 Yo, hey it's your business though, you gotta mop it up. Yo, what's going on everybody? I'm in New York City right now and welcome to episode one of a new series on our channel called Make It Happen. This is where we're gonna delve into cool businesses and careers and really gain some insight on the ups and downs of trying to make it as a millennial in New York City. This is something I'm really interested in and hopefully you guys find it helpful as well. In this video, we're gonna be hitting up a streetwear inspired coffee shop and a very cool nostalgic ice cream bar. First stop though is Project Cozy. Let's check it out. All right everybody, real quick before we continue that very informative and interesting series about young New York business owners, I gotta give a big shout out to the sponsor of this video, which is Wix. Hear me out real quick. Wix is making it super easy to create websites right now. You know nowadays having like that clean, personal website, that is like the new business card. So David and I, the fun bros, we are gonna be making a website that is very, very cool, that is going to help a lot of people or at least be fun for a lot of people and we're gonna be using Wix. And they have an endless number of templates to choose from. Not only are they templates, you can also personalize them however you want. So if you wanna keep it the way they got it, you can. If you wanna get a little artsy with it and personalize it yourself and move modules around and whatnot, that's on you too. Do you guys remember actually how hard it used to be to make a website that looked like this? You had to know how to code or at least hire somebody who knew HTML, CSS, know how to open, close the brackets, H-Rest, all this stuff. You don't gotta think about it anymore. Wix does that for you. It's safe, secure, legit. Even if you've never made a website before, it honestly doesn't get that much easier. I mean you can just look at all these templates. You can scroll for days. There are so many to choose from. They all look clean, they all look modern. They probably have what you're looking for. They have stuff made for restaurant, photographers, musician, designers, events. If you're a fitness guru, a lawyer, an actor, a model, a wannabe actor, a model, I mean, whatever you want, there's even an option to make it a store so that you can start your e-commerce business right away. Honestly, I don't have enough time to look through all these right now and choose one, but I will soon. If you're thinking about getting your first website, definitely check out Wix. I'll leave the link down below. That's all I gotta say for now, but until next time, enjoy episode one of Make It Happen. What's going on, everybody? I am here with the founders of Project Cozy, Jack, Simon, Kitty. So real quick, can you tell me the concept behind this coffee shop? You guys got some streetwear, you guys got sneakers, you guys got coffee, fruits. What's going on here? The concept of Project Cozy was to really bring streetwear lifestyle and culture into a coffee shop environment. And that team really manifested it from our interest and passion. We love coffee, we love sneakers, streetwear. We double, we double, we just bring it all together. What is one upside of owning your own spot and your own business, but what's one big downside? I must say the obvious answer, it's unlimited coffee and drinks all the time. It's like, I mean, I'm not taking advantage of the company or anything, but you know, definitely giving ourselves a latte or a drink. So I would say the upside is that you start to have different conversations. People take you more seriously, especially older businessmen, and they know that you've accomplished something. It is definitely a point of respect, you know, like you're owning a business right next to maybe their business. Exactly. You know, I do think people talk to people who own businesses a little bit differently. Downside again is just making sure you're taking care of your employees and that they're happy too, whether it's ours or their pay. And that's like a huge stress to balance what makes them happy, but what's financially, you know, making sense for the company. And I guess in a downside, there's just a lot more responsibility. For example, on Father's Day, the water pipe bursted, and you know, you just got to rush into the restaurant and take a shovel out and start shoveling out water. You don't have a manager or boss to give you direction. Like, we have to come up with a solution. When starting a business, you got to really, you know, find the partners that you trust. So how did you guys know each other? So Simon and I were friends, went through partying and stuff, and Kitty and I used to play basketball on the same team, so. Nice. So you guys used to be on a team back in the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you guys teamed up to party. Exactly. What made you guys open a coffee shop as opposed to all the other businesses that you guys could have done? You know, a lot of Asian people, you know, start boba shops or dessert spots. What made you do coffee? We feel like coffee really brings two together, and that's something we're really going with Project Co. Do you want to create a place where people just come meet up, chill, beat themselves? I think boba is kind of unhealthy. It's kind of sweet. But shout out to all the boba shops out there. What are some things about starting a coffee shop that a lot of people might not know? Like, what were some struggles that you guys had coming into it? I think one thing is that it's a lot of cost that people would not think of. That's the favorite goods. If