Vanessa Pham, co-founder and CEO of Omsom and Kim Pham, co-founder of Omsom both join Chedar News to discuss the inspiration behind their company. 

Between Bells

Omsom Brings Bold Flavors of Asian Cuisine to Consumers

Welcome back to Between Bells everyone. This segment is brought to you by Jpmorgan Chase celebrating cultural diversity throughout asian american and pacific islander heritage month one company is transforming the way consumers think about asian cuisine. Um some was co founded by Sisters Vanessa and kim pham who were inspired by their Vietnamese heritage to create starter sauce packs inspired by traditional asian flavors. Now, the two have transformed memories from their childhood into a very successful business joining us now to discuss our Vanessa pham and kim pham, co founders of um some ladies welcome to the show, so excited to have you Vanessa, I'll start with you. What inspired you to create this company? Oh my gosh! Well kim and I, we, we joked that this company has been like 27 years in the making because as Sisters food has been a huge part of our interaction with our culture, a love language for us in our house and our home. But really we were inspired by wanting to educate on the multitudes within asian America because for so long asian culture has been flattened and asian flavors have been diluted. So really that's why we were so excited to build what we built together. So kim I'm curious about the name um some why did you want to call your company by that name? Yeah, so um sam actually originates in the Vietnamese phrase awesome, which roughly translates like rowdy or rambunctious. Okay, I love, we love this idea of having a really like kind of in your face brand with really bold flavors and so it kind of just made a lot of sense. So Vanessa, what's the response been like from customers and what are the flavors and products that people are loving the most. Oh my gosh! Well the response has been beyond anything we could have imagined truly. Um, I think the biggest thing is seeing, you know what the flavors and the storytelling that we do means to our community. Um we speak a lot about different topics and issues within asian culture and asian America And I think that has really resonated with folks. We've had customers tell us they feel seen by our storytelling in our products. They feel proud to be asian um, in being a part of our community. So we're so humbled by that. Um in terms of products. Yes please. We have seven different flavors of Vietnamese, thai filipino, japanese, korean and chinese. Yeah. And honestly our best seller is the Triumph all set, which is literally everything that we, everything that we offer in one bundle because people just want to come and try everything that we have to offer. So it's been really cool to see. So kim what's the secret to making that perfect Vietnamese dish? The secret. Oh gosh! I don't know if there is a singular secret, I would say I'm gonna evoked mama fans cooking which is don't measure anything. Just wing it. Let the wisdom of the ancestors flow through you as you're cooking. I hear that so much by the way, Vanessa everywhere you look on Tiktok, their videos of lots of different types of cuisine, but I feel like asian cuisine is really an inspiration for so many. How do you feel about the rise in popularity? Thanks to an app like Tiktok, Oh my gosh, I mean asian food and asian culture in general has been, you know, having a renaissance in America for for a while now and and it's been really amazing to see on Tiktok people really rally around these flavors and and educate on how to how to make asian food at home. So we've been amazed to see it and we definitely try to contribute to it as well. I was gonna ask you guys market on Tiktok. Yes, we have a lot of fun on Tiktok. I actually run that and I think it's just a ton of fun because I think what Tiktok has done is allowed people more freedom and room to kind of be creative and not just rigidly hold to hyper authentic views of asian food, which is really cool. You and I were talking about this off camera, we were that you guys launched this during the height of the pandemic. You said March of 2020 Is that what you say, may of 2020. Tell me how that went and that's all start with you. Yeah, Oh my gosh, we were, I mean going into it at the time, there was no clarity on what was to come, like people were like, this is going to end in two weeks, it's gonna get a month. Um ultimately we decided to launch even though we had mentors and people in the ecosystem kind of telling us not to and we're so glad we did because we feel like during this time people were looking for a sense of home and joy and that's what I'm saying is all about really. And so I think bringing into the world during this time was was really like a blessing in disguise even though it's a super challenging time. Sure, so kim what's the best best advice you receive stepping into a business that you would like to share with others. I'm sure this is not an easy undertaking. Yeah, I think it's just have conviction and faith in self, like I think as as first time founders, as women of color, there are a lot of times where Vanessa and I have doubted ourselves but I think when we've stuck to who we are and our community and centered them first and foremost, it became really clear to us the sort of decisions that we needed to make, but it takes a lot of time to kind of have that internal conviction. I have no doubt tell me about the spices in your products. Oh yeah, so in our products we source over 50 different ingredients and we source them many of them the specialty ones from the country of origin of the dish. So for example with our peppers, we sourced five different types of chili, two from chinese calories by the way. Okay yeah and they're they're really flexible to different dietary preferences and restrictions. So you just take this pair it with your favorite veggies and protein and have a restaurant quality dish on your table in 15 minutes. This looks amazing what's next for um some ladies, oh my gosh, some really exciting stuff in the works. Um we're launching nationally and grocery stores this year. Congratulations thank you. So we're so excited to bring our flavors to more people across the country. Um so yeah that's some of the biggest things that we're working on. So ladies, it is api heritage month. I want these questions for both of you, kim I'll start with you, what does it mean to you for me? I think what's been really inspiring to draw upon as a founder is the joyful resilience that I find defines a lot of asian America. Like obviously there's no monolithic asian american experience but I do find that resilience and joy in that resilience has been really profound for me as a founder, starting on this very difficult journey of building a business. Yeah, I love that Vanessa very quickly. What does it mean to you? I think it's about and for me it's about being like living and breathing that loud and proud energy. That is so core to to Amsterdam and inviting people to partake in that, you know, outside of just the asian american community, but helping people understand and learn about asian culture and and the multitudes that exist Well, congratulations to your success, cheers to more vanessa pham and kim pham, co founders of um some, by the way, I am already smelling it and it smells amazing. Jpmorgan Chase is committed to advancing cultural and social equity, visit Jpmorgan Chase dot com slash impact to learn more.