience was too small to be significant. As first-time founders, it was incredibly difficult to hear this when we knew in our hearts that Asian flavors absolutely have a place in the modern American dining table. It took time and a lot of falls, but we have learned to be unwavering in our centering of the Asian American consumer. Tough times are brutal, but they also force a distillation of what’s real.Vanessa Pham, co-founder, Omsom We ultimately found it was self-selecting in a way that helped us find investors who envisioned the same future as us. One where Asian-American culture had powerful resonance and relevance and the Asian American consumer could no longer be ignored. There is no one “right” way to shoulder and work through microaggressions. But I will say that I felt ready to be unapologetically defiant and strong in the face of that bias, when I had both the right community surrounding and supporting me (we’ve worked very hard to find other BIPOC and female founders on this journey) and the inner conviction in our vision for this business. What's one thing we can start doing today to help close the wage gap between men and women? KIM: This is a meaty, meaty question with no silver bullet answer. It takes work in all of the lanes—from companies fundamentally rethinking and being transparent about salary structures, to C-suites and corporate leadership reconfiguring their hiring pipelines to better attract, retain and promote diverse talent. The past two years have proven to be challenging for our mental health. How have you prioritized your own? VANESSA: As founders of a startup, it is incredibly challenging to balance time away from work. One thing we prioritized this past year was going on a vacation together and actually unplugging from work (for the most part) while there. As sisters, it’s so important to prioritize time spent together where we can focus on nurturing our relationship as a family, not as co-founders and business owners. What’s one effective way you’ve seen companies address the existing need for diversity-related initiatives? KIM: “Diversity” initiatives should not just be surface-level projects thrust upon isolated sub-committees of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and female-identifying employees. True diversity and equity can only begin to occur when these goals are both prioritized and actioned upon at the highest level from the top down. Tell us about one major setback you've had in your career—how did you handle it? VANESSA: Launching a new business during the pandemic was one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced in either of our careers and required some changes and compromises. On the supply chain side of the business, we ran into obstacles like delays on the delivery of our packaging and ingredients. The hardest part was that we couldn’t be present for one of our production runs that took place amidst shelter-in-place. We had to get really creative around overseeing the run—like face timing throughout production with the plant manager and overnighting samples to ensure it met our standards. Also, some of our investors actually advised us not to launch since there was so much uncertainty surrounding any business at that time and “wait it out” until at least 2021. Many were nervous about consumers’ mindshare for discovering new products and constricting American wallets. Even as first-time founders, Kim and I knew in our gut we had to take the risk and launch anyways. Omsom is all about bringing unapologetic, bold Asian flavors straight to your kitchen and we really knew that people needed Omsom, especially in a pandemic. Tough times are brutal, but they also force a distillation of what’s real—who you are as a leader, who your core audience is and what’s most important about your product. What’s one way you’ve broken the rules and challenged the norm in your career? KIM: A lot of folks expect female founders to be perfect, sanitized versions of themselves—presenting perfectly curated views of what it’s like to be a small business owner. Call it a vestige of the “girlboss” era. Vanessa and I work really hard to show up as ourselves fully in an integrated and authentic way. This is important to us because we want to show that there is no one “right” way to be a small business leader and that we all contain multitudes—not just our business wins, but also the hard times, the messy life experiences and the loud parts of our personalities. I’m really proud that I’m slowly becoming the figure I so badly wished to see when I was growing up as a queer Southeast Asian woman. What’s the single best piece of advice you’ve ever received? VANESSA: It is hugely important to find mentors who are not only advocates for your career, but also for your mental health and your journey as a leader. These people have also taught us the ropes of weathering the challenges that come with being a founder, as well as building a team wholeheartedly. As a child of immigrants, I think I was always trying to please people, but our mentors have encouraged us to be vulnerable leaders. I would encourage others that if you encounter a challenge that is personally or mentally affecting you, to not put that aside but rather prioritize looking at it directly and trying to grow from it. 8 Ways Female Marketers Have Been Typecast in the Workplace

Women Trailblazers

First-Gen Vietnamese American Sisters Are Resetting The American Dining Table

Omsom founders Kim and Vanessa Pham are becoming the business leaders they wished they saw growing up

Luz Corona

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Luz Corona