I say favorite goods, I'm talking about paper cups, plastic cups, straws, lids, napkins. All those expense really add up, and to really get the best price, you need to order a lot of volume. That leads to the problem where you're going to store all the stuff you're going to buy. And the other thing is, like, knowing how to manage a team now. You're not just on your own anymore. Just knowing how to work with your partners, but also with the people that you hired and you bring in how to make a work environment and culture that is happy for them, too. For it to work long-term, everybody's got to be on the same page. But I'm sure there were some things that you guys had disagreements about. Could you tell me one argument that you guys have gotten into? I think a big one that came up a lot was how much do we focus on lifestyle and branding versus things that we could bring into the store that'll help more with growth and acquisition? I mean, obviously the two things are related, but it's two very separate things on how you focus on it, but making sure that we're keeping true to the brand, we're not diluting it in any way while still making sure that we're doing things that can help grow the business and make it successful. And what made you guys want to pick this location? You guys are at NoLita in this area that's close to Chinatown, but not really in Chinatown. We wanted to choose a location that the locals like to hang out. And we sit in the cross-section of Chinatown and Soho, where most New Yorkers do hang out. How should someone start the process of finding a location for their spot? I know that's a huge thing. Sometimes it's a really long process. Sometimes just finding the right location can hold up the entire thing. I would say that actually takes a long time. And there's a lot of things that factor into this decision, like if there are offices around public transportation or walking traffic, the next thing you would do is you would talk to a broker, tell them your budget. And even if you don't have a broker or you are working with the broker, I would tour the area, look for signs that say for rent and call those brokers so then that way you can have multiple brokers working for you simultaneously. And you can get an understanding of the price point for that area. So when it does come time to your negotiations, you know if you're getting a good deal or if you're getting a bad deal. Last question, how important nowadays is it to make your spot Instagram-able? Yeah, it's definitely very important. We love when people post on Instagram, like a lot of that is just really good, like free press and marketing that we get from our customers. Yo, Jack, Simon, Kitty, thank you so much, man. That was really helpful and I really hope that you guys out there learn something. I'm glad to have gotten your guys' perspective and your insight of your business that you guys personally own. All right, everybody, that was Project Cozy, a very, very new coffee shop out in Nolita. Very cool, you guys gotta check it out. But right now we're about to head to Milk and Cream cereal bar for some really dope ice cream. Let's go. All right, everybody, I am here with Tommy and Corey of the hottest ice cream cereal bar in the city right now. Milk and Cream cereal bar, thank you guys for being here. Yo, real quick though, describe to me in like one sentence what you're trying to achieve with the theme of this spot. You come in as an immersive eating experience, more than just coming in to eat, you know. Taste the nostalgia, bring back those good old memories from your childhood. Definitely, man, I see Bobby's world, I see Johnny Bravo, I see all these old cartoons here. In business, finding a trustworthy partner, somebody that you're gonna work with, spend time with someone that you like and can work with and do business with. I mean, how did that come about between you guys? We've known each other for over 10 years. We grew up in Chinatown together, hanging out at the park. So there's a lot of trust between us. We've gone through a lot together. So we work well together, which is most important. What does it mean to be like from Chinatown and then open up a business that does serve Chinatown and the outside community as well? First of all, I think it's cool, you know, we've always been natives of Chinatown. So a lot of people we know are here. And a lot of like the older business, sort of like the OGs, the next door is an old style bakery. Like he sees us bringing new energy and I've known him for a long time since I was a kid. So he sees us, you know, doing well and he's proud that a business like this can be done. Did you guys think about doing hot food versus dessert? And what was that thought process like? This is our first step into the food and beverage business. So dessert was a little easier to get our feet wet into that. And also there's a lot of great food in Chinatown. This is something that complements the other businesses as opposed to not competing but having the same type of business. How is it in New York? We're in the dead of winter sometimes. It's freezing cold. People still eating ice cream. I think we're New Yorkers and there's so many of us and we don't like to stay home and we want to like to get out and get out of their house and do something. And ice cream is always available. Ice cream is always good. It might be 20 degrees outside, but it's like a nice 75 degrees inside to eat ice cream, relax, hang out. So this is your guys' second venture together. First, you guys had the bike shop. Yes. So how did you go from bikes to ice cream? Um, I mean, I wish there was like this crazy profound story for that. But you know, we were young. We ran that for about seven years and there was a big change in the industry. Also in the neighborhood, we shut it down and there was a little time where we say, hey, what are we going to do? Where are we going to get jobs? There was a lot of what ifs, right? And then we sort of got our heads together with them. And we have one other partner, Justin, and we took the plunge in and flipped the business and turned it into this. We still had the space. So we knew we wanted to keep the space because in this area, like it's hard to come by a really good space at a decent price. And we just want to figure out how we can stay here and what the next step was. One cost that you guys didn't expect. Things you think about, but you don't, you sometimes don't realize, definitely like trademarks. Yeah, setting up your business well. Definitely if you're trying to build something, build a brand and be able to expand for your future, you want to be able to set up trademarking and legalizing your business the right way and be able to protect your IP. Because once you succeed, things come along with it that are going to affect you in the future. And also like when we had the bike shop, during that time, we got hit with Hurricane Sandy. So that's major. We were not open for a week. So you tell them, you're paying rent and there's no one, no one's even thinking about bikes. We are trying to recover from a natural disaster. Like no one wants, no one's buying nothing but food and water. But that still affects you and you're paying out of pocket for that, you know? So those are unexpected costs too. What is it about your guys is maybe upbringing that kind of like led you guys to maybe not really go after the corporate route and just go straight into entrepreneurship. I would say I didn't really have a choice. I didn't finish school. My mom sort of being Asian tiger mom, she always wants you to stick to that route, go to school, get that corporate job and she realized that like, hey, maybe this isn't for me. Both my parents are on their own businesses. But when I wasn't going to school, they were like, you know what, if you're not going to do that, you're going to sit here, you're going to do whatever we tell you to do. I was very hands on in helping with my dad and think that sort of built me to be able to just do something. So you would say that your family does have a business background? Oh, I guess absolutely. I would say like immigrant, blue collar worker, sort of just get down and dirty and do work. I think it was always in me where I knew I didn't want to work for somebody else. I wanted to do my own thing, be out and about. I like to be social, I like to talk to people. And at the end of the day, I just don't want to be in an office at a cubicle. We're doing this series because I really want to show people that, you know, especially young millennial Asian-Americans can do everything. You know, of course you need the doctors, you need the engineers, you need the people working in the finance. But I would like to think that, you know, owning your own business is regular too. Being Asian-American, you know, your parents more than likely, they're immigrants. So we're first generation born in America. And we were the first generation to be able to have the, the luxury of going to college to get that American dream or whatever. So they don't, I don't think they see that opening your own business was that traditional vision, you know? They come, they work their ass off and they struggle. They don't want that life for their kids. Right? But here you guys are grinding out. The point of it was like, hey guys, we came here, worked 80 hours a week so that you guys don't have to do that. But you're like, no mom, I actually want to work 80 a week. As people who grew up in Chinatown, you know, into hip hop, basketball, you know, you guys love gear. What would you want to share with the kids out there? Cause a lot of kids out there, they love fashion. They love playing ball, but maybe opening a business is not something that's on their mind. I think it takes time to sort of figure out what you want to do. I don't think age is sort of, should limit you. On your free time, you just take time to figure out what you like, what you don't like and then sort of spend the most time doing it and see if you do like it and try to turn that into a monetary thing. Get someone to pay for your services or your goods or your product and stuff like that. Try different things out, different hobbies, experience, new things. Yeah. And close-minded, stay open-minded and just experience things. All right, yo, thank you, Tommy. Yo, thank you. Corey, yo, I really thank you guys for doing that and definitely check out Milk and Cream's cereal bar on Ma Street. It's right on the border of Nolita in Chinatown. I love the location. Come check us out. All right, everybody. That wraps up our first episode of Make It Happen, man. I'm really excited about the rest of this series because, first of all, this is a lot of stuff that I personally want to learn and I also think it's really helpful for everybody out there just to gain perspective and kind of get some insight that's not just in the business books. This is real Asian-Americans, starting businesses, having careers, trying to make it happen in New York City. I wish these guys the best of luck. I'm so excited to see where they go in the future and until next time, guys, that was Make It Happen. I'm out, peace. In the comments below, let me know what other small businesses or professions that you guys would want us to check out on the Make It Happen series and we'll try to make that happen.